Don The Armour

We are far removed from death in modern America. Most of us have only seen human death at open-casket funerals, and many aren’t even exposed to death with their food. They go to the grocery store and buy packaged meat and never have to see the sacrifice of the animal that feeds them.

Huge industries exist to distract us from thoughts of our death. There are rejuvenating face creams, hair loss supplements, and plastic surgeries to help us hide the visible signs of aging, which are reminders of our mortality. And then we have the constant entertainment and distraction that keeps our minds away from these thoughts. How many people are contemplating the reality of their death when they’re filling every spare moment with Netflix and Instagram?

In this Psalm, David does just the opposite; he asks God to remind him about the certainty of his death and how brief his life is in the scheme of things. As Christians, we should often pray and meditate about this. It sounds morbid because we’re so distant from it in our culture, but what better way to strengthen your faith than to think about your death? And especially to think about the uncertainty of the time of it. We like to think we will all live well into our eighties or nineties, but you could die before you finish reading this post. Doesn’t that put a sense of urgency on your relationship with Christ? We would have a lot more Christians today if people spent more time contemplating their impending death.