Psalm 116:10-15
‘I believed!… I was greatly afflicted… What shall I render unto the Lord, for all His benefits toward me? I will take the cup of salvation!… Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!’ Psalm 116:10-15.
John Calvin tersely comments: “‘I have believed!’… His wonderful deliverance may appear…conspicuous…. ‘I believe…that He Who…once raised Christ from the dead, will also extend Christ’s life to us!’…
“‘What shall I render unto Jehovah for all His benefits towards me?’… He was laid under such obligations not by one series of benefits only, but by a variety of innumerable benefits!…
“‘(I will take) the cup of salvation!’… God deals so kindly and mercifully with us…. They are unworthy of the enjoyment…of the light of the sun and the air by which we breathe and live, who would rob the Author of them of the small return which so legitimately belongs to Him!…
“‘Precious in the eyes of Jehovah is the death of His meek ones!’ He goes on now to…God’s providential care for the godly…, their lives being precious in His sight….
“In these times, when innocent blood is shed and the wicked contemners of God furiously exalt themselves…, let us hold fast…that the death of the faithful…is so valuable in God’s sight that even after their death He stretches out His hand towards them…. He holds in abhorrence the cruelty of those who unjustly persecute the good!”
Calvin also said in his Institutes III:20:28 & II:10:14,28 & III:5:3: “David lays down a general rule for all believers in these words — ‘What shall I render to the Lord for all His benefits towards me? I will take the cup of salvation!’… Psalm 116:12-13…. ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!’ (Psalm 116:15)….
“If death were the goal and ultimate limit, no distinction could be observed between the righteous and the wicked. The true distinction, is the different lot which awaits them after death!…
“Looking to Heaven…, the period during which the Lord afflicted His saints was but a moment; and…the mercies with which He gather them, are everlasting…. ‘Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints!’… The death of many saints, is precious in the sight of the Lord! (Psalm 116:15).”
Calvin further remarked in his Psychopannychia: “The Law which the Spirit of God gives to all the pious is: ‘I believed!’…. Psalm 116:10.”
Precious in the sight of the Lord, is the death of His saints! How will God view your death?
