Is this psalm appropriate if the death was traumatic?

Yes. "Precious in the eyes of the Lord" speaks not of how the death looked from outside but of how it is received in God's sight. Many families find it especially consoling when the death itself was hard.

Responsorial Psalm

Psalm 116:5-6, 10-11, 15-16

"I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living"

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Scripture text (World English Bible)

Yahweh is Gracious and righteous. Yes, our God is merciful. Yahweh preserves the simple. I was brought low, and he saved me. I believed, therefore I said, “I was greatly afflicted.” I said in my haste, “All men are liars.” Precious in Yahweh’s sight is the death of his saints. Yahweh, truly I am your servant. I am your servant, the son of your servant. You have freed me from my chains.

Themes

I will walk in the presence of the Lord
precious in his eyes is the death of his faithful
gratitude in suffering
God's servant

Reflection

Psalm 116 is a song of thanksgiving from someone whose life was rescued from death. For a Catholic funeral, the psalm becomes the deceased's own voice: a soul who has now passed through the ultimate threshold and gives thanks for the rescue that is final.

One verse stands at the center: "Precious in the eyes of the Lord is the death of his faithful." The Catholic tradition has read this verse for centuries as one of the most consoling in all of Scripture. The death of a faithful person is not, in God's eyes, a tragedy or a failure or a meaningless ending. It is precious: held tenderly, watched over, received as the moment when a long faithfulness reaches its goal. To pray these words at a funeral is to declare that God himself is treasuring this moment.

The closing lines, "I will walk in the presence of the Lord in the land of the living", proclaim what the deceased is now doing. They are walking. They are present. They are in the land of the living, which the Catholic tradition has always understood to be the kingdom of God where death no longer reigns.

This is a particularly fitting psalm for the funeral of someone whose long life of faith reached its end peacefully, but it is also a powerful witness for the funeral of anyone whose passing was held in God's love.

Best for

·Funerals for someone whose long life was marked by visible faith
·Liturgies where the family wants to proclaim the preciousness of the deceased's death in God's eyes
·Funerals during the Easter season
·Memorial Masses some time after the death. The gratitude register lands warmly

In the liturgy

Less commonly chosen than Psalms 23 or 27 but increasingly familiar. The "Precious in the eyes of the Lord" antiphon is widely set and well-loved.

Pairs well with

Frequently asked questions

Is this psalm appropriate if the death was traumatic?: Yes. "Precious in the eyes of the Lord" speaks not of how the death looked from outside but of how it is received in God's sight. Many families find it especially consoling when the death itself was hard.

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Other approved responsorial psalm options

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