Isaiah 38:18

18 Sheol doesn't thank you! Death doesn't praise you! Those who go down to the pit cannot expect you to be faithful.

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 Lord, people live in spite of such things, and I have the will to live in spite of them. You give me health and keep me alive.

17 Now my bitter experience turns into peace. You have saved me and kept me from the rotting pit. You have thrown all my sins behind you.

18 Sheol doesn't thank you! Death doesn't praise you! Those who go down to the pit cannot expect you to be faithful.

19 Those who are living praise you as I do today. Fathers make your faithfulness known to their children.

20 The LORD is going to rescue me, so let us play stringed instruments. We live our lives in the LORD's temple.