I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
Parallel Translations
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I will not die, but live, and declare Yah’s works.
Yah has punished me severely, but he has not given me over to death.
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I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore: but he hath not given me over unto death.
Show all 3 translations
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I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
The LORD hath chastened me sore; but He hath not given me over unto death.
Cross-references (26)
- John 11:4 (v17) But 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.”
- Psalms 71:17-18 (v17) God, you have taught me from my youth. Until now, I have declared your wondrous works. Yes, even when I am old and gray-haired, God, don’t…
- Isaiah 38:16-20 (v17) Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live. Behold, for peace I had…
- Psalms 6:5 (v17) For in death there is no memory of you. In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
- Psalms 73:28 (v17) But it is good for me to come close to God. I have made the Lord Yahweh my refuge, that I may tell of all your works.
Show all 26 cross-references
- Habakkuk 1:12 (v17) Aren’t you from everlasting, Yahweh my God, my Holy One? We will not die. Yahweh, you have appointed him for judgment. You, Rock, have…
- Romans 14:7-9 (v17) For none of us lives to himself, and none dies to himself. For if we live, we live to the Lord. Or if we die, we die to the Lord. If…
- 1 Corinthians 11:32 (v18) But when we are judged, we are punished by the Lord, that we may not be condemned with the world.
- Psalms 145:4 (v17) One generation will commend your works to another, and will declare your mighty acts.
- Job 5:17-18 (v18) “Behold, happy is the man whom God corrects. Therefore do not despise the chastening of the Almighty. For he wounds and binds up. He…
- Psalms 40:5 (v17) Many, Yahweh, my God, are the wonderful works which you have done, and your thoughts which are toward us. They can’t be declared back to…
- Psalms 107:22 (v17) Let them offer the sacrifices of thanksgiving, and declare his deeds with singing.
- 2 Corinthians 6:9 (v18) as unknown, and yet well known; as dying, and behold, we live; as punished, and not killed;
- Psalms 40:10 (v17) I have not hidden your righteousness within my heart. I have declared your faithfulness and your salvation. I have not concealed your…
- Psalms 119:13 (v17) With my lips, I have declared all the ordinances of your mouth.
- Jeremiah 51:10 (v17) ‘Yahweh has produced our righteousness: come, and let’s declare in Zion the work of Yahweh our God.’
- Proverbs 3:11-12 (v18) My son, don’t despise Yahweh’s discipline, neither be weary of his correction; for whom Yahweh loves, he corrects, even as a father…
- Psalms 94:12-13 (v18) Blessed is the man whom you discipline, Yah, and teach out of your law, that you may give him rest from the days of adversity, until the…
- 2 Corinthians 1:9-11 (v18) Yes, we ourselves have had the sentence of death within ourselves, that we should not trust in ourselves, but in God who raises the dead,…
- Psalms 66:10-12 (v18) For you, God, have tested us. You have refined us, as silver is refined. You brought us into prison. You laid a burden on our backs. You…
- Jonah 2:6 (v18) I went down to the bottoms of the mountains. The earth barred me in forever: yet have you brought up my life from the pit, Yahweh my God.
- Job 33:16-30 (v18) Then he opens the ears of men, and seals their instruction, that he may withdraw man from his purpose, and hide pride from man. He keeps…
- 2 Samuel 12:10 (v18) Now therefore the sword will never depart from your house, because you have despised me, and have taken Uriah the Hittite’s wife to be your…
- 2 Samuel 13:1-39 (v18) After this, Absalom the son of David had a beautiful sister, whose name was Tamar; and Amnon the son of David loved her. Amnon was so…
- Hebrews 12:10-11 (v18) For they indeed, for a few days, punished us as seemed good to them; but he for our profit, that we may be partakers of his holiness. All…
- 2 Samuel 16:1-23 (v18) When David was a little past the top, behold, Ziba the servant of Mephibosheth met him with a couple of donkeys saddled, and on them two…
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (14 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv17–18 17. I shall not die David speaks like one…
17. I shall not die David speaks like one emerging from the sepulcher. The very same person who says, I shall not die, acknowledges that he was rescued from death, to which he was near as one condemned to it. For a series of years his life was in imminent danger, exposed every moment to a thousand deaths, and no sooner was he delivered from one than he entered into another. Thus he declares that he would not die, because he regained life, all hope of which he had entirely abandoned. We, whose life is hid with Christ in God, ought to mediate upon this song all our days, Colossians 3:3. If we occasionally enjoy some relaxation, we are bound to unite with David in saying, that we who were surrounded with death are risen to newness of life. In the meantime, we must constantly persevere through the midst of darkness: as our safety lies in hope, it is impossible that it can be very visible to us. In the second member of the verse, he points out the proper use of life. God does not prolong the lives of his people, that they may pamper themselves with meat and drink, sleep as much as they please, and enjoy every temporal blessing, but to magnify him for his benefits which he is daily heaping upon them. Of this subject we have spoken on Psalm 115
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Psa 118:17 I shall not die, but live, and…
Psa 118:17 I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
Ver. 17. I shall not die, but live] This he was well assured of by faith; as was also the Church in Habakkuk, Hab 1:12, "Art not thou from everlasting, O Lord my God, mine Holy One? we shall not die." Learned Keckerman, lying on his death bed, and desirous, if it had so pleased God, to have lived a while longer for the finishing of those excellent pieces he had in hand, made use of these words of the psalmist, "I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord" (he was then upon his System of Natural Philosophy), but God had otherwise appointed it, and he submitted.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv17–18 I shall not die, to wit, so soon as…
I shall not die, to wit, so soon as mine enemies desire, nor by their sword, as they hope and endeavour.
Declare the works of the Lord; one branch whereof is the total destruction of mine enemies. He implies that he did not desire life, nor should employ it, as his enemies did theirs, but for the service and glory of God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Open to me the gates of righteousness,.... The doors…
Open to me the gates of righteousness,.... The doors of the sanctuary or tabernacle, so called, because none but righteous persons might enter in at them, or who were clean in a ceremonial sense; and because sacrifices of righteousness were here offered. The words are addressed to the porters, or Levites, that kept the doors of the tabernacle, to open them. The Targum is,
"open to me the gates of the city of righteousness;''
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Jerusalem, so called Isa 1:26; the gates of which were opened to David, when he took it from the Jebusites. An emblem of the church or city of God, the gates of which are opened to the righteous to enter into now; and of the New Jerusalem, and of the heavenly glory, into which the saints will have an abundant entrance hereafter; see Isa 26:1. Moreover, these may be the words of the Messiah, requiring the gates of heaven to be opened to him by his blood, he having obtained redemption for his people; see Psa 24:7;
I will go in to them, and I will praise the Lord: at the gates of the tabernacle David entered, and praised the Lord for his deliverance and salvation, and for the many favours and honours bestowed on him; and in the church of God do the saints praise him, as they will do in heaven to all eternity; and where Christ, as man, is praising his divine Father, Psa 22:22.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On v17 Verse 17. I shall not die] I was nigh…
Verse 17. I shall not die] I was nigh unto death; but I am preserved,-preserved to publish the wondrous works of the Lord.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv17–18 I shall not die, but live - Evidently the…
I shall not die, but live - Evidently the psalmist had apprehended that he would die; or, he had felt that he was in imminent danger of dying. In this language he seems, as in Psa 118:13, to go back again to the scenes referred to in the psalm. He lives them over again. He describes the feelings which he had then. He saw that he was in danger. His enemies were thick round about him, and sought his life. But he had then the assurance that they would not be victorious; that they would not accomplish their object; that he would be protected; that he would live to declare what God had done for him. He does not say how he had this assurance, but there is no impropriety in supposing that he had it, as Hezekiah had in similar circumstances (see Isa 38:5-8, Isa 38:21), by a direct divine intimation. Things like this are not uncommon now, when, in danger or in sickness, the mind is strongly impressed with the belief that there will be a restoration to health and safety, and when the mind is made calm and peaceful by that belief - the very calmness of the mind under such a belief contributing not a little to that result. Why should we hesitate to believe that such a faith and hope may come from the Lord? Compare Act 27:22-25.
And declare the works of the Lord - Declare what he has done.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv17–18 17. I shall not die—As the sore chastening seemed…
17. I shall not die—As the sore chastening seemed to threaten, and as the nation’s enemies had hoped.
And declare the works of the Lord—The true end of living—to glorify God—is now apprehended and confessed. A great lesson had been learned.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On v17 17, 18. Israel is the speaker. In its renewed…
17, 18. Israel is the speaker. In its renewed national life it recognises the gift of Jehovah which is to be employed in praising Him (Isa_43:21). Its sufferings have been for chastening; God cannot permit His people to perish (Jer_30:11 = Jer_46:28; Hab_1:12). The Lord = Jah in these verses.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On v17 (17) I shall not die, but live.—It is Israel,…
(17) I shall not die, but live.—It is Israel, and not an individual, who thus claims a continuance of life for the display of God’s glory. But as so often we find, the hope is so expressed as to suit not only the community for whom the psalm was composed and sung, but each member of it individually.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv17–18 I shall not die, but live. The psalmist speaks,…
I shall not die, but live. The psalmist speaks, not in his own person, but in the name of his nation. They had been brought very near to extinction; but now the danger was past. God had given them "a reviving"; (Ezr_9:8, Ezr_9:9) and they felt that henceforth they would "live." And declare the works of the Lord. They would employ the new life granted them in "declaring God"s works"; (see Psa_40:5, 10 96:3 145:4-6) i.e. they would witness to all men of "the might of his marvelous acts," and "abundantly utter the memory of his great goodness.
"I shall not die, but live.
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I THIS PSALM HAS BEEN WELL CALLED THE "HYMN Or DELIVERANCE FROM EXILE," as the song of Moses was the "Hymn of Deliverance from Egypt." It is such a Te Deum as was possible when as yet the gospel had not been revealed. The enemies of Israel had done their worst. They had compassed Israel "about like bees" (vers. 10-12); they had "thrust sore at him," that he might fall (ver. 13). But with this recollection, and with the consciousness of bitter enmity still existing, there is mingled the glad confidence, the buoyant hope, that their enemies shall be "quenched as the fire of thorns." "I shall not die, but live" (vers. 14-17). The psalm pictures Israel keeping high festival, probably at the dedication of the new temple. The day itself was solemnly set apart (ver. 24), and a joyous procession is seen advancing towards the sacred edifice. As it nears the entrance, the warders of the gates are summoned to open them (ver. 19), that the people may go in to praise the Lord. "And then, as the throng passes within, the psalmist notes a circumstance which forms a leading feature in his poem. In building the new temple, some block of stone had been, at first, laid aside as useless, and then, on fuller consideration, it had been lifted up to fill one of the most important positions in the structure." The sacred poet fastens on this incident, and sees in it the striking suggestion of Israel"s own history a suggestion which our Lord himself takes up and applies to himself as being the most complete fulfillment of its prophecy. Israel had seemed useless, impossible of recovery, unfit altogether for the high purposes for which God had at first designed her. Carried off and apparently lost in the sweltering mob of nationalities in which she had been swallowed up, what good was she capable of? what useful part in the upbuilding of the kingdom of God could she serve? So all men thought, and with apparent abundant reason. But the festival which the psalm celebrates contradicted all that, and the stone, once rejected, but now filling so important a place in the new temple, was the type and prophecy of the high service which yet, and in spite of all past and present obstacles, Israel was called to render in the accomplishment of the good will of God to man. So that she could say, as here she does, "I shall not die, but," etc.
II IT WAS ADOPTED BY OUR LORD FOR HIMSELF. Not alone the special part of the psalm (ver. 22), which tells of the rejected but exalted stone, (cf. Mat_21:42) but the whole tone and spirit of the psalm. It looked, as the day of his death drew near, as if he were forever the "Rejected of men." But the words of our text were his conviction. (cf. Luk_18:31-33) He, though humbled even to death, and that the death of the cross, yet should he conquer death and live for evermore. (Rom_6:10 Rev_1:18) The exile of Israel and their glad return were but shadows of the dark ness of the cross, and the glory of Easter Day.
III IT HAS BEEN EVER TRUE OF THE CHURCH OF GOD. She has been plunged into deepest woe, and brought down to death.
1. By fierce persecution. Let the martyr ages tell.
2. By the growth and spread of false doctrine. The faith once delivered to the saints has been tampered with, perverted, so that its true character has been lost.
3. And worse still, moral corruption has once and again seized on her, and made her a thing of horror to all holy souls. But in each case it has been possible for the faithful remnant to lift up the exultant chant, "I snail not die," etc.
IV IT IS THE WELL-WARRANTED HOPE AND CONFIDENCE OF EVERY CHRISTIAN SOUL.
1. Sometimes the text comes literally true. Life has all but gone; the powers of the body seemed incapable of recovery; but restoration has been given. Let such restored life be given up to the declaration of the works of the Lord.
2. In the hour of terrible temptation. How many a soul has been all but lost, but, grasping the hand of the Lord, has yet been saved!
3. At the hour of death. The body dies, but not we. S.C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Charles H. Spurgeon 1885 · Public Domain On vv17–18 Ver. 17. I shall not die, but live. His…
Ver. 17. I shall not die, but live. His enemies hoped that he would die, and perhaps he himself feared he should perish at their hand: the news of his death may have been spread among his people, tor the tongue of rumour is ever ready with ill news, the false intelligence would naturally cause great sorrow and despondency, but he proclaims himself as yet alive and as confident that he shall not fall by the hand of the destroyer. He is cheerfully assured that no arrow could carry death between the joints of his harness, and no weapon of any sort could end his career. His time had not yet come, he felt immortality beating within his bosom. Perhaps he had been sick, and brought to death's door, but he had a presentiment that the sickness was not unto death, but to the glory of God. At any rate, he knew that he should not so die as to give victory to the enemies of God; for the honour of God and the good of his people were both wrapped up in his continued success. Feeling that he would live he devoted himself to the noblest of purposes: he resolved to bear witness to the divine faithfulness,
and declare the works of the LORD. He determined to recount the works of Jah; and he does so in this Psalm, wherein he dwells with love and admiration upon the splendour of Jehovah's prowess in the midst of the fight. While there is a testimony for God to be borne by us to any one, it is certain that we shall not be hurried from the land of the living. The Lord's prophets shall live on in the midst of famine, and war, and plague, and persecution, till they have uttered all the words of their prophecy; his priests shall stand at the altar unharmed till their last sacrifice has been presented before him. No bullet will find its billet in our hearts till we have finished our allotted period of activity,
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"Plagues and deaths around me fly,
Till he please I cannot die:
Not a single shaft can hit,
Till the God of love sees fit."
Ver. 17. I shall not die, but live. As Christ is risen, "we shall not die, but live"; we shall not die eternally, but we shall live in this world, the life of grace, and in the world to come, the life of glory; that we may in both declare the "works" and chant the praises of God our Saviour. We are "chastened" for our sins, but "not given over to death" and destruction everlasting; nay, our being "chastened" is now a proof that we are not so given over; "for what son is he whom the father chasteneth not?" Heb 12:7. George Horne.
Ver. 17. I shall not die, but live. To live, signifies, not barely to live, but to live comfortably, to have content with our life; to live is to prosper. Thus the word is often used in Scripture. "I shall not die, but live." David did not look upon himself as immortal, or that he should never die; he knew he was subject to the statute of death: but the meaning is, I shall not die now, I shall not die by the hands of these men, I shall not die the death which they have designed me to; or when he saith, "I shall not die, but live, "his meaning is, I shall live comfortably and prosperously, I shall live as a king. That which we translate (1Sa 10:24) "God save the king, "is, "Let the king live, "that is, let him prosper, and have good days; let him have peace with all, or victory over his enemies. Joseph Caryl.
Ver. 17. I shall not die, etc. The following incident is worth recording: "Wycliffe was now getting old, but the Reformer was worn out rather by the harassing attacks of his foes, and his incessant and ever growing labours, than with the weight of years, for he was not yet sixty. He fell sick. With unbounded joy the friars heard that their great enemy was dying. Of course he was overwhelmed with horror and remorse for the evil he had done them, and they would hasten to his bedside and receive the expression of his penitence and sorrow. In a trice a little crowd of shaven crowns assembled round the couch of the sick mandelegates from the four orders of friars. `They began fair, 'wishing him `health and restoration from his distemper'; but speedily changing their tone, they exhorted him, as one on the brink of the grave, to make full confession, and express his unfeigned grief for the injuries he had inflicted on their order. Wycliffe lay silent till they should have made an end, then, making his servant raise him a little on his pillow, and fixing his keen eyes upon them, he said with a loud voice, `I shall not die, but live, and declare the evil deeds of the friars.' The monks rushed in astonishment and confusion from the chamber." J. A. Wylie, in "The History of Protestantism."
Ver. 17. I shall not die, not absolutely, for see Ps 89:48; Heb 9:27; but not in the midst of my days, Ps 103:24; nor according to the will of mine enemies, who "thrust at me that I might fall, "Ps 118:13. But, on the contrary, I shall live, not simply as he had hitherto lived, in the greatest distress, which would be a wretched life, a living death: but lively, joyous, happy. Of this, he says he is secure; this the word asserts. On what foundation does he rest? Ps 118:14-15, "Because God had become his salvation, "and "the right hand of the Lord doeth valiantly." Jacob Alting.
Ver. 17. And declare the works of the LORD. Matter of praise abounds in all the divine works, both of the general creation and preservation and of the redemption of our souls: chiefly, that God, besides the life of nature, has given to us the life of grace, without which we could not properly praise God and declare his works. Rivetus.
Ver. 17. And declare the works of the LORD. In the second member of the verse, he points out the proper use of life. God does not prolong the lives of his people, that they may pamper themselves with meat and drink, sleep as much as they please, and enjoy every temporal blessing; but to magnify hint for his benefits which he is daily heaping upon them. John Calvin.
Ver. 17. According to Matthesius, Luther had this verse written against his study wall.
Ver. 17.
1. Good men are often in special danger: Joseph in the pit; Moses in the ark of bulrushes; Job on the dunghill; David's narrow escapes from the hand of Saul; Paul let down in a basket; what a fruit basket was that! How much was suspended upon that cord! The salvation of how many!
2. Good men have often a presentiment of their recovery from special danger: "I shall not die, but live."
3. Good men have a special desire for the preservation of their lives: "live and declare the works of the Lord." G. R.
Ver. 17, 19, 22. The victory of the risen Saviour and its far reaching consequences:
(1) Death is vanquished;
(2) the gates of righteousness are opened;
(3) the cornerstone of the church is laid. Deichert, in Lange's Commentary.
Psalms 118:18*
Charles H. Spurgeon's The Treasury of David (1869–1885) — public domain. Psalms only. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv17–18 I shall not die, but live, and declare the…
Psa_118:17
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
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The power of recovery
This buoyant and hopeful language is obviously in place on Easter Day. The psalm which contains it was sung for the first time either at laying the foundation-stone of the new temple, or at its dedication: and it breathes, in every line, the spirit of thankfulness, of triumph, of hope. It is the hymn of the deliverance from the captivity, just as Miriams song is the hymn of deliverance from Egypt: it is such a Te Deum as was possible when as yet the Gospel had not been revealed.
I. The meaning of the words as used by Christ. Before His Crucifixion the words were a prophecy of the Resurrection. Unlike ourselves, out Lord throughout His earthly life knew what was before Him. From us the future is hidden in mercy: we could not bear the sight, it may be, if the veil were lifted. But our Lord surveyed everything. I have a baptism to be baptized with, and how am I straitened till it be accomplished! And yet the foreknowledge which surveyed His coming agony surveyed also the peace and triumph beyond. He was to die, yet He was to rise; it was the prospect of death modified by the prospect of triumph over death; it was Calvary, but already irradiated by the Resurrection morning. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. But after the Resurrection the words must have a fuller meaning: they became to Him more literally true. Christ being raised from the dead dieth no more.
II. We listen here to an utterance of the heart of the Christian Church, again and again heard during the centuries of her eventful history. In many ways the Passion and Resurrection of Christ have been reflected in the later fortunes of Christianity; and especially the Churchs power of recovery from weakness and disaster is a note and proof of her union with Christ.
1. There has been the distress and suffering produced by outward persecution. At times it seemed as if the faith must be killed out from among men. But all through these dark and dreary years, the secret leaven of the Resurrection power of Jesus was working in the heart of Christendom. Never was the darkness so thick that no ray of light reached the soul of the suffering Church. Never was her cause so desperate but that she could, not boastfully or in scorn, but in the clear, albeit broken accents of faith and hope, utter her unfailing conviction: The empire will pass, but Jesus Christ remains; I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
2. The Church has been exposed more than once to a more formidable danger,--the decay of vital convictions within her fold. This happened in the early part of the thirteenth century, when the Arabian philosophers of Moorish Spain were so widely read in the Universities of Europe, and caused for some years a secret but profound unsettlement of faith in the leading truths of Christianity. So again, at the revival of letters in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, especially in Italy. So also, and conspicuously in the eighteenth century, we may almost say, throughout Europe. The great anti-Christian campaign was opened in England by Bolingbroke, Tindal, and the English Deists. It was carried on in France by their pupil--for such virtually he was--Voltaire, and the Encyclopaedist writers. It found a powerful patron in Frederick the Great of Prussia. It closed, in Germany, with Lessing, who mistook criticism for faith, and to whom the search for truth seemed better than its possession; and with Nicolai, and other writers of the enlightenment period; while on the western bank of the Rhine, the worship of the goddess of Reason was keeping time with the horrors of the Revolutionary Tribunal and of the Reign of Terror.
3. Worst of all, the Church has been exposed to moral corruption. Here surely is an evil more perilous far than any persecutors sword, or even than any form of intellectual-rebellion. Good men always feel strongly the evils of their own day; it is their business to recognize and to combat them. But in doing so they are sometimes led to think that no previous age has been so weighted with energetic mischief as their own. Here there is a risk of losing a true sense of proportion; of not merely exaggerating the evils of present as compared with those of past times, but of forgetting the Divine resources upon which the Church of Christ may always fall back, and which are more than equal to her needs. Let us be sure that to believe that Christ has risen is to know that, come what may, His Church will not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord.
III. In these words we have the true language of the individual Christian soul, whether in recovery from illness, or face to face with death.
1. This is the language of the convalescent. The legend that the risen Lazarus was never seen to smile expresses the sense of mankind as to what beseems him who has passed the threshold of the other world; and surely a new and peculiar seriousness is due from those who have all but passed it, and have returned to life by little less than a resurrection. Of what remains of life the motto should surely be, I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. Surely such a life must be consecrated; like the Risen Jesus, and in virtue of His Resurrection power, it must declare the works of the Lord.
2. These words should express the feeling of every Christian soul, in the prospect of death and eternity. (Canon Liddon.)
Gratitude for deliverance from the grave
You know, perhaps, that this text was inscribed by Martin Luther upon his study wall, where he could always see it when at home. Many Reformers had been done to death--Huss, and others who preceded him, had been burnt at the stake; Luther was cheered by the firm conviction that he was perfectly safe until his work was done. May you and I, when we are tried, be able, through faith in God, to meet trouble with the like brave thoughts and speeches!
I. At the outset, here is the believers view of his afflictions. The Lord hath chastened me sore. On the surface of the words we see the good mans clear observation that his afflictions came from God. It is true he perceived the secondary hand, for he says, Thou hast thrust sore at me that I might fall. There was one at work who aimed to make him fall. His afflictions were the work of a cruel enemy. Yes; but that enemys assaults were being overruled the Lord, and were made to work for his good; so David, in the present verse, corrects himself by saving, The Lord hath chastened me sore. The enemy was moved by malice, but God was working by him in love to my soul. The second agent sought my ruin, but the Great First Cause wrought my education and establishment. Next, the believer perceives that his trials come as a chastening. The Lord hath chastened me sore. When a child is chastised, two things are clear: first, that there is something wrong in him, or that there is something deficient in him, so that he needs to be corrected or instructed; and, secondly, it shows that his father has a tender care for his benefit, and acts in loving wisdom towards him. What son is he whom the father chasteneth not? As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. There is not a more profitable instrument in all Gods house than the rod. Consider the psalmists view of his affliction a little more carefully. He noted that his trials were sore: he says, The Lord hath chastened me sore. Perhaps we are willing to own in general that our trouble is of the Lord; but there is a soreness in it which we do not ascribe to Him, but to the malice of the enemy, or some other second cause. The false tongue is so ingenious in slander that it but touched the tenderest part of our character, and has cut us to the quick. Are we to believe that this also is, in some sense, of the Lord? Assuredly we are. If it be not of the Lord, then it is a matter for despair. If this evil comes apart from Divine permission, where are we? Even while the wound is raw, and the smart is fresh, be conscious that the Lord is near. Yet there is in the verse a but, for the psalmist perceives that his trial is limited; but He hath not given me over unto death. Certain of the buts in Scripture are among the choicest jewels we have. Before us is a but which shows that, however deep affliction may be, there is a bottom to its abyss. There is a limit to the force, the sharpness, the duration, and the number of our trials.
II. The believers comfort under his afflictions. I shall not die, but live. Occasionally this comes in the form of a presentiment. How do you understand the story of John Wycliffe, at Lutterworth, in any other way than this? He had been speaking against the monks, and various abuses of the Church. He was the Morning Star of the Reformation. Wycliffe was ill--very ill, and the friars came round him, like crows round a dying sheep. They professed to be full of tender pity; but they were right glad that their enemy was going to die. So they said to him, Do you not repent? Before we can give you the viaticum--the last oiling before you die--would it not be well to retract the hard things which you have said against the zealous friars, and his Holiness of Rome? We are eager to forget the past, and give you the last sacrament in peace. Wycliffe begged an attendant to help him to sit up; and then he cried with all his strength, I shall not die, but live, to declare the works of the Lord, and to expose the wickedness of the friars. He did not die, either: death himself could not have killed him then; for he had more work to do, and the Lord made him immortal till it was done. How could Wycliffe know that he spoke truly? Certainly he was free from all foolhardy brag; but there was upon his mind a foreshadowing of future work that he had to do, and he felt that he could not die till it was accomplished. Forecasts of good from the Lord may come to those who are sore sick; and when they do, they help them to recover. We are of good courage when an inward confidence enables us to say, I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. This, however, I only mention by the way. When a believer is in trouble, he derives great comfort from his reliance upon the compassion of God. The Lord scourges his sons, but he does not slay them. He may often put His hand into the bitter box, but He has sweet cordials ready to take the taste away. For a small moment has He forsaken us, but with great mercies will He return to us. You have an effectual comfort if your faith can keep its hold upon the blessed fact of the Lords fatherly compassion. Next, faith comforts the tried child of God by assuring him of the forgiveness of his sin, and his security from punishment. Please to notice the very distinct difference between chastisement and punishment. The Lord hath chastened me sore, and in that He has acted a fatherly part; but He hath not given me over unto death, which would have been my lot if He had dealt with me as a judge.
III. The believers conduct after trouble and deliverance. I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord. Here is declaration. If we had no troubles, we should have all the less to declare. A person who has had no experience of tribulation, what great deliverance has he to speak of? Tried Christians see how God sustains in trouble, and how He delivers out of it, and they declare His works openly: they cannot help doing so. They are so interested themselves in what God has done that they grow enthusiastic over it; and if they held their peace, the stones would cry out. If you read further down, you will find that they not only give forth a declaration, but they offer adoration. They are so charmed with what God has done for them, that they laud and magnify the name of the Lord, saying, I will praise Thee: for Thou hast heard me, and art become my salvation. This done, they make a further dedication of themselves to their delivering God. God is the Lord, which hath showed us light. It was very dark! We could not see our hand, much less the hand of God! We thought that we were as dead men, laid out for burial; when suddenly the Lords face shone in upon us, and all darkness was gone, and we leaped into joyful security, crying, God is the Lord, which hath showed us light. We were convinced that it was none other than the true God who had removed the midnight gloom. Doubts, infidelities, agnosticisms--they were impossible. We said, God is the Lord, which hath showed us light. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Life in face of death
These words were inscribed upon the walls of Martin Luthers study. They were the incarnation of his courage and his faith. Luther lived his strenuous life in the midst of dangers. Hour by hour as the years sped on he looked death in the face. Such a life of conflict and hazard irresistibly drives a godly man nearer to God. It is not under the impulse of some coward terror that he crawls to the feet of the Strong One. It is not the pitiful appeal of fear for deliverance from the ever-during dark. It is a sixth sense which has been developed in the soul of man. It is the sense of the Infinite, which demands its satisfaction in tones so imperious that the cries of all other senses are stilled. In the common experiences of life we need God, oh, need Him so deeply! But in these uncommon experiences we have God. No normal mind deliberately chooses the life of daily and nightly nearness to death; yet all men would choose it if the normal mind could see realities in their true proportion. For in the life which is lived in the presence of death, the man of God knows that he lives and moves and has his being in God. Any man who is called upon to lead a life in which day by day there is but a step between him and death becomes either a better man or a worse under the pressure of it. He becomes a worse man--reckless, dissipated, abandoned--as we see often in the life of miners, sailors, soldiers, and a hundred others whoso disdain of moral restraint appals us. You know how true this is of times of war, epidemic, or plague. Yes; he becomes a worse man, or he becomes a better. For life is never the same again. He has looked upon the heights and depths of things. He has endured as seeing Him who is invisible. That which he thought realest in the universe has crumbled at the breath of a new emotion, and the Unseen has become the one Reality. Henceforth, there is a deeper note in his thinking; in his feeling a fuller tenderness Psa_118:1-29, from which I take this text, was written for some great national festival, and was chanted in the Temple thanksgiving service. Its praises and its prayers are alike the expression of national aspiration and gratitude. It is of Israel protected, ransomed, restored, Israel Divinely reinforced, Divinely saved, that the poet sings. It is united Israel which declares that His mercy endureth for ever. Each worshipper may say for himself what he sings for the nation, I shall not die, but live. Each devout soul may promise for himself what he desires for his Church and for his country, that in this restored life the first purpose shall be to declare the works of the Lord. If I were to read our poets feelings by the light of my own, I should be ready to say that all other considerations are lost in the overwhelming solemnity of the experience through which he has passed. He has emerged upon a new and different world. In that world he finds himself at first a stranger. Sky and sea, meadow and mountain, the grass on the hillside, and the flowers beneath his feet, have a new meaning for him. While that strange, unspeakable thing which we call life--life one and indivisible in its myriad manifestations--is so wonderful, so wonderful that he feels that he has never lived before. You never feel the awfulness of life till death has held you. It is through the darkness of death that we walk in the light of life. A baffled wonder is one of the elements of this deep solemnity. The foundations of life have been shaken. Earths base is built on stubble. The realization that one is mortal like his neighbours is the strangest revelation which comes to the heart of man. Almost too painful for analysis is the sense of humiliation which such an experience brings, the shrinking from the physical accompaniments of sickness and death. The pride of life has vanished in the twinkling of an eye. And of one other aspect of such an experience I do not trust myself to speak--the parting from those whose love has given us the purest joy which we have known on earth. Then, after all this, comes to our poet, has come, thank God, to millions of the sons of men who have passed through his experience and been the better for it, the exquisite realization of life again, the knowledge that all is yet possessed, the life of the flesh and the life of the soul, the desire of the eyes and the pride of life, the joy of thought, the power of aspiration, the delight of action and of service, the passion of labour, the potency of love! Surely this is the most solemn experience of human life, this in which the new-born man in a new-made world says to himself in amazement, I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the Lord! You do not marvel that this vague wonder passes into fervour, into exultation, rapture, into consecration? I shall . . . declare the works of the Lord! Learn the lesson! There comes a time when all else fails you. The good that you have done alone abides. Learn that lesson well, for immortality is there. On the day when John Wycliffe died, while yet breath remained in the old mans body, the friars crowded round his bed, and demanded of him that he should make confession of the evil deeds that he had done to them and to their craft. He raised himself upon his pillows, and gathering together the last remnants of his expiring strength, exclaimed, I shall not die, but live, and declare the evil deeds of the friars. That day the great reformer died. But the great reformer never dies! Wycliffe lives, like many another son of the Highest, mightier dead than when he lived indeed. (C. F. Aked, D. D.)
And declare the works of the Lord.--
Declaring the words of the Lord
I. Many are the works of the Lord.
1. Creation.
2. Providence.
3. Redemption.
4. Regeneration. Do not be ashamed to declare that work of the Lord; and do it mainly by exhibiting the fruit of it in your life, but also by clearly narrating your own experience whenever you have a fitting opportunity.
II. These works of the Lord ought to be declared.
1. For Gods glory.
2. For the comfort of His people.
3. To guide the anxious.
4. As a warning to the self-righteous.
5. To gladden the Church of God.
III. Who ought to declare the works of the Lord? We who have experienced the working of Gods grace should bear our own personal testimony concerning what He hath done for our soul. Personal witness-bearing is always effective. And if God does not get witnesses among those who have had their sins forgiven, whence are His witnesses to come?
IV. Now I want, with all my heart, to stir up your hearts and my own also to the duty of declaring Gods works.
1. I pray you to declare His works, and to be encouraged to do so because, first, it is a very simple duty. This work of glorifying the grace of God is a mosaic; I can put in my little pieces of stone or marble to form the pattern so far, but there is another part of that mosaic which nobody but yourselves can manufacture. It can be made out of the odds and ends of your spiritual experience, as you think them to be; but, insignificant and unimportant as they seem to be, they help to complete the whole design.
2. Then notice what a very manifest duty it is that you should tell out what God has done for you. Does this need any proof? Do you think that the Lord saved you that you might just be happy, keeping your joy within your own heart, ever feeding and fattening it?
3. Notice also that this is a very profitable duty. I hardly know of anything that is more useful to a Christian than to tell out what the Lord has done for him. You will never know the truth in all its fulness till with all your heart, and mind, and soul, and strength, you have attempted to inculcate it in the hearts of others.
4. Moreover, it is a very pleasant duty to those who practise it.
5. This ought also to be a constant duty with all who love the Lord. When we have once told the story, we ought to feel bound to tell it again and again. But I cannot, says one. What can you not do? If you were to be cured of a dreadful disease, I am sure you would be able to tell somebody who the doctor was. And if, to-night, a thief were to break into your house, and a policeman came and seized him, I am sure you would tell somebody tomorrow about what had occurred. Do you ask, Whom shall I tell? Well, good man, tell your wife, if you have never yet spoken to her about these things. Christian woman, do you inquire, Whom shall I tell? Why, tell your husband, and your children! You cannot have a better congregation than your own family. Are you in a factory? Tell your work-mates about Jesus Christ. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v17 I will not die, but live
I will not die, but live
The writer states the same idea both negatively and positively to emphasize that he will certainly live. (See: Doublet)
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Yahweh has punished me
"Yahweh has disciplined me"
he has not handed me over to death
The writer speaks of death as if it were a person under whose power Yahweh could place the writer. AT: "he has not allowed me to die" or "he has not allowed my enemies to kill me" (See: Personification and Idiom)
translationWords
die
life
declare
works
punish
hand
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v17 118:17-21 God has restored the psalmist from death to…
118:17-21 God has restored the psalmist from death to life, so he praises the Lord publicly (cp. 116:6, 12-19).
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.