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Isaiah 38: Hezekiah's Illness and Healing

Mortally ill, Hezekiah weeps and prays; God adds fifteen years to his life and turns back the shadow as a sign.

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Isaiah 38 (WEB)

1 In those days was Hezekiah sick and near death. Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him, and said to him, “Thus says Yahweh, ‘Set your house in order, for you will die, and not live.’”

2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh,

3 and said, “Remember now, Yahweh, 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.” Hezekiah wept bitterly.

4 Then Yahweh’s word came to Isaiah, saying,

5 “Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city.

7 This shall be the sign to you from Yahweh, that Yahweh will do this thing that he has spoken.

8 Behold, 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.”’”

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

10 I said, “In the middle of my life I go into the gates of Sheol. I am deprived of the residue of my years.”

11 I said, “I won’t see Yah, Yah in the land of the living. I will see man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

12 My dwelling is removed, and is carried away from me like 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 you will make an end of me.

13 I waited patiently until morning. He breaks all my bones like a lion. From day even to night you will make an end of me.

14 I chattered like a swallow or a crane. I moaned like a dove. My eyes weaken looking upward. Lord, I am oppressed. Be my security.”

15 What 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.

16 Lord, men live by these things; and my spirit finds life in all of them: you restore me, and cause me to live.

17 Behold, 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.

18 For Sheol can’t praise you. Death can’t celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can’t hope for your truth.

19 The living, the living, he shall praise you, as I do this day. The father shall make known your truth to the children.

20 Yahweh will save me. Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments all the days of our life in Yahweh’s house.

21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs, and lay it for a poultice on the boil, and he shall recover.”

22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to Yahweh’s house?”

Summary

In those days Hezekiah falls deathly ill, and Isaiah comes to him with a hard word from the Lord: set your house in order, for you will die and not live. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall and prays, asking the Lord to remember how he has walked faithfully with a whole heart, and he weeps bitterly. Before Isaiah has even left, God's word comes again: he has heard Hezekiah's prayer and seen his tears, and he will add fifteen years to his life and defend the city from Assyria. As a sign that the Lord will do what he has spoken, God causes the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz to go backward ten steps. The greater part of the chapter is Hezekiah's own writing after his recovery, a psalm tracing his journey from despair to praise. He describes the terror of facing death in the prime of life, feeling cut off like a weaver's thread, moaning like a dove, his eyes weary with looking upward. Yet he confesses that the Lord himself restored him and gave him life, casting all his sins behind his back and delivering his soul from the pit of corruption. He reflects that the living, not the dead, praise God, and a father makes God's faithfulness known to his children. The chapter ends by recalling the practical remedy of a cake of figs and Hezekiah's request for a sign, a humble reminder that God works through means as well as wonders.

Main Characters

  • Hezekiah — The king brought to the edge of death who prays and weeps, is granted fifteen more years, and writes a heartfelt psalm of thanksgiving for his recovery.
  • Isaiah — The prophet who first announces the king's death, then returns with the news of God's mercy, and prescribes a poultice of figs for healing.
  • Yahweh (the LORD) — The God of David who hears Hezekiah's prayer, sees his tears, adds years to his life, casts his sins behind his back, and gives a sign in the turning shadow.

Key Verse

Isaiah 38:5 (WEB)

“Go, and tell Hezekiah, ‘Thus says Yahweh, the God of David your father, “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.

Lessons Learned

  • God hears the prayers and sees the tears of his suffering people.
  • It is right to bring honest grief and fear to God when facing death and loss.
  • Deliverance is meant to lead to praise and to passing on God's faithfulness to the next generation.
  • God can use ordinary means, like a poultice of figs, alongside his miraculous power.
  • God hears prayer and sees tears. “I have heard your prayer. I have seen your tears” (Isaiah 38:5, WEB); no honest cry to God goes unnoticed.
  • God forgives and restores fully. “You have cast all my sins behind your back” (Isaiah 38:17, WEB); the deliverance Hezekiah celebrates is from sin as well as death.
  • Suffering can deepen faith. “I will walk carefully all my years because of the anguish of my soul” (Isaiah 38:15, WEB); affliction teaches humble dependence on God.
  • The living are called to praise. “The living, the living, he shall praise you… The father shall make known your truth to the children” (Isaiah 38:19, WEB).
  • God works through means and miracles. Isaiah prescribes “a cake of figs… for a poultice on the boil” (Isaiah 38:21, WEB), showing God's healing can come through ordinary remedies.
  1. How does Hezekiah respond to the news that he will die, and what does his prayer express?
  2. What does it mean that God “heard your prayer” and “seen your tears” (38:5)?
  3. How does Hezekiah's psalm move from despair to thanksgiving?
  4. What does the inclusion of the fig poultice (38:21) teach about how God heals?
  5. When you face fear, loss, or mortality, how can Hezekiah's honest prayer guide your own?
  1. Hezekiah turns his face to the wall, prays, recalls his faithful walk with God, and weeps bitterly (38:2-3). His response is raw and honest, neither denying his fear nor abandoning his faith. He pours out his heart to the God who can act.
  2. It assures us that God is not distant or indifferent. He attends to the specific prayers and tears of his people (38:5). For Hezekiah, this meant fifteen more years; for us, it means our cries are truly heard and weighed by a caring God.
  3. He begins lamenting that he is cut off in the prime of life, moaning and weary (38:10-14), then turns to confess that God restored him, delivered his soul, and cast his sins behind his back (38:16-17). Grief gives way to grateful praise.
  4. It shows that God's miraculous healing and ordinary means are not opposed. God who can turn back a shadow also works through a simple poultice (38:21). We can pray for healing while also using the means he provides.
  5. This is a personal-application question. Encourage members to bring their fears and griefs to God as openly as Hezekiah did. As leader, affirm that honest lament is a form of faith, and point to the God who hears, sees, and saves.

Scripture quotations are from the World English Bible (WEB), the King James Version (KJV), and the American Standard Version (ASV), all of which are in the public domain.