Isaiah 39:8

Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the LORD which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days. FOR THERE SHALL BE PEACE ... IN MY DAYS. The punishment was not, as in David's case (), sent in his time. How perverse Newman's remark is ('Hebrew Monarchy,' 274), that Hezekiah's reply was 'false resignation, combining selfishness with silliness!' True repentance humbly acquiesces in all God's ways as just and right; just, because they are God's, and meekly finds cause of thanksgiving in any mitigation. Remarks: When prosperity attends the godly, even they are treated with consideration by the worldly. But the smiles of the world are to be more dreaded than its frowns. The heart is tempted to be "glad" of earthly goods rather than glad in the Lord: even as Hezekiah was tempted by the flatterin...

8._Good is the word of Jehovah _From this reply we learn, that Hezekiah was not a stubborn or obstinately haughty man, since he listened patiently to the Prophet’s reproof, though he was little moved by it at the commencement. When he is informed that the Lord is angry, he unhesitatingly acknowledges his guilt, and confesses that he is justly punished. Having heard the judgment of God, he does not argue or contend with the Prophet, but conducts himself with gentleness and modesty, and thus holds out to us an example of genuine submissiveness and obedience. Let us therefore learn by the example of the pious king’ to listen with calmness to the Lord, not only when he exhorts or admonishes, but even when he condemns and terrifies by threatening just punishment. When he says that “the word of God is good,” he not only gives him the praise of justice, but patiently acquiesces in that which mi...

Verse Isaiah 39:8. _THEN SAID HEZEKIAH_] The nature of Hezekiah's crime, and his humiliation on the message of God to him by the prophet, is more expressly declared by the author of the book of the Chronicles: "But Hezekiah rendered not again according to the benefit done unto him; for his heart was lifted up; therefore there was wrath upon him, and upon Judah and Jerusalem. Notwithstanding, Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the Lord came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works. Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire of the wonder that was done in the land, God left him, to try him, that he might know all that was in his heart....

GOOD IS THE WORD OF THE LORD - The sense of this is, ‘I acquiesce in this; I perceive that it is right; I see in it evidence of benevolence and goodness.’ The grounds of his acquiescence seem to have been: 1. The fact that he saw that it was just. He felt that he had sinned, and that he had made an improper display of his treasures, and deserved to be punished. 2. He felt that the sentence was mild and merciful. It was less than he deserved, and less than he had reason to expect. 3. It was merciful to him, and to his kingdom at that time. God was not coming forth to cut him off, or to involve him in anymore calamity. 4. His own reign and life were to be full of mercy still. He h

EXPOSITION This chapter is parallel with 2 Kings 20:12, and scarcely differs from it at all. Verse I has the additional words, "and was recovered;" 2 Kings 20:2, the phrase, "was glad of them," for "hearkened unto them;" 2 Kings 20:5, "Lord of hosts," for "Lord" simply; and 2 Kings 20:8 makes Hezekiah's last utterance an observation instead of a question. Otherwise the two accounts are almost word for word the same. Both relate the novel and important fact of ambassadors being sent _to _Hezekiah by the King of Babylon, shortly after his illness, and tell of the reception which he gave them, of the message which Is

THEN SAID HEZEKIAH TO ISAIAH, GOOD IS THE WORD OF THE LORD WHICH THOU HAST SPOKEN,.... Hezekiah was at once convinced of his sin, acknowledged it and repented of it, and owned that the sentence pronounced was but just and right; and that there was a mixture of mercy and goodness in it, in that time was given, and it was not immediately executed: HE SAID MOREOVER, FOR THERE SHALL BE PEACE AND TRUTH IN MY DAYS; or a confirmed peace, lasting prosperity, peace in the state, and truth in the church, plenty of temporal mercies, and the truth of doctrine and worship, which he understood by the prophet would continue in his days, and for which he was thankful; not that he was unconcerned about posterity, but inasmuch as it must be, what was foretold, and which he could not object to as unjust, he looked upon it as a mercy to him that there was a delay of it to future times; or it may be conside...

CHAPTER 39 Hezekiah's Self-Exaltation 1. _The ambassadors of Merodach-baladan (Isaiah 39:1)_ 2. _Hezekiah's boasting (Isaiah 39:2)_ 3. _Isaiah's inquiry (Isaiah 39:3)_ 4. _The Babylonian captivity announced (Isaiah 39:5)_ 5. _Hezekiah's submission and comfort (Isaiah 39:8)_ The prediction of Isaiah of the Babylonian captivity, fulfilled through King Nebuchadnezzar about 100 years after these words were spoken, is startling. The reader will bear in mind that the Assyrian was not yet overcome, for the sickness and self-exaltation

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

GOOD. Hezekiah's submission was like Eli's. Compare 1 Samuel 3:18; 2 Kings 20:19; Job 1:21; Job 2:10, &c. FOR. Nevertheless. The Hebrew distinctive accent _meyrka_ thus marks it. This chapter commences. new Prophecy (see App-82), and follows that in Isa 34:1-35.Isaiah 34:10; Isaiah 34:10...

_Good_is _the word of the Lord_ An expression of pious resignation, including repentance; cf. 1 Samuel 3:18. _there shall be peace and truth_(or STEADFASTNESS) _in my days_ In the Old Testament the postponement of a calamity is always regarded as a mitigation of its severity; see 1 Kings 21:28 f.; 1 Kings 22:18 ff. Hezekiah's words probably mean no more than that mercy is mingled with judgment in the sentence pronounced on him....