John Calvin Commentary Psalms 88:10

"Wilt thou show wonders to the dead? Shall they that are decreased arise and praise thee? Selah" — Psalms 88:10 (ASV)

Wilt thou perform a miracle for the dead? By these words, the prophet implies that if God did not quickly help him, it would be too late, as he was very close to death. Therefore, this was the critical moment if God was inclined to help him, because if the present opportunity were not taken, another would not arise.

He asks how long God intended to delay—if he meant to do so until death intervened, so that he might raise the dead by a miracle? He does not speak of the resurrection at the last day, which will surpass all other miracles, as if he doubted it; yet he cannot be excused from the charge of going too far, for it is not our place to dictate to God the time to help us.

We call his power into question if we do not believe that it is as easy for him to restore life to the dead as to prevent, at the right time, the extreme danger that may threaten us from actually befalling us. However great the constancy of the saints has been, it has always had some mixture of the infirmity of the flesh, which has made it necessary for God, in his fatherly mercy, to bear with the sin by which even their very virtues have been, to some extent, contaminated.

When the Psalmist asks, Shall thy loving-kindness be declared in the grave? he does not mean that the dead are without consciousness. Instead, he continues with the same idea he had previously expressed: that it is a more appropriate time to help people while they are in the midst of danger and still crying out, than to raise them from their graves after they are dead.

He reasons from what ordinarily happens, as it is not God’s usual way to bring the dead out of their graves to be witnesses and proclaimers of his goodness. To God’s loving-kindness or mercy, he connects his truth or faithfulness; for when God delivers his servants, he confirms his faithfulness to his promises. And, on the other hand, he is prompted to make his promises by nothing but his own pure goodness.

When the prophet affirms that the divine faithfulness, as well as the divine goodness, power, and righteousness, are not known in the land of forgetfulness, some deluded persons foolishly twist the statement to support a gross error, as if it taught that people are annihilated by death. He is speaking only of the ordinary way in which God extends help, who has designed this world as a stage on which to display his goodness toward humanity.