Commentary on Prov Ecc SoS Isa Jer Lam Eze Dan, Isaiah · Chapter 38 – Chapter 39
CHAP. XXXVIII.
Ver. 1. IN thoſe dayes was Hezekiah ſick] See 2 King. 20.1, 2. 2 Chron. 32.24. with the Notes.
Ver. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8. See as before.
Ver. 9. The writing of Hezekiah] Scriptum confeſſionis, A ſong of thankſgiving ſet forth by Hezekiah, and here inſerted by the Prophet Iſaiah, as a publick inſtrument, and laſting monument of Gods great goodneſſe to him in his late recovery: ſuch a thankful man is worth his weight in the gold of Ophir. Heathens in ſuch a caſe were wont to hang up tables in the Temples of their gods. Papiſts build Chappels, erect Altars, hang up Memories (as they call them) and vow preſents to their hee-Saints and ſhe Saints. But amongſt us (alas) it is according to the Italian Proverb, When the diſeaſe is once removed, God is utterly defrauded, Sciapato il morbo, fraudato il ſancto.Aegrotus ſurgit, ſed pia vota jacent.
We may be wondred at, not without cauſe, as the Emperour Conſtantine marvelled at his people that were newly become Chriſtians: I marvel, ſaid he, how it comes to paſſe, that many of my people are worſe now than before they were Chriſtians.
Ver. 10. I ſaid in the cutting off of my dayes] When I looked upon my ſelf as a dead man. Here he telleth us what paſſed betwixt God and him whileſt he lay deſperately ſick. The utmoſt of a danger eſcaped is to be recognized and recorded: This will both inſtruct the judgement, enlarge the heart, and open the mouth.
I ſhall go to the gates of the grave] He maketh the grave to have gates: either by a poetical fiction, or elſe by a proverbial expreſſion. So the gates of death, Pſal. 9. 13. & 107.18. See 1 Sam. 2.6.
I am deprived of the reſidue of my years] ſc. that I might have lived in a natural courſe. Vox baec queritantis quidem eſt: Quis enim vult mori? prorſus nemo. Nature ſhunneth death as its ſlaughter-man.
Ver. 11. I ſaid I ſhall not ſee the Lord] In the glaſs of his Ordinances; his love whereunto made Hezekiah ſo loth to depart: as alſo his delight in the Communion of Saints, and his deſire to do more good amongſt them on all occaſions. This made good Paul in a ſtrait alſo. Philip. 1.23, 24. I loved the man (ſaid Theodeſius concerning Ambroſe) for that when he died, he was more ſollicitous of the Churches welfare then of his own.
Even the Lord] Non videbo Jah Jah. I ſhall not ſee the Lord of the Lord,Leo Caſtrius. Deum Dei, vel Deum de Deo. That is, Chriſt in the fleſh, as I had well hoped to have done: ſo ſome ſenſe it. Others ſay He redoubleth the word Jah to expreſs his ardent affection to Gods ſervice, and to intimate his deſire of life to that purpoſe, Ver. 22.
Ver. 12. Mine age is departed] Or, my generation, or, my habitation: here I have no ſettled abode, no continuing City, but am flitting, as a ſhepherds ſhed.
I have cut off like a weaver my life] By my ſins I have ſhortned my daies, as Gen. 38.7.10. Or rather, God as a weaver that hath finiſhed his web, cutteth me out of the Loom of life. We know what the Poets fain of the Fates, Clotho colum bajulat, Lacheſis trabit, Atropos occat.
He will cut me off with pining ſickneſſe] Or, from the thrum; for the ſame Hebrew word ſignifieth both; becauſe of the thinneſ, and weakneſs of it.
From day even to night] So that by night I ſhall be dead, as they ſtory of the Ephemerobii; and as Ariſtotle writeth that the River Hypanis in Thracia every day bringeth forth little bladders, out of which come certain flies, which are thus bred in the morning, fledgd at noone, and dead at night.
Ver. 13. I reckoned until morning] And then, at utmoſt, I thought there would be an end of my life and pain together: for what through troubles without, and terrours within, he was in a woe caſe, even as if a Lion had broke all his bones. Hoc ſentiunt qui magnis febribus aeſtuant, ſaith an Interpreter. Now whereas ſome ſay All dye of a feaver, let us take care we dye not of a cold ſhaking fit of fear.
Ver. 14. Like a Crane or a Swallow, ſo did I chatter] Ita pipiebam; perapta ſunt ſimilitudines. Broken petitions coming from a broken heart are of ſingular avayl with God, Pſal. 51.17. Ah Pater, breviſſima quidem vox eſt, ſed omnia complectitur, ſaith Luther, i. e. Ah Father, it a ſhort prayer, but very complexive and effectual. So is the prayer here recorded.
O Lord, I am oppreſſed, undertake for me] Miſerere mihi miſero. Tu tuam fidem interpone.Hezekiah though a moſt holy man, begged pardon at his death, and flyeth to Chriſt his ſurety. So did Auguſtine (he prayed over the ſeven penitential Pſalms) and Fulgentius, and Arch-Biſhop Ʋſher. Some render it Pertexe me, weave me out, lengthen my life to its due period.
Ver. 15. What ſhall I ſay?] This he ſeemeth to ſpeak in a way of wondering at Gods goodneſs in delivering him from ſo great a death. The like doth the Apoſtle, Rom. 8.31. What ſhall we then ſay to theſe things?
He hath both ſpoken unto me, Dixit & fecit.and himſelf hath done it] He no ſooner bade me be well, but he made me ſo. Thus he attributeth his recovery to the moſt faithful promiſe of God, and not to the lump of figs, &c.
I ſhall ſhall go ſoftly all my years in the bitterneſs of my ſoul] Or, I ſhall go quietly and chearfully all my years, after my ſouls bitterneſs. ſc. when it is paſt and gone.Scultet.
Ver. 16. O Lord, by theſe things men live] By thy promiſes ſo performed, the juſt do live by Faith, and live long in a little while: For life conſiſteth in action; and ſome live more in a day, then others do in a year. An Elephant liveth two hundred years, ſaith Ariſtotle: three hundred and fifty ſaith Philoſtratus: and yet man, though of much ſhorter a continuance, is not inferiour to an Elephant. For this is not the beſt thing in nature, ſaith Scaliger, to live longeſt, but to live to beſt purpoſe. Now mans life is a way to life eternal. Other creatures have that they live for: Not ſo Man, whilſt here.
And in all theſe things is the life of my Spirit] The godly eſteem of life by that ſtirring they find in their ſouls: Elſe they lament as over a dead ſoul.
So wilt thou recover me] Or, haſt thou recovered me?
Ver. 17. Behold for peace I had great bitterneſſe] Mar Mar; the approach of death was to this good man bitter bitterneſſe: and yet Chriſt had taken away from him the ſting (or gall) of death; ſo that he might better ſay then Agag did, Surely the bitterneſſe of death is paſt, or then Lucan doth of the Gaules and Britones,
— animaeque capaces
Mortis:
But thou haſt in love to my ſoul] Or, thou haſt embraced my ſoul out of the corrupting pit. Complectendi verbum, affectum planè paternum, & ſtudium juvandi ſingulare exprimit.
For thou haſt caſt all my ſins behind thy back] As an old oreworn evidence, that's out of date, and of no uſe. Here it is well noted, that we muſt ſet our ſins before our face, if we would have God to caſt them behind his back, Pſal. 50.2…. and 51.3.
Ver. 18. For the grave cannot praiſe thee] i. e. Palam & cum aliis, openly and exemplarily. See Pſal. 6.5. with the Notes: David deſires to live for no other end (and ſo Hezekiah) then to be glorifying of God.
They that go down into the pit] Of the grave: ſo, of deſpair. It is a ſin for any man to ſay I am a reprobate: for it keeps him in ſin, and cuts the ſinews of endeavour.
Ver. 19. The living, the living, he ſhall praiſe thee] Thoſe that live the life of nature if withall they live the life of Grace, and ſo are living living, and not dead whilſt they live: for the wicked cannot praiſe God: they can ſay God a thank, and that's all. But as it is with the hand-diall, the finger of the diall ſtandeth at twelve, when the dial hath not moved one minute: ſo though their tongues are forward in praiſes, yet their hearts ſtand ſtill. What they do this way is but dead work.
The Father to the Son ſhall make known] and for this end Parents may deſire to live longer. Hezekiah did his part, no doubt, by wicked Manaſſeh, who alſo at length repented and was ſaved.
Ver. 20. The Lord was ready to ſave] Heb. The Lord to ſave. Servati ſumus ut ſerviamus. Hezekiah was the better for his ſickneſs: God had brought health out of it, as he doth out of all his, by bringing the body of death into a conſumption.
Therefore we will ſing my ſongs] Quales quae ſo illi? ſaith Scultetus, what kind of ſongs would he ſing in the houſe of the Lord and in the hearing of all the people, as long as he bad a day to live? Surely this here recorded among and above the reſt, though it ſet forth his queritations and infirmities: Deprimunt ſe ſancti ut Deus exaltetur. The Saints gladly abaſe themſelves, if thereby God may be exalted.
Ver. 21. Let them take a lump of figs] Commendatur hic uſus Medicinae. The Patient muſt pray, but withall make uſe of means; truſt God, but not tempt him. See the Note on 2 King. 20.
Ver. 22. See on 2 King. 20.8.
CHAP. XXXIX.
VErſe 1, 2, 3, &c.] See 2. King. 20.12, 13, 14, &c. with the Notes thereon.