Psalms 88:11

11 Is your loyal love told in the grave, [or] your faithfulness in the underworld?

Psalms 88:11 Meaning and Commentary

Psalms 88:11

Shall thy lovingkindness be declared in the grave?
&c.] Where he saw himself now going, and where should he be detained, and not raised out of it, the lovingkindness of God to him, as his Son, and as man and Mediator, and to his people in the gift and mission of him to be their Saviour and Redeemer, how would that be declared and made known? now it is, Christ being raised, and his ministers having a commission from him to preach the Gospel, in which the lovingkindness of God is abundantly manifested:

or thy faithfulness in destruction?
the grave, so called from dead bodies being cast into it, and wasted, consumed, and destroyed in it: the meaning may be, that should he be laid in the grave, and there putrefy and rot, and not be raised again, where would be the faithfulness of God to his purposes, to his covenant and promises, to him his Son, and to his people?

Psalms 88:11 In-Context

9 My eye languishes from misery. I call on you, O Yahweh, every day; I spread out my hands to you.
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Or do [the] departed spirits rise up [to] praise you? Selah
11 Is your loyal love told in the grave, [or] your faithfulness in the underworld?
12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, [or] your righteousness in [the] land of forgetfulness?
13 But as for me, I cry for help to you, O Yahweh, and in the morning my prayer comes before you.

Footnotes 1

  • [a]. Hebrew abaddon, the place of destruction
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.