Will the dust praise you?

For in death there is no remembrance of you; in Sheol who will give you praise? (Ps 6:5). 

What profit is there in my death, if I go down to the pit? Will the dust praise you? Will it tell of your faithfulness? (Ps 30:9). 

10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? 11 Is your steadfast love declared in the grave, or your faithfulness in Abaddon? 12 Are your wonders known in the darkness, or your righteousness in the land of forgetfulness? (Ps 88:10-12). 

The dead do not praise the Lord, nor do any who go down into silence. 18 But we will bless the Lord from this time forth and forevermore (Ps 115:17-18).

Annihilationists appeal to these passages. Evangelical commentators struggle over these passages. Do they deny the afterlife? 

i) We need to do a bit of initial sorting. Sometimes Eccl 9:5 is included in these discussions. That, however, strikes a different note. It's not about whether the dead remember anything, but whether the dead are remembered by the living. That's a recurrent theme in Ecclesiastes. We are quickly forgotten. That holds true regardless of the afterlife.

LIkewise, Isa 38:18 is often included in these discussions. But even though that's similar to the Psalmnodic passages, it is not an authoritative statement regarding the fate of the dead. Hezekiah was not a prophet. He's not speaking under inspiration. He's merely expressing his personal opinion. That may reflect a popular view of the afterlife, but it's not revelatory. 

ii) It's important to keep these passages in perspective. There's just a handful of OT passages which raise this issue. It's not like we have many OT passages which appear to deny the afterlife. And, of course, that must be counterbalanced by OT passages that affirm the intermediate state, general resurrection, or resurrection of the just. 

iii) In my opinion, the explanations which evangelical commentators offer are less than satisfying:

a) Some appeal to progressive revelation. And it's true that OT writers didn't have a specifically Christian view of the afterlife. There is, however, a fundamental difference between saying OT writers spoke in ignorance, and saying they spoke falsely. Progressive revelation doesn't mean the NT corrects the OT. 

b) Some appeal to the progress of redemption. OT saints lived before the Cross, so their outlook is darker. I think that has some merit, but it's too generic. 

c) Some appeal to the contrast between embodied and disembodied existence. But is the intermediate state of OT saints such a bleak prospect? 

d) Some say these describe to the inability of the dead to participate in the public worship of Israel. That explanation has the merit of seizing on the "praise" motif. But is there any reason to think that missing out on the public worship of Israel was such a loss for dead OT saints? As with (c), this presumes that the intermediate state was a drastic deprivation. 

iv) I think the best explanation is the fact that the OT strongly links death and divine judgment. The fear that death, especially "premature" death, may reflect God's disfavor. If you die at the hands of your enemies, does that mean God withdrew his protection? Is that a sign of divine abandonment? If you die of illness, is that a mark of divine displeasure? 

And there's an element of truth to this. For, going all the way back to Gen 2-3, death is punitive. "Dust" isn't merely a synonym for the disintegrated corpse, but has connotations of the primeval curse (Gen 3:19). 

This stands in contrast to "praise." As a rule, OT praise is not disinterested. No praise for the sake of praise. Not so much praising God for what he is but what he does. Praise is synonymous with thanksgiving. Expressing gratitude for divine deliverance. God's fidelity to his promises. God's mercy in time of need. To praise God is to thank God for rescuing you from some evil. In context, the would-be decedent can't praise God, not because he ceases to exist, but because God did not deliver him in his extremity. In that sense, he has nothing to praise God for. God turns away when he turns to God in his distress. 

And, of course, it's the living who express this anxiety, not the dead. The Psalmist is alive. So this reflects the viewpoint of the living, not the dead. Fear of what an untimely death may portend regarding God's attitude towards the decedent. 

Notice, for instance, the oppressive tie between mortality and judgment in Ps 90. That's what lies just under the surface of Pss 6:5, 30:9, 88:10-12, and 115:17-18. 

v) Christians view death somewhat differently because we live on the other side of the cross. Take this classic contrast:

14 Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, 15 and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery (Heb 2:14-15).

Death still represents divine judgment. But Christ died in our stead. We still die, but death isn't punitive for us, because he was punished in our stead. It's difficult to overestimate the impact of promises like this:

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. 2 In my Father's house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? 3 And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also (Jn 14:1-3).

The prospect of death for OT saints and NT saints is like the difference between first light and sunrise.