One day we will leave this world. We are reminded of this fact frequently, and the passing of time is a personal pointer to it. Whatever else this world may be, it is not our eternal home. Recently, our congregation lost a valued elder when he joined the redeemed in the Father’s house after many years of service for the Master.
As I thought about his passing, my mind went to the words of the psalmist in Psalm 116:15: ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.’ At the very least, that verse tells us of divine interest in each believer’s moment of passing from earth to heaven. To us, a door was closing on his life; for him, a door was opening into an experience that Paul describes as far better.
In other Bible passages we have descriptions of how believers experience their deaths. They reach the Father’s house, they arrive at the heavenly city, they live in the better country. The psalmist however focuses on how God, the infallible Assessor, estimates the occasion. He regards it as precious.
Often, the insights of C. H. Spurgeon enable us to get the emphases of a biblical passage. Here is what he says on this text: ‘God the Father sees the fruit of his eternal love at last ingathered: Jesus sees the purchase of his passion at last secured: the Holy Spirit sees the object of his continual workmanship at last perfected: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit rejoice that now the blood-bought ones are free from all inbred sin, and delivered from all temptation.’
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
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