Verse 8
If I ascend to heaven, Thou are there;
If I make my bed in Sheol, behold Thou
art there.
Contemporary
English Version – If I
were to climb up to the highest heavens, you would be there. If I were to dig
down to the world of the dead you would also be there.
God’s Word
Translation – If I go up
to heaven, you are there. If I make my bed in hell, you are there.
To imagine Heaven
Glorious, lovely
Easy
‘Heaven on earth’
‘A little slice of heaven’
Easy to imagine
Harder to obtain
Most of us live somewhere
In between
Between ugly and glorious
Easy to believe
You are in the glorious places
But in the world of the dead?
You?
When I must make my bed
In hell?
Some of us know hell
Some of us have lived, slept and eaten
In Sheol.
It’s that isolating place
That strips us of
Pride
Of dignity
Filling us with shame
With disgrace
With guilt
Like when we find ourselves
In a straight jacket
Devoid of emotion
Like when we’ve called in
Every last favour
And must now sleep on the ground
Like when solitary
Demands no contact
Making isolation our only friend
Like when we run
And opiates leave us
Brain-dead and lost
Like when we are like cattle
Huddled for warmth with other nameless ones
Like when, through no fault of ours
Disease has demanded
More of our body than should be given
Like when we are forced
Held captive, violated
By a manipulation wrongly labeled love
Like when we pass
The name of our child
Across to the stone-cutter
Like when our lives
Have taken too many turns
For us to remember where to find hope
That is where You are.
With me.
In heaven.
With me
In hell.
And with me
Everywhere
In between.
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