Today’s Reading: Psalms 116, 117, & 118
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 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