Read
Psalm 118:17
I will not die, but live, and declare the LORD’s works.
15The voice of rejoicing and salvation is in the tents of the righteous. “The right hand of the LORD does valiantly.
16The right hand of the LORD is exalted! The right hand of the LORD does valiantly!”
17I will not die, but live, and declare the LORD’s works.
18The LORD has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
19Open to me the gates of righteousness. I will enter into them. I will give thanks to the LORD.
Notice
The turn from living to declaring YHWH’s works gives survival a purpose: the speaker expects to tell what God has done.
Questions to write on. Each one opens a new entry with this verse already attached.
What changes when you read the confidence about living alongside the resolve to declare YHWH’s works?
Write on thisWhat work of YHWH could you tell a trusted friend about today?
Write on thisHow does the severe suffering in verse 18 shape your reading of this confidence?
Write on thisConnect
Where else Scripture says this
12 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
John 11:4But when Jesus heard it, he said, “This sickness is not to death, but for the glory of God, that God’s Son may be glorified by it.”Both passages connect words about life and death with making God's works or glory known.
Psalm 71:17–18God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works.Both speakers describe declaring God's works, one looking ahead to continued life and the other looking back to youth.
Isaiah 38:16–20Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them. You restore me, and cause me to live.Both speakers credit God with continued life, with Isaiah naming restoration and the psalm naming the works to be declared.
Psalm 6:5For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?Both passages connect being alive with speaking of God, through declaring his works or giving him thanks.
Psalm 73:28But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord GOD my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.Both speakers intend to tell of God's works, linking their testimony with life preserved or refuge found in God.
Habakkuk 1:12Aren’t you from everlasting, LORD my God, my Holy One? We will not die. LORD, you have appointed them for judgment. You, Rock, have established him to punish.Both passages voice confidence about escaping death, with the LORD at the center of that confidence.
Romans 14:7–9For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself.Both speak of life and death; the psalm's resolve to declare God's works gives a specific purpose beyond the self.
Psalm 145:4One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.Both passages name declaring God's works, with Psalm 145 describing that speech passing from one generation to another.
Jeremiah 51:10‘The LORD has produced our righteousness. Come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of the LORD our God.’Both passages join an act of the LORD with a resolve to declare what he has done.
Isaiah 38:19The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.Both passages connect continued life with praise, and Isaiah names children as hearers of God's truth.
Genesis 42:2He said, “Behold, I have heard that there is grain in Egypt. Go down there, and buy for us from there, so that we may live, and not die.”Both passages speak of living rather than dying; Genesis concerns obtaining grain, while the psalm looks toward declaring the LORD's works.
Genesis 43:8Judah said to Israel, his father, “Send the boy with me, and we’ll get up and go, so that we may live, and not die, both we, and you, and also our little ones.Both passages express the prospect of life rather than death, though Judah speaks about preserving an entire family's lives.
Where this verse fits
Answered prayer. gratitude. illness or diagnosis.
One step
Something small to carry out of this verse
Encouragement
This is a song of survival, without a promise that every danger will pass. YHWH has spared the speaker, and that spared life becomes praise.
Now put it in your words.
Start an entry on Psalm 118:17. Write what it stirs. Psalmlog sets your words beside Scripture and gives you one next step. Your first entry is free, no account needed.
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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).