From the song: "Oh death, someone would pray
Couldn’t you call some other day
God's children prayed, the preacher's preached
The time of mercy is out of your reach
I'll fix your feet so you can't walk
I'll lock your jaws so you can't talk, Close your eyes so you can 't see
This very hour come go with me
Death, I come to take the soul
Leave the body and leave it cold, to drop the flesh oft of the frame
The earth and worms both have a claim"
This reminds me of when Hezekiah almost died in the Scriptures and some of the Psalms concerning close encounters with death, it's pretty cool.
Hezekiah: "In those days was Ezekias sick even to death. And the prophet Esaias the son of Amos came in to him, and said to him, 'Thus saith the Lord, Give charge to thy household; for thou shalt die, and not live.' And Ezekias turned to the wall, and prayed to the Lord, saying, 'Lord, remember, I pray thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thine eyes.' And Ezekias wept with a great weeping. And Esaias was in the middle court, and the word of the Lord came to him, saying, 'Turn back, and thou shalt say to Ezekias the ruler of my people, Thus saith the Lord God of thy father David, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up to the house of the Lord. And I will add to thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of the Assyrians, and I will defend this city for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake.'"
Some Psalms: "The sorrows of death surrounded me, and the torrents of iniquity dismayed me. The sorrows of Hell encompassed me, and the snares of death intercepted me. In my tribulation, I called upon the Lord, and I cried out to my God. And he listened to my voice from his holy temple. And my cry in his presence entered into his ears."
"Alleluia. I have loved: therefore, the Lord will heed the voice of my prayer. For he has inclined his ear to me. And in my days, I will call upon him. The sorrows of death have surrounded me, and the perils of Hell have found me. I have found tribulation and sorrow. And so, I called upon the name of the Lord. O Lord, free my soul. Merciful is the Lord, and just. And our God is compassionate. The Lord is the keeper of little ones. I was humbled, and he freed me. Turn again, my soul, to your rest. For the Lord has done good to you. For he has rescued my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from slipping. I will please the Lord in the land of the living."
I'll probably think of this song when I am near my own death, provided I am given to know my end is coming.
"For earth thou art and to earth thou shalt return."
