some help with this bible verse?

Question

Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints.
Psalms 116:15
what does this text mean? i read the whole chapter and it talks about how awesome the Lord is bc He's always there when you need him and hears our cries and stuff...what does this verse have to do with the rest of the chapter? it caught my attention bc i saw a satan worshipper's myspace page and this was her quote...that verse, a little disturbing.

Answer 1

The NLT says "The Lord's loved ones are precious to him; it grieves him when they die." It also corrolates to Psalm 72:14 which says "He will save them from oppression and from violence, for their lives are precious to him."
To me it means that God stays close to us even in death. When someone we love is nearing death, we may become angry and feel abandoned, but believers (God's loved ones) are precious to God, and he carefully chooses the time when they will be called into his presence. This earth is not our home, and when we die, it seems like a time to be sad, when it is a time to rejoice, because we are finally home with our Lord in a place that we will remain forever. Glory!

Answer 2

The death of His saints is of concern to the Lord. Precious means "to carefully watch over." It may also include the idea that the death of His people is a costly matter to Him.—Ryrie Study Notes

The death of a saint is not something the Lord considers as cheap; He does not let His people die for no reason. Here the deliverance of a saint from the brink of death (vv. 3, 8) resounded to God’s praise and the edification of saints for ages to come—Bible Knowledge Commentary

Precious in the sight of the Lord—Many have understood this verse as meaning, "the saints are too precious in the Lord's sight, lightly to give them over to death:" and this, Calmet contends, is the true sense of the text. Though they have many enemies, their lives are precious in his sight, and their foes shall not prevail against them.—Adam Clarke's Commentary

[Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of his saints] The thought of this verse seems to be that God does not lightly esteem the death of His martyrs. He will hold the murderers guilty and punish them in eternal hell (Gal. 5:19-21; Rev. 21:8; 22:15). It could not be that God gets pleasure out of the death of His saints. He does not take pleasure even in the death of the wicked (Ezek. 18:23,32; 33:11). It is not God's will that death take anyone. He had to pass the sentence of death upon all who sinned, but death is an enemy and will be destroyed at the end of the Millennium (1Cor. 15:24-28; Rev. 20:11-15; 21:3-7; 22:3). —Dake's Study Notes

Answer 3

This is from the New American Bible - in the foot notes:

"The meaning is that the death of God's faithful is grievous to God, not that God is pleased with the death." It then directs you to cross-reference to Psalm 72:14 - "From extortion and violence He frees them, for precious is their blood in His sight."

Psalm 116:15 as it reads in the New American Bible (approved Catholic version):

"Too costly in the eyes of the LORD is the death of His faithful"

Same verse from the Amplifed Bible (one of my personal favorite translations of the Bible):

"Precious (important and no light matter) in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (His loving ones)."

Moral of the story - check which Bible you are using and make sure it's an accurate translation. Get one that has copious footnotes and explanations. I like the Amplified Bible because it is a translation directly from the old Hebrew and Greek, and gives more nuances of meaning that's there, that sometimes gets lost in translation........ The NAB is good also in this regard.

Answer 4

It is an answer to the first 3 verses. God will not forget His saints who sleep in the grave awaiting the resurrection of the righteous at the second coming of Christ.

Psalm 116:1-3
I love the LORD, for he heard my voice; he heard my cry for mercy. Because he turned his ear to me, I will call on him as long as I live. The cords of death entangled me, the anguish of the grave came upon me; I was overcome by trouble and sorrow.

Answer 5

The key word here is "saints". A "saint" of God is someone who has been changed by God, someone who has asked for and received God's forgiveness, someone who has accepted the sacrificial death of God's Son Jesus Christ as payment for their debt of a sinful existence and pledged to live their live the Lord's way.

The Bible states that someone who has done this is made an adopted child. After they have been converted in this fashion to a "Christ-like" life, God treats them like His own child, promising to take them to heaven to be with Him when they die from this life.

Because death (for the Christian) is simply passing from this life into the afterlife where we will be with God, the Lord calls that act of receiving them into heaven "precious". His child, residing in a tainted, earthly body here is received in heaven to forever live with Him. To God and the Christian, this is a precious moment.

I hope this helps.

Answer 6

This text means that He will not let death readily taken them away from before Him. The death of His saints is no trifling matter with God; He does not lighly suffer it to come about. He does not suffer His own to be torn away from Him by death.
The early church sang these and other words of the Psalms at the funerals of those who died in the faith.

Answer 7

It doesnt matter what evil ppl do . the devil will get them to twist every truth of God to make it ofuse for their tearing down of God. The devil is good at deception.
But, this scripture refers to the fact, then even unto our death, that The Lord is carefully watching over us, His faithful ppl. He even uses the circustances of our death, to lead others to Him. And, when a Christian lay dying, they are never alone, no matter who is there or who isnt God is always right there with them, removing all fear. HE takes them home and is delivering them from all evil and all sorrow and pain and sadness, taking them to Heaven where there is only love, joy and peace They are taken to Heaven where they see Jesus face to face, and to know they have had victory over sin and death. This scripture points to a loving God, and not anything a devil worshpper would want to know. so they use it if they twist it to say something diffrent with a different meaning, and they are good at that. But, if we know God, we knows when we hear His voice and we obey. Obedlence leads to blessing, and disobedience leads to curse.
God is a good God all the time. Even in trial and tribulation , HE is there taking us thru it, and making us even stronger for Him and drawing us closer to Him in the process.
To God be the glory.

Answer 8

I am not a bible scholar by no means. But Psalms is part of the Old Testament. Before Jesus came and gave his life for us, you had to be a saint or do certain things to get into Heaven. Things like sacrifice. This passage means that this person is a saint he gives thanks to God for only one of God’s saints can get into Heaven. And God is welcoming them into Heaven. That is the way I read it.

Answer 9

i am not sure about the bible here but since i am a muslim and do believe in Jesus and the bible.. (my islamic way).. i feel i must defend it (not all parts .. like the ones you can tell are written by man)....

as for this i think the "Precious" is not the "death" but the "saints" .. so in the sight of God ... the death of precious saints (worded as above) give you the feeling that God is sad for it... as ones child dies... in your eyes that child was precious and thus it is a statement of saddness ... (not exactly comparing God to a parent,, there is not similarities)

so i hope this explains it...

Answer 10

Here is that verse in one different translation that should help!

15 The Lord cares deeply
when his loved ones die.
~New Living Translation

It is no light matter is what it means.