And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
Remember
זְכָרze.khor-
H2142
properly · verb, qal imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
beseech
אָנָּ֤ה'a.Nah
H577
oh now! · interjection
walked
הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּיhit.ha.Lakh.ti
H1980
to walk (in a great variety of applications · verb, hithpael perfect, 1st person common singular
before
לְפָנֶ֗יךָle.fa.Nei.kha
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
truth
בֶּֽאֱמֶת֙be.'e.Met
H571
stability · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
perfect
שָׁלֵ֔םsha.Lem
H8003
complete (literally or figuratively) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
heart
וּבְלֵ֣בu.ve.Lev
H3820
the heart · conjunction + preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
done
עָשִׂ֑יתִי'a.Si.ti
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 1st person common singular
good
וְהַטּ֥וֹבve.ha.Tov
H2896
good (as an adjective) in the widest sense · conjunction + definite article + adjective, masculine singular absolute
sight
בְּעֵינֶ֖יךָbe.'ei.Nei.kha
H5869
an eye (literally or figuratively) · preposition + noun, common feminine dual construct + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
Hezekiah
חִזְקִיָּ֖הוּchiz.ki.Ya.hu
H2396
Chizkijah · proper noun, a man's name
wept
וַיֵּ֥בְךְּvai.Ye.vek
H1058
to weep · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
sore
גָדֽוֹלga.Dol
H1419
great (in any sense) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Hebrews 5:7 Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save h…
Hebrews 6:10 For God is not unrighteous to forget your work and labour of love, which ye have shewed toward his name, in that ye have ministered to the s…
Psalms 18:20-27 The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me, O my God, concerning this, and wipe not out my good deeds that I have done for the house of my God, and for the offices thereof…
2 Chronicles 31:20-21 And thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good and right and truth before the LORD his God.
Deuteronomy 6:18 And thou shalt do that which is right and good in the sight of the LORD: that it may be well with thee, and that thou mayest go in and posse…
Nehemiah 5:19 Think upon me, my God, for good, according to all that I have done for this people.
Nehemiah 13:22 And I commanded the Levites that they should cleanse themselves, and that they should come and keep the gates, to sanctify the sabbath day.…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Isaiah 38:1-8
We may hence observe, among others, these good lessons: - 1. That neither men's greatness nor their goodness will exempt them from the arrests of sickness and death. Hezekiah, a mighty potentate on earth and a mighty favourite of Heaven, is struck with a disease, which, without a miracle, will certainly be mortal; and this in the midst of his days, his comforts, and usefulness. Lord, behold, he whom thou lovest is sick. It should seem, this sickness seized him when he was in the midst of his triumphs over the ruined army of the Assyrians, to teach us always to rejoice with trembling. 2. It concerns us to prepare when we see death approaching: "Set thy house in order, and thy heart especially…
He mentions his past religious consistency, not as a boast or a ground for justification; but according to the Old Testament dispensation, wherein temporal rewards (as long life, &c., Exo 20:12) followed legal obedience, he makes his religious conduct a plea for asking the prolongation of his life.
walked--Life is a journey; the pious "walk with God" (Gen 5:24; Kg1 9:4).
perfect--sincere; not absolutely perfect, but aiming towards it (Mat 5:45); single-minded in walking as in the presence of God (Gen 17:1). The letter of the Old Testament legal righteousness was, however, a standard very much below the spirit of the law as unfolded by Christ (Mat. 5:20-48; Co2 3:6, Co2 3:14, Co2 3:17).…
And said, remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee,.... He puts the Lord in mind of his good walk and works, which are never forgotten by him, though they may seem to be: and this he the rather did, because it might be thought that he had been guilty of some very enormous crime, which he was not conscious to himself he had; it being unusual to cut men off in the prime of their days, but in such a case:
how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart; or rather, "that I have walked before thee", as Noldius, since the manner of walking is declared in express terms; so the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic versions, and others; that the course of his life in the sight of God, having the…
The Church Fathers
Do you want to know the power of repentance? Do you want to understand this strong weapon of salvation and the might of confession? By confession Hezekiah routed 185,000 of the enemy. That was important, but it was small compared with what else happened. The same king's repentance won the repeal the sentence God had passed on him. When he was sick, Isaiah had said, "Give direction for your household, for you will surely die, and not live." What expectation was left? What hope of recovery was there? The prophet had said, "You will surely die." But Hezekiah remembered what was written: "In the hour that you turn and lament, you will be saved." He turned his face to the wall, and from his bed of pain his mind soared up to heaven (for no wall is so thick as to stifle fervent prayer). He said, "Lord, remember me." … He whom the prophet's sentence had forbidden to hope was granted fifteen further years of life, the sun turning back its course as a witness.
(Verse 3) I beseech thee, O Lord, remember how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight: and Hezekiah wept with great weeping. And he said: I beseech you, Lord, remember, please, how I have walked before you in truth, and with a perfect heart, and that I have done what is good in your eyes. And knowing that he is about to die, he does not pray for a long life and many years, but instead asks what he should offer in God's judgement. For he knew that Solomon pleased God because he did not ask for a longer life; but going to the Lord, he recounts his works, how he walked before Him in truth and with a perfect heart. Happy is the conscience that remembers good deeds during times of affliction: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). And when elsewhere it is written: Who shall glory in having a pure heart (Prov. XX, 9)? This is solved as follows: the perfection of the heart is now said to consist in the fact that it has destroyed idols, perverted the vessels of the temple of Baal, broken the brazen serpent, and done other things that Scripture mentions. However, he wept with great weeping because of the Lord's promise to David, which he saw would perish in his death. For at that time Hezekiah had no sons; for after his death, Manasseh, when he was twelve years old, began to reign in Judah. From which it is clear that three years after his life was granted, Manasseh was born. Therefore, all this weeping is because he despaired of Christ being born from his own seed. Others assert that even holy men are afraid of death due to uncertainty of judgement and ignorance of God's sentence, of which seat they will inhabit. And at the same time, the question of fate is resolved, and the bonds of necessity and causes, in that the day of death is by no means appointed to each individual, but rather someone may live or die by the will of God and unknown mortal causes, especially since the appointed necessity of death is now delayed, and we have read of many who were resurrected after death.
Dictionary and topics
Disease · Of Hezekiah — Of Hezekiah
Hezekiah · .Sickness and restoration of — .Sickness and restoration of
Life, Natural · Sometimes prolonged, in answer to prayer — Sometimes prolonged, in answer to prayer
Sickness · Saints: Pray for recovery from — Saints: Pray for recovery from
Sincerity · .By Hezekiah — .By Hezekiah
Tears · Observed by God — Observed by God
Weeping · .Of Hezekiah — .Of Hezekiah
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Isaiah 38:3 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
And said, I beseech thee, Jehovah. He appears here to expostulate with God, and to remonstrate with him about his own past life, as if he were undeservedly distressed; but the case is far otherwise. On the contrary, he strengthens and fortifies himself against a heavy and dangerous temptation, which might otherwise have been suggested. For the great severity with which the Lord chastised him might lead him to think that the Lord had cast off, forsaken, and disapproved him, and had rejected all that he had formerly done. On this account he strengthens and encourages himself, and declares that whatever he did was done by him with a good conscience. In short, he concludes that, although he must…
I have always been faithful to you: Hezekiah’s heart was right with the Lord for most of his reign (2 Kgs 18:1-5), although his dependence on Egypt was a time of weakness when he did not act faithfully (Isa 31:1-9).