Cancer Blog #46
By Brian Zimmerman
Begun on July 31, 2021
Email: dyingman1@yahoo.com
My Dying Words
Entry #46 – Death and Its Power Over Us
July 5, 2022
[Psa 33:16-22 NASB95] 16 The king is not saved by a mighty army; A warrior is not delivered by great strength. 17 A horse is a false hope for victory; Nor does it deliver anyone by its great strength. 18 Behold, the eye of the LORD is on those who fear Him, On those who hope for His lovingkindness, 19 To deliver their soul from death And to keep them alive in famine. 20 Our soul waits for the LORD; He is our help and our shield. 21 For our heart rejoices in Him, Because we trust in His holy name. 22 Let Your lovingkindness, O LORD, be upon us, According as we have hoped in You.
The psalmist here lists a range of means to keep someone safe from harm – an army, great strength, the power of a horse, all means of war in the ancient world. But, the psalmist goes on to relate what is the only hope we have ultimately – the protection of God. He mentions God’s deliverance from death – in an age when such means of death as famine were a very real fear (and still is in parts of the world today). But, death in our age is a very great concern for us, and in that sense, we are no different from people in the ancient world. Just ask me – I had a terminal diagnosis, which at that time (in the spring of 2021), was the last thing I expected to hear. I was still working full time and felt fine with no health issues except some shortness of breath.
But, death in this age can come at any time for anyone, as I found out, and as I have related elsewhere (in my paper on healing), it truly and obviously is only God’s mercy that has thus far spared me from death. As much help as modern medicine can be, much like the psalmist’s army or warrior, it could not deliver me from death (my diagnosis is treatable, not curable). So, where is your hope? In money, your skills or talent, your job or company position, your mate or friends, your exercise and healthy eating habits? No one and no thing can ever guarantee your deliverance from death’s powerful hold. In the end, it is only the power of God that can open that lion’s jaws.
There is, however, a greater need that we have, a need for deliverance from another death beyond the first death of the psalmist’s description. That second death is far more terrible than the first one, as terrible as the first one may be. The first death is only the conclusion of our brief stay in this present age. The second death has no end; there is no conclusion to it, no stay or reprieve. Once again, it is the psalmist’s words that point us to the only hope we can have – the power and care of our God. If the elements of the greatest power for war (in the ancient world) had no hope of deliverance from death in this age, what hope is there that there can be any human deliverance from a greater and more frightening fate, a permanent death? There is no hope of escape made possible by anyone or anything – even the best medical treatment available – in this current age. We must turn to the One who created us, the Lord who would protect and deliver us from that final death. He is our guarantee, our certainty of eternal life. Once He is, then we can say with the psalmist: “Sing for joy in the Lord…”! (Verse 1)
Next: Death and Our Breath of Life
Medical Update: I started the Opdivo treatment on Monday (August 1), also receiving the pretreatment drugs of steroids and antinausea medications. So far, it has gone much better than the first time I started Opdivo, last spring (of 2021), when I became so nauseated and weak that the oncologist had to give me a large dose of steroids to shut down my immune system, thus halting the effect of the Opdivo (an immunotherapy drug). This time I had some GI effects, but I was able to mitigate those with a drug called Budesonide that the oncology nurse practitioner had given me last year to help with those same symptoms. My prednisone also was bumped back up to 10 mg (from 6 mg), unfortunately, but the bump was necessary to reduce the likelihood of an attack of the Opdivo against the good cells in my body. Praise God that the effects have been relatively mild!