living . . . living—emphatic repetition, as in Isaiah 38:11, Isaiah 38:17; his heart is so full of the main object of his prayer that, for want of adequate words, he repeats the same word.
father to the children—one generation of the living to another. He probably, also, hints at his own desire to live until he should have a child, the successor to his throne, to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the memory of God's truth.
truth—faithfulness to His promises; especially in Hezekiah's case, His promise of hearing prayer.
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.
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