In Psalm 88:10–12, there follow several rhetorical questions, which have a fitting negative answer. At the same time, these questions also function as a strong plea for the Lord to act quickly.
Isn’t life over for the dead? Because then the praise for you stops. And don’t you, Lord, want man to praise you? Isn’t that his deepest destiny? For the psalmist there is a relationship between praising God and life itself (Psalm 115:17, Psalm 118:17, Psalm 119:175). That is why the psalms speak of death as a painful thing, specifically because it is a situation without praise (Psalm 6:5, Psalm 30:9, Psalm 115:17, Isaiah 38:18–19).
10 Do you work wonders for the dead? Do the departed rise up to praise you? Selah