Isaiah 39

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:1-8

Complacency, rebuke, and acquiescence. We may gather the preliminary truth that we need to look well before we decide on the character of Divine decisions and of human actions. Otherwise we shall certainly fall into serious mistakes. 1 . It would be a mistake to assume that the calamities here foretold were consequent on Hezekiah's fault. So, at first sight, they might appear to be; but we may be quite sure that they were not. For in other places these national disasters are referred,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:2

Hezekiah was glad of them . A more pregnant phrase than that which replaces it in 2 Kings, "hearkened unto them." Hezekiah, like Merodach-Baladan, was looking out for allies, and "was glad," thinking that in Babylon he had found one which might render him important service. Sargon's promptness, however, frustrated his hopes. In b.c. 709 that prince, regarding Merodach-Baladan's proceedings as constituting a real danger to his kingdom, made a great expedition into Babylonia, defeated... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:2

The sin of presuming. "And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things." Presumption is taking the ordering of our lives into our own hands, without consulting God or remembering our dependence on him. It is the sin to which kings and rulers and men of masterful dispositions are specially exposed. Therefore David prayed so earnestly, "Keep back thy servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me." The singular thing, and the suggestive... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:2-8

Carnal joy the prelude to spiritual sorrow. The Babylonian embassy, a grand affair doubtless, comprising envoys in their rich clothing and with their jewelled arms, camels bearing valuable gifts, prancing steeds, and a vast train of slaves and attendants, was to Hezekiah an inspiriting fact, a circumstance that gladdened and excited him. With his imperfect knowledge of geography, the embassy seemed to him to come from the furthest limits of the earth's circuit—from a remote, almost from an... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:3

Then came Isaiah the prophet . Isaiah comes, unsent for, to rebuke the king. This bold attitude was one which prophets were entitled to take by virtue of their office, which called upon them to bear testimony, even before kings, and to have no respect of persons. A similar fearlessness is apparent in Isaiah 7:1-17 , where the king with whom Isaiah has to deal was the wicked Ahaz. What said these men? "These men" is contemptuous. The demand to know what they said is almost without... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:4

What have they seen? Isaiah had, no doubt, heard of what Hezekiah had done (verse 2); but he wished to have the confession of it from his own mouth before delivering his sentence. Hezekiah tells him the truth, since he is not ashamed of his act, but rather glories in it. He has shown the ambassadors everything, and has thereby made them eager to secure his alliance. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:4

The home, seen though not shown. No doubt the ambassadors of the King of Babylon saw many things in the palace of Hezekiah which he did not exhibit to them; more things are seen than those which are displayed. It is so in every house; and it may be that the visitor goes away more impressed with some things which no one pointed out to him than with anything to which his attention was called. If any one were to ask him what he has seen in the house, he would mention that which its master had... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:5

Hear the word of the Lord of hosts . Either the prophet had been specially charged with a Divine message to the king before he sought his presence, or the prophetic afflatus now came on him suddenly. The former is, on the whole, more probable. read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:6

Behold, the days come ; literally, the days [ are ] coming , or [ are ] approaching. Of the exact "times and seasons, which the Father hath put in his own power" ( Acts 1:7 ), the prophets generally knew nothing. They were mouth-pieces, to declare the Divine will, not keen-witted politicians, forecasting results by the exercise of sharp-sightedness and sagacity. To suppose that Isaiah foresaw by mere human wisdom the Babylonian conquest of Judaea, as Charles the Great did the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 39:6

Perishing things. "Nothing shall be left." How true is this of all things of earth, as contrasted with essential being—with the life of our own souls! We can look at nothing material without being able to say, as we look to the inner world of personal consciousness, "They shall perish, but thou remainest." I. COMPREHENSIVE LOSS . "Nothing shall be left." "All that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carded to Babylon."... read more

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