09-23-2009, 06:31 PM
(This post was last modified: 09-23-2009, 06:46 PM by Director Michael.)
You are misinterpreting Psalms 115:17, which says, " 'The dead' do not praise G-d, nor any who 'descend into silence'." It remains to explain who are "the dead" and those who "descend into silence" that the verse is referring to. It's telling that you picked on that verse to try to prove your false claim, because the very next verse disproves your claim. Psalms 115:18 says, "But WE will bless G-d from NOW TO ETERNITY; praise G-d!" "We" in that verse obviously includes the author, King David, and he includes along with himself all other righteous people, for all time. The righteous praise G-d during their physical lives, and they continue to do so eternally, which INCLUDES the temporary period of time during which the physical body dies, while the living soul of the deceased righteous person continues to praise G-d, as the verse proves. So "deceased" only means that G-d has willed the life-giving living soul to separate from its enclothement in the physical body.
Therefore the verse Psalms 115:17 that you cited can't literally refer to all deceased people, as the next verse proves. Instead, 115:17 speaks euphemistically about the wicked who, even while physically alive, are referred to as "dead" by the Hebrew Prophets, because the wicked are confused with alien thoughts while they are steeped in their wickedness, they don't praise G-d, and they do not desire to repent - i.e., they do not desire to merit eternal life for their soul.
Therefore the verse Psalms 115:17 that you cited can't literally refer to all deceased people, as the next verse proves. Instead, 115:17 speaks euphemistically about the wicked who, even while physically alive, are referred to as "dead" by the Hebrew Prophets, because the wicked are confused with alien thoughts while they are steeped in their wickedness, they don't praise G-d, and they do not desire to repent - i.e., they do not desire to merit eternal life for their soul.