to die (literally or figuratively) · definite article + verb, qal active participle, masculine plural absolute
praise
יְהַֽלְלוּye.ha.lu-
H1984
to be clear (orig. of sound · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
LORD
יָ֑הּYah
H3050
Jah · proper noun, a man's name
down
יֹרְדֵ֥יyo.re.Dei
H3381
to descend (literally · verb, qal active participle, masculine plural construct
silence
דוּמָֽהdu.Mah
H1745
silence · noun, common feminine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Psalms 6:5 For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
Isaiah 38:18-19 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Psalms 88:10-12 Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
Psalms 30:9 What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
Psalms 31:17 Let me not be ashamed, O LORD; for I have called upon thee: let the wicked be ashamed, and let them be silent in the grave.
1 Samuel 2:9 He will keep the feet of his saints, and the wicked shall be silent in darkness; for by strength shall no man prevail.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 115:9–end
In these verses,
I. We are earnestly exhorted, all of us, to repose our confidence in God, and not suffer our confidence in him to be shaken by the heathens' insulting over us upon the account of our present distresses. It is folly to trust in dead images, but it is wisdom to trust in the living God, for he is a help and a shield to those that do trust in them, a help to furnish them with and forward them in that which is good, and a shield to fortify them against and protect them from every thing that is evil. Therefore, 1. Let Israel trust in the Lord; the body of the people, as to their public interests, and every particular Israelite, as to his own private concerns, let them leave it to…
The dead praise not the Lord,.... Not the dead in sin; such as the makers of idols, and those that trust in them, who are like unto them; men must be made spiritually alive, ere they can show forth the praises of God: nor the dead corporeally. The souls of departed saints can and do praise the Lord: these die not with their bodies, nor sleep in the grave; they go immediately to God and Christ, and are employed in the service of God continually; particularly in praising him, as do the angels with whom they join; they sing the song of Moses and of the Lamb, of providence and grace; especially the song of redeeming love, with which they always praise the Lord: but they cannot praise him with th…
Psalm 115:16-18
16. The heavens, the heavens are Jehovah's: but the earth he hath given to the children of men. 17. O God! the dead shall not praise thee, nor those who go down to silence. 18. But we will bless God from this time, and for ever. Praise ye Jehovah.
16 The heavens, the heavens are Jehovah's In this passage the prophet extols the bounty of God, and his paternal regard for the human race, in that, though he stood in need of nothing himself, he yet created the world, with all its fullness, for their use. How comes it to pass that the earth is every where covered with such a great variety of good things, meeting our eye in all directions, unless that God, as a provident father of…
The Church Fathers
The festival of Easter does not consist in pleasant conversation at meals, or splendor of clothing or days of leisure but in the acknowledgment of God and the offering of thanksgiving and of praise to him. Now this belongs to the saints alone, who live in Christ; for it is written, "The dead shall not praise you, O Lord, neither all those who go down into silence; but we who live will bless the Lord, from henceforth even forever." So it was with Hezekiah, who was delivered from death and therefore praised God, saying, "Those who are in hades cannot praise you; the dead cannot bless you; but the living shall bless you, as I also do." For to praise and bless God belongs to those only who live in Christ, and by means of this they go up to the feast; for the Passover is not of the Gentiles or of those who are yet Jews in the flesh but of those who acknowledge the truth in Christ, as he declares who was sent to proclaim such a feast: "Our Passover, Christ, is sacrificed."
...But nevertheless since they derive the truth and richness of wisdom, not from man nor through man, but through God Himself, they have received little ones who shall be heaven, that they may know that they are heaven of heaven; as yet however earth, unto which they say, "I have planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase." For to those very sons of men whom He made heaven, He who knoweth how to provide for the earth through heaven, hath given earth upon which they work. May they therefore abide, heaven and earth, in their God, who made them, and let them live from Him, confessing unto Him, and praising Him; for if they choose to live from themselves, they shall die, as it is written, "From the dead, as though he were not, confession ceaseth." But, "The dead praise not Thee, O Lord, neither all they that go down into silence" (ver. 17). For the Scripture in another passage proclaimeth, "The sinner, when he cometh into the abyss of wickednesses, scorneth." "But we, who live, will praise the Lord, from this time forth for evermore" (ver. 18).
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Passover — The name given to the chief of the three great historical annual festivals of the Jews. It was kept in remembrance of the Lord’s passing over the houses of the Israelites (Ex. 12:13) when the first…
Dead (People) · UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO — UNCLASSIFIED SCRIPTURES RELATING TO
Dead, The · Characterised by: Inability to glorify God — Characterised by: Inability to glorify God
Death · .GOING DOWN INTO SILENCE — .GOING DOWN INTO SILENCE
Death, Natural · Is described as: Going down into silence — Is described as: Going down into silence
Hades · 2. The realm (state) of the — 2. The realm (state) of the
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
The voice of consolation is continued in Psa 115:15, but it becomes the voice of hope by being blended with the newly strengthened believing tone of the congregation. Jahve is here called the Creator of heaven and earth because the worth and magnitude of His blessing are measured thereby. He has reserved the heavens to Himself, but given the earth to men. This separation of heaven and earth is a fundamental characteristic of the post-diluvian history. The throne of God is in the heavens, and the promise, which is given to the patriarchs on behalf of all mankind, does not refer to heaven, but to the possession of the earth (Psa 37:22). The promise is as yet limited to this present world, wher…
The heavens belong to the Lord:’s: God’s exaltation begins in heaven (113:4), far above the gods of the nations. Of course, the earth also belongs to him (47:9; 95:4). • The dead cannot participate in God’s blessings. The living praise God in thanksgiving for his blessings (79:13).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 115:17
The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.
The dead praise not the Lord —So far as this world is concerned. They cannot unite in the Psalms and hymns and spiritual songs with which the church delights to adore her Lord. The preacher cannot magnify the Lord from his coffin, nor the Christian worker further manifest the power of divine grace by daily activity while he lies in the grave. Neither any that go down into silence. The tomb sends forth no voice; from mouldering bones and flesh consuming worms there arises no sound of gospel ministry nor of gracious song. One by one the singers in the consecrated choir of saints steal away from us, and we miss their music. T…
