“What gain is there in my bloodshed, in my descent to the Pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it proclaim Your faithfulness?
Parallel translations
- WEB “What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?
- KJV What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?
- NKJV “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?
- NASB “What gain is there in my blood, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your faithfulness?
- NLT “What will you gain if I die, if I sink into the grave? Can my dust praise you? Can it tell of your faithfulness?
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
David argues that his death would profit nothing, for the dust cannot praise God or declare His truth. It pleads for life so he may keep worshiping.
Overview
David reasons with God that preserving his life serves God's praise, since the dead in the grave cannot proclaim His faithfulness. This reflects an Old Testament perspective on death's silence, later illumined by the fuller hope of resurrection. The longing to praise God anticipates the eternal worship Christ secures.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Ps 6:5For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?
- Ps 115:17–18It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence.
- Isa 38:18For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
- Ps 118:17I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.
- Ps 88:10–12Do You work wonders for the dead? Do departed spirits rise up to praise You? Selah
- Eccl 9:10Whatever you find to do with your hands, do it with all your might, for in Sheol, where you are going, there is no work or planning or knowledge or wisdom.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
The Psalms are Christ's own prayer book and a gallery of his portraits — the suffering one of Psalm 22, the risen Lord of Psalm 16, the priest-king of Psalm 110, the Son to whom the nations are given.
How Psalms 30:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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