"...they are precious in His sight..."
Today while thinking and reading different passages of Scripture, I realized that there were certain things in Scripture where the Lord specicifally said that something was precious to Him. I was going to do a post on one, and when talking to a friend, quoted another one... and that's when I started to wonder what all is "precious" to the Lord. I know many things that are "pleasing" to Him, or that He considers "good" or "right", but what it "precious" to Him. This is not a complete list of what the Bible states, in one form or another, as precious to the Lord. However, of New American Standard Bible, English Standard Version, New King James Version, King James Version, and New International Version, this are all the references where it is specifiacally stated that something is precious to Him.
Psalm 72:13-14- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
Psalm 116:15- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
1 Peter2:4- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
1 Peter 3:3-4- NASB, ESV, NKJV
Let's look at each one. I will choose a translation and post it.
Psalm 72:13-14: "He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight." (KJV)
Okay. The "precious" object here is the blood of the poor and needy. The Lord shows that this is precious to Him through His protection of it: "He shall spare.... He shall redeem...." I like this translation best, for I think it can be most accurately to translate what this passage is talking about... both for then, as well as now.
All of Psalm 72 talks of the Lord's preservation of the "poor and needy". While it is obviously true that the Lord takes care of those literally poor and needy (meaning monetarily or materially), I think this is also a beautiful picture of the spiritually poor and needy as well. For those of us who are His children, this is a great reminder of our spiritual state before Christ's atoning work of the cross. And I think the word "spare" in the first verse explains very well, exactly what He did when He saved us from spiritual death. He spared us. "Spared" implys that He was in control of of our eternal status, and could have therefore just as easily allowed us to persist in that state of total depravity of mind and soul. However, He intervened, or spared, mercifully from this. A concept I need to be reminded of on a daily basis, in order to even BEGIN to appreciate my salvation.
The other word used to describe our preservation from evil, is the word "redeem" which is used in verse 14. In the Webster-Merriam dictionary, one of the meanings of redeem is "to offset the bad effect of". So first He "spared" us, kept us from harm, and then He "redeemed" us, offset that harm with good. I think that, as His sparing us shows His mercy, His remeeming us, shows His grace. He kept us from the uncleanliness that we deserved, and in return, gave us the purity we did not. How amazing to serve a God so generous with those so undeserving.
Psalm 116:15- "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones." (NASB)
The "precious" object her is the death of a godly Believer. This verse is very special to me. I have never read it before (that I remember) my dad died. I don't know who found it, but someone did, and printed it out and taped it up on his hospital door. I saw it every time I went in and out. It was really hard to appreciate it then because it caused me to realize, over and over again, that he was indeed going to die. But since his death, this has become and amazingly comforting verse. It reminds me that, his death was not a bad thing, though quite often, it seems just that. But it was precious to the Lord! How cool is that? My dad dying is a precious thing to God. Wow. An incredible thought....
It also convivits me. Who am I to think that what I consider to be precious (the life of my father), is above that which the Almighty considers to be precious (the death of my father)? And really, when I think about it, how cool to be able to defer to the Lord on personal interests.
1 Peter 2:4- "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—" (NIV)
The "precious" object here is Christ. And the Lord shows that He is by His choosing Christ (to be the Sacrificial Lamb). God could have chosen anyone from the dawn of creation till the day His Son will return for His church. Or He could have chosen multiple people to fulfill the act of providing a way for sinners to become clean before Him. But He didn't do that. He chose One... His Son, to be the perfect One, the precious One, to bear the reproach and the honor of the most amazing act ever performed. How precious indeed.
1 Peter 3:3-4: "Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." (NASB)
The "precious" object here is the "gentle and quiet spirit" displayed by women of God. My guess is that this is the most "famous" passage containing the word "precious". This passage is written to wives, but I believe it can quite easily be applied to all Christian women regardless of there marital status. While there are some women who seem to naturally possess this rare spirit, it seems that the majority of women, all women- dead or alive- lack this quality. And few even seem to desire to attain it! It should be one of the most sought after qualities among Christian women! Why? Because, 1. it is imperishable, and 2. it is precious to the Lord.
This characteristic of godly women is imperishable; lasting, indestructable. We all want what lasts: from make-up and clothes, to cars and investments, to relationships and friendships. So why do we not strive to be what is the most beautiful, eternal, description that the Lord desires to give us as His daughters? I think one of the reasons the Lord uses the words "imperishable" and "precious" here is to challenge and encourage us to press toward this goal; to entice us so to speak. Very necessary since on our own, we would never choose to display this spirit.
Again, I just thought it was a neat study to see what the Lord takes the time to specifically tell us is precious to Him. And what great motivation to portray these things for "His good will and pleasure".
Amazed to be "precious" to Him,
Rebekah
Psalm 72:13-14- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
Psalm 116:15- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
1 Peter2:4- NIV, NASB, KJV, ESV, NKJV
1 Peter 3:3-4- NASB, ESV, NKJV
Let's look at each one. I will choose a translation and post it.
Psalm 72:13-14: "He shall spare the poor and needy, and shall save the souls of the needy. He shall redeem their soul from deceit and violence: and precious shall their blood be in his sight." (KJV)
Okay. The "precious" object here is the blood of the poor and needy. The Lord shows that this is precious to Him through His protection of it: "He shall spare.... He shall redeem...." I like this translation best, for I think it can be most accurately to translate what this passage is talking about... both for then, as well as now.
All of Psalm 72 talks of the Lord's preservation of the "poor and needy". While it is obviously true that the Lord takes care of those literally poor and needy (meaning monetarily or materially), I think this is also a beautiful picture of the spiritually poor and needy as well. For those of us who are His children, this is a great reminder of our spiritual state before Christ's atoning work of the cross. And I think the word "spare" in the first verse explains very well, exactly what He did when He saved us from spiritual death. He spared us. "Spared" implys that He was in control of of our eternal status, and could have therefore just as easily allowed us to persist in that state of total depravity of mind and soul. However, He intervened, or spared, mercifully from this. A concept I need to be reminded of on a daily basis, in order to even BEGIN to appreciate my salvation.
The other word used to describe our preservation from evil, is the word "redeem" which is used in verse 14. In the Webster-Merriam dictionary, one of the meanings of redeem is "to offset the bad effect of". So first He "spared" us, kept us from harm, and then He "redeemed" us, offset that harm with good. I think that, as His sparing us shows His mercy, His remeeming us, shows His grace. He kept us from the uncleanliness that we deserved, and in return, gave us the purity we did not. How amazing to serve a God so generous with those so undeserving.
Psalm 116:15- "Precious in the sight of the LORD is the death of His godly ones." (NASB)
The "precious" object her is the death of a godly Believer. This verse is very special to me. I have never read it before (that I remember) my dad died. I don't know who found it, but someone did, and printed it out and taped it up on his hospital door. I saw it every time I went in and out. It was really hard to appreciate it then because it caused me to realize, over and over again, that he was indeed going to die. But since his death, this has become and amazingly comforting verse. It reminds me that, his death was not a bad thing, though quite often, it seems just that. But it was precious to the Lord! How cool is that? My dad dying is a precious thing to God. Wow. An incredible thought....
It also convivits me. Who am I to think that what I consider to be precious (the life of my father), is above that which the Almighty considers to be precious (the death of my father)? And really, when I think about it, how cool to be able to defer to the Lord on personal interests.
1 Peter 2:4- "As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by men but chosen by God and precious to him—" (NIV)
The "precious" object here is Christ. And the Lord shows that He is by His choosing Christ (to be the Sacrificial Lamb). God could have chosen anyone from the dawn of creation till the day His Son will return for His church. Or He could have chosen multiple people to fulfill the act of providing a way for sinners to become clean before Him. But He didn't do that. He chose One... His Son, to be the perfect One, the precious One, to bear the reproach and the honor of the most amazing act ever performed. How precious indeed.
1 Peter 3:3-4: "Your adornment must not be merely external--braiding the hair, and wearing gold jewelry, or putting on dresses; but let it be the hidden person of the heart, with the imperishable quality of a gentle and quiet spirit, which is precious in the sight of God." (NASB)
The "precious" object here is the "gentle and quiet spirit" displayed by women of God. My guess is that this is the most "famous" passage containing the word "precious". This passage is written to wives, but I believe it can quite easily be applied to all Christian women regardless of there marital status. While there are some women who seem to naturally possess this rare spirit, it seems that the majority of women, all women- dead or alive- lack this quality. And few even seem to desire to attain it! It should be one of the most sought after qualities among Christian women! Why? Because, 1. it is imperishable, and 2. it is precious to the Lord.
This characteristic of godly women is imperishable; lasting, indestructable. We all want what lasts: from make-up and clothes, to cars and investments, to relationships and friendships. So why do we not strive to be what is the most beautiful, eternal, description that the Lord desires to give us as His daughters? I think one of the reasons the Lord uses the words "imperishable" and "precious" here is to challenge and encourage us to press toward this goal; to entice us so to speak. Very necessary since on our own, we would never choose to display this spirit.
Again, I just thought it was a neat study to see what the Lord takes the time to specifically tell us is precious to Him. And what great motivation to portray these things for "His good will and pleasure".
Amazed to be "precious" to Him,
Rebekah
posted by Rebekah at
12:51 AM
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