Isaiah 38:9-20

Hezekiah's thanksgiving for his recovery. This poem, which is not given in the parallel narrative in 2 Kings, must have been inserted here from an independent source. An external mark of the insertion is found in the displacement of Isaiah 38:21 from their proper context. The superscription (Isaiah 38:9) resembles several of those in the book of Psalms, and was no doubt found in the document from which the poem was transcribed. The song, therefore, was in all probability traditionally ascribed to Hezekiah, but whether this judgment rests on historical authority, or merely on its inherent suitability to his circumstances, it is impossible to say. The linguistic evidence seems to point to a late date. The poem, like many of the Psalms, is a record of individual experience, but adapted for use in the Temple worship (Isaiah 38:20). The experience is that of a man who has been brought face to face with death, who has prayed for life, and has been "heard in that he feared"; but with the reticence which characterises the Psalmists all details of merely personal interest are suppressed with a view to the liturgical use of the poem.

The psalm may be divided into two parts (both indicated in the superscription, Isaiah 38:9):

i. Isa 38:10-14. A description of the writer's anguish and despair in the near prospect of death.

ii. Isa 38:15-20. His joy and gratitude when assured of his recovery.