Army 1st Lt. David A. Johnson - A Wonderful Pilgrim

This post is for the late David A. Johnson, 1LT U.S. Army, of rural Mayville-Horicon, Wisconsin, who died Jan. 25, 2012 in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan, serving in the U.S.Army in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. 

Reflect on a Psalm, which was the subject of the last post,  and many things from real life come to mind.  That's what happens when you read the Bible.  Here it is again:

 A Song of Ascents. 
[1] I lift up my eyes to the hills.
From whence does my help come?
[2] My help comes from the LORD,
who made heaven and earth.
[3] He will not let your foot be moved,
he who keeps you will not slumber.
[4] Behold, he who keeps Israel
will neither slumber nor sleep.
[5] The LORD is your keeper;
the LORD is your shade
on your right hand.
[6] The sun shall not smite you by day,
nor the moon by night.
[7] The LORD will keep you from all evil;
he will keep your life.
[8] The LORD will keep
your going out and your coming in
from this time forth and for evermore.

Ps. 121  (RSV)

Ps. 121 as discussed in the last post is about a pilgrim who looks out at the mountains as he heads out from  the city.  It  is certainly a Psalm for soldiers who face great danger from people who seek to kill them,  in the mountains of Afghanistan.  But what good is Ps. 121 for a person who dies, or for a family who has lost a child or brother?    Young David Johnson, 24,  was a wonderful Christian soldier  who was killed there last January 25, 2012.  See obituary 
here:     http://dodgecountypionier.com/David%20A.%20Johnson%20Obituary.pdf
We proclaim  in faith, that the  Lord as described here in Ps. 121 was David's "shade" at his right hand when he was killed, which means that  the Lord and David were closer to each other at the moment of his death than at any other point in David's life.  That's easy for me to say.    Losing David cannot  make sense to David's grieving family,  when you read the words of this Psalm which promises protection.  For situations like David's, can this be a Psalm for a pilgrim whose pilgrimage in this world is coming to an end, as a promise that the Lord "will keep your life" (Ps. 121:7) even if that means life after earthly death?  Jesus himself faced death, praying the Psalms and feeling all alone - although he was not alone, as his resurrection proved.  See Matt. 27:46 (Jesus praying Ps. 22).   Earlier, as he saw his death coming he said this:


 [32] The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me.


Jn 16:32 (RSV).    Reading this from the Gospel of John  provides Ps. 121-like encouragement, that we are not alone even at death.   But we don't have all the answers, and there are no good answers that anyone can give to the Johnson family.  We have our faith, and our hope based on the resurrection of Jesus.  But for the Johnsons our job is to provide sympathy and support.