Note: On September 26, 2025, the day after our dear brother and fellow church member, Voddie Baucham, entered into the presence of the Lord, one of our deacons invited a few church members to gather for prayer on behalf of the Baucham family. The Lord was pleased to draw far more than a few, with over 150 members assembling to pray that evening. What follows is a summary of the meditation I offered to the gathered saints, with the hope that it will continue to strengthen faith and direct hearts toward Christ as we remember Dr. Voddie T. Baucham, Jr., and pray for his family.
The Lord has called our beloved brother Voddie Baucham home, and we feel the sorrow of separation. We feel the sting of death and share in the sorrow of Bridget and their children. Do not forget this: they are not grieving the loss of a beloved preacher or author or public figure, but the loss of a husband and father. We mourn with them, and it is right to weep as we mourn. Our Lord Himself wept at the tomb of His friend.
Yet, even in our mourning, the Word of God directs our eyes beyond the grave. While death wounds us, it does not undo the promises of God.
Psalm 116:15 gives us a word of comfort: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.
When Scripture speaks of “saints,” it does not mean what the Roman Catholic church has wrongly taught—that a saint is some rare Christian, elevated after death to a higher honor. No, in the New Testament every believer in Christ is called a saint, because every believer has been set apart by God, clothed in the righteousness of Christ, and indwelt by the Holy Spirit. Voddie was not a saint because of extraordinary merit, but because he belonged to Christ. And so too every one of us who trusts in Christ bears that same name: saint.
This verse reveals God’s perspective on what we perceive as loss. To us, death is absence, silence, and separation. We feel the tearing away of fellowship, the silencing of a roaring lion of the faith, and the end of a fruitful life that blessed so many. In those moments, death feels final. That is our earthly perspective.
But the psalmist invites us to see death from the Lord’s vantage point. What appears to us as defeat is, in the Lord’s eyes, the crowning moment of victory. One of the children that the Father has given to the Son has been gathered safely home through the power of the Spirit.
It is important to note that God does not delight in death itself. Scripture is clear that death is an enemy (1 Cor. 15:26). What God calls precious is not death itself, but the death of His saints. Why? Because it marks the completion of His saving work in them. To us, it looks like absence. To Him, it looks like arrival. While we see an empty chair where Voddie once sat, the Lord sees a place at His table filled.
Psalm 116:15 provides us with a glimpse into God’s perspective. And with that perspective, we can see why Voddie’s death is truly precious in the Lord’s sight.
1. The death of a saint is precious because they were purchased at great cost
The word precious in Scripture often carries the sense of rarity, weight, and great value. Something is precious because it has been purchased at great expense.
And here is the heart of it: the death of every saint is precious to God because their life—and their death—has been purchased by the blood of Christ. Peter says plainly: “You were ransomed […] not with perishable things such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of Christ, like that of a lamb without blemish or spot” (1 Pet. 1:18–19).
The most precious thing in all the universe, the life of the Son of God, was given up so that His people would be His forever. That means that the death of a saint is not some random misfortune or merely a natural inevitability. It is the rest of a soul bought and secured at Calvary.
When one of God’s children passes from this life, the Father does not see them simply as another life ended. He sees the seal of His Son’s blood upon them, the Spirit’s indwelling within them, the triumph of His grace in them. The death of a saint is the crowning moment of God’s saving purpose.
Not one drop of Christ’s blood was shed in vain, and therefore not one saint dies in vain. Each homegoing is the fruit of Christ’s cross, the outworking of His resurrection, and the fulfillment of His promise: “I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand” (John 10:28).
For us, the death of our brother feels like a loss. But for the Father, it is the moment when the costly gift of His Son secures its reward in the safe arrival of another soul.
2. The death of a saint is precious because it ushers them into God’s presence
For the believer, death is not an end but a homecoming. Paul says, “to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (Phil. 1:21). Why gain? Because to be absent from the body is to be present with the Lord (2 Cor. 5:8).
Psalm 116 itself reflects this hope. The psalmist rejoices: “You have delivered my soul from death, my eyes from tears, my feet from stumbling; I will walk before the LORD in the land of the living” (vv. 8–9). That deliverance finds its fullest expression in the hour of death. It is we who live in the land of the dying, while our brother Voddie has stepped into the land of the living.
This is why God counts it precious. In that very moment, His child, redeemed and cleansed, opens their eyes to behold the face of their Savior. What we describe as “passing away,” Scripture describes as entering glory. Voddie’s eyes have closed to the sorrows of this world, but they have opened to the presence of Christ. His ears no longer hear our voices, but they hear the voice of the Shepherd who laid down His life for the sheep.
Jesus Himself prayed for this moment: “Father, I desire that they also, whom you have given me, may be with me where I am, to see my glory” (John 17:24). Every saint’s death is the Father’s answer to the Son’s prayer. That is why it is precious: it is the fulfillment of Christ’s own desire that His people should be with Him.
We, of course, feel the tearing away. We are left behind, and that leaves a wound. But we must remember that for the believer who dies, there is no delay, no wandering, no purgatory. To depart is to be with Christ, and Paul adds, “that is far better” (Phil. 1:23).
And so, though we grieve, we can say with confidence: our brother is more alive now than ever before, because he is with the Lord. That is why his death is precious in God’s sight.
3. The death of a saint is precious because it points to God’s promise
Psalm 116 not only speaks of present deliverance but also points forward to a future hope. The death of God’s people is not the end of their story.
Indeed, death is precious because it is temporary. The Lord who numbers our days also guards our souls, and He does not lose track of even the dust of His saints. Every grave of a believer is marked in His sight, awaiting the day when Christ will raise His people in glory.
Paul assures us: “The dead in Christ will rise first” (1 Thess. 4:16). And again: “For as in Adam all die, so also in Christ shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22). The promise of resurrection means that what is sown perishable will be raised imperishable, what is buried in weakness will be raised in power. Christ has already plundered the grave. At the cross, He took death’s sting; in His resurrection, He broke death’s chains.
And so, when we grieve, we do not grieve as those who have no hope (1 Thess. 4:13). We grieve with resurrection on the horizon. Christ Himself declared, “I am the resurrection and the life. Whoever believes in me, though he die, yet shall he live” (John 11:25). That promise holds true. Our brother’s death points us forward to the day when Christ makes all things new.
What does all of this mean for us as we mourn our dear brother?
First, we are invited to trust the Lord’s perspective. From our side, the death of a saint feels like pure loss. But from the Lord’s side, it is precious. He has welcomed His servant home. That perspective steadies us when our emotions waver. It reminds us that what feels bitter to us has eternal sweetness to God and to the departed saint.
Second, we are reminded of the value of every believer. Not one of God’s saints dies unnoticed or forgotten. If their death is precious to Him, then surely their life is, too. We ought to honor Voddie’s memory, to imitate his faith, and to give thanks for the grace of God that was so evident in him. He ran his race with endurance, and now he rests. His life is a testimony of God’s sustaining power, and his death points us to the hope of glory.
Third, we are called to bear one another’s burdens, especially the burdens of the Baucham family. If Voddie’s death is precious to God, then so too are the sorrows of his wife and children. Their grief is not invisible to the Lord, and it must not be invisible to us. We are called to pray for them, to comfort them, and to support them in the days ahead. Our words, our presence, and our practical care are instruments of God’s compassion.
Fourth, we are called to pray with hope. Our prayers are not empty sighs cast into the darkness. They are petitions lifted to the living God who has conquered death in His Son. We pray for comfort, knowing that the Comforter Himself dwells with us. We ask for peace, knowing that Christ Himself is our peace. We intercede for his family, knowing that God is a Father to the fatherless and the defender of widows. And as we pray, we do so with the confidence that the resurrection is sure and the return of Christ is certain and the reign of Christ is occurring even now.
As we remember Voddie Baucham, let us not only mourn his absence but also rest in God’s promises, honor Voddie’s testimony, care for the Baucham family, and pray together with hope in the gospel of Christ.
Indeed, precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints.
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Many have asked how they can support and care for the Baucham family in this time. A fund has been created for this purpose. Please help us spread the word and prayerfully consider joining us in this work.
*Please be aware this is the ONLY legitimate fund set up for the Baucham family – be aware of those seeking to scam through other fictitious links.*
