In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
7 “This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
10 I said, In the middle of my days
I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
for the rest of my years.
11 I said, I shall not see the Lord,
the Lord in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
among the inhabitants of the world.
12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
like a shepherd's tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;
13 I calmed myself until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
from day to night you bring me to an end.
14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;
I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
and he himself has done it.
I walk slowly all my years
because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these is the life of my spirit.
Oh restore me to health and make me live!
17 Behold, it was for my welfare
that I had great bitterness;
but in love you have delivered my life
from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
behind your back.
18 For Sheol does not thank you;
death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
for your faithfulness.
19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
your faithfulness.
20 The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the Lord.
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?” Isaiah 38 ESV
Isaiah 38 Hezekiah's sickness and recovery
24In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign. 25But because his heart was proud, Hezekiah did not repay the favor shown to him. Therefore wrath came upon him and upon Judah and Jerusalem.26Then Hezekiah humbled the pride of his heart—he and the people of Jerusalem—so that the wrath of the LORD did not come upon them during the days of Hezekiah.… 2 Chronicles 32: 24-26
1-7. Thus says the Lord - This is a strong argument for prayer and repentance. Isaiah has not said anything that did not come to pass, but here it is not yet sealed, not yet written on the scrolls. We remember when David was desirous of building God a house, and Nathan told him to do what was in his heart, but God sent Nathan back with a different word. He spoke at first of himself, for it seemed a good thing, but it was not what God intended. Here, like in the time of Jonah, when God was sending him to Nineveh, the prophet is instructed to speak of impending doom. Jonah did not want to go to Nineveh because he knew the Lord to be merciful, and he feared that the people would repent and receive God's mercy.
Set your house in order - Spiritually men should always be in such a place, and physically our wills should be in order, for though we think back on this no more, we should not leave confusion for our family that goes on.
You shall not recover - This is a terminal statement, very decided, and finalized in the sense of all mankind. Sin has brought death into the world and God has revealed His ultimate declaration against it, and so it is not surprising that Hezekiah will die, but it would be shocking to be told that death waited so close by.
Turned his face to the wall and prayed - This is a beautiful thing, and as a sinner, like Hezekiah, it reminds me of my imperfect approach. I have been sentenced, proven guilty, though at times I may blunder in my thoughts, and think that I have served God well and in all faithfulness, such is not the case. He is a pious man, but in the passage above we see that the wholeness of his heart was not solely unto God, for pride had reserved for itself a place there too.
Wept bitterly - A lot is going on here, and the chronology is not chapter by chapter, for this is a window before the attempted siege by the Assyrians, and he has stood against Sennacherib, but now it looks like he will no longer be able to stand and his son will not be mature enough to do so. It was in those days of struggle that he became ill.
This shall be the sign - Hezekiah rightly understood that it would be more difficult to make the dial go backwards, to have the earth reverse it's rotation.
9-21. I said, in the middle of my days - He was probably about 40 years old. People tell me about how long their mother or father lived, and it may offer some gage, but years are not guaranteed.
I shall not see the Lord - He has an incomplete understanding of death; it would appear that he believes death cuts him off from interaction with God.
…9He has saved us and called us to a holy calling, not because of our works, but by His own purpose and by the grace He granted us in Christ Jesus before time began. 10And now He has revealed this grace through the appearing of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has abolished death and illuminated the way to life and immortality through the gospel, 11to which I was appointed as a preacher, an apostle, and a teacher.… 2 Timothy 1: 9-11
Like a shepherd's tent - Temporary things seem so fixed to us here.
1Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is dismantled, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. 2For in this tent we groan, longing to be clothed with our heavenly dwelling,… 2 Corinthians 5:1-2
“Hezekiah has been compared with Paul who desired to depart and be with Christ, but this comparison is unfair, for Hezekiah still lived under the shadow of the Old Dispensation. Israel knew of an immortal life but did not quite have the glorious hope the Church now has.” (Bultema)
He cuts me off from the loom - There is much work that Hezekiah has left in his mind to do, and things which give him much purpose. God never needed any of us to do this work, His work, and so we should do it unto Him, for it is a blessing.
You bring me to an end - He acknowledges God's hand, whether to his favor or disfavor; life is God's decision, the Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away, blessed be the name of the Lord.
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back - He relates his sickness to his sin; these afflictions are good for us if they bring us to prayer. They are so light in comparison to eternal judgment. "Behold, it was for my welfare."
The father makes known to the children Your faithfulness - Under the law, and seeing with what light we presently have, it is still dimly, and in this fog their is an obvious uncertainty about the grave. The living, he thanks you, certainly we can no longer praise God before men, or testify of Him to our children, at least not face to face when we are dead, but eternal life is eternal praise before God. I think he is also concerned about the future king, his son, Manasseh, that he needs teaching, and if he only knew.
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