Psalm6:4-5    Sheol
                                  So David pleads on the basis of God’s unfailing love, he begs that salvation will come or else he will die! In v5 we have the first mention in the Psalms of the place of the departed, in Hebrew this is Sheol, in Greek – Hades and David is anxious to avoid going there!  This is perhaps, a good time to discover more about this place.  Sheol is mentioned 16 times in the Psalms and the meaning moves between ideas of the grave, the underworld and the state of death.  What do we know about this Sheol?
·      Whilst heaven is always above, Sheol is always below the earth.
·      Sheol is spoken of as a land divided into compartments with far corners.
·      All the dead meet there regardless of their status on earth;- the good and bad, the rich and poor, the old and young, the ruler and the slave. 
·      Sheol is a place of silence and limited emotions.
·      Souls usually sleep in Sheol and there is darkness.
·      Men tried to contact spirits in Sheol as did King Saul via a witch - that is why we are told to have nothing to do with divination, mediums, witchcraft, soothsayers, spiritists etc.
·      God is not worshipped in Sheol but He has control of it.
·      The righteous are at peace there, there are suggestions that the righteous and the wicked are separated.


Now there are two Old Testament passages that tell us a little bit more about this place.  Firstly a description of the descent into Sheol of one of the world’s most powerful rulers- the King of Babylon whose sinful pride was soon to be judged by God.  Isaiah 14:4-15. [There are reasons to believe that this may also be a description of the fall of the Satan from heaven or the time when he is bound for 1,000 years.]  The second passage is Psalm:49:10-20 which describes the foolishness of  trusting in this world’s riches when Sheol beckons all.  However the Psalmist believes that righteous men will be delivered from Sheol.  We need to remember that these are the Hebrew Scriptures, Christ has not yet come and has not been resurrected so there was not the hope that Christians enjoy today; however righteous men and women believed that one day their souls would be liberated from Sheol.  Job 19:25-27. “I know that my Redeemer lives, and that in the end he will stand upon the earth. And after my skin has been destroyed, yet in my flesh I will see God; I myself will see Him with my own eyes – I, and not another. How my heart yearns within me!”

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Psalm 106:13

Psalm 106:13 Do not forget We need to remember that Israel’s relationship with the Lord God was based on His laws and their obedience. It was possible for them to live lives that were highly blessed, that incorporated the provision of God in every tiny detail of their national and individual existence. God was prepared to give them everything they needed, He would provide food and water for them and their flocks. He would guide them on their journey. He would protect them from their enemies. He would inspire and direct their leaders. He would keep them from the heat of the sun and the terrors of the desert night. He would take them to the land that He had promised, in double quick time. There was no reason why they could not be in situ in just a few months. Everything they could possibly need was His to provide and He was willing to sacrifice anything to see them gratefully settled in Canaan.  There was just one snag, it all depended upon their obedience and faithfulness. God insis...
Read more

Psalm 51:4

Psalm 51:4 Deliberate sin In Genesis 20 we read the story of Abimelek and Abraham. The latter had passed off his wife Sarah as his sister and Abimelek had taken her with a view to her becoming his wife. The relationship was not consummated, and the Lord used a dream to reveal to Abimelek just what was going on. The insulted king pleaded innocence,  “I have done this with a clear conscience and clean hands ” he said, to the Lord. And God agreed,  “Yes, I know you did this with a clear conscience, and so I have kept you from sinning against me.”  This is a big subject but there is clearly a difference between sinful intentions and deeds where the participant knows that he/she is doing wrong, and those occasions where an action is carried out in innocence.  David knew all along that every detail of his relationship with Bathsheba was sinful, as were his actions in the cover-up. Therefore, he sinned against the Lord God and broke the commandments which said that  “Y...
Read more

Psalm 84:3

Psalm 84:3 All about sparrows Any visitor to Jerusalem will know that the city is a haven for sparrows. Houses and other buildings in Middle Eastern cities are not built to keep out the cold with double-glazing and UPVC everywhere. There are literally millions of little holes and crevasses and places where birds can hide and build their nests. As a result, the air is filled with the sound of the sparrows at all times, and in the summer months, swallows, swifts and martins swoop across the rooftops. (Along with many other birds that I would love to mention but that would be totally irrelevant). Evidently nothing has changed for centuries, because these sights and sounds greeted visitors to the Temple back in the day when Psalm 84 was composed. And the author is envious. These winged avian residents and visitors can enter where he cannot! They nest and congregate around the Temple Courts, high up and out of the reach of man’s interference and so they occupy a place closer to God than any...
Read more