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Isaiah 38
1In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, “The LORD says, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.’”
2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD,
3and said, “Remember now, LORD, I beg you, how I have walked before you in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in your sight.” Then Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the LORD’s word came to Isaiah, saying,
5“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘The LORD, the God of David your father, says, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.
6I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the of Assyria, and I will defend this city.
7This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has spoken.
8Behold, I will cause the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down on the sundial of Ahaz with the sun, to return backward ten steps.”’” So the sun returned ten steps on the sundial on which it had gone down.
9The writing of Hezekiah of Judah, when he had been sick, and had recovered of his sickness:
10I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”
11I said, “I won’t see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
12My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like a ’s tent. I have rolled up my life like a weaver. He will cut me off from the loom. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
13I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.
14I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”
15What will I say? He has both spoken to me, and himself has done it. I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul.
16Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them. You restore me, and cause me to live.
17Behold, for peace I had great anguish, but you have in love for my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; for you have cast all my sins behind your back.
18For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.
19The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do today. The father shall make known your truth to the children.
20The LORD will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in the LORD’s house.
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”
22Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the LORD’s house?”
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Questions this passage answers
Who is God?
God is the one living Creator who made everything and depends on nothing, and Scripture answers this question mainly by telling us his character rather than by defining his substance. When God described himself to Moses he said he is merciful and gracious, slow to anger, abundant in loving kindness and truth, and yet will by no means clear the guilty. The New Testament adds that this God is finally known in Jesus Christ, who has made him known.
Can the Bible be trusted?
Scripture claims to be true and invites examination rather than avoiding it. It says God's word is truth and that it stands when everything else fades, and the New Testament writers appeal to eyewitnesses, named places and public events rather than to private experience. Trust in Scripture is finally trust in the God who speaks in it, and the clearest reason a Christian gives for that trust is that Jesus treated these writings as God's own word.
What is sin?
Scripture defines sin as lawlessness, as falling short of God's glory, and as failing to do the good we know we should do. It is not only a list of bad actions but a condition of the heart that produces them, and it is first against God rather than only against people. Scripture also says all have sinned, that its wage is death, and that God is faithful to forgive those who confess.
What does the Bible say about fear?
Scripture never tells a frightened person that fear is imaginary. It says do not be afraid hundreds of times, and almost always attaches a reason rather than a technique: I am with you, I have redeemed you, you are of more value than sparrows. It also distinguishes the fear that must go from the fear of the Lord, which is commanded and which shrinks every smaller fear.