Psalm 116:15














The text is one of the precious words of the Bible - one of the instances in which the Bible sheds bright light over the darker facts of life. Sorrow, temptation, disappointment, sin, and, as here, death, are all irradiated by the light the Bible sheds upon them. Our text calls death "precious." This a strange epithet for death - one we should never have given to it. But it is true, nevertheless, as here used. Therefore note -

I. THE MEANING OF THE WORD "PRECIOUS." It is used frequently in a like sense, and means:

1. God will not suffer death to come to his saints save as he permits; and never shall his saints cease from off the earth. The fact of the old age to which they commonly attain seems to confirm what the text affirms. But:

2. The word "precious denotes also the mind of God in contemplating the death of his saints. He delights in all their life - in its beginning, its progress, and now its end. This is the last step of the saint, and our text tells with what loving regard the Lord looks down upon it.

II. THE REASON OF THIS DIVINE ESTIMATE.

1. Because of his love and sympathy. His saints are dear to him.

2. At the time of their death there is more than ever a response of trust and desire made to the heart of God. In the full vigor of life we are apt to forget, or to think but seldom and slightly, of God; we do not feel our dependence upon him as we should. But when heart and flesh fail - when all our strength is gone, then there is that utter casting of the soul upon God in which God delights.

3. The wondrous witness to others on behalf of God which the death of many a saint has borne. See how Paul never forgot the dying speech of Stephen. The blood of the martyrs has been ever the seed of the Church. And in calmer deaths than these witness for God has also been borne, and with power unknown before.

4. The precious blood of Christ is glorified. For at such times that is all their trust, During life we discuss all manner of questions, doctrines, and beliefs; but when we come to die, it is, Thou, O Christ, art all I want!"

5. It is the moment of their safe ingathering. Till then, they have been, as the sheep in the wilderness, liable to wander, exposed to peril, watched for hungrily by the wolves of hell, often all but lost. But death is God's angel gathering them safe within the eternal sheepfold. Such are some of the grounds wherefore "precious in the sight," etc.

III. BUT NOTE THE CONCLUSIONS THIS WARRANTS CONCERNING THE FUTURE OF THE PEOPLE OF GOD.

1. Death cannot end all. How could such death be "precious?"

2. Nor can it introduce us into a state of mere unconsciousness. Death for God's saints is not a sleep, but the entrance on fullness of life with Christ.

3. Still less into any purgatory. Scripture has nothing to say of such condition for God's saints. But:

4. It is a departing and being with Christ, which is far better. Surely we may "comfort one another with these words."

IV. THE ONE LIMITATION OF THIS STATEMENT.

1. It is not as to time. We may die at any moment.

2. Nor as to place. It may be anywhere.

3. Nor as to manner. It may be in deep peace or dreadful pain.

4. But it is as to character. Of the saints of God alone is it said that their deaths are "precious in," etc. Therefore, by surrender to Christ, be one of God's saints. - S.C.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
As we see death, it means decay, removal, absence — things which we do not prize. But as God sees death, He beholds something really precious to Him and, we may justly infer, precious to us, for whatever is against us cannot be precious to our Father. We are looking at the wrong side of the tapestry, where all is tangle and confusion. God sees the right side, where the design is intelligent and the colours harmonious. We are without the veil, and see but the dim light through the curtain; within is the Shechinah glory. We stand in the dark, believing and hoping; God is in the light, seeing and knowing.

I. TO GOD DEATH MEANS THE OPPORTUNITY TO SUPPLY EVERY NEED OF HIS CHILD. Health means conscious strength. While we are well, we may feel that we are equal to taking care of ourselves. Dying means absolute helplessness. Such is God's opportunity. When physicians give up the case, He takes it up. After human help has failed, the Lord delights to be to us all that we need.

II. TO GOD DEATH MEANS THE MOST INTIMATE COMMUNION. He rejoices to have all to Himself those whom He loves. He said of Israel, "I will allure her and bring her into the wilderness, and speak comfortably unto her." No one else can help us die. Through the valley we must go alone — yet not alone, for Jesus accompanies.

III. TO GOD DEATH MEANS REST. Jesus said, "Come unto Me," etc. It was His delight to quiet the heart and give rest to the weary mind. The voice from heaven said, "Blessed are the dead," etc. "There remaineth a rest," etc. To us death looks like a rest of the body — the lifeless form no longer suffers; it sleeps until the waking on the resurrection morning. God sees the rest of soul, and the event which introduces His children into this restful state is precious to Him.

IV. TO GOD DEATH MEANS LARGER LIFE. Christ came to give life, and to give it more abundantly. Whatever imparts and increases the life of God's people is of great value. While to us death seems to be the cessation of life, to God it is an increase of life. The last words of Drummond Burns were, "I have been dying for years, now I shall begin to live." It is passing from the land of the dying into the land of the living.

V. TO GOD DEATH MEANS JOY. All through the Bible we are exhorted to "Rejoice, rejoice evermore!" The joy of His children is precious to God. Dying, Rutherford exclaimed, "I feed on manna; oh, for arms to embrace Him!" President Wingate, of Wake Forest College, whispered to his wife with his last breath, "I thought it would be sweet, but I did not think it would be so sweet as this." It is passing from shadow into sunshine; from the discords of earth into the music of the celestial harps; from contraction into everlasting expansion.

VI. TO GOD DEATH MEANS MINISTRY TO THE LIVING. Through death Jesus entered the family of the Jewish ruler, and the death of our friends often leads us to invite the Man of Sorrows to our homes. The departure of loved ones opens a window of heaven, and gives us a glimpse into the beyond; and in leaving us, they, in a very true sense, come to us. We appreciate them as we never did before; we see their virtues and forget their faults; they are to us transfigured, while everything about them shines with a peculiar glory.

(A. C. Dixon, D.D.)

I. THE STATEMENT HERE MADE IMPLIES A VIEW OF DEATH OF A PECULIAR KIND. Death in itself is terrible. But to the saint death is by no means such a thing as happens unto the unregenerate. The change lies mainly in the fact that it is no more the infliction of a penalty for sin upon the believer. To him it is a privilege to die. The Head has traversed the valley of death-shade, and let the members rejoice to follow. We know that to die is not to renounce existence; we understand that death is but a passage into a higher and a nobler existence. The soul emancipated from all sinfulness passes the Jordan, and is presented without fault before the throne of God.

II. THE STATEMENT HERE MADE IS OF A MOST UNLIMITED KIND.

1. There is no limit here as to whom. Provided that the dying one be a saint, his death is precious. He may be the greatest in the Church, he may be the least: he may be the boldest confessor, he may be the most timid trembler; but if a saint, his death is precious in God's sight.

2. There is no limit as to when. What, shall the hero fall when the battle wants him most? Shall the reaper be sent home and made to lay down his sickle just when the harvest is heaviest, and the day requires every worker? To us it seemeth strange, but to God it is precious. Oh, could we lift the veil, could we understand what now we see not, we should perceive that it was better for the saints to die when they died, than it would have been for them to have lived longer lives.

3. There is no limitation as to where. Up in the lonely garret where there are none of the appliances of comfort, but all the marks of the deepest penury, up there where the dying work-girl or the crossing-sweeper dies — there is a sight most precious unto God; or yonder, in the long corridor of the hospital, where many are too engrossed in their own griefs to be able to shed a tear of sympathy, there passes away a triumphant spirit, and precious is that death in God's sight. Alone, utterly alone in the dead of night, surprised, unable to call in a helper, saintly life often has passed away; but in that form also precious is the death in God's sight.

4. There is no limit as to how. Their deaths may happen suddenly; they may be alive, and active, and in a moment fall down dead, but their death is precious.

III. THE STATEMENT OF THE TEXT MAY BE FULLY SUSTAINED AND ACCOUNTED FOR. "Precious in the eight of the Lord is the death of His saints," is a most sober and truthful declaration.

1. Because their persons were, and always will be, precious unto God. His saints! These are they whose names are borne on Jesus' breast, and engraven upon the palms of His hands; these are His bride, His spouse; therefore everything that concerns them must be precious.

2. Because precious graces are in death very frequently tested, and as frequently revealed and perfected. You cannot tell what is in a man to the fulness of him till he is tried to the full, and therefore the last trial, inasmuch as it strippeth off earth-born imperfections and develops in us that which is of God, and brings to the front the real and the true, and throws to the back the superficial and the pretentious, is precious in God's sight.

3. Because precious attributes are in dying moments gloriously illustrated. I refer now to the Divine attributes. In life and in death we prove the attribute of God's righteousness, we find that He does not lie, but is faithful to His word. We learn the attribute of mercy, He is gentle and pitiful to us in the time of our weakness. We prove the attribute of His immutability, we find Him "the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever."

4. Because it is a precious sheep folded, a precious sheaf harvested, a precious vessel which had been long at sea brought into harbour, a precious child which had been long at school to finish his training brought home to dwell in the Father's house for ever. 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.

( C. H. Spurgeon.)

I. AS THE SUPREME CRISIS OF HUMAN EXPERIENCE. This life is a life of changes, of pains, of destructions. But all are dwarfed by that change, that pain, that destruction.

1. Physically.

2. Socially.

3. Spiritually.

II. AS AFFIXING THE SEAL TO HUMAN CHARACTER.

III. AS THE ENTRANCE INTO NEW FELLOWSHIP WITH GOD (Ecclesiastes 12:7; 2 Corinthians 5:8; Philippians 1:2, 3). To the wicked, such nearness of the soul to God, with all disguises stripped away, must be an embrace of fire; but to those that are the saved of the Lord, an ineffable blessedness. The children are at school now, and the time is often a time of weary waiting; but there shall be the homecoming then!

IV. AS THE BEGINNING OF A BOUNDLESS LIFE. The intermediate waiting, be it what it may, shall be but "as a watch in the night." And then? Then a perfect manhood, a perfect world, a perfect progress for ever! The long waiting is all for this crowning joy; the many hindrances and oppositions are but a discipline to prepare for this consummate blessedness; the great salvation finds its full completion in the all-perfect life whose beauty dawns immortal at last.

(T. F. Lockyer, B.A.)

I. THE LORD HAS HIS SAINTS — HIS HOLY ONES. This imports —

1. Appropriation. They are "His" saints — saints through Him and in Him, saints of His making and modelling and establishing.

2. Devotedness. They are holy unto the Lord, sanctified or set apart to His service, self-surrendered to the adorable Redeemer.

3. Resemblance. Such characters are emphatically Godlike, holy and pure; children of their Father which is in heaven; certifying to all around their filial relationship to Him, by their manifest participation of His nature, by their reflection of His image and likeness.

4. Endearment.

II. THEY ENJOY NO IMMUNITY FROM BODILY DEATH. Waiving whatever is occasional, arising out of circumstances peculiar to individuals, it is easy to see that, though this is so painful for the time being to God's dear children, it is well adapted to promote such important ends as these; — the trial and improvement of their present grace, — the consequent heightening of their happiness in the future state , — the arresting of the sinner's attention, — the encouragement of many feeble and wavering believers through their dying testimony, — the illustration, in a stronger light, of the awful evil of sin, — the demonstration, too, of the spiritual and superior nature of Christian joy, and its absolute independency on artificial circumstances, and its true character, the joy of the Holy Ghost, — and the complete, eventual display, in the sight of heaven, and earth, and hell, of the conquest of Christ, and of His religion, over suffering, and death, and hell.

III. YET, EVEN IN DEATH THEY ARE THE CONTINUED OBJECTS OF GOD'S COMPLACENT REGARD.

1. He watches over, and sets a high value upon the holy and useful lives of His people, and will not lightly allow those lives to be abbreviated or destroyed.

2. He exercises control over the circumstances of their death.

3. When they are dying, He looks upon them and is merciful unto them.

4. He attaches great importance to their deathbed itself. The close of a Christian's career on earth, his defiance, in the strength of his Saviour, of his direst enemy, the good confession which he acknowledges when he is enabled to witness before those around his dying bed, all these are precious and important in the sight of the Lord, and ought to be so in our view, and redound, not only to his own advantage, but to the benefit of survivors, "to the praise and glory of His grace."

5. He evinces his estimation of their character, and of their circumstances, by providing for their recovery from the grave, and their enjoyment of a glorious immortality.

(W. M. Bunting.)

I. THE DEATH OF THE SAINTS IS A GREAT AND MOMENTOUS EVENT IN THE SIGHT OF GOD.

II. IT AFFORDS SUPREME GRATIFICATION TO HIS PATERNAL LOVE. O believers, it is precious to the Father to see your trials close, to see you entering on the glories of the spotless bride of Christ, to see all tears wiped from your eyes and your voices tuned to the song of Moses and the Lamb, to see you lay aside the cross and take up the crown.

III. IT EXERTS A POWERFUL INFLUENCE ON THE SALVATION OF OTHERS. Can you forget the prayers breathed out for you amid uttered longings to depart and be with Christ?

IV. THE PLACE IT OCCUPIES IN THE SALVATION OF THE SAINT HIMSELF. The time of death is a most precious time for God to work. It is the time when all pride is laid in the dust, and the soul, emptied of itself, is ready to be filled with the fulness of Christ. It is a time when lusts and passions have lost their power, and the poor sinner is ready to acquiesce in salvation by free grace. It is the time of man's extremity which is God's opportunity; a time when all human help fails, and Jehovah comes in mercy to aid.

V. The saint's death is so precious to the Lord that HE TAKES CARE TO ORDER ALL THINGS RESPECTING IT FOR THE SAINT'S GOOD AND FOR HIS OWN GLORY.

(J. Walken, D. D.)

I. WHENCE IT IS THAT THE DEATH OF THE SAINTS IS DEAR TO GOD.

1. Because then they are delivered from all their sufferings.

2. Because an end is then put to all their labours.

3. That He may approve their conduct, and confer upon them a glorious recompense.

4. Because they are then made capable of serving Him better than in this present world.

II. THE PRACTICAL INFLUENCE WHICH THE CONSIDERATION OF THE DEATH OF THE SAINTS BEING DEAR TO GOD SHOULD HAVE UPON US.

1. It should make us ambitious to attain their character.

2. It teaches us that none are exempted from mortality. All the ingenuity of the sons of men hath not been able to discover an antidote against mortality, and the saints must submit to it as well as others. What, then, remains for us to do? Surely to live the life of the righteous, that we may have our last end like his,

3. The death of the saints should fill us with the deepest regret. I may call them the pillars of the earth, which preserve it from destruction. When these are removed, there is reason to apprehend approaching desolation.

(D. Johnston, D.D.)

I. CONSIDER WHY GOD CLAIMS SAINTS AS HIS OWN.

1. He has set them apart for Himself, in His original purpose of redemption.

2. He has enstamped His moral image upon them.

3. They have freely and sincerely given themselves away to Him.

II. SHOW THAT GOD TAKES PECULIAR CARE OF THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS.

1. He always takes care when His saints shall die.

2. He takes care that they shall die, not only at the best time, but under the best circumstances.

3. God takes care of His saints, when their pure and immortal spirits leave their clayey tabernacle, and take their course to the world of light. He knows that death is a great and solemn change, and He will not forsake them while passing through it.

III. IMPROVEMENT.

1. If God treats His saints in such a manner as has been said, then we may learn the extent of His sovereignty towards all mankind.

2. In the view of this subject, we may see that real saints have a permanent source of comfort, to which all who disbelieve and reject the Gospel are entire strangers.

3. Since God claims all real Christians as His own, and always takes a gracious care of them, they ought to make their calling and election sure to themselves. They are absolutely secure in His view, and they ought to be absolutely secure in their own view.

4. If the death of saints be precious in the sight of the Lord, then it ought to be precious and desirable in their own sight. They ought to live in hope, and not in fear of death.

5. Since God claims saints as His own, and takes peculiar care of them both living and dying, it infinitely concerns sinners to become saints, and live a holy and devout life.

6. If God takes peculiar care of saints in life, and often gives them a peaceful death, then their death ought to be peculiarly regarded as very precious and instructive.

7. If God claims all real saints as His own, and takes peculiar care of their death, which is precious in His sight, then pious mourners have ground of support and consolation under the bereavement of their pious relatives and friends.

(N. Emmons, D.D.)

I. HE WILL NOT PERMIT IT TO TAKE PLACE AT THE WILL OF HIS ENEMIES, OR WHENEVER THEY IN THEIR MALICE MAY SEEK TO COMPASS IT. He who turned the hearts of Joseph's brethren rather to sell him into slavery than to slay him and conceal his blood; He who preserved the three Hebrew children in the midst of the fiery furnace, and brought Daniel unhurt out of the lions' den; He who sent His angel and delivered Peter out of the hand of Herod, and from all the expectation of the people of the Jews; He who, when His servant Paul was pressed out of measure, above strength, insomuch that he despaired even of life, but had the sentence of death in himself, delivered him from so great a death as that which he feared, has still the hearts of all men in His hands, and all events at His disposal. He knoweth how to deliver the godly out of temptation, and to reserve the unjust to the day of judgment to be punished.

II. HE WILL NOT PERMIT THE DEATH OF HIS SAINTS TO TAKE PLACE BUT FOR PURPOSES WORTHY OF BEING GAINED EVEN BY SUCH A PRICE.

1. The impression it may make on others who remain for a time behind those who are taken away.

2. The acceptable homage which God may purpose to derive to Himself from the death of His saints.

3. The purpose of their death to the saints themselves, which is to usher them into a blessed immortality.

(J. Henderson, D.D.)

I. Precious, therefore, in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, BECAUSE IT BRINGS THEM NEARER TO GOD. How strange, indeed how absurd, this life would be if death ended all! Think of a man like Gladstone, who lived under a high sense of duty, whose life was one of prayer, who sang "Praise to the Holiest in the height" amid the sufferings of his last days; — just imagine all this ending in nothingness! Why, it reminds one of the famous Amblongus pie of the nonsense book. It was a pie of most elaborate construction. Particular directions were given as to the making of it, what was to be put in, and in what quantities. It was to be very carefully compounded, and most scientifically baked, and then the final instructions were to "open the window and pitch it out as fast as possible." Just as laughable, so to speak, is the idea of a man, trained to high thought and holy feeling and submissive will, being, at the last, simply "cast as rubbish to the void." But Christ hath brought life and immortality to light.

II. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, BECAUSE IT ENDS THEIR STRUGGLE. There is no surer thing about life here than that it is a struggle. The road is uphill all the way, and you must wrestle on towards heaven. But it is just this struggling that makes us, and gives us a character worth taking into the next world. It is told of the mother of Mr. Balfour that, on one occasion, when her sons were going to play in a football match, some friend advised her to keep them from going because of the danger. "Would you have me spoil a character?" was the mother's reply. She herself was anxious about them, and didn't like their playing; but to keep them back from joining their comrades merely because of any risk, she felt, would do more harm than good. All the same, you may be sure, it would be a relief to her to see them safe home again after it was all over. And so God does not separate us from the need for struggle here, and the risks attending it. We have to face them all. He wants us to gain and acquire character through a well-fought fight. But will not He too be pleased, — relieved, might we say? — when all the struggle is safely over, and death brings His children home?

III. Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints, BECAUSE IT ENDS THEIR IGNORANCE. It is said, and with a good deal of truth, that most people who do any good in the world die without knowing it. That is very hard. Surely such, above all, deserve to know at least the good they have done. But often not till they are gone is the value of their work realized. They may have thought they were failures, they may have longed to be taken away as useless; and yet, when they are gone, others rise up and call them blessed. "Ah!" we say, "if they had only known, if they had only had the satisfaction of knowing that while they were with us!" But do you not think they know now? We may be sure that death ends their ignorance as to that, and as to many of the things that men here have for ages desired to look into.

(J. S. Maver, M. A.)

You might have thought that it would have been their life which was declared "precious"; for what are they but the army of the Lord? Are they not those who maintain His cause against a wicked and rebellious generation? And when withdrawn from earth, are they not comparatively withdrawn from all opportunity of witnessing for the truth, and upholding Christ's kingdom against the powers of darkness? Oh, it does but show more clearly how much of danger surrounds the saints during their sojourning below, that their death should be counted so valuable, notwithstanding that it interrupts their usefulness, removes them from the scene where alone they can wage the war with the enemies of God. Was the death of Paul precious, though his death was as when a standard-bearer fell, and there have arisen none since to take up his mantle as a champion of Christ? Then does not the very preciousness of his death give additional meaning and emphasis to his own words — "I keep Under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway"? The death is precious because the life is perilous; and God rejoices over His saints when He has gathered them into the separate state, because then they can be no more tempted to the forsaking His law, no more exposed to the assaults of the evil one, no more challenged to a battle in which if victory be glorious there is all the risk of a shameful defeat. And though it may seem to you that the usefulness of life must after all detract from the preciousness of death, so that you can hardly see how that is to be thought of great worth which transplants the believer from activity to quietude, from the maintenance of God's cause to the deep recesses of the separate state, yet reflect for a moment on the power of a saint's death, and you may believe that, even as a weapon against the unrighteous, death must be precious. It was in dying that Christ conquered. What was so precious as His death, forasmuch as through death He destroyed "him that had the power of death, that is, the devil"? It is in dying that saints often achieve their greatest victory, or do most for the cause of God or the truth. There is a power in their memory which makes them survive dissolution. The death of the righteous is often effectual in convincing those who were not moved by their life. The piety which can smile at the grim tyrant, more persuades men of its truth, and more urges to imitation, than piety under lesser trial and demonstration, as it was not in the pulpit, nor in the study, but at the stake, that martyrs lighted the candle which yet sheds over nations so rich an illumination. Let us not, then, speak of death as necessarily the termination of usefulness. It may often be only that which carries usefulness to its height, and gives it perpetuity, Having put off their armour, they may still be in the fight, their example remaining to incite others to constancy, their memory descending to lead on successors in the championship of truth. Housed, then, by death, so that everlasting blessedness is made theirs beyond every possible contingency; removed from a scene where every hour in danger of dishonouring and denying God, to one where they are certain to love Him and adore Him without the slightest interruption, the dissolution moreover of this framework of flesh being often but a process through which righteousness takes a higher stand in the witnessing for the Gospel, and in the advancement of the kingdom of Christ — oh, tell me not that death can be other than valuable in the eyes of the Almighty; valuable as securing those whom He loves and promoting that which He designs.

(H. Melvill, B.D.)

The word here rendered "saints" means those that are saved by grace, to use the New Testament language, and are now endeavouring to live soberly, righteously, and godly in the world, because they are taught or trained so to do by the grace of God which has brought them salvation. Now, all through their lives God watches over these, His saints. Precious are their lives in His sight. He hears their supplications, and when they are brought low He helps them; He makes all things work together for their good; precious to Him are their prayers and their praises. Their very tears and cries and the sobs of their hearts are known to Him. Precious is their daily service, whether rendered in silence and obscurity or under the stimulus of publicity and the responsibility of a high position. Precious to the Lord is their walk before Him. In their going out and their coming in, their rising up and lying down, the Lord knoweth them that are His, and the Lord careth for them. He will not let them die at any such time or in any such way as may do them hurt. They may die early or late (God appoints the time) — early with much promise unfulfilled or just in the midst of a very useful life; or in old age, after years of helplessness. No one can tell you why. But God knows, and the death of His saints, at what time and in what manner soever it occurs, is always watched over by His unsleeping eye, engaging the tender pity and lovingkindness of Him who is Lord both of the Lead and of the living, for these have fought a fight of faith, and their Master calls them to peace. Peace, at last: no enemies any more; no enemies within; no enemies without; no more wounds from false tongues or blows from hands unjust; no more conflict in the heart; no more temptation of the world, or of the flesh, or of the devil. They have finished their work, and their Master calls them to rest. Their bodies rest in the tomb, but their spirits rest in the light of God. Oh, happy release to those that have laboured and not fainted! Absent from the body, they are present with the Lord, and it is far better.

(D. Fraser, D.D.)

The death of His saints is the climax and culmination of all God's works on their behalf; therefore does He rejoice in it. As fathers welcome home their boys and girls when holiday-time arrives — as the shepherd looks with joy upon the sheep gathered in the fold, and welcomes the late-comer with special gladness — as they who stand upon the pier look on with pleasure when the sails are furled and the anchor dropped and the voyage over — as the husbandman gazes with delight upon the sheaves ingathered, and hears with delight the cries of harvest home, — so does our Father stand with rapture at His gate to welcome home the children for their eternal holiday; so does our Shepherd gather to His side in heaven the sheep for whom He bled; so do the heavenly watchers on the quays in glory look with glistening eyes upon those who have an abundant entrance into the kingdom of His dear Son, like ships that have sailed from far, and weathered many a storm, arriving safely in the harbour with their precious freight; so does the Lord God, the Husbandman of our souls, look on with great delight when shocks of corn that are fully ripe fall beneath the sickle and are gathered into His garner. "Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints," for it is the fulfilment of all God's designs of life; and, when the topstones are brought on with shouting, they shall pass from sonnets of His grace to singing of His glory, which He has made to be theirs as well.

(T. Spurgeon.)

People
Psalmist
Places
Jerusalem
Topics
Dear, Death, Godly, Ones, Precious, Saints, Sight
Outline
1. The psalmist professes his love and duty to God for his deliverance
12. He studies to be thankful

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Psalm 116:15

     5974   value
     7150   righteous, the
     7155   saints
     9022   death, believers
     9105   last things

Psalm 116:1-19

     8609   prayer, as praise and thanksgiving

Library
Requiting God
'What shall I render unto the Lord for all His benefits toward me? 13. I will take the cup of salvation, and call upon the name of the Lord.'--PSALM cxvi. 12, 13. There may possibly be a reference here to a part of the Passover ritual. It seems to have become the custom in later times to lift high the wine cup at that feast and drink it with solemn invocation and glad thanksgiving. So we find our Lord taking the cup--the 'cup of blessing' as Paul calls it--and giving thanks. But as there is no record
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Experience, Resolve, and Hope
'Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling. 9. I will walk before the Lord in the land of the living.'--PSALM cxvi. 8, 9. This is a quotation from an earlier psalm, with variations which are interesting, whether we suppose that the Psalmist was quoting from memory and made them unconsciously, or whether, as is more probable, he did so, deliberately and for a purpose. The variations are these. The words in the original psalm (lvi.) according to the Revised
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

Precious Deaths
The text informs us that the deaths of God's saints are precious to him. How different, then, is the estimate of human life which God forms from that which has ruled the minds of great warriors and mighty conquerors. Had Napoleon spoken forth his mind about the lives of men in the day of battle, he would have likened them to so much water spilt upon the ground. To win a victory, or subdue a province, it mattered not though he strewed the ground with corpses thick as autumn leaves, nor did it signify
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 18: 1872

Prayer Answered, Love Nourished
"Oh the transporting, rapturous scene That rises to my sight! Sweet fields arrayed in living green, And rivers of delight. Filled with delight my raptured soul Would here no longer stay, Though Jordan's waves around me roll, Fearless I'd launch away." Yet nevertheless the Christian may do well sometimes to look backward; he may look back to the hole of the pit and the miry clay whence he was digged--the retrospect will help him to be humble, it will urge him to be faithful. He may look back with
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 5: 1859

Personal Service
THESE SENTENCES SUGGEST a contrast. David's religion was one of perfect liberty;--"Thou hast loosed my bonds." It was one of complete service;--"Truly l am thy servant. I am thy servant and the son of thine handmaid." Did I say the text suggested a contrast? Indeed the two things need never be contrasted, for they are found to be but part of one divine experience in the Jives of all God's people. The religion of Jesus is the religion of liberty. The true believer can say, when his soul is in a healthy
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 6: 1860

Called Up
"Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints."--Ps. cxvi. 15. Mechthild of Hellfde, 1277. tr., Emma Frances Bevan, 1899 He laid him down upon the breast of God In measureless delight-- Enfolded in the tenderness untold, The sweetness infinite.
Frances Bevan—Hymns of Ter Steegen and Others (Second Series)

What Shall I Render Ps 116:12,13
What shall I render Ps 116:12,13 [5] For mercies, countless as the sands, Which daily I receive From Jesus, my Redeemer's hands, My soul what canst thou give? Alas! from such a heart as mine, What can I bring him forth? My best is stained and dyed with sin, My all is nothing worth. Yet this acknowledgment I'll make For all he has bestowed; Salvation's sacred cup I'll take And call upon my God. The best returns for one like me, So wretched and so poor; Is from his gifts to draw a plea, And ask
John Newton—Olney Hymns

But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty...
6. But this Only Son of God, the Father Almighty, let us see what He did for us, what He suffered for us. "Born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary." He, so great God, equal with the Father, born of the Holy Ghost and of the Virgin Mary, born lowly, that thereby He might heal the proud. Man exalted himself and fell; God humbled Himself and raised him up. Christ's lowliness, what is it? God hath stretched out an hand to man laid low. We fell, He descended: we lay low, He stooped. Let us lay hold
St. Augustine—On the Creeds

"O Lord! I Beseech Thee, Deliver My Soul. " --Ps. cxvi. 4
"O Lord! I beseech Thee, deliver my Soul."--Ps. cxvi. 4. O take away this evil heart; This heart of unbelief renew; So prone, so eager to depart From Thee, the living God and true. O crucify this carnal mind, 'Tis enmity, my God, to Thee; I cannot love Thee, till I find The mind that was in Christ in me. O sanctify this sinful soul; Health to the dying leper give; Thou, if Thou wilt, canst make me whole; Speak but the word, and I shall live. O disenthrall this captive will, (Free only when Thou
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Rest for the Soul --Psalm cxvi. 7
Rest for the Soul--Psalm cxvi. 7. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From vain pursuits and madd'ning cares, From lonely woes that wring thy breast, The world's allurements,--Satan's snares. Return unto thy rest, my soul, From all the wanderings of thy thought, From sickness unto death made whole, Safe through a thousand perils brought. Then to thy rest, my soul, return From passions every hour at strife; Sin's works, and ways, and wages spurn, Lay hold upon eternal life. God is thy Rest,--with
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

Gratitude for Redemption. --Ps. cxvi.
Gratitude for Redemption.--Ps. cxvi. I love the Lord;--He lent an ear, When I for help implored; He rescued me from all my fear, Therefore I love the Lord. Bound hand and foot with chains of sin, Death dragg'd me for his prey; The pit was moved to take me in, All hope was far away. I cried in agony of mind, "Lord, I beseech Thee, save:" He held me;--Death his prey resign'd, And Mercy shut the grave. Return, my soul, unto thy rest, From God no longer roam: His hand hath bountifally blest, His
James Montgomery—Sacred Poems and Hymns

That we must not Believe Everyone, and that we are Prone to Fall in Our Words
Lord, be thou my help in trouble, for vain is the help of man.(1) How often have I failed to find faithfulness, where I thought I possessed it. How many times I have found it where I least expected. Vain therefore is hope in men, but the salvation of the just, O God, is in Thee. Blessed be thou, O Lord my God, in all things which happen unto us. We are weak and unstable, we are quickly deceived and quite changed. 2. Who is the man who is able to keep himself so warily and circumspectly as not
Thomas A Kempis—Imitation of Christ

But Some Man Will Say, Would Then those Midwives and Rahab have done Better...
34. But some man will say, Would then those midwives and Rahab have done better if they had shown no mercy, by refusing to lie? Nay verily, those Hebrew women, if they were such as that sort of persons of whom we ask whether they ought ever to tell a lie, would both eschew to say aught false, and would most frankly refuse that foul service of killing the babes. But, thou wilt say, themselves would die. Yea, but see what follows. They would die with an heavenly habitation for their incomparably more
St. Augustine—Against Lying

But Sometimes a Peril to Eternal Salvation Itself is Put Forth against Us...
40. But sometimes a peril to eternal salvation itself is put forth against us; [2466] which peril, they cry out, we by telling a lie, if otherwise it cannot be, must ward off. As, for instance, if a person who is to be baptized be in the power of impious and infidel men, and cannot be got at that he may be washed with the laver of regeneration, but by deceiving his keepers with a lie. From this most invidious cry, by which we are compelled, not for a man's wealth or honors in this world which are
St. Augustine—Against Lying

Palestine Eighteen Centuries Ago
Eighteen and a half centuries ago, and the land which now lies desolate--its bare, grey hills looking into ill-tilled or neglected valleys, its timber cut down, its olive- and vine-clad terraces crumbled into dust, its villages stricken with poverty and squalor, its thoroughfares insecure and deserted, its native population well-nigh gone, and with them its industry, wealth, and strength--presented a scene of beauty, richness, and busy life almost unsurpassed in the then known world. The Rabbis never
Alfred Edersheim—Sketches of Jewish Social Life

The Puritan Innovations
The causes which led to the further change. The Revised Prayer-book, after the opposition in Devonshire and Norfolk had subsided, received very general recognition. Of course there were some who, while grateful for the reforms which had been effected, could ill suppress their conviction that the hands of the Reformers had been stayed too soon. These, however, in England at least, were not a numerous body; and if no influence from without had been brought to bear upon them, they would probably have
Herbert Mortimer Luckock—Studies in the Book of Common Prayer

John Bunyan on the Terms of Communion and Fellowship of Christians at the Table of the Lord;
COMPRISING I. HIS CONFESSION OF FAITH, AND REASON OF HIS PRACTICE; II. DIFFERENCES ABOUT WATER BAPTISM NO BAR TO COMMUNION; AND III. PEACEABLE PRINCIPLES AND TRUE[1] ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. Reader, these are extraordinary productions that will well repay an attentive perusal. It is the confession of faith of a Christian who had suffered nearly twelve years' imprisonment, under persecution for conscience sake. Shut up with his Bible, you have here the result of a prayerful study of those holy
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Dryness of Preachers, and the Various Evils which Arise from their Failing to Teach Heart-Prayer --Exhortation to Pastors to Lead People Towards this Form Of
If all those who are working for the conquest of souls sought to win them by the heart, leading them first of all to prayer and to the inner life, they would see many and lasting conversions. But so long as they only address themselves to the outside, and instead of drawing people to Christ by occupying their hearts with Him, they only give them a thousand precepts for outward observances, they will see but little fruit, and that will not be lasting. When once the heart is won, other defects are
Jeanne Marie Bouvières—A Short Method Of Prayer And Spiritual Torrents

Letter Xlix to Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia.
To Romanus, Sub-Deacon of the Roman Curia. He urges upon him the proposal of the religious life, recalling the thought of death. Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux, to his dear Romanus, as to his friend. MY DEAREST FRIEND, How good you are to me in renewing by a letter the sweet recollection of yourself and in excusing my tiresome delay. It is not possible that any forgetfulness of your affection could ever invade the hearts of those who love you; but, I confess, I thought you had almost forgotten yourself
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Out of the Deep of Death.
My heart is disquieted within me, and the fear of death has fallen upon me.--Ps. iv. 4. My flesh and my heart faileth, but God is the strength of my heart.--Ps. lxiii. 25. Yea though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for Thou art with me.--Ps. xxiii. 4. Thou hast delivered my soul from death, mine eyes from tears, and my feet from falling.--Ps. cxvi. 8. What will become of us after we die? What will the next world be like? What is heaven like? Shall I be able
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

Out of the Deep of Loneliness, Failure, and Disappointment.
My heart is smitten down, and withered like grass. I am even as a sparrow that sitteth alone on the housetop--Ps. cii. 4, 6. My lovers and friends hast Thou put away from me, and hid mine acquaintance out of my sight--Ps. lxxviii. 18. I looked on my right hand, and saw there was no man that would know me. I had no place to flee unto, and no man cared for my soul. I cried unto Thee, O Lord, and said, Thou art my Hope. When my spirit was in heaviness, then Thou knewest my path.--Ps. cxlii. 4, 5.
Charles Kingsley—Out of the Deep

"Nunc Dimittis"
We shall note, this morning, first, that every believer may be assured of departing in peace; but that, secondly, some believers feel a special readiness to depart now: "Now lettest thou thy servant depart in peace;" and, thirdly, that there are words of encouragement to produce in us the like readiness: "according to thy word." There are words of Holy Writ which afford richest consolation in prospect of departure. I. First, then, let us start with the great general principle, which is full of comfort;
Charles Haddon Spurgeon—Spurgeon's Sermons Volume 17: 1871

A Treatise on Good Works
I. We ought first to know that there are no good works except those which God has commanded, even as there is no sin except that which God has forbidden. Therefore whoever wishes to know and to do good works needs nothing else than to know God's commandments. Thus Christ says, Matthew xix, "If thou wilt enter into life, keep the commandments." And when the young man asks Him, Matthew xix, what he shall do that he may inherit eternal life, Christ sets before him naught else but the Ten Commandments.
Dr. Martin Luther—A Treatise on Good Works

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