Precious in the sight of the Lord
Is the death of His godly ones (Psalm 116:15).

This does not mean that God is happy when His servants die. This is not a veiled approval of human sacrifice. The sense is similar to how we honor our military dead. They are precious to us for what they fought for and what they gave their lives for.

God was pleased when Jesus voluntarily offered up His life for sinners. When we suffere and/or die for the Lord, He is pleased. 

Friends, whether by life or by death, whether by ease or by suffering, whether by riches or by poverty, let us serve the Lord. None of it is in vain when it is unto the Lord. 

The stone which the builders rejected
Has become the chief corner stone.
This is the Lord’s doing;
It is marvelous in our eyes.
This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:22-24).

In Psalm 118 the psalmist gives praise and thanksgiving to God for His covenant faithfulness and for His deliverance from his enemies. Both Jesus and Peter cite verses 22-23 as a reference to the rejection and exaltation of the Messiah (Matthew 21:42; Acts 4:11).

Jesus Christ was the stone which the Jewish leaders, the builders, rejected. Yet, this rejected stone would become the chief corner stone of God's salvation for His people. God Himself has accomplished this wonderful work. He has accomplished salvation for His people. As Peter would thereafter declare, 

And there is salvation in no one else; for there is no other name under heaven that has been given among men by which we must be saved (Acts 4:12).

The psalmist looks forward to this God-accomplished salvation and declares,

This is the day which the Lord has made;
Let us rejoice and be glad in it (Psalm 118:24).

The day is the day of God's salvation. God has "made" it because He has provided the chief cornerstone, the central and essential piece, for salvation to effectively come to His people. In this every believer can rejoice and be glad. 

Friends, we sometimes cite Psalm 118:24 as if every day, and especially Sundays, is the day the Lord has made and is, therefore, a cause for celebration. While generally it is true that God has made all our days, we do not celebrate every day equally, nor is this Scripture a generic call to praise God for every day of natural life. The "this" in "this is the day" is a reference to the day of God's salvation in Christ, who was rejected by men but exalted by God. As the saints of old look forward to the day of Christ, we look back to Him, and together we rejoice in the Lord, who has accomplished such a marvelous salvation for us. Perhaps there is also a future prophetic look as well, where the second coming of Jesus Christ is in view (cf. 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18). Whatever the specific reference let us understand, when we rejoice in the day, above all else we are rejoicing in Christ Jesus our Lord and Savior.

Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good;
For His lovingkindness is everlasting.
Oh let Israel say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Oh let the house of Aaron say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting.”
Oh let those who fear the Lord say,
“His lovingkindness is everlasting" (Psalm 118:1-4).

The word translated above as "lovingkindess" is the highly theological term chesed in Hebrew. It is variously translated in our English Bibles as “kindness,” “faithfulness,” “mercy,” “goodness,” “loyalty,” and “steadfast love". While all of these words capture the sentiment of the term, they come short of expressing perhaps the most important aspect of it, namely, that God is faithful to keep the covenant promises that He made to His people.

Why is this important to understand? It shows us that the term is no mere sentiment that anyone and everyone can simply name and claim. Understood properly, the term is reserved for God's chosen people, and more specifically the elect among God's people. So, Abraham, but not his father Terah, and Isaac, but not his half-brother Ishmael, and Jacob, but not his twin brother Esau. 

Christians enter into God's chesed through Jesus Christ. We are, thus, adopted into the promises of God through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Thus, Paul writes,

Therefore, remember that formerly you who are Gentiles by birth and called “uncircumcised” by those who call themselves “the circumcision” (which is done in the body by human hands)—remember that at that time you were separate from Christ, excluded from citizenship in Israel and foreigners to the covenants of the promise, without hope and without God in the world.But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near by the blood of Christ (Ephesians 2:11-13).

As precious as it is to be grafted into God's promises to Abraham, it is even more precious to recognize our inclusion in the New Covenant promises realized through the blood of Christ, whereby we have received both forgiveness from our sins and the imputed righteousness of God.

This is why we give thanks to the LORD. This is why we can shout of His goodness. This is why the church can join the chorus of Israel and sing, "His lovingkindness is everlasting!" We have been included among God's elect, regarding whom God has made some precious promises, which God will faithfully carry out into eternity:

Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus (Philippians 1:6).

Do you know Him, through Whom we have these promises? Then praise the LORD!

Not to us, LORD, not to us
but to your name be the glory,
because of your love and faithfulness.

 The attitude of the psalmist should be ours as well. We easily fall into the trap of entitlement as we work for the Lord. That's why I don't like using the word, "sacrifice", to describe what we do at church. That word should be used only for the redemptive work of our Lord, Jesus. We do what we are supposed to do out of love that we owe Him. His love and faithfulness endure forever!

John 11 has Jesus weeping over the death of Lazarus. I have a hard time accepting this reason. Psalm 116 says God cares that one of his people die. I've heard of God not being in need of anything, so when we turn from God, God hurts because we miss out.
Knowing he could raise the dead, and knowing the eternal outcome, why would he. BUT here, he explicitly says 'he cares.' Even though eventually there will be a resurrection.
But why? Like 'he aches because we miss out,' does he care for his name sake? Does he care because it takes us out of his sanctification? We go to him, who misses out. We struggle no more, who hurts. It is not as God designed it, or is his care more of an Interest. As in in a policeman is interested in crime, Or a redeemer saving, or a righteous one witnessing things are not right.
I can't imagine it would be the same as our mourning.

Yujin responds... Great thoughts, brother Fernando. Here's something I shared with someone at church, who also puzzled over this passage, and particulary John 11:35, "Jesus wept."

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the English Bible. Its terseness might suggest there is nothing more than Jesus crying over the loss of a friend. But there is a bit of difference here. Jesus knew four days before that he would raise Lazarus from the dead. What is the real reason for his tears here? I believe he wept because of their unbelief, just as He wept over Jerusalem for the same reason in Luke 19:41-44. Again, in Luke 23:27-29, women are weeping as Jesus goes to the cross. Jesus tells them not to weep for Him but for the fate of unbelievers.

John 11:33 says that Jesus was "deeply moved in spirit and troubled." This phrase translates a Greek word, which literally means "to snort with anger." Jesus was indignant and chagrined at his friends and disciples, who were not yet convinced that Jesus was "the life." We know this because, as he prayed to raise Lazarus, he said, "I knew that you always hear me, but I said this for the benefit of the people standing here, that they may believe that you sent me" (John 11:42). He wept over their unbelief. Jesus' weeping was no mere sentimentality.

In contrast, we often weep because of our unbelief. We don't fully comprehend the tremendous power and love that God applies in every situation, and so we weep, in sympathy for others or pity for ourselves. But that's why Jesus gave us his Word and sent the Holy Spirit to guide us into all truth. He promised, "All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will take from what is mine and make it known to you" (John 16:15). As we grow in faith and the understanding of what is His, and as we are conformed to His image and likeness, God's purposes become our purposes also, and we can more clearly comprehend that His works are perfect. Let us strive to be like Jesus, even in our emotions, and weep with him over the unbelief that results in separation from God.

Psalm 115 begins with what ought to be the Christian's mantra: "Not to us, O LORD, not to us, but to Your Name give the glory!" This echoes what we read from Paul in 1 Corinthians 10:31, "So whether you eat or drink or whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God." And in the time of the end, all creation will utter these words: "To him who sits on the throne and to the Lamb be praise and honor and glory and power, for ever and ever!" (Revelation 4:13). If you follow the context of each of these references, you will notice that they all arise out of an acknowledgement of God's authority and power over His creation. In 1 Corinthians 4:25 we read, "The earth is the Lord's, and everything in it." In Revelation 4, the twenty-four elders in heaven praise God, saying, "You created all things, and by your will they were created and have their being." So, here in the Psalm, we read in verse 3, "God is in the heavens; He does whatever He pleases," and in verse 15, He is the "Maker of heaven and earth." God is to be glorified because He alone is Creator God.

The psalmist contrasts God with the gods made by people. The ridicule is not just of the idols that have mouths but cannot speak, eyes but cannot see, ears but cannot hear, noses but cannot smell, hands but cannot feel and feet but cannot walk. The ridicule is primarily of those, "the nations," (v. 2) who have made them to worship them. These nations, along with all creation, are God's workmanship. And they can speak, see, hear, smell, feel and walk. Yet they are choosing to make and worship something that is less than what God has made them to be. The psalmist exposes the folly of the nations and concludes, "Those who make them will become like them. Everyone who trusts in them" (v. 8). Those who make and worship idols are like the idols because they have eyes but seem unable to see the truth and ears but refuse to hear the truth. God would speak this word of judgment on unbelievers in Isaiah 6:9, "Be ever hearing, but never understanding; be ever seeing, but never perceiving." By these words also Jesus would indict the religious rulers and unbelievers of His day (cf. Mark 4:12). Recall, the psalmist begins this psalm by giving God glory "because of Your lovingkindness, because of Your truth" (v. 1). The nations have see but have not perceived and have heard but have not understood this truth so that they would give glory to God. 

The psalmist concludes the psalm with exhortations to believers to "trust in the LORD," to "fear the LORD," to "praise the LORD" (cf. vv 10, 11, 13, 18).

Certainly this psalmist's reflection on God has not changed for Christians today. Here's how we might apply it. Could we sometimes be guilty of seeing but failing to perceive and hearing but failing to understand when we only offer "lip service" to God and when we participate in the formalities of church but neglect living His priorities for our lives? James writes, "Just as the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without works is dead" (James 2:26). As far removed as the "idols" of the ancient world may seem to us, what place do our man-made homes, cars, businesses, money, and hobbies have in our lives? It was Jesus who said in the Sermon on the Mount, "You cannot serve two masters, God and mammon," (ASV, Matt 6:24), where mammon represents anything of worldly value. Yet, how busy many of us are in following what the world values rather than what God values.