Amos 5:8 Seek him that makes the seven stars and Orion, and turns the shadow of death into the morning, and makes the day dark with night… I. THE SHADOW OF DEATH FALLS UPON THE PATHWAY OF LIFE. It is the shadow of God's wrath, which fell upon the sunshine of His love, when man, a free agent, marred His work. No man knows when or how he will die. II. IT IS BEST THAT WE DO NOT KNOW THE TIME OR MANNER OF OUR DEATH. If we knew the time was near we might be overcome by terror or despair. If we knew the time was distant, we might presume. As it is uncertain, we need to be "always ready." III. WE MAKE THAT WHICH WAS INTENDED FOR OUR SOUL'S HEALTH ONLY AN OCCASION OF FALLING. The uncertainty of life is a subject commonly on our lips, very seldom in our serious thoughts. All men think all men mortal but themselves. IV. YOU ADMIT THE ARGUMENT, DO YOU APPLY IT PERSONALLY? There can be no greater ignorance than to ignore the inevitable. Yet says, We will not know that which we cannot but know. V. WHAT IS DEATH? To the generality of the Gentiles death was dreadful, and they spoke of it as terrible, cruel, black, and blind. One of the great Italian painters, Luino, the favourite pupil of Leonardo de Vinci, has represented these departures into the unseen world by a design which, though it is but an imagination, appeals forcibly to our hopes and fears. In a grand picture of the Crucifixion, which is in the Church at Lugarno he has represented the soul of the forgiven thief coming from his lips at the moment of his death in a miniature figure of himself, robed in white, in an attitude of prayer, and welcomed by a smiling angel sent to escort him to paradise. From the mouth of the reprobate who died reviling Christ, there issues a figure struggling in agony with a cruel demon. VI. HOW SHALL WE PREPARE FOR DEATH? We must learn to overcome our natural reluctance to think, earnestly and constantly, about our own death. The way to overcome our fear is not to evade it, but to meet and master it. VII. OUR MEDITATIONS ON DEATH SHOULD BE INSEPARABLY UNITED WITH PRAYER. Of this we have scriptural examples, as in Psalm 39, and 90. VIII. ALL THAT WE THINK, OR SAY, OR DO, HAS THIS ONE GREAT PURPOSE, THAT WE MAY SEEK AND FIND HIM, WHO TURNETH THE SHADOW OF DEATH INTO THE MORNING. 1. He manifests Himself to the faith which worketh by love. 2. He blesses especially with His assured presence. 3. At the altar, most nearly, dearly, we realise His presence. (S. Reynolds Hole.) Parallel Verses KJV: Seek him that maketh the seven stars and Orion, and turneth the shadow of death into the morning, and maketh the day dark with night: that calleth for the waters of the sea, and poureth them out upon the face of the earth: The LORD is his name: |
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