Precious in God's Sight

Our reading this week continues to take us through the book of Psalms. Reading through Psalm 116, I came across this curious reminder in verse 15:

“Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his faithful servants."

This verse I have often quoted at funeral services. It’s a reminder that what is unbelievably painful on this side… Losing a loved one… Is precious on the other side, when God welcomes a child home. I also read this in the New Living Translation, which puts it this way:

“The Lord cares deeply when his loved ones die."

I just got back from a nursing home, where a friend is on hospice. Unable to talk, barely opening his eyes, in bed and in pain, hardly dignified. It’s the picture that we often see at this stage of one’s passing. It’s hard to watch.

The author of life knows the exact number of our days, he knows the how and when, and he doesn’t let us in on those facts or figures. He does, however, tell us that he cares “deeply” when his loved ones are dying. I need that picture, that reminder, that promise, so that when I’m watching a loved one, or when it comes my time, that my Lord cares deeply. That doesn’t mean we don’t go through anguish, pain, crying, gut-wrenching emotions, and the like. He lets us walk through that stuff and I think we would all prefer that it were somewhat different, but alas, it is not.

There is some sense that our passing, our loved ones passing, our friends and acquaintances passing, is precious to our Father in heaven. He knows it and he’s able to give us what some have called “Dying Grace." It is a grace to walk through the valley of the shadow of death and fear no evil, for as Psalm 23 says, “He is with us”.

Hospice is no fun. I am very grateful for those men and women who serve as hospice nurses and aids. They truly possess a beautiful gift from the Lord. And it’s equally beautiful to see families rally around the bedside of those who are clinging to life. I’m convinced that part of that “Dying Grace” that the Lord gives us is the people he places around us.

I don’t have a really happy ending to this blog. Just a reminder that the Lord himself “cares deeply" when we are walking through those treacherous valleys. And knowing that he cares that way, and that ultimately him welcoming us home is precious… Is enough for me.

He is for us.