Isaiah 38

1 In those days hath Hezekiah been sick unto death, and come in unto him doth Isaiah son of Amoz, the prophet, and saith unto him, `Thus said Jehovah: Give a charge to thy house, for thou [art] dying, and dost not live.'

2 And Hezekiah turneth round his face unto the wall, and prayeth unto Jehovah,

3 and saith, `I pray thee, O Jehovah, remember, I pray Thee, how I have walked habitually before Thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that which [is] good in thine eyes I have done;' and Hezekiah weepeth -- a great weeping.

4 And a word of Jehovah is unto Isaiah, saying,

5 Go, and thou hast said to Hezekiah, Thus said Jehovah, God of David thy father, `I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tear, lo, I am adding to thy days fifteen years,

6 and out of the hand of the king of Asshur I deliver thee and this city, and have covered over this city.

7 And this [is] to thee the sign from Jehovah, that Jehovah doth this thing that He hath spoken.

8 Lo, I am bringing back the shadow of the degrees that it hath gone down on the degrees of Ahaz, by the sun, backward ten degrees:' and the sun turneth back ten degrees in the degrees that it had gone down.

9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah concerning his being sick, when he reviveth from his sickness:

10 `I -- I said in the cutting off of my days, I go in to the gates of Sheol, I have numbered the remnant of mine years.

11 I said, I do not see Jah -- Jah! In the land of the living, I do not behold man any more, With the inhabitants of the world.

12 My sojourning hath departed, And been removed from me as a shepherd's tent, I have drawn together, as a weaver, my life, By weakness it cutteth me off, From day unto night Thou dost end me.

13 I have set [Him] till morning as a lion, So doth He break all my bones, From day unto night Thou dost end me.

14 As a crane -- a swallow -- so I chatter, I mourn as a dove, Drawn up have been mine eyes on high, O Jehovah, oppression [is] on me, be my surety.

15 -- What do I say? seeing He said to me, And He Himself hath wrought, I go softly all my years for the bitterness of my soul.

16 Lord, by these do [men] live, And by all in them [is] the life of my spirit, And Thou savest me, make me also to live,

17 Lo, to peace He changed for me bitterness, And Thou hast delighted in my soul without corruption, For Thou hast cast behind Thy back all my sins.

18 For Sheol doth not confess Thee, Death doth not praise Thee, Those going down to the pit hope not for Thy truth.

19 The living, the living, he doth confess Thee.

20 Like myself to-day -- a father to sons Doth make known of Thy faithfulness, O Jehovah -- to save me: And my songs we sing all days of our lives In the house of Jehovah.'

21 And Isaiah saith, `Let them take a bunch of figs, and plaster over the ulcer, and he liveth.'

22 And Hezekiah saith, `What [is] the sign that I go up to the house of Jehovah!'

Isaiah 38 Commentary

Chapter 38

Hezekiah's sickness and recovery. (1-8) His thanksgiving. (9-22)

Verses 1-8 When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we ( 2 Kings. 20:1-11 )

Verses 9-22 We have here Hezekiah's thanksgiving. It is well for us to remember the mercies we receive in sickness. Hezekiah records the condition he was in. He dwells upon this; I shall no more see the Lord. A good man wishes not to live for any other end than that he may serve God, and have communion with him. Our present residence is like that of a shepherd in his hut, a poor, mean, and cold lodging, and with a trust committed to our charge, as the shepherd has. Our days are compared to the weaver's shuttle, ( Job 7:6 ) , passing and repassing very swiftly, every throw leaving a thread behind it; and when finished, the piece is cut off, taken out of the loom, and showed to our Master to be judged of. A good man, when his life is cut off, his cares and fatigues are cut off with it, and he rests from his labours. But our times are in God's hand; he has appointed what shall be the length of the piece. When sick, we are very apt to calculate our time, but are still at uncertainty. It should be more our care how we shall get safe to another world. And the more we taste of the loving-kindness of God, the more will our hearts love him, and live to him. It was in love to our poor perishing souls that Christ delivered them. The pardon does not make the sin not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves. It is pleasant to think of our recoveries from sickness, when we see them flowing from the pardon of sin. Hezekiah's opportunity to glorify God in this world, he made the business, and pleasure, and end of life. Being recovered, he resolves to abound in praising and serving God. God's promises are not to do away, but to quicken and encourage the use of means. Life and health are given that we may glorify God and do good.

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO ISAIAH 38

This chapter gives an account of Hezekiah's sickness, recovery, and thanksgiving on that account. His sickness, and the nature of it, and his preparation for it, as directed to by the prophet, Isa 38:1, his prayer to God upon it, Isa 38:2,3 the answer returned unto it, by which he is assured of living fifteen years more, and of the deliverance and protection of the city of Jerusalem from the Assyrians, Isa 38:4-6, the token of his recovery, the sun going back ten degrees on the dial of Ahaz, Isa 38:7,8, a writing of Hezekiah's upon his recovery, in commemoration of it, Isa 38:9, in which he represents the deplorable condition he had been in, the terrible apprehensions he had of things, especially of the wrath and fury of the Almighty, and his sorrowful and mournful complaints, Isa 38:10-14, he observes his deliverance according to the word of God; expresses his faith in it; promises to retain a cheerful sense of it; owning that it was by the promises of God that he had lived as other saints did; and ascribes his preservation from the grave to the love of God to him, of which the forgiveness of his sins was an evidence, Isa 38:15-17, the end of which salvation was, that he might praise the Lord, which he determined to do, on stringed instruments, Isa 38:18-20, and the chapter is closed with observing the means of curing him of his boil; and that it was at his request that the sign of his recovery was given him, Isa 38:21,22.