The Lord Will

Psalm 88:10

Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.

KJV

Read in Psalm 88

Meaning

The rhetorical question presses the urgency of the plea for life. In the psalm’s ancient lament setting, death is pictured as the end of ordinary public praise; the verse is not a complete systematic statement about resurrection or the afterlife.

Questions from the edge of death

The psalmist asks whether God’s wonders, love, faithfulness, and righteousness are proclaimed in the realm of death.

Read carefully

It is a rhetorical question within a lament about the urgency of preserving life.

Reflection

Interpret them within the lament’s poetic argument before building broader doctrine.