Our Death, Precious to God?

There is a statement in Psalm 116 that may strike you as a bit surprising, maybe even a bit off-putting. Verse 15 says, “Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.” How can this thing that is so heartbreaking to us humans be “precious” to God? Even when a death isn’t untimely, the sadness of losing a loved one is close to the deepest grief a human can experience. When it is untimely, the grief can be overwhelming. How can such a thing be “precious” to God?

Psalm 116:15 (actually, all of Psalm 116) helps us to remember what death actually is, for the believer. For those who are in Christ, death is no longer the final enemy, the transition into eternal separation from God. In his death and resurrection, Jesus Christ conquered death for those who believe in him. His death paid the price for our sin, removing the penalty of death from us, and his resurrection overpowered death itself, a victory he promises to share with all who believe. So, for all Christians, “death [has been] swallowed up in victory” (1 Cor. 15:54). So now we can say, “O death, where is your victory? O death, where is your sting?” (1 Cor. 15:55). For those who are in Christ, for God’s “saints” (Rom. 1:6–7), death is a transition into the presence of the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8), and it positions us for a glorious resurrection into everlasting life in heaven, where “death shall be no more” (Rev. 21:4).

All of this is grounded in the finished work of Jesus on our behalf, in which God the Father takes particular delight. Every Christian’s death provides another occasion for God to rejoice over what Jesus his Son accomplished for us. The death of a Christian is the time when Christ’s victory over death begins to be made personally effective. Jesus himself said, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). Is it any wonder that God would say, “This moment of death, when I see my Son’s victory over death now being made effective for another one of our redeemed people, is very precious to me”!

As we consider the deaths of dear fellow believers, as we consider the prospect of our own death, let us not lose sight of how God is viewing things. And let us let our way of seeing the death of believers become more and more like God’s.

Mike Bullmore
Psalm 116