Precious in the sight of the Lord
is the death of His saints. Psalm 116:15
This seems like a platitude to sooth grieving survivors. Yes, He brings His children home to Himself – whatever could be better? But our hearts still hurt here. How could God call precious something so painful to those that remain?
We know God loves us, but in this passage it is our death that is precious. I have always thought of that word with some sentimentality as something special. That is not wrong, but the Hebrew word yakar is much richer. It not only means valuable or of high worth, but also heavy. This heaviness can be like the heaviness of something substantial or it can be heavy as in grievous.
If something is yakar, precious, it is not to be taken lightly. It is of great importance and not a small matter. In fact, nothing that happens to us is taken lightly by our loving Father. He knows the hairs of our head as well as the number of our days. Our life is precious and so is this momentous transition.
Though He calls us home to Him – a time of great joy as a Father welcoming His child – He also grieves with those who remain. Death was never part of the plan and God hurts when we hurt. He knows that all those who love Him will one day be reunited, but He counts this temporary separation from loved ones as a weighty matter. It is precious in His sight.
How comforting to know that He holds the hour of our transition as a precious moment. He does not dismiss our grief in light of the joy of a homecoming. He cares enough to mourn with us here while rejoicing with the departed. Bless God.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in Your book were written, every one of them,
the days that were formed for me,
when as yet there was none of them. Psalm 139:16
