Nathan E. Lewis

In preparation to preach Psalm 84 I have been listening to Brahms’ Ein deutsches Requiem over and over again, allowing the beauty of the music wash over me. Most of the memorials and funerals I have attended have rightly given time for loved ones to speak about the deceased and yet I have come away wishing to hear more divine consolation flowing from the very words of God. Brahms intentionally chose the words of Scripture (and yes, a few Apocryphal texts) as the words of his Requiem and I would rest well in my casket until the final day of resurrection should the Requiem be the only words spoken at my funeral (if only I could afford the Oregon Symphony and a choir!) In the fourth movement, the center of the Requiem, Brahms set some of the lines of Psalm 84 to music and it is a moving and abiding comfort. Indeed for many in western civilization, Psalm 84 is ever connected to this masterpiece. Recently, members of the congregation I serve have laid to rest their beloved and I can think of few sources of comfort so powerfully assembled as Ein deutsches Requiem. Below is the text of the Requiem with my inserted notes.

I
Blessed are they that mourn; for they shall be comforted.
(Matthew 5:4)
They that sow in tears shall reap in joy.
He that goeth forth and weepeth, bearing precious seed, shall doubtless come again with rejoicing, bringing his sheaves with him.
(Psalm 126:5,6)

When my mother died seventeen years ago in a car accident, I began to mourn and I am still mourning but not without hope. In these years I have received much comfort from the God of all comfort toward the end of my ability to comfort others in their mourning. I have not been bereft of joy but rather, my joy has deepened along with my hope in the resurrection. It now seems odd to me when Christians try to stifle their mourning and insist that at a memorial and funeral we are actually celebrating the home going of our loved one. The mourning of the death of our loved one is a necessary part of our God-given experience. The common curse, the sinful actions of human beings, and the seemingly untimeliness of death should not be denied but rather they should move us to mourn the loss and to long for the consummation unto glory.

II
For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away.
(1 Peter 1:24)
Be patient therefore, brethren, unto the coming of the Lord. Behold, the husbandmen waiteh for the precious fruit of the earth, and hath long patience for it, until he receive the early and latter rain.
(James 5:7)

But the word of the Lord endureth for ever.
(1 Peter 1:25)

And the ransomed of the Lord shall return, and come to Zion with songs and everlasting joy upon their heads: they shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.
(Isaiah 35:10)

My life is fleeting and so my death, whenever it is appointed is in no way untimely. The enduring words in this world belong to the Creator Redeemer who keeps us safe in life and in death. He shall return for us and land us safely into his eternal presence and joy. On that final day he shall wipe every tear from our eyes. Until that time, my eyes shall be ever wet with tears as I sing, “Come quickly, Lord Jesus! Come and gather your people!”

III
Lord, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is: that I may know how frail I am.
Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee….
Surely every man walketh in a vain shew: surely they are disquieted in vain: he heapeth up riches, and knoweth not who shall gather them.
And now, Lord, what wait I for? my hope is in thee.
(Psalm 39:4-7)
But the souls of the righteous are in the hand of God, and there shall no torment touch them.
(Wisdom of Solomon 3:1)

In many ways my life is vain and through the powerful work of the Holy Spirit these vanities are being consumed in righteousness. While I do not believe that the Wisdom of Solomon is an inspired text, nonetheless, this quotation chosen by Brahms does no violence to the holy writ. It is an example of mere human writing that agrees with the promises of the Holy Scriptures for every child of God who dies in Christ.

IV
How amiable are they tabernacles, O Lord of hosts!
My soul longeth, yea, even fainteth for the courts of the Lord: my heart and my flesh crieth out for the living God.
Blessed are they that dwell in thy house: they will be still praising thee.
(Psalm 84:1,2,4)

This is the prayer of my life!

V

And ye now therefore have sorrow; but I will see you again, and your heart shall rejoice, and your joy no man taketh from you.
(John 16:22)
Ye see how for a little while I labor and toil, yet have I found much rest.
(Ecclesiasticus 51:27)

As one whom his mother comforteth, so will I comfort you….
(Isaiah 66:13)

The promises of Jesus are reassuring and I take them to heart. I shall see Jesus face to face and my loved ones who have slipped into death shall see him and no one can wrest them from this blessed union. I take much comfort in this even though voices in my world seek to erode this promise of rest in Christ claiming that it is the opium of my choice. I choose to listen to the Requiem over and over again. It’s hardly my mantra. These are the very words of God.

VI
For here have we no continuing city, but we seek one to come.
(Hebrews 13:14)
Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed.
In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.
…then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.
O death, where is they sting? O grave, where is they victory?
(1 Corinthians 15:51,52,54,55)

Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory and honour and power: for thou hast created all things, and for thy pleasure they are and were created.
(Revelation 4:11)

Like my father in faith, Abraham, I seek a city whose architect and building is God. My transformation from death to life is a finished work in Christ. My translation from the passage of death to life eternal is a mysterious yet glorious work of Christ to be completed on the final day when the dead in Christ shall rise first and we shall be forever with the Lord. Christ has vanquished death and the grave cannot hold me, and for that matter, it cannot hold my mother or any of your loved ones.

VII
…Blessed are the dead which die in the Lord from henceforth: Yea, saith the Spirit, that they may rest from their labours; and their works do follow them.
(Revelation 14:13)

In life and in death we are blessed. I look forward to my final rest, the eternal sabbath, which I enter into every week enjoying a foretaste of the glorified age. Many Christians, prior to death, have enjoyed this rest to such a degree that death for them is of little consequence. They have made their peace with God and have no unfinished business. This was true of my mother who kept short accounts in her imperfect life. When her car flipped and she suffered C1 and C2 fractures, hurled from life into death, she came to rest in Christ and I believe she has found it to be much like the rest she enjoyed in her life upon this earth. Her rest will be perfected on the final day of judgment when God shall put all things right and she will be welcomed into a throng, a countless multitude of others who have entered the rest of Christ Jesus, who has gone before us into the heavenlies. On that final day we shall be so united to Christ that our works done in his name to his glory shall be counted a worthy presentation adding to his glory and presentation to his heavenly Father. Our God shall say, “Well done, my good and faithful servant; enter into the rest of your Master.”