Isaiah 38:2

Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, THEN HEZEKIAH TURNED HIS FACE TOWARD THE WALL. The couches in the East ran along the walls of houses. He turned away from the spectators, to hide his emotion and collect his thoughts for prayer....

2._Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall. _He now relates the manner in which Hezekiah was affected when he received this message, that we may see his piety and faith. He does not break out into rage or indignation like unbelievers, but bears this affliction patiently. He does not debate with God, as if he had already endured enough of distresses from enemies, and ought not to be again chastised so severely by a new kind of afflictions. And this is true patience, not merely in a single instance to endure patiently any distress, but to persevere to the end, and always to be prepared for enduring new troubles, but, above all, to bow to the judgments of God in calm silence, and not to murmur at his severity, though it appear to be great; as David acknowledges that_“he _was dumb, because he saw that he had to deal with God.” (Psalms 39:9.) And such is the import of “turning

1-8 When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we do not pray in vain. See 2 Kings 20:1....

Verse Isaiah 38:2. _THEN HEZEKIAH TURNED HIS FACE TOWARD THE WALL_] The furniture of an eastern divan or chamber, either for the reception of company or for private use, consists chiefly of carpets spread on the floor in the middle; and of sofas, or couches ranged on one or more sides of the room, on a part raised somewhat above the floor. On these they repose themselves in the day, and sleep at night. It is to be observed that the corner of the room is the place of honour. Dr. _Pococke_, when he was introduced to the Sheikh of Furshout, found him sitting in the corner of his room. He describes another Arab Sheikh "as sitting in the corner of a large green tent, pitched in the middle of an encampment of Arabs; and the Bey of Girge as placed on a sofa in a corner to the right as one entered the room." - _Harmer's_ Observ. ii. p. 60. Lady Mary Montague, giving an account of a visi...

THEN HEZEKIAH TURNED HIS FACE TOWARD THE WALL - The wall of the room in which he was lying He was probably lying on a couch next the wall of his room. Eastern houses usually have such couches or ottomans running along on the sides of the room on which they recline, and on which they lie when they are sick. Hezekiah probably turned his face to the wall in order that his emotion and his tears might not be seen by the bystanders, or in order that he might compose himself the better for devotion. His prayer he wished, doubtless, to be as secret as possible. The Chaldee renders this, ‘Turned his face to the wall of the house of the sanctuary;’ that is, of the temple, so that it might appear that be prayed toward the temple. Thus Daniel; when in Babylon, is said to have prayed with his windows opened toward Jerusalem Daniel 6:10. The Mahometans pray everywhere with their

SECTION II.—HEZEKIAH'S ILLNESS, AND THE EMBASSY OF MERODACH-BALADAN (Isaiah 38:1; Isaiah 39:1.). EXPOSITION The present chapter is parallel with 2 Kings 20:1, but contains some marked differences from that passage, both in what it omits and in what it inserts. The general narrative (2 Kings 20:1, and 2 Kings 20:21, 22) is greatly condensed, and in part disarra

THEN HEZEKIAH TURNED HIS FACE TO THE WALL,.... Not figuratively to the wall of his heart, as Jerom; but literally, either to the wall of his bedchamber where he lay sick, that his tears might not be seen, and his prayers interrupted, and that he might deliver them with more privacy, freedom, and fervency; or else to the wall of the temple, as the Targum, towards which good men used to look when they prayed, 1 Kings 8:38, which was a type of Christ, to whom we should have respect in all our petitions, as being the only Mediator between God and man: and prayed unto the Lord; as follows:...

CHAPTER 38 Hezekiah's Sickness and Healing 1. _Isaiah's startling message (Isaiah 38:1)_ 2. _Hezekiah's prayer (Isaiah 38:2)_ 3. _The prayer heard and the sign (Isaiah 38:4)_ 4. _The king's sorrow and joy, a psalm of praise (Isaiah 38:9)_ 5. _The remedy for the recovery (Isaiah 38:21)_ The message of approaching death startled the king because at that time he had no son. If he had died what then would have become of the Messianic hope through the house of David? Beautiful it is to hear the Lord say through Isaiah, “Thus

ISAIAH 36-39. This section has been extracted from 2 Kings 18:13 to 2 Kings 20:19, and the Song of Hezekiah has been added. For an exposition see the notes on 2 K.; here we have simply to deal with the Song of Hezekiah. ISAIAH 38:10. THANKSGIVING FOR DELIVERANCE FROM IMMINENT DEATH. This is now generally regarded as a post-exilic psalm. Its absence in the parallel narratine in Kings is significant. Apparently it was inserted here by an editor who thought it suitable to Hezekiah's circumstances. If, as seems likely, it has been influenced by the Book of Job, it must be post-exilic. The title cannot, any more than the Psalm titles, weigh against internal evidence. Hezekiah's writing after his recov

PRAYED. As in Isaiah 37:4 ("lift up") and verses: Isaiah 38:14; Isaiah 38:15. Contrast Isaiah 39:2, where, when the king of Babylon sent letters and he neglected prayer....