Isaiah 38 Study Notes: Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
Isaiah tells the gravely ill King Hezekiah that he will die, but Hezekiah prays and weeps, and the LORD adds fifteen years, turning back the sun's shadow as a sign. Hezekiah later writes a poem recalling his despair and praising God for healing and forgiving him, and Isaiah's fig remedy is noted.
General
True or False: Along with adding years to his life, the LORD promised to rescue Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Assyria's king (38:6).
Answer: True
This is true. The LORD's answer did not stop with healing. He also promised to rescue both Hezekiah and the city from the Assyrian king's power and to defend Jerusalem (38:6). The same promise to defend the city appears in 37:35, and Chronicles records that the LORD did save Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people from Sennacherib (2 Chronicles 32:22). The king's personal recovery and the city's safety came from the same faithful God.
- Isaiah 38:6 (BSB)“And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.”Along with added years, the LORD promises rescue from Assyria.
- Isaiah 37:35 (BSB)“‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’””The LORD had also promised to defend Jerusalem and save it.
- 2 Chronicles 32:22 (BSB)“So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all others, and He gave them rest on every side.”Chronicles records that the LORD saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people from Sennacherib.
Theological
True or False: In 38:6 the LORD joins to His promise of added years a pledge to deliver Hezekiah and Jerusalem from Assyria.
Answer: True
This is true. Beyond the fifteen years, the LORD pledges to deliver the king and the city from the Assyrian king and to defend Jerusalem (38:6). The pledge matches 37:35, and 2 Chronicles 32:22 records its accomplishment. Hezekiah's life and Zion's preservation are bound together under one promise of God.
- Isaiah 38:6 (BSB)“And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.”Along with added years, the LORD promises rescue from Assyria.
- Isaiah 37:35 (BSB)“‘I will defend this city and save it for My own sake and for the sake of My servant David.’””The LORD had also promised to defend Jerusalem and save it.
- 2 Chronicles 32:22 (BSB)“So the LORD saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hands of King Sennacherib of Assyria and all others, and He gave them rest on every side.”Chronicles records that the LORD saved Hezekiah and Jerusalem's people from Sennacherib.
General
In answer to Hezekiah's prayer, how many years did the LORD say He would add to his life (38:5)?
Answer: Fifteen
The LORD spoke to Isaiah again: the God of Hezekiah's ancestor David had heard his prayer and seen his tears, and He would give him fifteen more years (38:4-5). God is the One who hears prayer (Psalm 65:2), and a righteous person's prayer is mighty in its effect (James 5:16). Scripture also teaches that all our days are written in God's book before they happen (Psalm 139:16). Both are true together: God planned Hezekiah's days, and He also planned the prayer through which He chose to give those added years.
- Isaiah 38:4-5 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”The LORD sends Isaiah back with an answer to Hezekiah's prayer.
- Psalm 65:2 (BSB)“O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.”The psalmist addresses God as the One who listens to prayer.
- Psalm 139:16 (BSB)“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”All a person's days are written in God's book before any of them come to be.
- James 5:16 (BSB)“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”James says the prayer of a righteous man has great power.
Theological
How many years does the LORD promise to add to Hezekiah's life in 38:5?
Answer: Fifteen
Speaking as the God of David, Hezekiah's forefather, the LORD tells Isaiah that He has heard the king's prayer and seen his tears, and will lengthen his life by fifteen years (38:4-5). The LORD is the hearer of prayer (Psalm 65:2), and a righteous person's prayer is powerful in its effect (James 5:16), while every one of a person's days stands written in God's book beforehand (Psalm 139:16). The two truths stand together: God ordains the end and also the means, and Hezekiah's prayer is one of the means by which His purpose comes to pass.
- Isaiah 38:4-5 (BSB)“And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: ‘I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”The LORD sends Isaiah back with an answer to Hezekiah's prayer.
- Psalm 65:2 (BSB)“O You who listen to prayer, all people will come to You.”The psalmist addresses God as the One who listens to prayer.
- Psalm 139:16 (BSB)“Your eyes saw my unformed body; all my days were written in Your book and ordained for me before one of them came to be.”All a person's days are written in God's book before any of them come to be.
- James 5:16 (BSB)“Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous man has great power to prevail.”James says the prayer of a righteous man has great power.
General
In his prayer after hearing he would die, what did Hezekiah ask the LORD to remember (38:3)?
Answer: His faithful walk before God with an undivided heart
Hezekiah turned toward the wall in prayer, asking the LORD to remember how he had lived before Him faithfully and with his whole heart, doing what was good in God's eyes; then he wept bitterly (38:2-3). Kings confirms that Hezekiah trusted the LORD and kept His commands (2 Kings 18:5-6). He was not claiming to be sinless; later he thanks God for putting all his sins behind His back (38:17). He was asking God to remember a life of sincere loyalty, as Nehemiah did (Nehemiah 13:14), and David trusted that God keeps account of his tears (Psalm 56:8).
- Isaiah 38:2-3 (BSB)“Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”Hezekiah turns to the wall, prays, and weeps.
- 2 Kings 18:5-6 (BSB)“Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.”Kings says Hezekiah trusted in the LORD and held fast to Him, keeping His commands.
- Nehemiah 13:14 (BSB)“Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.”Nehemiah likewise asked God to remember his faithful service.
- Psalm 56:8 (BSB)“You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle—are they not in Your book?”David asks God to keep his tears in His bottle and trusts they are recorded in His book.
Theological
What does Hezekiah plead before God in 38:3?
Answer: His faithful walk before God with an undivided heart
Turning to the wall, Hezekiah asks the LORD to remember his faithful walk before Him with wholehearted devotion and his doing of what pleased Him, and he weeps bitterly (38:2-3). The appeal is to covenant loyalty, which 2 Kings 18:5-6 attests, not to sinless merit; Hezekiah later confesses that God has cast all his sins behind His back (38:17). His integrity is the fruit of grace, presented as Nehemiah presented his service (Nehemiah 13:14), and his tears are seen by the God who records them (Psalm 56:8).
- Isaiah 38:2-3 (BSB)“Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, saying, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.”Hezekiah turns to the wall, prays, and weeps.
- 2 Kings 18:5-6 (BSB)“Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. No king of Judah was like him, either before him or after him. He remained faithful to the LORD and did not turn from following Him; he kept the commandments that the LORD had given Moses.”Kings says Hezekiah trusted in the LORD and held fast to Him, keeping His commands.
- Nehemiah 13:14 (BSB)“Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.”Nehemiah likewise asked God to remember his faithful service.
- Psalm 56:8 (BSB)“You have taken account of my wanderings. Put my tears in Your bottle—are they not in Your book?”David asks God to keep his tears in His bottle and trusts they are recorded in His book.
General
When Hezekiah became deathly ill, what message from the LORD did Isaiah bring him (38:1)?
Answer: Set your affairs in order, for your death is near
Hezekiah fell sick to the point of death, and the prophet Isaiah arrived with a hard word from the LORD: he was to put his household in order, because he was going to die and would not get better (38:1). The same message is recorded in 2 Kings 20:1, and Chronicles also notes that the king became deathly ill and turned to the LORD in prayer (2 Chronicles 32:24). Nothing in the message held out hope; the king's only recourse was God Himself.
- Isaiah 38:1 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’””Isaiah brings the LORD's word to the gravely ill king.
- 2 Kings 20:1 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’””The account in Kings records the same message given to Hezekiah in his illness.
- 2 Chronicles 32:24 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.”Chronicles also records that Hezekiah fell deathly sick and prayed to the LORD.
Theological
What word from the LORD does Isaiah deliver to the mortally ill Hezekiah in 38:1?
Answer: Set your affairs in order, for your death is near
Isaiah tells Hezekiah to arrange the affairs of his house, since he will die and not recover (38:1; 2 Kings 20:1). The announcement is unqualified, and it drives the king to prayer, as Chronicles summarizes (2 Chronicles 32:24). The narrative that follows shows the LORD answering that prayer, so that the word of 38:1 and the reprieve of 38:5 both come from the same sovereign God.
- Isaiah 38:1 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’””Isaiah brings the LORD's word to the gravely ill king.
- 2 Kings 20:1 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz came to him and said, “This is what the LORD says: ‘Put your house in order, for you are about to die; you will not recover.’””The account in Kings records the same message given to Hezekiah in his illness.
- 2 Chronicles 32:24 (BSB)“In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. So he prayed to the LORD, who spoke to him and gave him a sign.”Chronicles also records that Hezekiah fell deathly sick and prayed to the LORD.
General
What remedy had Isaiah told them to use for Hezekiah's illness (38:21)?
Answer: Laying a cake of pressed figs on the king's boil
The chapter closes with two notes. Isaiah had told them to make a cake from pressed figs and lay it on the boil so that Hezekiah would get well, and the king had asked what sign would show that he would again enter the LORD's house (38:21-22). God had promised the healing, and He used an ordinary remedy to bring it about. God often works through means. He promised Paul that everyone on the ship would live (Acts 27:23-24), yet Paul said the sailors had to stay aboard for that rescue to happen (Acts 27:31).
- Isaiah 38:21-22 (BSB)“Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?””Two closing notes record Isaiah's instruction about the boil and Hezekiah's question about a sign.
- Acts 27:23-24 (BSB)“For just last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’”God promised Paul that everyone on the ship would live.
- Acts 27:31 (BSB)“But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.””Paul still insisted the sailors stay aboard, since the promised rescue would come through that means.
Theological
What treatment does 38:21 record that Isaiah had prescribed for Hezekiah?
Answer: Laying a cake of pressed figs on the king's boil
In the chapter's closing notes, Isaiah had directed that a cake of pressed figs be applied to the boil so the king would get well, and the king had asked for a sign that he would again enter the LORD's house (38:21-22). The healing God promised came through an ordinary means He appointed. God's sovereign promise does not make the means pointless: He guaranteed every life on Paul's ship (Acts 27:23-24), and Paul still required the sailors to stay aboard (Acts 27:31).
- Isaiah 38:21-22 (BSB)“Now Isaiah had said, “Prepare a lump of pressed figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover.” And Hezekiah had asked, “What will be the sign that I will go up to the house of the LORD?””Two closing notes record Isaiah's instruction about the boil and Hezekiah's question about a sign.
- Acts 27:23-24 (BSB)“For just last night an angel of the God to whom I belong and whom I serve stood beside me and said, ‘Do not be afraid, Paul; you must stand before Caesar. And look, God has granted you the lives of all who sail with you.’”God promised Paul that everyone on the ship would live.
- Acts 27:31 (BSB)“But Paul said to the centurion and the soldiers, “Unless these men remain with the ship, you cannot be saved.””Paul still insisted the sailors stay aboard, since the promised rescue would come through that means.
General
What sign did the LORD give Hezekiah to confirm that He would keep His promise (38:7-8)?
Answer: The shadow on Ahaz's stairway going back ten steps
The LORD gave a sign that He would do what He had said: the sun's shadow on Ahaz's stairway (Ahaz was Hezekiah's father) would move back ten steps, and the sunlight did return the full distance it had already gone down (38:7-8). Only the God who made the sun could do this. Day and night belong to Him, and He set the sun in its place (Psalm 74:16-17). He once held the sun still for Joshua (Joshua 10:13-14), and nothing is too hard for the Maker of heaven and earth (Jeremiah 32:17).
- Isaiah 38:7-8 (BSB)“This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.”The LORD gives Hezekiah a sign to confirm His promise.
- Joshua 10:13-14 (BSB)“So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.”In Joshua's day too the LORD worked a sign in the sky, holding back the sun.
- Psalm 74:16-17 (BSB)“The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun. You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.”Day and night belong to God, who established the sun and the moon.
- Jeremiah 32:17 (BSB)““Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!”The Maker of heaven and earth finds nothing too difficult.
Theological
What confirming sign does the LORD give in 38:7-8?
Answer: The shadow on Ahaz's stairway going back ten steps
As a pledge that He will keep His word, the LORD makes the sun's shadow on Ahaz's stairway retreat ten steps, and the sunlight retraces the distance it had descended (38:7-8). The sign displays God's lordship over the created order: day and night are His (Psalm 74:16-17), He halted the sun in Joshua's battle (Joshua 10:13-14), and for the Creator no task is too hard (Jeremiah 32:17). The miracle confirms that both the healing and the deliverance rest on the Creator's word.
- Isaiah 38:7-8 (BSB)“This will be a sign to you from the LORD that He will do what He has promised: I will make the sun’s shadow that falls on the stairway of Ahaz go back ten steps.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had descended.”The LORD gives Hezekiah a sign to confirm His promise.
- Joshua 10:13-14 (BSB)“So the sun stood still and the moon stopped until the nation took vengeance upon its enemies. Is this not written in the Book of Jashar? “So the sun stopped in the middle of the sky and delayed going down about a full day.” There has been no day like it before or since, when the LORD listened to the voice of a man, because the LORD fought for Israel.”In Joshua's day too the LORD worked a sign in the sky, holding back the sun.
- Psalm 74:16-17 (BSB)“The day is Yours, and also the night; You established the moon and the sun. You set all the boundaries of the earth; You made the summer and winter.”Day and night belong to God, who established the sun and the moon.
- Jeremiah 32:17 (BSB)““Oh, Lord GOD! You have made the heavens and the earth by Your great power and outstretched arm. Nothing is too difficult for You!”The Maker of heaven and earth finds nothing too difficult.
General
In 38:17, what does Hezekiah say God has done with all his sins?
Answer: Cast every one of them behind His own back
Looking back, Hezekiah says his bitter anguish turned out to be for his good, and that God's love rescued him from destruction because God had thrown all his sins behind His back (38:17). Something behind your back is out of sight and no longer held against you. His healing was joined to forgiveness. Micah 7:19 confesses that God will throw all His people's sins down into the deep sea, and Psalm 103:12 says He removes them as far as east is from west. The psalmist also learned that affliction did him good (Psalm 119:71).
- Isaiah 38:17 (BSB)“Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”Hezekiah reflects on his anguish and on God's forgiving love.
- Micah 7:19 (BSB)“He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.”God's people confess that He will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea.
- Psalm 103:12 (BSB)“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”God removes His people's transgressions as far as east is from west.
- Psalm 119:71 (BSB)“It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.”The psalmist says it was good for him to be afflicted.
Theological
How does Hezekiah describe God's dealing with his sins in 38:17?
Answer: Cast every one of them behind His own back
Hezekiah confesses that his great anguish served his welfare, and that God in love delivered his life from the pit, having cast all his sins behind His back (38:17). The image is of sins put out of God's sight, no longer reckoned against him; physical deliverance is grounded in forgiveness. The same grace appears in Micah 7:19 (sins hurled into the sea) and Psalm 103:12 (transgressions removed as far as east from west), and the benefit of affliction is confessed in Psalm 119:71.
- Isaiah 38:17 (BSB)“Surely for my own welfare I had such great anguish; but Your love has delivered me from the pit of oblivion, for You have cast all my sins behind Your back.”Hezekiah reflects on his anguish and on God's forgiving love.
- Micah 7:19 (BSB)“He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.”God's people confess that He will throw all their sins into the depths of the sea.
- Psalm 103:12 (BSB)“As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us.”God removes His people's transgressions as far as east is from west.
- Psalm 119:71 (BSB)“It was good for me to be afflicted, that I might learn Your statutes.”The psalmist says it was good for him to be afflicted.
General
In 38:12, what do the pictures of a shepherd's tent being taken down and a weaver cutting cloth from the loom express?
Answer: His life being taken down and cut off before its time
Hezekiah remembers thinking that at the height of his years he was headed for Sheol, the place of the dead, robbed of the rest of his years (38:10-11). His life was being pulled up and carried off like a herdsman's tent, rolled up like a weaver's finished cloth and cut from the loom (38:12). Both pictures show a life ended suddenly and too soon. He goes on to say that God, like a lion, crushed his bones, that he moaned like a dove, and he asks the Lord to be his security (38:13-14). Job compared his fleeting days to a weaver's shuttle (Job 7:6), another psalmist pleaded not to be taken halfway through life (Psalm 102:23-24), and Paul calls the body an earthly tent that can be taken down (2 Corinthians 5:1).
- Isaiah 38:10-12 (BSB)“I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.”Hezekiah recalls how he felt when he expected to die in mid-life.
- Job 7:6 (BSB)“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.”Job also compares the swift end of his days to a weaver's shuttle.
- Psalm 102:23-24 (BSB)“He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days. I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.”Another psalmist begs God not to take him away in the middle of his days.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 (BSB)“For 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.”Paul also pictures the body as an earthly tent that can be taken down.
Theological
What do the tent and loom images of 38:12 convey about Hezekiah's situation?
Answer: His life being taken down and cut off before its time
Facing death halfway through life, Hezekiah expected to pass through Sheol's gates deprived of his remaining years (38:10-11). He likens his life to a shepherd's tent struck and removed and to woven cloth rolled up and severed from the loom (38:12): a life abruptly dismantled and cut off before its time. The lament continues with God likened to a lion breaking his bones, the king's cries like a dove's moaning, and a plea for the Lord to be his security (38:13-14). Similar imagery appears in Job 7:6 (the weaver's shuttle), Psalm 102:23-24 (a plea not to be taken in mid-life), and 2 Corinthians 5:1 (the body as an earthly tent that is taken down).
- Isaiah 38:10-12 (BSB)“I said, “In the prime of my life I must go through the gates of Sheol and be deprived of the remainder of my years.” I said, “I will never again see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living; I will no longer look on mankind with those who dwell in this world. My dwelling has been picked up and removed from me like a shepherd’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver; He cuts me off from the loom; from day until night You make an end of me.”Hezekiah recalls how he felt when he expected to die in mid-life.
- Job 7:6 (BSB)“My days are swifter than a weaver’s shuttle; they come to an end without hope.”Job also compares the swift end of his days to a weaver's shuttle.
- Psalm 102:23-24 (BSB)“He has broken my strength on the way; He has cut short my days. I say: “O my God, do not take me in the midst of my days! Your years go on through all generations.”Another psalmist begs God not to take him away in the middle of his days.
- 2 Corinthians 5:1 (BSB)“For 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.”Paul also pictures the body as an earthly tent that can be taken down.
General
According to 38:18-19, who is able to thank God and make known His faithfulness?
Answer: The living, who thank Him and teach their children
Hezekiah says that Sheol, the realm of the dead, and death itself cannot thank or praise God, and the buried dead have no hope in His faithfulness. Those still alive are the ones who give thanks, as he is doing that day, and fathers pass on the news of God's faithfulness to their children (38:18-19). So he vows to sing with stringed instruments in the LORD's house all his life (38:20). His restored life is for praise. Psalm 6:5 and Psalm 115:17-18 say the same, and Psalm 78:4 speaks of passing God's praises on to those who come after. The New Testament brings the fuller hope that Christ has put an end to death and lit the way to unending life through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10).
- Isaiah 38:18-20 (BSB)“For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness. The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.”Hezekiah ends his poem by vowing lifelong praise in the LORD's house.
- Psalm 6:5 (BSB)“For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?”David also asks who can praise God from Sheol.
- Psalm 115:17-18 (BSB)“It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence. But it is we who will bless the LORD, both now and forevermore. Hallelujah!”The psalmist contrasts the silent dead with God's people, who bless Him now and forever.
- Psalm 78:4 (BSB)“We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.”God's people declare His praises to the next generation.
- 2 Timothy 1:10 (BSB)“And 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,”Paul says Christ has abolished death and, through the gospel, lit the way to life that does not end.
Theological
Who, according to Hezekiah in 38:18-19, can give thanks to God and proclaim His faithfulness?
Answer: The living, who thank Him and teach their children
Hezekiah contrasts Sheol and death, which cannot thank or praise God, with the living, who give thanks as he does today and as fathers who make God's faithfulness known to their children (38:18-19); he resolves on lifelong music in the LORD's house (38:20). The argument parallels Psalm 6:5 and Psalm 115:17-18, and the intergenerational witness echoes Psalm 78:4. Hezekiah speaks of praise within this earthly life; the gospel shows the way to unending life, opened by Christ, who abolished death (2 Timothy 1:10).
- Isaiah 38:18-20 (BSB)“For Sheol cannot thank You; Death cannot praise You. Those who descend to the Pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness. The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness. The LORD will save me; we will play songs on stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the house of the LORD.”Hezekiah ends his poem by vowing lifelong praise in the LORD's house.
- Psalm 6:5 (BSB)“For there is no mention of You in death; who can praise You from Sheol?”David also asks who can praise God from Sheol.
- Psalm 115:17-18 (BSB)“It is not the dead who praise the LORD, nor any who descend into silence. But it is we who will bless the LORD, both now and forevermore. Hallelujah!”The psalmist contrasts the silent dead with God's people, who bless Him now and forever.
- Psalm 78:4 (BSB)“We will not hide them from their children but will declare to the next generation the praises of the LORD and His might and the wonders He has performed.”God's people declare His praises to the next generation.
- 2 Timothy 1:10 (BSB)“And 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,”Paul says Christ has abolished death and, through the gospel, lit the way to life that does not end.
General
True or False: The heading in 38:9 says Hezekiah wrote the poem that follows after he had been ill and then recovered.
Answer: True
This is true. The heading calls 38:10-20 something Judah's king Hezekiah wrote once he had been sick and then healed (38:9). So the poem looks back: it recalls the despair he felt when facing death (38:10-14) and then gives thanks for God's rescue (38:15-20). It belongs with other songs of people God brought back from the edge of death, such as David's thanks for being healed and lifted up from Sheol, the place of the dead (Psalm 30:2-3), and the psalmist's resolve to live and tell of the LORD's deeds (Psalm 118:17).
- Isaiah 38:9 (BSB)“This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:”The heading introduces Hezekiah's poem and when he wrote it.
- Psalm 30:2-3 (BSB)“O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.”David also thanks God for healing him and lifting him up from Sheol.
- Psalm 118:17 (BSB)“I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.”The psalmist resolves to live and declare what the LORD has done.
Theological
True or False: According to 38:9, Hezekiah's poem was composed after his sickness and recovery.
Answer: True
This is true. The heading in 38:9 dates the composition to the period after Hezekiah's illness and healing. The poem therefore recounts, in retrospect, his lament in the face of death (38:10-14) and his thanksgiving for deliverance (38:15-20). It stands with Psalm 30:2-3, praise for healing and rescue from Sheol, and Psalm 118:17, a vow to live and declare the LORD's works.
- Isaiah 38:9 (BSB)“This is a writing by Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:”The heading introduces Hezekiah's poem and when he wrote it.
- Psalm 30:2-3 (BSB)“O LORD my God, I cried to You for help, and You healed me. O LORD, You pulled me up from Sheol; You spared me from descending into the Pit.”David also thanks God for healing him and lifting him up from Sheol.
- Psalm 118:17 (BSB)“I will not die, but I will live and proclaim what the LORD has done.”The psalmist resolves to live and declare what the LORD has done.