Of Priceless Value
A few
things in the Bible are referred to as “precious.” For example: the wise woman
is “more precious than rubies” (Proverbs 3:15); the word of the Lord is precious
(1 Samuel 3:31); Jesus is the precious Cornerstone (Isaiah 28:6); the precious sons
of Zion (Lamentations 4:2); the precious blood of Christ (1 Peter 1:19); our precious
faith in Christ (2 Peter 1:1); God’s great and precious promises (2 Peter 1:4).
And here in Psalm 116, the Bible refers to death as something precious in the
sight of the Lord.
The
word “precious” means to have priceless value; to be prized; to be cherished because
of its costliness. Your God views the death of His saints to be something of
priceless value. Something He prizes and cherishes. The Psalmist is expressing how
intimately God cares for him, both in matters of life and in matters of his death.
The New Living Translation expresses the meaning more naturally to modern
readers: “The LORD cares deeply when his loved ones die.” In the original Hebrew, the term rendered
“saints” refers to the Lord’s faithful followers—those who love and serve God
actively and commit themselves to a relationship with Him. This verse reveals
that God is not indifferent about how and when His faithful servants die.
The
ending of your life on earth is of priceless value to your Lord. During your
lifetime of service to Him, the Lord makes it His undertaking to save you and protect
you from evil. Many times He rescues you from death. Until, that is, your
appointed time to die arrives. The Bible
tells us that “all the days ordained for me were written in your book before
one of them came to be” (Psalm 139:16). God knows exactly when, where, and how
we will die. The moment and circumstances of our death will not
take God by surprise.
When
one of God’s faithful followers dies, it is precious to Him. God considers the
deaths of those who die in the Lord precious because his Son died
to redeem them and to bring them into His presence. Their earthly death does not mark an ending, as some view it, but actually marks a NEW BEGINNING! The death of a saint
of God is viewed, by God, as something special and it is a time of rejoicing as
the saint leaves this world of sin and goes to a perfect place to be with our
Lord. “For to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord.”
(2 Corinthians 5:8) God rejoices because the
child He loves so dearly has now come home to be with Him forever.
Oh, what a day that
will be! Wrapped in the loving arms of our Heavenly Father who considers us –
both in life and in death – to be of priceless value.
No comments:
Post a Comment