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NASB | Psalm 116:15 Precious in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Psalm 116:15 Precious [and of great consequence] in the sight of the LORD Is the death of His godly ones [so He watches over them]. |
Subject: Farewell, Brother Ray! See you soon! |
Bible Note: "Precious, indeed, must the death of His saints be to the Lord, because then it is that He gathers them to Himself. 'Father, I will that they also whom You have given me be with me where I am, that they may behold my glory.' Behold how Christ longs to have His saints in heaven with Him! So near and precious are they to His heart, He will not rest until all the travail of His soul, all the sheep of His fold, all the precious gems of His cabinet, encircle His throne, cluster around His person, fill and sparkle in His jeweled diadem. Not one shall be lost. Not a babe of the family, not a lamb of the flock, not a crown jewel shall be missing in that day. 'They shall never perish, neither shall any one pluck them out of my hands.' Deity has redeemed them, Deity has preserved them, and, enshrined in the glories of Deity, they spend their happy eternity. Blessed truth! glorious hope! Weak saints shall be there, doubting believers shall be there, restored backsliders shall be there -- the hand that but touched the hem shall wave the palm -- the eye that but dimly beheld the cross shall drink in all that splendor -- the tongue that but lisped, 'My Father,' shall join the song and swell the chorus. Child of God! trembling believer! doubting, fearful one, to whose heart the Savior is more precious than life itself! you shall be there. There is a place in that crown, a mansion in that home, a bower in that paradise for you. And when death releases you from the bondage of corruption, and your happy spirit wings its way to heaven, the angels will clap their wings, and all the family above will strike their golden harps and cry, Welcome, welcome home! So precious are you to Jesus -- the fruit of His dying agonies, the 'pearl of great price,' bought with His most precious blood, and kept by His Divine power -- He must have you to behold His glory, to see His face, to repose upon His breast, to bask in His smiles, to chant His praises, to serve Him day and night in His temple, to be like Him and with Him forever. We wonder not, then, that 'precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.' "But is it death to die? Approach that chamber where the saint of God is departing. Enter with a hushed footstep, for solemn is that scene, sacred is that spot -- it is the verge of glory, it is the expanding gate of heaven. Celestial beings, viewless and noiseless, are there -- angels and the spirits of the glorified hover round that bed. The Triune Jehovah is there -- the Father watching the child He adopted, the Son upholding the soul He redeemed, the Holy Spirit strengthening the heart He had made His temple. Is this the chamber of death? this the last enemy, the final conflict, the closing scene? Surely this is not dying! What! this mental calmness, this spirit-joy, this soul-sunshine, this victory of faith, this stupendous, glorious triumph of the immortal over the mortal -- is this death?" --Octavius Winslow (1859) |