Psalm 6:5 NKJV
For in death there is no remembrance of You;
In the grave who will give You thanks?
Honoring God Before the Grave
MY NOTES
“For in death there is no remembrance of You; In the grave who will give You thanks?” — Psalm 6:5 (NKJV)
Have you ever wondered why we cling so tightly to this life, even when we know that a glorious eternity awaits us in Christ? In the middle of his intense suffering, David offers a compelling reason to ask God for healing and a longer life: the desire to praise Him right here on earth.
When David looks at the dark, silent grave, he isn’t offering a complete theological lecture on the afterlife. In the Old Testament, the full picture of eternity was still veiled, like a room in low light. As Paul wrote in 2 Timothy 1:10, it was Jesus who brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. Yet, David’s primary concern in Psalm 6:5 wasn’t just what happens to the soul after death—it was the loss of an opportunity to glorify God among living men today.
“For in death there is no remembrance of You…”
David realizes something profound: churchyards are silent places. Damp soil covers quiet mouths, and no songs of gratitude rise from the grave to impact the earth. David is saying, “Lord, if I die, I can’t praise You here among Your people.” He knows that once his voice is silenced by death, his earthly worship ends.
David isn’t denying the existence of the soul after death. He’s simply pleading from the perspective of someone who longs to keep praising God in this world. He wants to live so he can continue honoring God publicly, joyfully, and visibly.
While departed saints are alive and serving before the throne of God in heaven, their ministry on earth ends at the grave. They can no longer stand up against the darkness of this world, encourage a struggling believer, teach their children about God’s goodness, or lead lost sinners to repentance. The soldiers in the field are far more useful to the battle than those who have already retired to the royal palace. David’s plea is simple: “Lord, if You spare my life, I will use every breath You give me to make Your praise glorious in this world.”
“In the grave who will give You thanks?”
Notice how David prays. He doesn’t bribe God with self-righteous promises, nor does he focus solely on his physical comfort. Instead, he appeals to God’s own glory and mercy.
Charles Spurgeon noted that it is deeply honors God to save a sinner and spare a servant. Mercy is God’s favorite attribute—it brings Him immense joy to bestow it. When we ask God for health, strength, or deliverance, we can boldly use David’s argument: “Lord, let me live so I can be one more voice in a broken world that testifies to Your goodness!”
A Glimpse of Old Testament Understanding
Before Jesus “brought life and immortality to light through the gospel” (2 Timothy 1:10), the afterlife was not as clearly understood. Even faithful saints sometimes spoke of death as a dark, silent place. Their hope was real—but their understanding was incomplete.
Yet even now, with full gospel light, we still feel what David felt.
We still fear the grave.
We still long for life.
We still cry, “Lord, let me live to praise You more.”
A Deeper Pain Beneath the Words
Part of David’s extreme anguish in Psalm 6 was the overwhelming fear that God was deeply angry with him. When a soul feels the weight of conviction or the dread of eternal separation from God, even the strongest people tremble. David’s greatest agony wasn’t physical—it was spiritual. He felt God’s displeasure. He felt the weight of sin. He felt the terror of separation. It was as if hell itself had opened beneath him.
Yet, even in the middle of these soul-troubles, David runs toward God, not away from Him. He asks for a fresh lease on life, promising to spend his remaining days in active, grateful service. If you are going through a season of sickness, exhaustion, or spiritual heaviness today, remember that your life has a purpose. Your breath is a tool to magnify the Lord in a world that desperately needs to hear His praise.
David’s cry is the cry of someone who feels the seriousness of sin and the urgency of mercy.
And God hears that cry.
Prayer
Abba Father, I thank You for the precious gift of life and for every breath I draw today. Forgive me for the times I take my days for granted or spend my energy on things that do not glorify You. I want my life to be a living song of praise. Spare me, strengthen me, and sustain me so I can glorify You among Your people. When fear rises, and the grave feels near, remind me of the hope Jesus brought through the gospel. Heal my soul, calm my distress, and let my days be filled with thanksgiving. I long to honor You with every breath You give. I thank You for this, and I ask You for this in Jesus’ exalted name, Amen.
Key Takeaways
- Your Life on Earth Has a Unique Purpose: While heaven is a place of endless joy, your time on earth is your opportunity to advance God’s kingdom and fight the good fight of faith among men.
- Appeal to God’s Glory in Prayer: When asking for deliverance or healing, align your desire with God’s honor—asking Him to preserve your life so you can testify to His mercy.
- Mercy Honors the Giver: God delights in showing mercy; asking for His grace does not diminish His majesty; it magnifies it.
- Full Revelation Came Through Christ: While Old Testament saints had a limited view of eternity, Jesus clearly revealed the reality of eternal life, freeing us from the ultimate dread of the grave.
Complete NKJV Cross References
Psalm 30:9 “What profit is there in my blood, When I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise You? Will it declare Your truth?”
Isaiah 38:18–19 “For Sheol cannot thank You, Death cannot praise You; Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth. The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day;”
2 Timothy 1:10 “but has now been revealed by the appearing of our Savior Jesus Christ, who has abolished death and brought life and immortality to light through the gospel,”
Philippians 1:23–24 “For I am hard-pressed between the two, having a desire to depart and be with Christ, which is far better. Nevertheless to remain in the flesh is more needful for you.”
Proverb for Today
The name of the Lord is a strong tower; The righteous run to it and are safe. Proverbs 18:10 NKJV
Daily Scripture
And a cloud came and overshadowed them; and a voice came out of the cloud, saying, “This is My beloved Son. Hear Him!” Mark 9:7 NKJV
Closing
“The Lord bless you and keep you; The Lord make His face shine upon you, And be gracious to you; The Lord lift up His countenance upon you, And give you peace.” Numbers 6:24-26 NKJV
Grace be with you. Amen.
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Summary of Commentaries:
David’s plea in Psalm 6:5 centers on a deep desire to glorify God on earth. Commentators clarify that David isn’t denying heaven; rather, he knows the grave silences our earthly witness. While heavenly saints praise God in glory, only the living can actively fight sin, share God’s mercy, and impact others here. Fearing God’s displeasure, David asks to be spared so he can spend his remaining days publicly testifying to His grace.
Commentaries:
Charles Spurgeon
And now David was in great fear of death—death temporal, and perhaps death eternal. Read the passage as you will, the following verse is full of power.
“For in death there is no remembrance of thee; in the grave who shall give thee thanks?” Churchyards are silent places; the vaults of the sepulcher echo not with songs. Damp earth covers dumb mouths. “O Lord!” saith he, “if thou wilt spare me I will praise thee. If I die, then must my mortal praise at least be suspended; and if I perish in hell, then thou wilt never have any thanksgiving from me. Songs of gratitude cannot rise from the flaming pit of hell. True, thou wilt doubtless be glorified, even in my eternal condemnation, but then O Lord, I cannot glorify thee voluntarily; and among the sons of men, there will be one heart the less to bless thee.” Ah! poor trembling sinners, may the Lord help you to use this forcible argument! It is for God’s glory that a sinner should be saved. When we seek pardon, we are not asking God to do that which will stain his banner, or put a blot on his escutcheon. He delighteth in mercy. It is his peculiar, darling attribute. Mercy honors God. Do not we ourselves say, “Mercy blesseth him that gives, and him that takes?” And surely, in some diviner sense, this is true of God, who, when he gives mercy, glorifies himself.
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Enduring Word
In death there is no remembrance of You: It would be wrong to take these agonized words of David as evidence that there is no life beyond this life. The Old Testament has a shadowy understanding of the world beyond. Sometimes it shows a clear confidence (Job 19:25), and sometimes it has the uncertainty David shows here. (Guzik)
i. “Churchyards are silent places; the vaults of the sepulcher echo not with songs. Damp earth covers silent mouths.” (Spurgeon)
ii. 2 Timothy 1:10 says that Jesus brought life and immortality to light through the gospel. The understanding of the afterlife was murky at best in the Old Testament, but Jesus let us know more about heaven and hell than anyone else could. Jesus could do this because He had first-hand knowledge of the world beyond. (Guzik)
iii. David’s point wasn’t to present a comprehensive theology of the world beyond. He was in agony, fearing for his life, and he knew he could remember God and give Him thanks now. He didn’t have the same certainty about the world beyond, so he asked God to act according to His certainty. (Guzik)
iv. “At rare moments the Psalms have glimpses of rescue from Sheol, in terms that suggest resurrection, or a translation like that of Enoch or Elijah (c.f. Psalm 16:10; 17:15; 49:15; 73:24).” (Kidner)
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Albert Barnes
For in death — In the state of the dead; in the grave.
There is no remembrance of thee — They who are dead do not remember thee or think of thee. The “ground” of this appeal is, that it was regarded by the psalmist as a “desirable” thing to remember God and to praise him, and that this could not be done by one who was dead. He prayed, therefore, that God would spare his life, and restore him to health, that he might praise him in the land of the living. A sentiment similar to this occurs in Psalms 30:9, “What profit is there in my blood, when I go down to the pit? Shall the dust praise thee? shall it declare thy truth?” So also Psalms 88:11, “Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? or thy faithfulness in destruction?” So also in Isaiah 38:18, in the language of Hezekiah, “The grave cannot praise thee; death cannot celebrate thee; they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.” See the notes at that passage. A similar sentiment also is found in Job 10:21-22. See the notes at that passage. In regard to the meaning of this, it may be remarked
(a) that it is to be admitted that there was among the ancient saints much less light on the subject of the future state than there is with us, and that they often, in giving utterance to their feelings, seemed to speak as if all were dark beyond the grave.
(b) But, though they thus spoke in their sorrow and in their despondency, they also did, on other occasions, express their belief in a future state, and their expectation of happiness in a coming world (compare, for example, Psalms 16:10-11; Psalms 17:15).
(c) Does not their language in times of despondency and sickness express the feelings which “we” often have now, even with all the light which we possess, and all the hopes which we cherish? Are there not times in the lives of the pious, even though they have a strong prevailing hope of heaven, when the thoughts are fixed on the grave as a dark, gloomy, repulsive prison, and “so” fixed on it as to lose sight of the world beyond? And in such moments does not “life” seem as precious to us, and as desirable, as it did to David, to Hezekiah, or to Job?
In the grave — Hebrew, בשׁאול bishe‘ôl, “in Sheol.” For the meaning of the word, see Isaiah 5:14, note; Isaiah 14:9, note; Job 7:9, note. Its meaning here does not differ materially from the word “grave.”
Who shall give thee thanks? — Who shall “praise” thee? The idea is that “none” would then praise God. It was the land of “silence.” See Isaiah 38:18-19. This language implies that David “desired” to praise God, but that he could not hope to do it in the grave.
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John Gill
For in death [there is] no remembrance of thee,…. Of the goodness, truth, power, and faithfulness of God; no notice can be taken nor mention, made either of the perfections or works of God, whether of nature or of grace, by a dead man to others; he is wholly useless to men on earth with respect to these things;
in the grave who shall give thee thanks? for mercies temporal or spiritual; the dead cannot praise the Lord among men, only the living; see Psalm 30:9; wherefore the psalmist desires that he might live and praise the Lord: this argument is taken from the glory of God, which end cannot be answered among men by death, as by life. It does not follow from hence that the soul either dies or sleeps with the body, and is inactive until the resurrection morn, neither of which are true; or that the souls of departed saints are unemployed in heaven; they are always before the throne, and serve the Lord day and night; they remember, with the utmost gratitude and thankfulness, all the goodness and grace of God unto them, and praise him for all his wondrous works: but the sense is, that when a saint is dead, he can no more serve and glorify God on earth among men.
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Matthew Henry
He pleads God’s glory (v. 5): “For in death there is no remembrance of thee. Lord, if thou deliver me and comfort me, I will not only give thee thanks for my deliverance, and stir up others to join with me in these thanksgivings, but I will spend the new life thou shalt entrust me with in thy service and to thy glory, and all the remainder of my days I will preserve a grateful remembrance of thy favors to me, and be quickened thereby in all instances of service to thee; but, if I die, I shall be cut short of that opportunity of honoring thee and doing good to others, for in the grave who will give the thanks?” Not but that separate souls live and act, and the souls of the faithful joyfully remember God and give thanks to him. But,
(1.) In the second death (which perhaps David, being now troubled in soul under the wrath of God, had some dreadful apprehensions of) there is no pleasing remembrance of God; devils and damned spirits blaspheme him and do not praise him. “Lord, let me not lie always under this wrath, for that is sheol, it is hell itself, and lays me under an everlasting disability to praise thee.” Those that sincerely seek God’s glory, and desire and delight to praise him, may pray in faith, “Lord, send me not to that dreadful place, where there is no devout remembrance of thee, nor are any thanks given to thee.”
(2.) Even the death of the body puts an end to our opportunity and capacity of glorifying God in this world, and serving the interests of his kingdom among men by opposing the powers of darkness and bringing many on this earth to know God and devote themselves to him. Some have maintained that the joys of the saints in heaven are more desirable, infinitely more so, than the comforts of saints on earth; yet the services of saints on earth, especially such eminent ones as David was, are more laudable, and redound more to the glory of the divine grace, than the services of the saints in heaven, who are not employed in maintaining the war against sin and Satan, nor in edifying the body of Christ. Courtiers in the royal presence are most happy, but soldiers in the field are more useful; and therefore we may, with good reason, pray that if it be the will of God, and he has any further work for us or our friends to do in this world, he will yet spare us, or them, to serve him. To depart and be with Christ is most happy for the saints themselves; but for them to abide in the flesh is more profitable for the church. This David had an eye to when he pleaded this, In the grave who shall give thee thanks? Ps. 30:9; 88:10; 115:17; Isa. 38:18. And this Christ had an eye to when he said, I pray not that thou shouldst take them out of the world.
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Calvin’s Commentary
It should always be kept in mind that his affliction did not proceed so much from his having been severely wounded with bodily distress; but regarding God as greatly displeased with him, he saw, as it were, hell open to receive him; and the mental distress which this produces exceeds all other sorrows. Indeed, the more sincerely a man is devoted to God, he is just so much the more severely disquieted by the sense of his wrath; and hence it is that holy persons, who were otherwise endued with uncommon fortitude, have showed in this respect the greatest softness and want of resolution. And nothing prevents us at this day from experiencing in ourselves what David describes concerning himself but the stupidity of our flesh. Those who have experienced, even in a moderate degree, what it is to contend with the fear of eternal death, will be satisfied that there is nothing extravagant in these words. Let us, therefore, know that here David is represented to us as being afflicted with the terrors of his conscience, and feeling within him torment of no ordinary kind, but such as made him almost faint away, and lie as if dead.
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Miscellaneous Comments
“For in death there is no remembrance of thee, in the grave who will give thee thanks?” Lord, be thou pacified and reconciled to me. … for shouldest thou now proceed to take away my life, as it were a most direful condition for me to die before I have propitiated thee, so I may well demand what increase of glory or honour will it bring unto thee? Will it not be infinitely more glorious for thee to spare me, till by true contrition I may regain thy favour?—and then I may live to praise and magnify thy mercy and thy grace: thy mercy in pardoning so great a sinner, and then confess thee by vital actions of all holy obedience for the future, and so demonstrate the power of thy grace which hath wrought this change in me; neither of which will be done by destroying me, but only thy just judgments manifested in thy vengeance on sinners.
—Henry Hammond, D.D., 1659.
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