College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

Isaiah 38:9-20

2. PRAISE

The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness.

I said, In the noontide of my days I shall go into the gates of Sheol: I am deprived of the residue of my years.

I said, I shall not see Jehovah, even Jehovah in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me as a shepherd's tent: I have rolled up, like a weaver, my life; he will cut me off from the loom: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

I quieted myself until morning; as a lion, so he breaketh all my bones: From day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.

Like a swallow or a crane, so did I chatter; I did moan as a dove; mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed, be thou my surety.

What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.

O Lord, by these things men live; And wholly therein is the life of my spirit: Wherefore recover thou me, and make me to live.

Behold, it was for my peace that 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 sins behind thy back.

For Sheol cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee: They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.

The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: The father to the children shall make known thy truth.

Jehovah is ready to save me: Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments All the days of our life in the house of Jehovah.

QUERIES

Why did Hezekiah feel the need to write?

Was Hezekiah bitter toward the Lord?

Why could there be no hope for God's truth in Sheol?

PARAPHRASE

When Hezekiah had recovered from his deathly illness, he wrote this psalm expressing his thanksgiving to God for his recovery. This is what my thoughts were: Just as my life has reached its zenith, suddenly I must depart this life and enter into the place of disembodied soulsthe unknown and unknowing realm of the dead: I have been consigned to this nether-world for the rest of my existence. I was saying, I will never be able to be in the Lord's presence again in this living existence and I will never again enjoy the fellowship of living people. My life is to suddenly disappear from this place like a Bedouin's tent when it is moved from its place; my life is terminated like a rug being woven is suddenly rolled up and cut loose from the loom; as swiftly as the day passes into night, so swiftly is my life to end. After the first shock of my illness I composed myself. But my composure was shattered, like bones are shattered when broken by a lion, by the message of Isaiah that I would die from my illness. How swiftly the Lord brings my life to an end! Delirious with grief, I chattered like a swallow and mourned like a dove; I looked with weary eyes, despairing of help, and cried, O Lord, I am crushed down under this heavy grief, help me!
I am so astounded at my miraculous recovery I do not know what to say! Surely the Lord Himself has done this. I shall live submissively the rest of my days as a result of the distressing experiences I have just come through. O Lord, it is through these disciplinary experiences men livethey are the well-springs of spiritual life. O Lord, give me full recovery and restore me to life again. At first, only grief for my shortened life possessed me. But I learned a great deal about Thy love, O Lord, and that Thou art in control of my dying and my living. From this great experience I know also, Lord, that thou has pardoned my sins. I am so glad I am alive to praise Thee, O Lord, for when men die and their spirits leave their bodies and go to the place of disembodied spirits, they cannot praise Thee; disembodied spirits cannot join in the joy and celebration of the feasts consecrated to Theethey cannot know hope in Thy truth. The man still living, yes, only the living, like I am, shall praise Thee. Life is for the experience of the father teaching his son the word of Godthere is no joy like that for the dead. I have learned from this experience that I need Thy help always and Thou art ready to give it always. On account of Thy helpfulness, O Lord, my compatriots will join me and we will sing my songs of praise all the rest of our lives, to the accompaniment of stringed instruments in Thy Temple.

COMMENTS

Isaiah 38:9-14 TURMOIL: The first five verses of Hezekiah's psalm record his grief and distress (bitterness) when first he was told by Isaiah he would die from his illness. The last six verses of the psalm express the king's gratitude for his miraculous healing. The psalm is interesting for its frankness and its pathos. Hezekiah has suffered the most extreme experience a man can sufferhe has faced death in the very prime of his life. It is totally unexpected in the life of a man 39 years of age. Then, almost as completely unexpected, he receives a reprieve from death. This experience reaches into the deepest recesses of a man's soul. Out of this experience Hezekiah wishes to permanently record his testimony of praise.

What distressed Hezekiah most was it appeared he would die at the zenith of his life. His great religious reform was just getting under way. There were political problems and foreign policies that needed his attention. There were great public works around the city of Jerusalem to be accomplished. But most important, he had no son, no heir to the throne of David. If, in the noontide of his days, he should go to Sheol he would suffer the frustration of leaving all this unfulfilled. Sheol, though a few times used to designate the place of punishment after this life, is most often used in the Old Testament to designate simply the place of disembodied spirits of the dead. The KJV rendering Hell is not a good translation. Sheol corresponds better to the New Testament word Hades.

The Hebrew word phukadetiy (deprived) might better be translated appointed, ordered, consigned, and is so translated in the Paraphrase of this section. The idea is that Jehovah has ordered an end to Hezekiah's life on earth.

Hezekiah's concept of Sheol raises the problem as to the Old Testament believer's view of life after death. It is clear that O.T. saints had a very dim and shadowy concept of life after death. Part of the confusion of thought concerning Sheol arises from the invisibility of the soul. The O.T. teaches immortality, but not with the clarity of the N.T., chiefly because God's revelation in Scripture is progressive and gradually increases in clearness. It was not until the appearing of our Savior Christ Jesus, who abolished death that life and immortality was brought to light through the gospel (2 Timothy 1:10). But there is definitely a doctrine of a future life taught in the Old Testament (see Special Study, The Future Life, by R. C. Foster, p. 287).

It is a mark of the godliness of Hezekiah that one of his main concerns in having to depart this life was his concern that he would apparently not be able to do two of the things most dear to himworship the Lord and join in companionship with his friends. These, of all our human experiences, enrich this life the most.

In Isaiah 38:12, the grieving king uses figures of speech to describe his feelings which would be graphically arresting to the Palestinian herdsmen and weavers. The desolation and unfulfillment he feels is likened to the desolation of a spot where the tent of a shepherd had once been staked and made home, but has been pulled up and moved away. Abruptly, there is nothing left! The second figure is his life likened to a piece of cloth or carpet finished on the loom and clipped off without anything to follow. From day even to night. emphasizes the abruptness of Hezekiah's death. It probably is a proverbial form meaning that in the morning a man wakes up not expecting any great crisis and by evening catastrophe has fallen upon him. It could have reference to how swiftly day passes into night; just as swiftly was the king's life to be over! The phrase is used again in Isaiah 38:13 showing the intense feeling of the king about the shortness of his life. Evidently, after the first shock of Isaiah's announcement of his imminent death, Hezekiah composed himself temporarily; then the depression came upon him again tearing him to pieces psychologically, like a lion tears a carcass apart. The Hebrew word shiuiythiy is a form of the word meaning equal or even and is translated in Isaiah 38:13 quieted. Hezekiah apparently struggled long and hard in his soul until he got himself back on even keel. Then he was in some way reminded of his impending death and he began to come apart all over again. He began talking and chattering, like a bird, to himself or anyone else who would listen. Occasionally a long, low moan would interrupt the chattering. He has worn himself out crying unto the Lord and is so weak he can hardly lift his eyes in prayer once more. Yet, the Lord is his only hope. He is oppressed. The Hebrew word -ashak literally means extort, indicating the intense oppression Hezekiah feels. He asks the Lord to be his -arebeniy (pledge, surety). In effect he is asking the Lord to bail him out.

Isaiah 38:15-20 THANKSGIVING: Isaiah 38:15 seems to form a new division in the king's hymn of praise. It is as if he says, What else can I say about this whole experience of mine? After the vexation of my soul and the wonderful deed of the Lord in restoring my life, what else am I to conclude but that the Lord has done it for my good? It is to Hezekiah's great credit that he learned the way of the Lord from his traumatic confrontation of death. He learned that the way of the Lord was discipline. The Hebrew word edadeh, translated softly, really means submissively. The king is acknowledging that the stressful experiences he has just gone through have taught him humility. He vows to live the remainder of his life in submission to God's discipline. He has learned through his valley of the shadow of death that troubles are oftentimes the doors to hope (see Hosea 1:14-15, Minor Prophets, Butler, College Press). Crises and severities are the stuff of which character is formed. Ease and luxury debilitate character. King Hezekiah learned that it was by the tests and trials of men's lives that they lived. All the great men of God who have contributed anything at all to the salvation of the human race have been purified and refined by their trials. The very wellsprings of purposeful living are trials (2 Corinthians 1:3-11; James 1:2-4; etc.).

At first, says the king in Isaiah 38:17, he was distressed for selfish reasons. His major concern in sickness was that his personal comfort had been taken away. But after prayer and the word of Isaiah concerning his recovery, he realized that the real blessing in restoration to physical health was not personal comfort but the confirmation it gave him that he was in right relationship to God and that God had pardoned him from his sin. This is another concept of the Old Testament that, though true in a sense, was qualified in the New Testament. It is true, as the Mosaic law teaches, health and long life will be granted by God to those who keep His commandments and do not sin against them. It is also true that death, disease and ill-health are often the direct result of disobeying the commandments of God. But it is also true that not all disease, ill-health and tribulation are a consequence of the particular sins of a particular person. So that good health does not always mean a person is not a sinner any more than ill-health always means a person is a sinner. Hezekiah was correct in assuming that God's extension of his life showed that God was pleased with Hezekiah's humility and submission to His discipline. God's forgiveness is by grace to all men. Men are obligated to surrender to God's covenant program in order to receive that grace.

The king rejoiced not only in the evidence of forgiveness he experienced by his extended life, but also in the opportunity to worship God. His concept of Sheol (state of disembodied spirits of men) did not include worshipping God as the N.T. book of Revelation does. Worshipping at the feast dayspartaking of God's truthnone of this was for the dead. The Hebrew word hay hay, the living one, the living one, emphasizes Hezekiah's joy that he has been granted an extension of life. The phrase, even as I do this day, makes it intensely personal. His joy at being allowed to live and praise God was nearly overwhelming. The father making known God's truth to his children was another joyful experience Hezekiah hoped would result from his extension of life. He had no son yet, so he is wistfully hoping God will provide that joy for him also.

The Hebrew word lehoshiy-'eniy is composed of prepositional and infinitive prefixes attached to the verb and probably expresses an aim, tendency, or direction. Thus Leupold translates, The Lord is minded to deliver me. Because the Lord has made it His purpose to deliver Hezekiah from an untimely death, he is moved to express the deep, heartfelt gratitude of his soul in songs accompanied by stringed instruments. It will not be a spur-of-the-moment praisebut deliberate, planned, arranged, scored musical production. Hezekiah's praise will be set to musical composition and lyric in order that others may share with him in praising the Lord. The great Christian hymn writers have left us a heritage of their personal praise in lyric and tune so that we may share in their experiences. Their experiences and expressions of praise are so nearly our own that we can sing their songs as expressions of our hearts to God also. Such personal expressions become monuments and sacrifices offered to the honor of God. Hezekiah was such a man. How sad, how utterly sad, that Judah did not have a man like Hezekiah to succeed him on the throne.

QUIZ

Why was Hezekiah so upset about the news of his imminent death?

What was Hezekiah's concept of existence after death?

What is the difference in Hezekiah's concept of life after death and that of the New Testament?

How intense was Hezekiah's reaction to the prediction of his death?

What was Hezekiah's eventual attitude toward his traumatic experiences?

How did Hezekiah relate his extension of life to his relationship to God?

How did Hezekiah say he would express his thanks to God?

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