Psalm 88:10

 Psalm 88:10

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

a. NASB 2020: Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah  [NASB20] New American Standard Bible. Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation; All Rights Reserved]

b. YLT: To the dead dost Thou do wonders? Do Rephaim rise? do they thank Thee? Selah.   [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. Classic Amplified: Will You show wonders to the dead? Shall the departed arise and praise You? Selah [pause, and calmly think of that]!  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

d. Tehillim/Psalms [In our bible Psalm 88:10 is Psalm 88:11 in the Jewish Bible]: Will you work wonders for the dead? Will the feeble arise and offer You thanks? Selah.  [THE ARTSCROLL TANACH SERIES TEHILLIM / PSALMS PERSONAL SIZE EDITION VOL.1, VOL. II, VOL. III, VOL. IV, VOL. V. Ⓒ Copyright 1977, 1985, 1996 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ltd.]

ESV: Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah [Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright © 2001, 2007, 2011, 2016 by Crossway Bibles, a division of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.]

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

a. [Wilt thou] shew [Strong: 6213 ʻâsâh, aw-saw'; a primitive root; to do or make, in the broadest sense and widest application:—accomplish, advance, appoint, apt, be at, become, bear, bestow, bring forth, bruise, be busy, × certainly, have the charge of, commit, deal (with), deck, displease, do, (ready) dress(-ed), (put in) execute(-ion), exercise, fashion, feast, (fight-) ing man, finish, fit, fly, follow, fulfill, furnish, gather, get, go about, govern, grant, great, hinder, hold (a feast), × indeed, be industrious, journey, keep, labour, maintain, make, be meet, observe, be occupied, offer, officer, pare, bring (come) to pass, perform, pracise, prepare, procure, provide, put, requite, × sacrifice, serve, set, shew, × sin, spend, × surely, take, × thoroughly, trim, × very, vex, be (warr-) ior, work(-man), yield, use.]

b. wonders [Strong: 6382 peleʼ, peh'-leh; from H6381; a miracle:—marvellous thing, wonder(-ful, -fully).]

c. [to the] dead [Strong: 4191 mûwth, mooth; a primitive root; to die (literally or figuratively); causatively, to kill:—× at all, × crying, (be) dead (body, man, one), (put to, worthy of) death, destroy(-er), (cause to, be like to, must) die, kill, necro(-mancer), × must needs, slay, × surely, × very suddenly, × in (no) wise.]

d. [shall the] dead [Strong: 7496 râphâʼ, raw-faw'; from H7495 in the sense of H7503; properly, lax, i.e. (figuratively) a ghost (as dead; in plural only):—dead, deceased.]

e. arise [Strong: 6965 qûwm, koom; a primitive root; to rise (in various applications, literal, figurative, intensive and causative):—abide, accomplish, × be clearer, confirm, continue, decree, × be dim, endure, × enemy, enjoin, get up, make good, help, hold, (help to) lift up (again), make, × but newly, ordain, perform, pitch, raise (up), rear (up), remain, (a-) rise (up) (again, against), rouse up, set (up), (e-) stablish, (make to) stand (up), stir up, strengthen, succeed, (as-, make) sure(-ly), (be) up(-hold, -rising).]

f. [and] praise [thee] [Strong: 3034 yâdâh, yaw-daw'; a primitive root; used only as denominative from H3027; literally, to use (i.e. hold out) the hand; physically, to throw (a stone, an arrow) at or away; especially to revere or worship (with extended hands); intensively, to bemoan (by wringing the hands):—cast (out), (make) confess(-ion), praise, shoot, (give) thank(-ful, -s, -sgiving).]

g. Selah [Strong: 5542 çelâh, se'-leh; from H5541; suspension (of music), i.e. pause:—Selah.]

1). These are the sufferings and torments that Christ Jesus experienced in hell after he was made our sin. 

a). 2 Corinthians 5:21 For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

2). The prophetic foreshadow of this act of redemption is in the Old Covenant.

a). Numbers 21:4-9 And they journeyed from mount Hor by the way of the Red sea, to compass the land of Edom: and the soul of the people was much discouraged because of the way.

21:5 And the people spake against God, and against Moses, Wherefore have ye brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? for there is no bread, neither is there any water; and our soul loatheth this light bread.

21:6 And the LORD sent fiery serpents among the people, and they bit the people; and much people of Israel died.

21:7 Therefore the people came to Moses, and said, We have sinned, for we have spoken against the LORD, and against thee; pray unto the LORD, that he take away the serpents from us. And Moses prayed for the people.

21:8 And the LORD said unto Moses, Make thee a fiery serpent, and set it upon a pole: and it shall come to pass, that every one that is bitten, when he looketh upon it, shall live.

21:9 And Moses made a serpent of brass, and put it upon a pole, and it came to pass, that if a serpent had bitten any man, when he beheld the serpent of brass, he lived.

b). John 3:14, 15 And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, even so must the Son of man be lifted up:

3:15That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life.

3). After Jesus died physically he went to hell.

a). Acts 2:25-31 For David speaketh concerning him, I foresaw the Lord always before my face, for he is on my right hand, that I should not be moved:

2:26 Therefore did my heart rejoice, and my tongue was glad; moreover also my flesh shall rest in hope:

2:27 Because thou wilt not leave my soul in hell, neither wilt thou suffer thine Holy One to see corruption.

2:28 Thou hast made known to me the ways of life; thou shalt make me full of joy with thy countenance.

2:29 Men and brethren, let me freely speak unto you of the patriarch David, that he is both dead and buried, and his sepulchre is with us unto this day.

2:30 Therefore being a prophet, and knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him, that of the fruit of his loins, according to the flesh, he would raise up Christ to sit on his throne;

2:31 He seeing this before spake of the resurrection of Christ, that his soul was not left in hell, neither his flesh did see corruption.

b). Ephesians 4:8, 9 Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men.

4:9 (Now that he ascended, what is it but that he also descended first into the lower parts of the earth?

c). Matthew 12:40 For as Jonas was three days and three nights in the whale's belly; so shall the Son of man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.

d). Romans 10:7 Or, Who shall descend into the deep? (that is, to bring up Christ again from the dead.)

4). Knowing that Jesus went to hell and as Jesus himself said in Matthew 12:40, that he would be there three days. What happened during the three days?  Jesus suffered in hell the punishments meant for us.

a). Acts 2:24 Whom God hath raised up, having loosed the pains of death: because it was not possible that he should be holden of it.

(1) pains [Strong: 5604. odin o-deen' akin to 3601; a pang or throe, especially of childbirth:--pain, sorrow, travail.]

(2) Note that the pains of death were loosed before Jesus was raised. The death referred to in Acts 2:24 is the death Jesus suffered by the grace of God for all mankind mentioned in Hebrews. 

(3) Hebrews 2:9 But we see Jesus, who was made a little lower than the angels for the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour; that he by the grace of God should taste death for every man.

(a) The death that Christ Jesus tasted could not be limited to physical death because we all die. It is appointed for us to die (Hebrews 9:27). 

b). Psalm 88:1-8 O LORD God of my salvation, I have cried day and night before thee:

88:2 Let my prayer come before thee: incline thine ear unto my cry;

88:3 For my soul is full of troubles: and my life draweth nigh unto the grave.

88:4 I am counted with them that go down into the pit: I am as a man that hath no strength:

88:5 Free among the dead, like the slain that lie in the grave, whom thou rememberest no more: and they are cut off from thy hand.

88:6 Thou hast laid me in the lowest pit, in darkness, in the deeps.

88:7 Thy wrath lieth hard upon me, and thou hast afflicted me with all thy waves. Selah.

88:8 Thou hast put away mine acquaintance for from me; thou hast made me an abomination unto them: I am shut up, an I cannot come forth.

(1) We must remember the words of verses 10 and 11 here: “When thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed…he shall see the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied.” When Jesus was being made an offering for sin, we were in view. Here we see the demands of justice being met, satisfied and sin being paid for.

c). Psalm 71:20, 21 Thou, which hast shewed me great and sore troubles, shalt quicken me again, and shalt bring me up again from the depths of the earth.

71:21 Thou shalt increase my greatness, and comfort me on every side.

5). This is what Isaiah was writing about in Isaiah 53.

a). Isaiah 53:10-12  Yet it pleased the Lord to bruise him; he hath put him to grief: when thou shalt make his soul an offering for sin, he shall see his seed, he shall prolong his days, and the pleasure of the Lord shall prosper in his hand.

53:11 He shall see of the travail of his soul, and shall be satisfied: by his knowledge shall my righteous servant justify many; for he shall bear their iniquities.

53:12 Therefore will I divide him a portion with the great, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong; because he hath poured out his soul unto death: and he was numbered with the transgressors; and he bare the sin of many, and made intercession for the transgressors.