Isaiah 38:18

18 For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth.

Isaiah 38:18 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 38:18

For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate
thee
That is, they that are in the grave, and under the power of death, they cannot celebrate the praises of God with their bodily organs; their souls may praise him in heaven, but they in their bodies cannot till the resurrection morn, or as long as they are under the dominion of the grave; so the Targum,

``they that are in the grave cannot confess before thee, and the dead cannot praise thee;''

in like manner the Septuagint and Arabic versions: this shows the design of God in restoring him from his sickness, and the view he himself had in desiring life, which was to praise the Lord; and which end could not have been answered had he died, and been laid in the grave: they that go down to the pit cannot hope for thy truth:
for the performance of promises, in which the truth and faithfulness of God appear; or for the Messiah, the truth of all the types of the former dispensation; those that go down to the pit of the grave, or are carried and laid there, can have no exercise of faith and hope concerning these things.

Isaiah 38:18 In-Context

16 O Lord, if man’s life be such, and the life of my spirit be in such things as these, thou shalt correct me, and make me to live.

17 Behold in peace is my bitterness most bitter: but thou hast delivered my soul that it should not perish, thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

18 For hell shall not confess to thee, neither shall death praise thee: nor shall they that go down into the pit, look for thy truth.

19 The living, the living, he shall give praise to thee, as I do this day: the father shall make the truth known to the children.

20 O Lord, save me, and we will sing our psalms all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.