Psalm 18:5  
Cords of death
     The Psalmist continues! “The cords of the grave coiled around me; the snares of death confronted me.”  It is interesting to compare these images, written 1,000 years before Christ, with the modern views of death. Today, people rarely give it thought or if they do, it is suppressed. Many fear death but, because of the care facilities available, they lose sight of their end through dementia, palliative care, drugs and general ill health where life slowly slips away. David is writing of an experience where he was totally compos mentis, where there were no pain-killing medicines or a drug-induced stupor; he is in a place where he is fully conscious and aware of the inevitability of death. Since no one had been to Sheol and returned, how did he know what awaited him? Did the ancients have no anticipation of being preserved or kept when life finally ebbed away? There is no doubt that this “near death” experience was extremely frightening for David and there was little hope of deliverance from its horrific clutches. How could there be? No one had overcome the power of death. It is only through Christ that we have hope, it is only since His resurrection that death is no longer to be feared. It is only those who have hope in Him that can greet death as a friend, not an enemy. No wonder the Apostle Paul joyfully writes that, “death cannot separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.” Romans 8:39. No wonder he cries out, “Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”  1 Corinthians 15:55. This is the very best news of all, death has been conquered, the grave holds no fear, the future is glorious because we have the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. He has changed everything. Hallelujah!

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