5
when I was made in the secret place.
When I was woven together in the depths
of the earth,
your eyes saw my unformed body.
All the days ordained for me
were written in your book
before one of them came to be.
We might add Matt 6:25 to this litany, where Jesus affirms that life itself is more
important than the everyday necessities that are required to sustain it.
There comes a time, however, when death is inevitable. K. R. Schmitt reminds us
that "death is the result of sin... there was a time when death was unknown to man, but
when Adam sinned death was the result. Death is understood as a manifestation of the
wrath and displeasure of God" (1985, 10). Clowney adds that "the brevity of man's life
[stands] in fearful contrast with God's eternity.... Death's shadow flies upon us and blots
out today's sunlight with tomorrow's darkness" (1974, 54). Aware of his own impending
death Paul writes, "For I am already being poured out like a drink offering, and the time
has come for my departure" (2 Tim 4:6).
It is essential to understand that the Word of God casts death not merely in
negative but also in positive terms. Although death is at first set within the context of
warning and curse (Gen 2:17), the psalmist nevertheless can write, "Precious in the sight
of the Lord is the death of his saints" (Ps 116:15). Death reminds us that we depend upon
God for our very existence (cf. Acts 17:28). It "forms the limit of our life and marks the
boundary between us and God" (Barth 1933, 168). Further, "the wrath and displeasure of
God," when manifest in the death of Christ, allows us to "let the solemnity of God's holy
wrath at Calvary open our eyes to the wonder of his love" (Clowney 1974, 67). Death is