38:1 In those a days was Hezekiah sick and near death. And
Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to
him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thy house in order: for thou
shalt die, and not live.
(a) Soon after that the Assyrians were slain: so that God
will have the exercise of his children continually,
that they may learn only to depend on God and aspire to
the heavens.
38:2 Then Hezekiah b turned his face toward the wall, and
prayed to the LORD,
(b) For his heart was touched with fear of God's judgment,
seeing he had appointed him to die so quickly after his
deliverance from so great calamity, as one unworthy to
remain in that estate, and also foreseeing the great
change that would come in the Church, as he left no son
to reign after him: for as yet Manasseh was not born,
and when he reigned, we see what a tyrant he was.
38:6 And I will deliver thee and this city c from the hand of
the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
(c) He not only promises to prolong his life, but to give
him rest and quietness from the Assyrians, who might
have renewed their army to revenge their former defeat.
38:7 And d this [shall be] a sign to thee from the LORD, that
the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
(d) For Hezekiah had asked for a sign for the confirmation
of his faith, as in (Isa 38:22, 2Ki 20:8), to which
he was moved by the singular motion of God's spirit.
38:8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which
hath gone down on the e sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees
backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees
it had gone down.
38:9f The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been
sick, and had recovered from his sickness:
(f) He left this song of his lamentation and thanksgiving
to all posterity, as a monument of his own infirmity
and thankful heart for God's benefits, as David did,
(Ps 51:1).
38:10 I said in the g cutting off of my days, I shall go to
the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the rest of my
years.
(c) At which time it was told to me, that I would die.
38:11 I said, h I shall not see the LORD, [even] the LORD, in
the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with
the inhabitants of the world.
(h) I will no more praise the Lord here in this temple
among the faithful thus God permits his dearest
children to want his consolation for a time that his
grace afterward may appear when they feel their own
weakness.
38:12 My age hath departed, and is removed from me as a
shepherd's tent: I i have cut off like a weaver my life:
he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day [even]
k to night wilt thou make an end of me.
(i) By my sin I have provoked God to take my life from me.
(k) That is, in one day, or shortly.
38:13 I reckoned l till morning, [that], as a lion, so will he
break all my bones: from day [even] to night wilt thou
make an end of me.
(l) Overnight I thought that I would live till morning,
but my pangs in the night persuaded me the contrary:
he shows the horror that the faithful have when they
apprehend God's judgment against their sin.
38:14 Like a crane [or] a swallow, so I m chattered: I mourned
as a dove: my eyes fail [with looking] upward: O LORD, I
am oppressed; undertake for me.
(m) I was so oppressed with sorrow, that I was not able to
utter my words, but only to groan and sigh.
38:15 What shall I say? o he hath both spoken to me, and
himself hath done [it]: I shall go p softly all my years
in the bitterness of my soul.
(o) God has declared by his prophet that I will die and
therefore I will yield to him.
(p) I will have no release, but continual sorrows while I
live.
38:16 O Lord, q by these [things men] live, and in all these
[things is] the life of my spirit: so wilt thou r
restore me, and make me to live.
(q) They who will outlive the men that are now alive, and
all they who are in these years will acknowledge this
blessing.
(r) That after that you had condemned me to death you
restored me to life.
38:17 Behold, for s peace I had great bitterness: but thou
hast in love to my soul [delivered it] from the pit of
corruption: for thou hast cast all my t sins behind thy
back.
(s) While I thought to have lived in rest and ease being
delivered from my enemy, I had grief upon grief.
(t) He values more the remission of his sins, and God's
favour than a thousand lives.
38:18 For u the grave cannot praise thee, death can [not]
celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope
for thy truth.
(u) For as much as God has placed man in this world to
glorify him, the godly take it as a sign of his wrath,
when their days were shortened, either because they
seemed unworthy for their sins to live longer in his
service, or for their zeal to God's glory, seeing that
there are so few in earth who regard it as in
(Ps 6:5,115:17).
38:19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I [do]
this day: the father to the x children shall make known
thy truth.
(x) All posterity will acknowledge and the fathers
according to their duty toward their children will
instruct them in your graces and mercies toward me.
38:20 The LORD [was ready] to save me: therefore we will sing my
songs to the stringed instruments all the days of y our
life in the house of the LORD.
(y) He shows what is the use of the Congregation and
Church, that is, to give the Lord thanks for his
benefits.
38:21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and z
lay [it] for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall
recover.
