properly · noun, common masculine singular absolute
liveth
יִֽ֭חְיֶהYich.yeh
H2421
to live · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
see
יִרְאֶהyir.'eh-
H7200
to see · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
death
מָּ֑וֶתMa.vet
H4194
death (natural or violent) · noun, common masculine singular absolute
deliver
יְמַלֵּ֨טye.ma.Let
H4422
properly · verb, piel imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
soul
נַפְשׁ֖וֹnaf.Sho
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix, 3rd person masculine singular
hand
מִיַּדmi.yad-
H3027
a hand (the open one (indicating power · preposition + noun, common both genders singular construct
grave
שְׁא֣וֹלshe.'ol
H7585
Hades or the world of the dead (as if a subterranean re… · noun, common both genders singular absolute
Selah
סֶֽלָהSe.lah
H5542
suspension (of music) · interjection
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 49:15 But God will redeem my soul from the power of the grave: for he shall receive me. Selah.
Ecclesiastes 9:5 For the living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is for…
Hebrews 11:5 By faith Enoch was translated that he should not see death; and was not found, because God had translated him: for before his translation he…
Psalms 49:7-9 None of them can by any means redeem his brother, nor give to God a ransom for him:
Ecclesiastes 8:8 There is no man that hath power over the spirit to retain the spirit; neither hath he power in the day of death: and there is no discharge i…
Ecclesiastes 12:7 Then shall the dust return to the earth as it was: and the spirit shall return unto God who gave it.
Job 30:23 For I know that thou wilt bring me to death, and to the house appointed for all living.
John 8:51 Verily, verily, I say unto you, If a man keep my saying, he shall never see death.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Psalms 89:38–end
In these verses we have,
I. A very melancholy complaint of the present deplorable state of David's family, which the psalmist thinks hard to be reconciled to the covenant God made with David. "Thou saidst thou wouldst not take away thy lovingkindness, but thou hast cast off." Sometimes, it is no easy thing to reconcile God's providences with his promises, and yet we are sure they are reconcilable; for God's works fulfil his word and never contradict it. 1. David's house seemed to have lost its interest in God, which was the greatest strength and beauty of it. God had been pleased with his anointed, but now he was wroth with him (Psa 89:38), had entered into covenant with the family, but now,…
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death?.... Every living man must die; as sure as a man lives, so sure he shall die: be he strong and mighty, as the word signifies, or weak and sickly; be he high or low, rich or poor, prince or peasant, righteous or wicked; persons of all ranks, states, and conditions, age or sex, must die; for all have sinned; and it is the appointment of God that they should die, and very few are the exceptions; as Enoch and Elijah, and those that will be found alive at Christ's coming:
shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave; either from going down into it, or coming under the power of it; so the Targum,
"what man is he that shall live, and sha…
Psalm 89:46-48
46. How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? shall thy fury burn like fire? 47. Remember of what age I am! [555] why shouldst thou have created all the sons of men in vain? [556] 48. What man shall live, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul [or life] from the hand of the grave? [557] Selah.
46. How long, O Jehovah? wilt thou hide thyself for ever? After having poured forth his complaints respecting the sad and calamitous condition of the Church, the Psalmist now turns himself to prayer. Whence it follows that the language of lamentation to which he had hitherto given utterance, although it emanated from carnal sense, was nevertheless conjoined with…
The Church Fathers
"What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death?" [Psalm 89:48]. For being raised from the dead He dies no more, and death has no more dominion over Him. [Romans 6:9] And as in another Psalm it is said, "You shall not leave my soul in Hell, neither shall Thou suffer Your Holy One to see corruption," the Apostolic teaching takes up this testimony, and in the Acts of the Apostles [Acts 2:29] thus argues against the unbelieving; Men and brethren, we know that the patriarch David is dead and buried, and his flesh has seen corruption. Therefore it cannot be said of him, "neither shall Thou suffer Your Holy One to see corruption." Of whom then is it said? "What man is he that shall live, and shall not see death?" Perhaps there is no man such. Nay, but "who is it?" is said to make you inquire, not despair. But perhaps there may be some man "that shall live, and shall not see death," and yet perhaps he did not speak of Christ, who died? There is no man "that shall live, and shall not see death," except Him who died for mortals. That you may be assured that it is said of Him, consider the sequel; "What man is he that lives, and shall not see death?" Did He never die then? He did. How then shall He live, and never see death? "He shall deliver His own soul from the hands of Hell." He is spoken of alone indeed, in that He alone of all others "shall live, and shall not see death: He shall deliver His own soul from the hand of Hell," because although the rest of His faithful shall rise from the dead, and shall themselves live for evermore, without seeing death; yet they shall not themselves deliver their own souls from the hands of Hell. He who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell, Himself delivers those of His believers: they cannot do so of themselves. Prove that He delivers His own soul. "I have power to lay down My life, and I have power to take it again. No man takes 'it from Me;' for I Myself slept, but I lay it down of Myself, and take it again," because it is He Himself who delivers His own soul from the hands of Hell.
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
Ezrahite — A title given to Ethan (1 Kings 4:31; Ps. 89, title) and Heman (Ps. 88, title). They were both sons of Zerah (1 Chr. 2:6).
Hermon — A peak, the eastern prolongation of the Anti-Lebanon range, reaching to the height of about 9,200 feet above the Mediterranean. It marks the north boundary of Palestine (Deut. 3:8, 4:48; Josh. 11:3,…
Hell · “Sheol” is translated “grave” in A. V. in — “Sheol” is translated “grave” in A. V. in
Life · BREVITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF — BREVITY AND UNCERTAINTY OF
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).
After this statement of the present condition of things the psalmist begins to pray for the removal of all that is thus contradictory to the promise. The plaintive question, Psa 89:47, with the exception of one word, is verbatim the same as Psa 79:5. The wrath to which quousque refers, makes itself to be felt, as the intensifying (vid., Psa 13:2) לנצח implies, in the intensity and duration of everlasting wrath. חלד is this temporal life which glides past secretly and unnoticed (Psa 17:14); and זכר־אני is not equivalent to זכרני (instead of which by way of emphasis only זכרני אני can be said), but אני מה־חלד stands for מה־חלד אני - according to the sense equivalent to אני מה־חדל, Psa 39:5, cf…
The psalmist wonders if he will live to see the end of the Lord’s anger. Our lifetimes are short, like a day in the Lord’s sight (90:4, 10).
Spurgeon's Treasury of David on Psalms 89:48
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? All must die. None of our race can answer to the question here propounded except in the negative; there is none that can claim to elude the arrows of death. Shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Neither by strength, wisdom, nor virtue can any man escape the common doom, for to the dust return we must. Since then we must all die, do not make this life all wretchedness, by smiting us so long, O Lord. Thy Son our covenant Head died, and so also shall we; let us not be so deserted of thee in this brief span that we…
