Day 8 - God's Will & Purpose
- Pastor b.Side
- Feb 8
- 3 min read
Will You work wonders for the dead? Shall the dead arise [and] praise You? Selah - Psalm 88:10
When you encounter a question like this in the Bible, it’s essential to recognize that we don’t need to speculate about the answer. The complete counsel of God’s Word provides definitive truth to clarify God’s response. Will God work miracles for the dead? Will God raise the dead to provoke them to praise Him? Look to the promises of the Father, the life, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus Christ, and how God established His church with the Holy Spirit.
Psalm 88 isn’t a cheerful portion of scripture. Although it’s called a “song” in the subscript, its lyrics reflect desperation and near hopelessness. We don’t know the specifics about who wrote this or why. All we know is that this person was going through a dark time and recognized that God could end the trouble at any time but hadn’t for reasons unknown. We’ve all been there. How do we cope with life when we feel God’s love is distant? How do we navigate times when God restricts us from better circumstances? What should we do when we don’t understand God’s work? We need to remember the answer to the questions in Psalm 88:10.
“Will You work wonders for the dead…”
Will God raise the dead? The scriptures are filled with promises from the Father. He desires to save dead souls from the eternal consequences of sin, death, and hell. There are historically verified testimonies of Jesus raising the dead, including His own resurrection. The Bible also attests that God gives His people the Holy Spirit to comfort, help, and remind us of Jesus’ work in offering eternal life. The point is that God can raise the dead, and when we consider the full work of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, it’s clear that His focus is eternal. Since death is the ultimate threat to human life, we need not be consumed by our difficulties, even if they threaten death.
“Shall the dead arise [and] praise You…”
Will the dead arise and praise God? The scriptures show that when God raised someone from the dead, the people praised Him. That’s WHY He raises the dead. He raises dead souls to eternal life to equip them for praise. That’s God’s will and purpose. When the Holy Spirit was given to the church, people embraced the challenges of Christian living, many dying for their faith because of the eternal focus the Spirit was teaching them, like Jesus. God raised dead souls at that time so that the eternal life He gave equipped those people to praise Him through the challenges of spreading the Gospel. He does the same today. This is hard to understand, but that didn’t stop the desperate person in Psalm 88 from crying out to God anyway.
Prayer for today
Our heavenly Father, we acknowledge that we don’t always understand or agree with Your actions in our lives. There are hard things we wish we didn’t have to face. Nevertheless, we recognize that You specifically took on human form to endure far greater suffering. We understand that Jesus’ suffering was the penalty we deserve. We are grateful for the convictions of Your Spirit to remind us of these truths. We trust that You will raise Your servants bodily by the same love that brought our once-dead souls to life. Help us use the life You’ve given us to praise You. Help us remember that when times are tough and darkness surrounds us, we have eternal life because of You. Regardless of our current circumstances, we know Your eternal purpose. We pray these things in Jesus’ name – the One who gave us life and saved us from sin, death, and hell. Amen.
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