Psalm 94 · a question people ask
"My soul would have soon lived in silence" (94:17). What is the silence?
In Hebrew silence is dumah (tap silence). Brown-Driver-Briggs gives it as "silence", and Strong's as "silence; figuratively, death silence". The Hebrew Bible has it only twice. The other is "The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence" (Psalm 115:17), where it stands beside the dead. Psalm 94 doesn't say more about what nearly happened. What it says is that it didn't happen, and why: "Unless the LORD had been my help" (94:17). The next verse goes on, "Your loving kindness, LORD, held me up" (94:18).
The verses
“Unless the LORD had been my help, my soul would have soon lived in silence. When I said, “My foot is slipping!” Your loving kindness, LORD, held me up.”
“The dead don’t praise the LORD, nor any who go down into silence,”