Isa 38:1
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.

Isa 38:2
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.

Isa 38:6
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.

Isa 38:7
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.

Isa 38:8
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.

     (e) Read @2Ki 20:8.

Isa 38:9
38:9 {f} 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.

Isa 38:10
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.

Isa 38:11
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.

Isa 38:12
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.

Isa 38:13
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.

Isa 38:14
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.

Isa 38:15
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.

Isa 38:16
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.

Isa 38:17
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.

Isa 38:18
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.

Isa 38:19
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.

Isa 38:20
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.

Isa 38:21
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.

      (z) Read @2Ki 20:7.

Isa 38:22
38:22 Hezekiah also {a} had said, What [is] the sign that I
      shall go up to the house of the LORD?

      (a) As in @Isa 38:7.



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