As twisted as my mind is, I've been thinking a lot about death recently. Specifically, I've been thinking about how I want to honor the Lord with my death as much, if not more, as I do in my life. I have one idea about how, given that we now know how to make fossils in 24 hours, I thought it might be particularly powerful if my remains were fossilised and used as evidence against long-age mythology. That thought got me thinking of two very interesting verses.
Although the header image contains Psalm 115:17, it turns out this is only a similar verse to the one I was thinking of. Psalm 30:9 is actually where I was thinking, in which David appeals to God because "What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?" The implication seems to be, as indeed Psalm 115:17 says, that the dead cannot praise God like the living can. Thus, David is asking the Lord to preserve him so that he can praise the Lord.
But then we see in Hebrews 11:4 that Abel "still speaks", though he, too, is dead. It seems that he is actually the first man in history to have ever died. And yet, by his virtue, he does continue to speak to us today, and is even solidified in the Scriptures so that his example will not perish until the earth does. Thus, in a weird way, the dead do praise the Lord.
This tells us two things. First, it tells us that God is extremely merciful. As much as David could only praise God while he still lived, God neither needs our praise, nor would He necessarily lose it if we do die. Thus, the fact that He keeps us alive is just one more unearned blessing.
But more importantly, it puts another angle on the importance of living Godly lives. Godly lives don't just result in more reward for us when we die, but it also serves as a testimony and an example to future generations. Abel still speaks to us from the grave because although he died while the earth was new, he praised the God who created it. A time will come to each of us, though hopefully in friendlier ways than by a brother's rock, in which we, too, will cease to walk the earth. What will we leave behind? Your ministry does not end at death. Every moment of your life has the potential to be remembered and passed on. Will what you leave behind be a blessing on those who hear it, or will you contribute to the darkness that continues to spread across our world?
Dedicated to my Granddad, who though he, too, is dead, continues to speak to me by the Godly life he lead.