Hezekiah in Prospect of Death
Bp. Harvey Goodwin, D. D. Isaiah 38:18-19 For the grave cannot praise you, death can not celebrate you: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for your truth.… Hezekiah was, in the full sense of the word, a good king. His piety is shown — (1) In his conduct with reference to idolatry. (2) In his conduct in the matter of the siege of Jerusalem by Sennacherib. But there are two passages in his life which show the weak side of his character. One is his parading his treasures before the ambassadors of the king of Babylon; the other is his conduct in the matter of his severe illness. I. The essence of the history is this, that IN THE PROSPECT OF DEATH HEZEKIAH'S STRENGTH OF MIND QUITE BROKE DOWN. He looks upon death as a thing to be dreaded and shunned; he speaks of it in a way in which no Christian who has learned the Lord's prayer could ever venture or even wish to speak of it. Hezekiah knew that he must serve God while life lasted; he had manifestly no express revelation beyond, and therefore he looked upon the grave with dismay. II. WE HAVE GREATER SPIRITUAL HELP THAN HEZEKIAH, and brighter light, and clearer grounds of hope, and it is incumbent on us to act, not like those who groped their way in the twilight of the old dispensation, but like those upon whom the brightness of the knowledge of the glory of God has shined in the face of Jesus Christ. (Bp. Harvey Goodwin, D. D.) Parallel Verses KJV: For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. WEB: For Sheol can't praise you. Death can't celebrate you. Those who go down into the pit can't hope for your truth.