Death And Burial of the Righteous.
"Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of his saints." Psalm 116:15 King James Version (KJV).

Death is the end of every living being. There is a time to be born and there is time to go in the way of all flesh. Ecclesiastes 3:1,2a.

Good, bad or ugly, everyone must be prepared that one day, his end will come. It is compulsory. How, when and where it will happen is covered in mystery. No one can claim he has final decision or authority on these three, except where a righteous man desired it and it is granted by Divine powers.

To live long is an uncommon privilege nowadays. God's design is for a man to live for one hundred and twenty years, Genesis 6:3. Men have lived for many centuries but multiplication of sins reduces the number of years to live.

Not only this, Moses, from his experience, has this to say on the number of years to spend on earth by man thus,
"The days of our years are three score years and ten ;
and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years,
yet is their strength labour and sorrow, for it is soon cut
off and we fly away." Psalm 90:10.

The statement "yet is the strength labour and sorrow " connected with Mosaic longevity incorporates the expression of Barzillai, a very great man in the days of King David. He complained,
"I am this day fourscore years old : and can thy servant taste
What I eat or what I drink? Can I hear any more the voice of singing men and singing women? Wherefore then should thy servant be yet a burden unto my Lord the King? 2 Samuel 19:35.

What was once a thing of joy has lost its value in his old age. He was an asset to government of his day in his hay days but to follow King David to Jerusalem will make him a burden to the king.

This man, even in his old age was a source of comfort to his generation, as a righteous man. How do we know this? When king David was driven away from his palace in a conspiracy led by Absalom, his son, this man
"Barzillai the Gileadite came down from Rogelim, and went over
Jordan with the king, to him over Jordan.
....and he had provided the king of sustenance while
he lay at Mahanaim, for he was a great man." I Sam 19:31-32.
In the evening of his life, he has this to say,
"Let thy servant, I pray thee, turn back again, that I may die in mine own city, and be buried by the grave of my father and my mother. " I Samuel 19:37.

It is in honour of a righteous man, who lived his whole life to serve people he has come in contact, to die in his city, among his brethen and to be buried in the grave of his fathers and mothers. That is to sleep with his people at last.

This tallies with Jacob's request at the point of departure from this earth in the land of Egypt where he was a sojourner for years. He told Joseph his son, the Prime Minister of the Land,
"I am to be gathered unto my people : bury me with my fathers in the cave that is in field of Ephron the Hittite.
There they buried Abraham and Sarah his wife ; there they buried Isaac
and Rebecca his wife; and there I buried Leah.
And when Jacob had made an end of commanding his sons, he gathered unto his people." Genesis 49:29,31-33.

Therefore, let your prayer be,
" Let me die the death of the righteous,
and let my last and end be like his!" Numbers 23:10b.

Do you desire this sincerely? Work towards it. Cleave to the Lord your God and affect your generation for the best. Let your death and burial glorify the Lord.
Stay blessed and prepared for the coming of the Lord, it is imminent.

The Author is the set man of CTFM(WORLD OUTREACH)and Presiding Pastor of Christ Restland Gospel Church.He is a Poet and author of many books. Visit his blogsites www.4thlink.wordpress.com and www.peacelink.wordpress.com for more quality contents.