Seventeen verses on death as the psalms describe it, from the valley of the shadow of death to Sheol and heaven.
The psalms talk about death more bluntly than many readers expect. Several say the dead cannot praise God, and the writers use that as an argument for being kept alive. Others measure a lifetime in hand widths and compare it to grass. A few lines speak of rescue from Sheol, which the psalms set alongside death, the pit and the grave. Psalm 23:4 and its valley of the shadow of death are here too, next to the less familiar lines.
The verses are grouped by what the psalms say: the shadow of death, how short life is, Sheol and silence, rescue from death, and heaven. This page describes what the text says. For comfort after a loss, the grief page is the better place to start.
The phrase shadow of death appears in three psalms, not only Psalm 23.
Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death,I will fear no evil, for you are with me.Your rod and your staff,they comfort me.
Yea, though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil: for thou art with me; thy rod and thy staff they comfort me.
The writer walks through the valley rather than around it. The reason for not fearing is company: for you are with me.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death,and broke away their chains.
He brought them out of darkness and the shadow of death, and brake their bands in sunder.
Here the shadow of death is a prison, and the people in it are brought out and their chains broken. It is the same phrase with a different ending.
though you have crushed us in the haunt of jackals,and covered us with the shadow of death.
Though thou hast sore broken us in the place of dragons, and covered us with the shadow of death.
A whole people covered with the shadow of death, in a psalm that says they had not forgotten God (44:17). The verse does not explain why it happened.
Psalms that measure a lifetime and find it short.
“LORD, show me my end,what is the measure of my days.Let me know how frail I am.
LORD, make me to know mine end, and the measure of my days, what it is; that I may know how frail I am.
The writer asks to be shown his end and the measure of his days, so that he knows how frail he is. It is a request, not a complaint.
The days of our years are seventy,or even by reason of strength eighty years;yet their pride is but labor and sorrow,for it passes quickly, and we fly away.
The days of our years are threescore years and ten; and if by reason of strength they be fourscore years, yet is their strength labour and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away.
Seventy years, or eighty by reason of strength, and even then it passes quickly and we fly away. The heading attributes Psalm 90 to Moses.
As for man, his days are like grass.As a flower of the field, so he flourishes.
As for man, his days are as grass: as a flower of the field, so he flourisheth.
Days like grass, flourishing like a flower of the field. The next verse says the wind passes over it and its place remembers it no more.
What man is he who shall live and not see death,who shall deliver his soul from the power of Sheol? Selah.
What man is he that liveth, and shall not see death? shall he deliver his soul from the hand of the grave? Selah.
Who shall live and not see death? The question is left without an answer. It covers everyone.
Several psalms say the dead do not praise God. The writers use this to plead for their lives.
For in death there is no memory of you.In Sheol, who shall give you thanks?
For in death there is no remembrance of thee: in the grave who shall give thee thanks?
In death there is no memory of you, and in Sheol no one gives thanks. The writer offers this as a reason to be saved now.
Do you show wonders to the dead?Do the departed spirits rise up and praise you? Selah.
Wilt thou shew wonders to the dead? shall the dead arise and praise thee? Selah.
Do you show wonders to the dead? Psalm 88 asks a run of these questions and leaves them unanswered.
The dead don’t praise the LORD,nor any who go down into silence,
The dead praise not the LORD, neither any that go down into silence.
The dead do not praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence. The next verse turns it round: but we will bless the LORD.
His spirit departs, and he returns to the earth.In that very day, his thoughts perish.
His breath goeth forth, he returneth to his earth; in that very day his thoughts perish.
His spirit departs, he returns to the earth, and his thoughts perish that very day. The psalm uses this to warn against putting trust in princes.
Against all this, some psalms speak of God as the one who delivers from death.
God is to us a God of deliverance.To GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death.
He that is our God is the God of salvation; and unto GOD the Lord belong the issues from death.
To GOD, the Lord, belongs escape from death. The verse places the way out with God, not with the person.
For your loving kindness is great toward me.You have delivered my soul from the lowest Sheol.
For great is thy mercy toward me: and thou hast delivered my soul from the lowest hell.
The writer says he has been delivered from the lowest Sheol. The reason he gives is God's great loving kindness toward him.
I will not die, but live,and declare the LORD’s works.
I shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the LORD.
I will not die, but live, and declare the LORD's works. The next verse says he was punished severely but not given over to death.
In these verses heaven is where God is.
If I ascend up into heaven, you are there.If I make my bed in Sheol, behold, you are there!
If I ascend up into heaven, thou art there: if I make my bed in hell, behold, thou art there.
Heaven and Sheol are the two furthest places the writer can think of, and God is in both.
Whom do I have in heaven?There is no one on earth whom I desire besides you.
Whom have I in heaven but thee? and there is none upon earth that I desire beside thee.
Whom do I have in heaven? The writer answers with God himself, not a place. It follows straight after afterward receive me to glory.
The LORD is in his holy temple.The LORD is on his throne in heaven.His eyes observe.His eyes examine the children of men.
The LORD is in his holy temple, the LORD’s throne is in heaven: his eyes behold, his eyelids try, the children of men.
The LORD is on his throne in heaven, and his eyes observe the children of men. Heaven here is the place God watches from.
For words to read after someone has died, the grief page gathers the psalms of mourning, tears and loss. Two of the verses there are Psalm 116:15, precious in the LORD's sight is the death of his saints, and Psalm 56:8, where God keeps the writer's tears in a container. The funerals page covers psalms for funeral services and cites its sources.
Psalm 23:4. The same phrase, shadow of death, also appears in Psalm 44:19 and in Psalm 107:10 and 107:14.
The psalms set Sheol alongside death, the pit and the grave as the place of the dead. Psalm 6:5 asks who shall give thanks in Sheol, and Psalm 88:3 says my life draws near to Sheol.
Psalm 11:4 and Psalm 103:19 place God's throne in heaven. Psalm 139:8 says God is there if I ascend into heaven, and Psalm 73:25 asks whom do I have in heaven.
Psalm 39:5 says my days are hand widths, Psalm 90:10 counts seventy or eighty years, and Psalm 144:4 says man is like a breath.
Psalm 116:15 says precious in the LORD's sight is the death of his saints.
Psalms for the DyingPsalms for Grief and the Loss of a Loved OnePsalms for FuneralsPsalms of HopePsalms about SalvationPsalms of Lament