Where We Die

2 Samuel 19:37 ³⁷ Let your servant return, that I may die in my own town near the tomb of my father and mother. But here is your servant Kimham. Let him cross over with my lord the king. Do for him whatever you wish.” 

Sometimes we can’t even choose the place of our death. We can know our days are numbered, and we still can’t choose how that end will come. We all have a picture of the way we would like to end our days here on earth. For me I would like to be well over a hundred years old, still vibrant and alive, and gather my family and just say goodbye, close my eyes and enter heaven.
But many of us don’t get to make that choice. We hear in the news about people whose families can’t even visit the hospital as their loved one dies. This is a very different kind of grief, a different sense of loss. It can be hard to say goodbye in these circumstances. We are a people who need ritual for just these types of moments to help us move through them.
A close advisor and confidant of King David has finished his help. He provided for David and the company of people that left Jerusalem when David’s son seized power. He brought vital provisions that sustained them while they were absent from Jerusalem. Now David is returning to his home and wants to reward Barzillai with an honored place in his kingdom.
But Barzillai knows that his clock is ticking, not having much longer here on earth. He simply wants to be able to go to his home and live out his remaining days in the comfort and the familiarity of his ancestral homeland. He simply wants to make some arrangements for his dying.
And in this moment of tremendous honor, Barzillai passes along the honor to one of his own servants. This servant had provided in some way for Barzillai. He wants to express that gratitude, so he passes along the blessing of King David to this servant.
It would be like having the perfect box seats at your favorite sporting event passed along to you because the person giving them knows how much they would mean to you. They would enjoy the seats, but they pass them to you because of the great job you have done for them.
So this servant gets an honored place in David’s inner circle.
This is just what happens with us in Christ. Jesus deserves the place of honor in the Father’s presence, but he passes that honor along to us. We get to enjoy the presence of the King of Kings, not because we deserve it, but because Jesus knows how much we will enjoy it.
And in exchange for our prized seat at the Table meal in heaven, Jesus took all the rejection and punishment that we earned through disobedience and rebellion.
What a wonderful exchange!