Isaiah 38:19 - Printer Friendly

ESV: The living, the living, he thanks you, as I do this day; the father makes known to the children your faithfulness.

NIV: The living, the living—they praise you, as I am doing today; parents tell their children about your faithfulness.

NASB: It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today; A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.

CSB: The living, only the living can thank you, as I do today; a father will make your faithfulness known to children.

NLT: Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.

KJV: The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.

NKJV: The living, the living man, he shall praise You, As I do this day; The father shall make known Your truth to the children.

Every life is created and sustained by God according to His will. Hezekiah was stricken with a fatal disease (Isaiah 38:1) and responded with a sincere plea (Isaiah 38:2–3). The Lord's answer was to give the king another fifteen years of life (Isaiah 38:34).The psalm he wrote to record the experience (Isaiah 38:9) has explained Hezekiah's thought process. This began with natural human discouragement (Isaiah 38:10–15). Then, it shifted to renewed perspective and trust (Isaiah 38:16–18). The sickness was a blessing in disguise because it drew Hezekiah closer to God and made him more aware of his blessings.

Here, the king expresses his gratitude. He notes that the living, not the dead (Isaiah 38:18), can praise the Lord for their condition. Those who live to understand God's goodness can also pass that knowledge down to the next generation. With the time he has left, Hezekiah can explain these things to more people.

Isaiah 38:9–20 is King Hezekiah's triumphant praise for God. The first half depicts Hezekiah's despair at facing a fatal disease. The second half is his joy at learning that his life would be spared. Though Isaiah arranges his book by theme, this healing and psalm appear to come before the Assyrian threat to Jerusalem recorded in the prior chapters.

Hezekiah becomes gravely ill. The only description given mentions a sort of "boil," so this may have been an aggressive tumor. Isaiah tells Hezekiah he will die, so the king prays and weeps. The Lord rewards Hezekiah's faithful dependence with a promise to add fifteen years to his life. God gives a miraculous sign by making the shadow on a staircase-like sundial move backward. After his recovery, Hezekiah writes a psalm describing his grief when he expected death and his joy after the Lord saved him. He commits to worshiping God in the temple for the rest of his life.

The events recorded here most likely happen before the Assyrian invasion described in the previous chapter. Isaiah is arranging his records to smoothly transition into later discussion of the Messiah. The Lord tells King Hezekiah to expect to die from an illness. When the king prays in grief, the Lord grants him fifteen more years and a miraculous sign. Hezekiah responds with a psalm describing both his despair and his renewed praise for the God who saves. Next, Isaiah records a visit from Babylonian messengers and God's prediction that peace will last until after Hezekiah has died.

Isaiah is among the most important prophetic books in the entire Bible. The first segment details God's impending judgment against ancient peoples for sin and idolatry (Isaiah 1—35). The second part of Isaiah briefly explains a failed assault on Jerusalem during the rule of Hezekiah (Isaiah 36—39). The final chapters predict Israel's rescue from Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 40—48), the promised Messiah (Isaiah 49—57), and the final glory of Jerusalem and God's people (Isaiah 58—66).

Accessed 4/22/2026 7:14:36 PM