Psalm 9:13  
Sheol
                David is now so low in his spirit that he senses death is approaching. He can no longer hope for deliverance, destruction by the surrounding nations is near. It’s interesting, isn’t it, that as he writes this godly man fluctuates in his emotions; one moment the Lord will reign and bring justice, the next moment everything is gloom and despair!  And now this great songwriter has reached his nadir, death is beckoning and only the Lord can save him. It is a good moment to stop and consider how the ancient people viewed death and in particular, the place of death. 
      Sheol is a Hebrew word which describes the place of the departed. It is used many times in the Old Testament but not always translated correctly in the old King James version.  [The NIV is very accurate]. The meaning moves between ideas of the grave, the underworld and the state of death. I am going to give you a brief overview from the Old Testament without setting out all of the verses and references.  Then we will look specifically at just one or two passages of Scripture and try to draw some conclusions. What do we know about this place?
·     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, before Christ, meet there regardless of status on earth;- the good and bad, the rich and poor, the old and young, the ruler and the slave. Jacob, David, Job et al. 
·     Sheol is a place of silence and limited feeling.
·     Souls usually sleep in Sheol – there is darkness.
·     Men try 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, spiritualists 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 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. Read Isaiah 14. Many believe that this may also be a description of the fall of the Satan from heaven. However, Revelation 9 and 20 speak of an angel that has the key of the Abyss and his name is Abaddon which means destruction. It seems likely that when Satan is bound for 1,000 years Isaiah 14 will be fulfilled and the father of lies will go to meet the spirits of those he controlled upon the earth. 

      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. Re-read verse 15.  We need to remember that this is the Old Testament, Christ had not come and had not been resurrected so there was not the hope that we have; 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!”

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