"The cords of Sheol entangled me; the snares of death confronted me. In my distress I called upon the LORD; to my God I cried for help. From his temple he heard my voice, and my cry to him reached his ears. Then the earth reeled and rocked; the foundations also of the mountains trembled and quaked, because he was angry. Smoke went up from his nostrils, and devouring fire from his mouth; glowing coals flamed forth from him. He bowed the heavens and came down; thick darkness was under his feet. He rode on a cherub and flew; he came swiftly on the wings of the wind. He made darkness his covering, his canopy around him, thick clouds dark with water. Out of the brightness before him hailstones and coals of fire broke through his clouds. He sent from on high, he took me; he drew me out of many waters." - Psalm 18:5-12; 16
David writes as one who had seen the depths of despair, stared death in the face, been entangled by Sheol, but who had also seen the depth of God's mighty deliverance because of it. David had sunk as low as one could go, into death. And surely, he must have known, a holy and righteous God couldn't possibly meet him there. Could God even hear him anymore? Could cries from the snares of death even reach the ears of a perfect God?
We aren't left to wonder.
David cried out in desperation and the Lord heard his voice. In response, the mountains quaked. The foundations of the world shook. Righteous anger poured out of God because He saw that death had taken His child, whom He cared for, delighted in, and loved. Though death had gotten a hold of David and yanked him under, not even the gates of hell could separate him from the love of His Father, and so God did something I cannot fully comprehend.
He came down.
Immanuel doesn't mean God above us, it means God with us. He doesn't meet us halfway, because we couldn't even make it that far. He came all the way into Sheol, defeating the death that entraps and snares us, so that we might grab hold of His hand extended towards us, offering us a way out, and lifting us into abundant life.
Comments