Bound and Determined

Those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, bound in affliction and iron; Psalm 107:10

Shadow of Death – The seventeen occurrences of the Hebrew word salmawet are found only in five books of the Bible: Job, Psalms, Isaiah (once), Jeremiah (twice) and Amos (once). Clearly the word is at home in Wisdom literature. It’s quite an unusual word. It combines two Hebrew words, sel (shadow) and mawet (death). Perhaps the most famous occurrence is in Psalm 23. Most of the time, this expression is one of terror. The pictograph causes men to shudder. It’s the dark canvas of turning control (sel) over to the sign that secures chaos (mawet). Imagine sitting in a place where control of your life is handed over to chaos. The approach of death is the sign that you are no longer in charge. Your life is quickly turning to destruction.

Notice the psalmist says, “Those who sit in darkness and in salmawet.” In the 23^rd Psalm, David speaks of walking through this terrifying place because he can rely on the Lord as his shepherd. But here the prisoners cannot move. They sit, waiting for the inevitable to occur. They are bound in chains of iron and cords of affliction. There is no escape.

How does this happen? How do people get to the place where they cower before impending doom, unable to do anything about it? The succeeding verse gives us the answer: “because they rebelled against the words of God and rejected the counsel of the Most High.” There are horrible consequences for putting aside God’s instructions. When the shadow of death arrives, those who have not obeyed God’s voice will find themselves prisoners awaiting destruction.

Notice that it does not require refusal to accept Yeshua’s sacrifice to bring these poor wretches to this terrible place. Only two things were necessary. First, they rebelled against God’s words. Every Jew would know the terror of this verb, “to rebel”. It is marah, the act of rebelling and the place of rebellion (Exodus 15:23). What does it mean to rebel against God’s word? The pictograph shows us “what comes from the person of chaos.” Rebellion is disordered existence, and that is living outside of God’s instructions. The man of rebellion is the man who refuses Torah.

The second action that brings the terror of salmawet is rejection of His counsel. Here the verb is na’as, to spurn, to scorn, to revile. It is closely related to the word for blasphemy. To spurn God’s advice and counsel is to commit blasphemy. It has nothing to do with curse words. It’s an attitude and action that denies God’s authority. Blasphemy is an act of self-sufficiency. Once more the pictograph provides the imagery: the desire to make life first. Simply put, God is removed from His rightful place as sovereign Lord and my life is placed ahead of Him.

The psalmist leaves no doubt about the condition of those who reject God’s order and replace it with their own. They desire their own lives above all else. What awaits them is exactly what is buried in their actions: destruction and chaos. Me first always leads to the last thing I want.

Topical Index: salmawet, shadow of death, rebel, spurn, marah, na’as, Psalm 107:10