Isaiah 38

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:3

Remember now, O Lord . Hezekiah was in the full vigour of life—thirty-nine years old only. He had probably as yet no son, since Manasseh, who succeeded him, was but twelve ( 2 Kings 21:1 , 2 Chronicles 33:1 ) when Hezekiah died at the age of fifty-four. It was a grievous thing to a Jew to leave no male offspring: it was viewed as a mark of the Divine displeasure to be cut off in the midst of one's days ( Job 15:32 ; Job 22:15 , Job 22:16 : Psalms 55:23 ; Proverbs 10:27 ; ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:3

Man's fair estimate of his own life. Hezekiah ventures to say before God, "Ah, Jehovah, remember, I pray, how I have walked before thee in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done that which is good in thine eyes." Can a good man rightly appeal to his conscious integrity? David did. Hezekiah may. It is not pious work to get up a case against ourselves. Confessions are too often utterly insincere things. It is right to keenly criticize self, and to recognize, and humble ourselves... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:4

Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying . The author of Kings describes graphically how Isaiah, after delivering his message, had gone out, but had not reached the middle court of the palace, when his footsteps were arrested, and the Divine voice bade him "turn again and relieve Hezekiah's fears by a fresh announcement" ( 2 Kings 20:4 ). So swiftly does God answer "the prayer of faith." read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:4-6

Human life; the kindness of God and the wisdom of man. In the providential ordering and in the human direction of this our mortal life, we see— I. THE KINDNESS OF GOD . 1 . The strong links by which God has connected us together. "The God of David thy father;" for David's sake, in part, he would render deliverance. Human life is so ordered that we are all of us immeasurably the better for the piety, the virtue, the patient and faithful labours of those who came before us. ... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:5

Thus saith the Lord,… I have heard thy prayer . According to the author of Kings, the full message sent to Hezekiah was, "I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold , I will heal thee : on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord. And I will add unto thy clays fifteen years; and I will deliver time and this city out of the hand of the King of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake , and for my servant David ' s sake " ( 2 Kings 20:5... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:5

Hezekiah's prayer heard. "Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears." These words were spoken to a heart riven with grief, and a life seemingly "sick unto death." At such times this man wants, above all else, to feel that he has been sincere. He says, not boastingly at all, but with real humility, "Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:7

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord . It was the day of the free offering of "signs" by God to those whom his providence had placed at the head of his people. Ahaz had been offered a sign ( Isaiah 7:11 ), but had refused the offer made him ( Isaiah 7:12 ); the Lord had then "himself" given him a sign." Hezekiah received a sign to assure him of the complete discomfiture of Sennacherib ( Isaiah 37:30 ); an offer was here made him of a sign of a peculiar kind, and it was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:7-8

Signs for the help of faith. In this case, as in that of Gideon, God granted signs. For the people of Palestine, and for his disciples, our Lord wrought miracles, which were signs; but he utterly refused to meet the demand of the Pharisees. "There shall no sign be given you." Our Lord, however, reproved the desire for signs as showing some weakness of character in those who desired them. "Except ye see signs and wonders ye will not believe." Exactly what the sign granted to Hezekiah was... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:8

The sun-dial of Ahaz . We are informed by Herodotus that the sun-dial was an invention of the Babylonians (Herod; 2.109), from whom it would readily pass to the Assyrians. Ahaz may have obtained a knowledge of it, or an actual specimen, when he visited Tiglath-Pileser at Damascus ( 2 Kings 16:10 ), and, on his return to his capital, have caused one to be erected there. Sun-dials are of several kinds. The one here spoken of seems to have consisted of a set of steps, with a perpendicular... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:9

The writing of Hezekiah ; rather, a writing. After he had recovered from his illness, Hezekiah, it would seem, retraced his feelings as he lay upon his sick-bed, and embodied them in this monody. It has been well termed, "a peculiarly sweet and plaintive specimen of Hebrew psalmody" (Cheyne). Four stanzas or strophes of unequal length are thought to be discernible: In the first two the monarch is looking forward to death, and his strain is mournful; in the last two he has received the... read more

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:3

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:4

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:4-6

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:5

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:7

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:7-8

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:8

The Pulpit Commentary - Isaiah 38:9

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