Knotted
The cords of Sheol surrounded me; the snares of death confronted me. Psalm 18:5 NASB
Cords/surrounded – What are the cords of Sheol? How will we know what to do to avoid them unless we understand what they are? Perhaps we can begin by discovering what they are not. First, the cords of Sheol are not grave cloths. David is experiencing the phenomenon while he lives, so whatever is happening, it is not about actually dying. Secondly, the Hebrew word, hebel, is the usual word for rope, something that is perfectly utilitarian in ordinary life. But metaphorically, hebel is a sign of being held captive, of submission. Just as rope can tie up a victim, so the “cords” of Sheol can tie us to the presence of death. David expands the metaphor with the verb sabab. He is experiencing something akin to being entangled in rope, being knotted up by something that surrounds him again and again. No matter how much he struggles, he can’t get free. He can’t find a way to unknot the unholy grip on his life. Neither can I.
David’s description might be about the constant presence of enemies who seek to harm him, but I imagine it is deeper than that. A king knows how to deal with enemies. Kill them! Protect your flanks, build strong fortresses, fortify your position and kill them. But the cords of Sheol are not defeated in this way. The cords of Sheol are death itself and that is something no man can kill. One must wait for the Messiah to be freed from the presence of death. For this reason, I imagine that David is dealing with something far more hideous—the feeling of dying while living. This is the grip of addiction. Every addict knows he is dying. Every breath he takes to stay alive is tinged with the presence of what seeks to destroy him. The tangled web of all that drags him under is knotted again and again. Unraveling one strand of the cord only reveals another tie. The rope goes round and round, like the python, squeezing out life with every breath. The true intention of the serpent is experienced in addictive asphyxiation. But it’s too late. The pit is open before us. It waits for our destruction, as patient as the grave.
But sabab is not only an expression of hopeless struggle. “Whatever the conditions, even in the direst of circumstances, the most desperate ‘turn of affairs,’ there can be seen the guiding control of a sovereign God. No one but the believer can understand this. Although he may be completely surrounded by enemies (Ps 17:11; 109:3; 118:10–12) or encompassed by sorrow or trials (II Sam 22:6), yet the believer who is pure of heart can be confident that God will turn to comfort him (Ps 71:20–21) so that God’s lovingkindness surrounds him with songs of deliverance (Ps 32:7, 10).”[1] Just as the Messiah used death to conquer death, so we must use the knotted lives we live to untie us from the pull of destruction. Fighting the knots only makes them tighter. The cords of Sheol are loosened when the captive dies—it is in death to myself that I am freed from the knots.
Topical Index: knot, entangle, Sheol, death, addiction, sabab, hebel, Psalm 18:5
[1] Patterson, R. D. (1999). 1456 סָבַב. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament.
The confrontation of sheol, in my face the things that threaten to swallow my life. When then unraveling starts can I stop running and get real?
Even after all this time why do I still struggle with a relationship with the Father? Why does this life have to be so loud and big when the one I’ve had glimpses of and tastes of is the one I really want?
Oh, Skip. This one rings with the voice of experience!
There is nothing natural about death for a human. If you deal with the animal and vegetable kingdom a while, the difference becomes obvious. Only a human fears death. Why?
We struggle against death with everything we have. Its the way we are made, in fact. I have been suspicious sometimes, however, that a struggle against death when the threat is still OUTSIDE of me looks very different than when it lies within me – when it already has a legal right to defile me. Before the Garden pair sinned, the struggle against that death would have looked like resistance to temptation and fleeing from the snake. That’s when they should have struggled! After they sinned, however, the struggle changed. They fought among themselves in a desperate attempt to pass the death buck: they experienced self hatred, too. They hid in the bushes for two reasons that I can see. One, they could no longer stand themselves. Two, they were fleeing from their Maker. These are all destructive struggles, but the power of them is still coming from the desire to stay alive. After sin, though, that desire works against us, instead of for us. The struggle only digs a deeper pit.
Using death to defeat death. This, to me, is the ultimate stroke of brilliance! Entire books could be written about this. Suffice it to say, the way out of the clutches of death looks completely different than the way we got there. There is nothing in the way we were made that feels ‘right’ about that way out, save only one thing. Obedience. I was created to obey. The biggest struggle of my life: even bigger than the struggle for life, even, is the struggle against obedience – against fealty to my King. The first place, then, to lay down my arms is there. Then, and only then, can a move against death be effective in my life. When I surrender my rebel flag of my worship of Self: when I stop struggling to defy my King, then life becomes possible.
The next struggle is likewise destructive, however, and that is the struggle for life. I have to quit that one, too! It kept me alive until I got to the cross, but when I got there, I was issued an invitation to pick up my own, and follow. Obedience to Him is death to Self. I must use my will to live in the will to die (because that is what He did) for in that action – that action that goes against every grain of instinct I possess – lies the only way out of the pit of destruction for me. The way I am made (will to live) is being used against me; I am already doomed. The way out is designed to move me in the opposite direction. Salvation IS victory over death – by death! Salvation looks like nothing from within the human experience for a reason. It could only come from without. Halleluah!