Death of the Saints

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints…

when my great Aunt Hess passed away my heart started to sing this song, taken from Psalm 116 in the Holy Bible. I always remembered her being able to laugh, walk with her God humbly, and love others well. Family members told a story of how she was such a farm girl, she actually had alfalfa growing in her ear and had to have a doctor pull it out with a pliers. I thought that was so cool that I named my wood-paneled station wagon after her, the one I traveled all over the country with, because it was so hearty.

Not all the words of the song are directly from the Bible:

The rain is falling from the sky, from sky; yes the rain is falling from my eyes from my eyes; ’cause the eyes of the Lord they are crying they are crying; He is grieving for the earth and the dying.

I remember it was raining on the day of her funeral when I wrote the song and it seemed like God was crying for us to as we grieved.

Yes, his tears are falling to the ground, to the ground; while the sun behind the hill goes down

Then I began to quote the Psalm:

I love the Lord for he heard my voice, He turned his ear to me and heard my cry; Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints, is the death of the saints

When the cords of death entangled me and the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow, then I called on the name of the Lord; oh Lord save me, you are full of love, oh Lord protect my simple heart; be at rest my soul for the Lord is good; from death oh Lord save my soul. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of the saints…

Once again I expressed ideas from the Psalm in my own words and then broke into the words of the Psalm to finish:

Stop the rain from falling from my eyes, from my eyes; and my feet from stumbling as I walk in this life; I trusted then I was beaten down, but you lifted me up from my chains, from the ground; How can I repay you, Lord I cannot; I will call on your Name and lift my cup; I will thank you, Lord in the midst of my friends; for I am your servant to the end. Precious…

The CD will soon be on our website: http://www.envisionmission.org/media