A long, long time ago
I can still remember how that music used to make me smile
And I knew if I had my chance
That I could make those people danceAnd maybe they’d be happy for a while
But February made me shiver
With every paper I’d deliver
Bad news on the doorstep
I couldn’t take one more step
I can’t remember if I cried
When I read about his widowed bride
But something touched me deep inside
The day the music died
So bye, bye, Miss American Pie
Drove my Chevy to the levee but the levee was dry
And them good ole boys were drinking whiskey ‘n rye
Singin’ this’ll be the day that I die
This’ll be the day that I die
Most of you recognize the words of Don McLean’s 1972 hit song “American Pie.” The melodious tune and clever lyrics have caused millions of music fans to sing along with this classic for almost fifty years. I remember singing and dancing to this song with my seventh-grade class in my in my junior high gym. But don’t let the song’s upbeat tempo fool you. This is a song of sorrow—a lyric of lamentation—a funeral dirge to mourn “The Day the Music Died.”
McLean coined this phrase to refer to the February 3, 1959 plane crash that claimed the lives of Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and J.P. “The Big Bopper” Richardson—three rising rock and roll stars who had just started performing together. To this day, fans are left wondering how these talented young men would have shaped the American music scene.
On a side note, the band’s bass player, Waylon Jennings rode on the tour bus that night. If Jennings had boarded the plane, he would have perished and we never would have had country and western ballads like “Luckenbach, Texas” with “Willie and Waylon and the Boys.” And the Dukes of Hazzard just wouldn’t have been the same without Jennings’ narration and the iconic theme song, “Just the Good O’ Boys.”
Now, every time we hear “American Pie,” and contemplate the events that inspired the song, we continue to lament “the day the music died.”
Likewise, the prophet Amos composed and recorded some lyrics of lamentation about the day the kingdom of Israel died. In Amos 5:1-17, we find the prophet singing a song of sorrow that mourns the loss of a nation. The dirge depicts the destruction of Israel’s cities and its people carted into exile. Amos billows his ballad of God’s impending judgment that will befall Israel.
But it is interesting to see the prophet singing this funeral dirge before the death even occurred. The day of Israel’s destruction wouldn’t come for another twenty years, but Amos was already articulating his anguish.
This is similar to the experience of being a caretaker for a loved one who is dying. When you sit by their bedside day after day and watch their mind and body fade away, your soul begins to grieve their passing long before they die.
This is precisely what Amos was feeling when he reflected on Israel’s fate. In the early chapters of this book, he began his prophecy with stern words of warning, but apparently, they didn’t soften any hearts or hasten any signs of repentance. But perhaps his wailing cries will cause some to listen with a sympathetic ear. Maybe this somber song will motivate them to humble their hearts and turn from their wicked ways. After all, this tearful tune does contain a ray of hope—a promise that if Israel repents from their sin and seeks the one true God, that they could yet live.
Before we dive into the actual words of this lamentation for a nation, you should know that the song is composed with a chiastic structure, which means that it follows a step-like pattern into a theme and then follows the same pattern back out. In this case, Amos begins his song with dirges of death (1-3), then contrasts with lyrics of life (4-7) and culminates with a hymn of praise that highlights God’s sovereignty (8-9). Then he returns to lyrics of life (10-15) and concludes right where he started with a final dirge of death (16-17). Let’s take a closer look!
Dirges of Death (1-3, 16-17)
After Amos announces his lamentation for the nation in verse 1, he begins with some dirges of death in verses 2-3. In verse 2, he calls out with the evocative “Fallen, no more to rise, is virgin Israel; forsaken on her land, with none to raise her up.” He pictures Israel as a virgin, which implies that she is like a young girl in the prime of her life. But tragedy strikes in the form of an untimely death that wastes her youthful potential. This once vibrant virgin now lies totally helpless without hope of revival. Like dead troops laid out on a battlefield, she is left alone without anyone to even bury her lifeless body. Verse 3 points out why the nation has no hope: Israel’s army has been decimated (90 percent of the troops have been killed). This is, indeed, a grim picture of Israel’s death!
After the army is defeated, Amos tells us in verses 16-17 that the nation will gather in the city streets and town squares to weep and wail. The farmers will mourn their fields and the winemakers will wail in their vineyards. They will all lament for their nation together!
Since the kingdom of Israel turned their backs on the one true God and ran after idols, God would no longer sustain their national prosperity. Since they did not listen to the prophet’s warnings, God would not protect them from a foreign invasion that would lead to their death.
As we have seen throughout the Book of Amos, God promises judgment for those nations and individuals who forsake him. God will not continue to protect or prosper people who follow the path of wickedness. When nations want to live according to their own rules and desires, he will let them reap the consequences of their conceit! When individuals insist on making up their own morality rather than honoring God’s Word, God lets them taste the misery that comes from a life apart from his hand of blessing. Since God is a God of holiness and justice, he must punish unrepentant sinners. And what is the appropriate punishment for sin against and eternally holy God? Death and destruction!
Can you see Satan laughing with delight? Can you hear Amos singing dirges in the dark? If your life is spiraling toward spiritual death, break out of the sinful cycles. Humble yourself! Listen to God’s voice! Confess your sin to God and make it right with the people you’ve hurt! Repent from your sin and avoid the dirges of death!
Lyrics of Life(4-7, 10-15)
Even while Amos is lamenting the destruction of Israel, hope had not vanished! God shows his incredible love and grace by offering Israel one more chance to repent from their sins and return to a right relationship with him. In verses 4-7 and 10-15, Amos moves to second stanza of his lamentation where he offers lyrics of life. Look at his words in verse 4-5: Seek me and live; but do not seek Bethel and do not enter Gilgal or cross over to Beersheba; for Gilgal shall surely go into exile, and Bethel shall come to nothing.” The kingdom of Israel had erected shrines and sanctuaries in each of these cities and they worshipped at them regularly. Even though all three were sites of great religious-historical significance from Israel’s past, they represented man-made religious replacements for the proper place of worship—the temple in Jerusalem.
God was not interested in Israel’s fake religiosity! God wanted Israel to return to true worship through a right relationship with himself. They trusted in their own religion and lives according to their own rules rather than honoring God. In verse 7, Amos points out Israel’s duplicity—yes, they worshipped at the shrines, but they were perpetually guilty of turning justice into wormwood, which is a bitter fruit. In verses 10-13, he highlights their hypocrisy by pointing out their practices that God despised—they wouldn’t listen to their elders who reproved them at the gate, they trampled on the poor and stole their food, they extorted the lowly to build lavish houses and plant pleasant vineyards, and they accepted bribes and turned away the needy.
But even then, God offers them another chance. In verses 6, 7, and 14, we see the words “Seek me and live…Seek the Lord and live…Seek good, and not evil, that you may live…If Israel truly repented from its sins and honestly sought the Lord, God would forgive them and spare them from judgment and death.
Amos’ call to Israel for true worship still has ramifications for us today. So many modern Americans have fallen into the same mode as ancient Israel. Instead of worshipping God on his terms and according to his word, people create their own shrines and religious practices. When worship becomes “all about me” and “my needs, my desires, and “my preferences”, we are in deep trouble! When morality is defined by “what makes me feel good in the moment,” we are walking on thin ice. When we sing praise songs to Jesus on Sunday and then treat people like dirt on Monday, we are in grave danger!
But if we genuinely humble ourselves before the Lord, repent from our sins, and do what is right, God will forgive us and restore us to a right relationship with him. He will extend grace and mercy and give us life. This is why, even in Amos’ day, God was planning to send his own son to suffer and die on the cross—to offer abundant and eternal life to sinners like Israel and like us!
If you are descending into the dirges of death, hear these lyrics of life! If you have turned your back on God in any way, turn around and come home! Seek God and live!
Hymn of Praise(8-9)
As Amos delivers his dirges of death and offers lyrics of life in this lamentation for the nation of Israel, he employs a fragment of a hymn to praise God for his sovereignty of all things. This hymn of praise is the centerpiece of the lamentation; for only God has the power to change the course of nature and history.
Through the hymn, Amos reminds his hearers that God created the star constellations called Pleiades and Orion and he has the power to turn the darkness of night into the light of day. God has the power to summon the waters of the sea and pour them over the surface of the earth as he did in Noah’s day. God has power and prerogative to bring destruction on the strong and secure. God has power over life and death, and death will soon bring mourning and wailing to Israel if they don’t repent and return to the Lord.
As we listen to Amos’ lamentation for a nation, may we always remember that God is on his throne. He has power over the sun and moon, the wind and the waves, and life and death itself! As our Maker and Creator, he has power over every human being. So, instead of running after false gods with fake power, let us worship the one true God who is sovereign over everything in the universe!
Conclusion
As I mentioned at the beginning of this sermon, Amos’ stern warnings about God’s judgment on Israel fell on deaf ears. So, he tried to persuade the people to repent through this lamentation for a nation. Are you wondering if it worked? The unfortunate answer is “No!” Even these dirges of death, lyrics of life, and hymn of praise for God’s sovereignty were neither heard nor heeded! Israel remained obstinate in their sin and the Assyrians conquered them in 722B.C.
Amos is still singing his song 2700 years later! He’s singing to you and me and our nation today! Will you sing the dirges of death or the lyrics of life?