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Psalm 115:17

The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,

15Blessed are you by the LORD, who made heaven and earth.
16The heavens are the LORD’s heavens, but he has given the earth to the children of men.
17The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,
18but we will bless the LORD, from this time forward and forever more. Praise the LORD!
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← Psalm 115:16Psalm 115:18 →
Notice

The words “go down into silence” make death stark, drawing attention to the praise that can still be spoken during life.

Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.

What feels hardest to you about death being described as going down into silence?

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How does the next verse’s resolve to bless YHWH shape your response to this silence?

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Connect

Where else Scripture says this

7 passages readers most often link with this verse, and the thread each one shares with it.

This verse's connections, by chapterThe Bible's strongest chapter linksHover or tap a book to trace it
Psalm 6:5For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?Both passages speak of death as the loss of praise or thanksgiving to God.
Isaiah 38:18–19For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.Both describe those who go down into death as unable to praise God.
Psalm 88:10–12Do you show wonders to the dead? Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you? Selah.Psalm 115 states that the dead do not praise; Psalm 88 asks whether departed spirits rise up and praise God.
Psalm 30:9“What profit is there in my destruction, if I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise you? Shall it declare your truth?Both connect going down into death with the end of a voice that praises God.
Psalm 31:17Let me not be disappointed, LORD, for I have called on you. Let the wicked be disappointed. Let them be silent in Sheol.Silence links these passages, though Psalm 31 asks for the wicked’s silence in Sheol while Psalm 115 speaks of the dead.
1 Samuel 2:9He will keep the feet of his holy ones, but the wicked will be put to silence in darkness; for no man will prevail by strength.Both mention silence, though Samuel speaks of the wicked silenced in darkness and the psalm speaks of the dead.
Joshua 24:29After these things, Joshua the son of Nun, the servant of the LORD, died, being one hundred ten years old.The shared thread is death: Joshua records a servant of the LORD dying, while the psalm describes death’s silence.
Where this verse fits

Death and what comes after. grief. praise and worship.

What the Bible says about death →What the Bible says about grief →What the Bible says about worship →
One step

Something small to carry out of this verse

Read verses 17–18 aloud, keeping their contrast

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Encouragement

The psalm faces death’s silence and then speaks of blessing YHWH. You do not have to hide mortality from worship; these words name it within praise.

Now put it in your words.

Start an entry on Psalm 115:17. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.

Keep goingPsalm 115 · the whole chapter with its connection mapPsalms · every chapterBuild a reading plan through Psalms

Cross-reference data from OpenBible.info (CC BY). Scripture from the World English Bible (public domain). Arc diagram after Chris Harrison and Christoph Römhild (2007).