by Tommy Peeler<\/p>\n
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones<\/em>” (Psalm 116:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
What does this mean?<\/p>\n
Psalms 116 is best described as an individual psalm of thanksgiving. He is thanking God for saving his life. The writer had an experience where the “cords of death encompassed me and the terrors of Sheol come upon me<\/em>” (Psalms 116:3). The LORD “rescued my soul from death<\/em>” in Psalms 116:8. He thanks God for saving his life in Psalms 116:4, 6, 8, and loosing his bonds in Psalms 116:16. He is thankful to be walking before the LORD in “the land of the living” (Psalms 116:9). In gratitude for God’s mercy in saving his life, he keeps his vows (Psalms 116:14, 18) and offers a sacrifice of thanksgiving (Psalms 116:17). The writer rejoices in God sparing his life.<\/p>\n
“Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones<\/em>” (Psalms 116:15).<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
Does this mean that death is a beautiful thing among the godly? Often, it is interpreted this way. I do not deny there is some truth in this idea (Philippians 1:20-23; Revelation 14:13), but is that what this specific passage teaches? Remember, the overall context of Psalm 116 is about God saving and sparing lives. The interpretation of death being precious and beautiful does not easily fit the overall context of this psalm.<\/p>\n
What does the specific word “precious” mean in this context? This Hebrew word is an adjective, and it is used as an adjective around 35 times in Old Testament. It is most often used of precious or costly jewels or wealth (II Samuel 12:30; I Kings 5:17; 7:9, 10, 11; 10:2, 10, 11; I Chronicles 20:2; 29:2; II Chronicles 3:6; 9:1, 9, 10; 32:27; Job 28:16; Proverbs 1:13; 3:15; Ezekiel 27:22; 28:13; Daniel 11:38). What else can looking at this word tells us? The verb form of this word is used in II Kings 1:13-14. A commander of fifty men begs Elijah that their lives be precious in Elijah’s eyes (and God’s). The same verb appears in Psalms 72 in a description of an ideal king who rescues the poor and needy, and “their blood will be precious in his sight<\/em>” (Psalms 72:14). Both these passages use this verb in the sense of someone’s life being precious, costly, or valuable. Therefore, it is used to save precious lives. That seems to be the same sense of using the adjective in Psalms 116:15. I think the NET translation captures the meaning of Psalms 116:15 when it says, “The LORD values the lives of his faithful followers.<\/em>“<\/p>\n
While death for the godly leads us into God’s presence, God also delights in saving lives and rescuing his servants from death. The New Testament also teaches this truth (Philippians 2:25-27; II Timothy 3:10-11).<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
by Tommy Peeler “Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones” (Psalm 116:15). What does this mean? Psalms 116 is best described as an individual psalm of thanksgiving. He is thanking God for saving his life. The writer had an experience where the “cords of death encompassed me and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[109,1693,516],"class_list":["post-68738","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-article","tag-death","tag-precious","tag-psalms"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":86489,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/precious-things\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":0},"title":"Precious Things","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 8, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"by Leon Mauldin via Biblical Insights, Vol. 15 No. 2, February 2015 The Word of the Lord I Samuel 3:1 gives the setting for God's initial calling of young Samuel to the prophetic office: \"And the child Samuel ministered unto Jehovah before Eli. And the word of Jehovah was precious\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":26886,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/psalms-100\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":1},"title":"Psalms 100","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 6, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: Psalms 100 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0There is a psalm which is specifically titled as one to be used for thanksgiving or during a thank offering, it is Psalms 100 II.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0What you should do ... \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Shout joyfully to the Lord \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a01.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0Some things are not meant to be kept\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":67148,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-saying-in-the-precious-name-of-jesus-at-the-end-of-a-prayer-wrong\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":2},"title":"Is saying “in the precious name of Jesus” at the end of a prayer wrong?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 22, 2024","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Dear brother, Recently, a brother in the congregation insisted that it is wrong and unscriptural to end one's prayer with the phrase \"in the precious name of Jesus.\" He insisted that adding the adjective \"precious\" is tantamount to adding to the word of God. He has quoted a La\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":60579,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/the-valley-of-the-shadow-of-death\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":3},"title":"The Valley of the Shadow of Death","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 29, 2006","format":false,"excerpt":"by Earl Kimbrough Via\u00a0Guardian of Truth XXXII: 17, pp. 534-535, September 1, 1988 The beautiful twenty-third Psalm is a song of faith. It abounds with an assurance of God's guidance and protection. There is mention of the danger of enemies, both past and present, but it is muted by David's\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Article"","block_context":{"text":"Article","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/article\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":37837,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/do-you-know-what-is-following-you\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":4},"title":"Do You Know What Is Following You?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"March 17, 2013","format":false,"excerpt":"by Jeffrey W. Hamilton Text: I Timothy 5:24-25 \u00a0 I.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0I guess my wife and I are reaching another milestone in life. People we\u2019ve known, who are our age, are beginning to pass away. \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0A.\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0It might sound sad, but it really isn\u2019t. I was thinking about the passing of someone recently.\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Audio"","block_context":{"text":"Audio","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/audio\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":24292,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-meant-by-the-beauty-of-the-lord\/","url_meta":{"origin":68738,"position":5},"title":"What is meant by the beauty of the Lord?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"August 14, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In Psalm 27:4 and others when it states the beauty of the Lord, what do you think of?\u00a0 There are several different ways, I think, to look at this and I wanted someone else's' opinion to help me. Thank you. Answer: \"One thing I have desired of the LORD,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68738","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=68738"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/68738\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=68738"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=68738"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=68738"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}