Commentaries:
Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown
by these—namely, by God's benefits, which are implied in the context (Isaiah 38:15, "He hath Himself done it" "unto me"). All "men live by these" benefits (Psalms 104:27-30), "and in all these is the life of my spirit," that is, I also live by them (Deuteronomy 8:3).
and (wilt) make me to live—The Hebrew is imperative, "make me to live." In this view he adds a prayer to the confident hope founded on his comparative convalescence, which he expressed, "Thou wilt recover me" [MAURER].
The second part of the song passes from prayer to thanksgiving at the prayer being heard.
What shall I say?—the language of one at a loss for words to express his sense of the unexpected deliverance.
both spoken . . . and . . . done it— (Numbers 23:19). Both promised and performed (I Thessalonians 5:24; Hebrews 10:23).
himself—No one else could have done it (Psalms 98:1).
go softly . . . in the bitterness—rather, "on account of the bitterness"; I will behave myself humbly in remembrance of my past sorrow and sickness from which I have been delivered by God's mercy (see I Kings 21:27, I Kings 21:29). In Psalms 42:4, the same Hebrew verb expresses the slow and solemn gait of one going up to the house of God; it is found nowhere else, hence ROSENMULLER explains it, "I will reverently attend the sacred festivals in the temple"; but this ellipsis would be harsh; rather metaphorically the word is transferred to a calm, solemn, and submissive walk of life.
The prayer and thanksgiving song of Hezekiah is only given here, not in the parallel passages of Second Kings and Second Chronicles. Isaiah 38:9 is the heading or inscription.
Other Jamieson, Fausset, and Brown entries containing Isaiah 38:16:
Isaiah 35:10
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