◄ Isaiah 38:19 ►
The living, only the living, can thank You, as I do today; fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness.
Study Bible
The living, only the living, can thank You
This phrase emphasizes the importance of life in offering praise to God. In the context of Isaiah 38, King Hezekiah has been granted an extension of life after a severe illness, highlighting the value of life as an opportunity to worship and thank God. Biblically, life is seen as a gift from God, and the living are called to use their time to glorify Him (Psalm 115:17-18). The emphasis on "only the living" underscores the urgency and privilege of praising God while one has the chance, as the dead cannot participate in this act of worship.

as I do today
Hezekiah's personal gratitude is expressed here, reflecting his immediate response to God's deliverance. This moment of thanksgiving is not just a future promise but a present reality. It serves as a model for believers to express gratitude in the present moment, recognizing God's interventions in their lives. The phrase "as I do today" also connects to the biblical theme of living in the present and acknowledging God's work daily (Psalm 118:24).

fathers will tell their children about Your faithfulness
This phrase highlights the biblical principle of passing down faith through generations. In Deuteronomy 6:6-7, parents are instructed to teach their children about God's commandments and faithfulness. The cultural context of ancient Israel placed a strong emphasis on oral tradition and storytelling as a means of preserving history and faith. This transmission of faith ensures that God's acts are remembered and celebrated by future generations, fostering a continuous legacy of faithfulness. The reference to "fathers" also points to the patriarchal structure of ancient society, where the head of the family played a crucial role in spiritual instruction.

Persons / Places / Events
1. Hezekiah
The king of Judah who was ill and prayed for healing. God extended his life by 15 years.

2. Isaiah
The prophet who delivered God's message to Hezekiah, including the promise of healing.

3. Jerusalem
The city where Hezekiah reigned and where these events took place.

4. God's Faithfulness
A central theme in Hezekiah's prayer and thanksgiving, emphasizing God's reliability and mercy.

5. Hezekiah's Illness and Recovery
A pivotal event that led to Hezekiah's prayer and God's miraculous intervention.
Teaching Points
The Importance of Gratitude
Hezekiah's response to God's intervention is one of thanksgiving. As believers, we should cultivate a heart of gratitude for God's faithfulness in our lives.

Legacy of Faith
Hezekiah's intention to tell his children about God's faithfulness highlights the importance of passing down our faith and experiences with God to the next generation.

The Value of Life
Hezekiah acknowledges that only the living can praise God. This reminds us to use our lives to glorify God and share His goodness with others.

God's Faithfulness in Trials
Hezekiah's experience shows that even in dire circumstances, God is faithful and can bring about healing and restoration.

Prayer and Trust
Hezekiah's prayer and God's response demonstrate the power of prayer and the importance of trusting in God's timing and plan.
Bible Study Questions
1. How does Hezekiah's response to God's healing challenge us to express gratitude in our own lives?

2. In what ways can we ensure that we are effectively passing down our faith and experiences with God to the next generation?

3. Reflect on a time when you experienced God's faithfulness. How can you share this testimony with others?

4. How does the account of Hezekiah's illness and recovery encourage you to trust God in your own trials?

5. What practical steps can you take to cultivate a heart of gratitude and live a life that praises God daily?
Connections to Other Scriptures
Psalm 78:4
This verse emphasizes the importance of passing down the knowledge of God's deeds to the next generation, similar to Hezekiah's intention to tell his children about God's faithfulness.

Deuteronomy 6:6-7
These verses instruct the Israelites to teach their children about God's commandments, paralleling Hezekiah's commitment to sharing God's faithfulness with his descendants.

2 Kings 20:1-11
This passage provides a detailed account of Hezekiah's illness, prayer, and God's response, offering a broader context for Isaiah 38:19.

Psalm 118:17
This verse reflects the theme of life and thanksgiving, as the psalmist declares that they will live to proclaim what the Lord has done, similar to Hezekiah's expression of gratitude.
Sermons
Claims of ChildrenFamily CircleIsaiah 38:19
Ingratitude CommonJ. N. Norton.Isaiah 38:19
MotivesT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
Parental ObligationW. Clarkson Isaiah 38:19
Parental Relationship a Medium of Divine RevelationW. O. Lilley.Isaiah 38:19
Praising GodT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
Propagating ReligionT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
Thanksgiving and ThankslivingIsaiah 38:19
The Christian View of LifeW. W. Jackson, M. A.Isaiah 38:19
The Father to the ChildrenT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
The Importance of the Present LifeW. W. Jackson, M. A.Isaiah 38:19
The Jew Valued the Present LifeW. W. Jackson, M. A.Isaiah 38:19
The Obligation to Propagate ReligionT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
The Peculiar Mercy and Business of LifeT. Boston.Isaiah 38:19
The Praise of the LivingD. F. Jarman, B. A.Isaiah 38:19
The Right LifeHomilistIsaiah 38:19
The Value and Use of LifeJ. Brewster.Isaiah 38:19
Face to Face with DeathW. Wheeler.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's ExperienceE. Payson, D. D.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's PoemE. W. Shalders, B. A.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's RecoveryR. Harris, D. D.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's Return to HealthP. M. Muir.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's Sickness and RecoveryH. J. Gamble.Isaiah 38:9-20
Hezekiah's SongR. Harris, D. D.Isaiah 38:9-20
Sickness and RecoveryJ. Leifchild, D. D.Isaiah 38:9-20
The Fear of DeathP. M. Muir.Isaiah 38:9-20
The Prayer of HezekiahP. M. Muir.Isaiah 38:9-20
The Wisdom of Keeping a Record of One's LifeJ. Leifchild, D. D.Isaiah 38:9-20
The Song of HezekiahE. Johnson Isaiah 38:9-22
The Great DisclosureW. Clarkson Isaiah 38:11, 18, 19
A Sense of Pardoned SinIsaiah 38:17-19
Deliverance from DestructionA. Littleton, D. D.Isaiah 38:17-19
Hezekiah's Return of Praise for His RecoveryA. Littleton, . D. D.Isaiah 38:17-19
Love's Medicines and MiraclesIsaiah 38:17-19
Miracles of LoveIsaiah 38:17-19
Pardon RealisedW. O. Lilley.Isaiah 38:17-19
Sins Behind God's BackW. O. Lilley.Isaiah 38:17-19
Soul-PitsW. O. Lilley.Isaiah 38:17-19
The Assurance of FaithJohn Cennick.Isaiah 38:17-19
The Pains and Pleasures Attending ReligionJohn Rippon.Isaiah 38:17-19
The Purpose of God's LoveJ. Parker, D. D.Isaiah 38:17-19
Hezekiah in Prospect of DeathBp. Harvey Goodwin, D. D.Isaiah 38:18-19
The Praiseful LifeJ. G. Pilkington, M. A.Isaiah 38:18-19
People
Ahaz, Amoz, David, Hezekiah, Isaiah
Places
Assyria
Topics
Confess, Faithfulness, Fathers, Makes, Mercy, Praise, Sons, Story, Tells, Thanks, Truth
Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 38:19

     5302   education
     5666   children, needs

Isaiah 38:18-19

     5816   consciousness

Library
The Life of the Spirit
(First Sunday after Christmas.) Isaiah xxxviii. 16. O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. These words are the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and they are true words, words from God. But, if they are true words, they are true words for every one--for you and me, for every one here in this church this day: for they do not say, By these things certain men live, one man here and another man there; but all men. Whosoever is really alive, that is, has …
Charles Kingsley—Town and Country Sermons

No Man Cometh to the Father but by Me.
This being added for further confirmation of what was formerly said, will point out unto us several necessary truths, as, I. That it is most necessary to be sound and clear in this fundamental point of coming to God only in and through Christ. For, 1. It is the whole marrow of the gospel. 2. It is the hinge of our salvation, Christ is "the chief corner stone," Isa. xxxviii. 16. 1 Pet. i. 5, 6; and, 3. The only ground of all our solid and true peace and comfort. 4 An error or a mistake here, is most …
John Brown (of Wamphray)—Christ The Way, The Truth, and The Life

Epistle ii. To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch.
To Anastasius, Bishop of Antioch. Gregory to Anastasius, Patriarch of Antioch. I have received the letters of your most sweet Blessedness, which flowed with tears for words. For I saw in them a cloud flying aloft as clouds do; but, though it carried with it a darkness of sorrow, I could not easily discover at its commencement whence it came or whither it was going, since by reason of the darkness I speak of I did not fully understand its origin. Yet it becomes you, most holy ones, ever to recall …
Saint Gregory the Great—the Epistles of Saint Gregory the Great

Sign Seekers, and the Enthusiast Reproved.
(Galilee on the Same Day as the Last Section.) ^A Matt. XII. 38-45; ^C Luke XI. 24-36. ^c 29 And when the multitudes were gathering together unto him, ^a 38 Then certain of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, Teacher, we would see a sign from thee. [Having been severely rebuked by Jesus, it is likely that the scribes and Pharisees asked for a sign that they might appear to the multitude more fair-minded and open to conviction than Jesus had represented them to be. Jesus had just wrought …
J. W. McGarvey—The Four-Fold Gospel

Letter Xliv Concerning the Maccabees but to whom Written is Unknown.
Concerning the Maccabees But to Whom Written is Unknown. [69] He relies to the question why the Church has decreed a festival to the Maccabees alone of all the righteous under the ancient law. 1. Fulk, Abbot of Epernay, had already written to ask me the same question as your charity has addressed to your humble servant by Brother Hescelin. I have put off replying to him, being desirous to find, if possible, some statement in the Fathers about this which was asked, which I might send to him, rather …
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux—Some Letters of Saint Bernard, Abbot of Clairvaux

Grace Abounding to the Chief of Sinners:
A BRIEF AND FAITHFUL RELATION OF THE EXCEEDING MERCY OF GOD IN CHRIST TO HIS POOR SERVANT, JOHN BUNYAN; WHEREIN IS PARTICULARLY SHOWED THE MANNER OF HIS CONVERSION, HIS SIGHT AND TROUBLE FOR SIN, HIS DREADFUL TEMPTATIONS, ALSO HOW HE DESPAIRED OF GOD'S MERCY, AND HOW THE LORD AT LENGTH THROUGH CHRIST DID DELIVER HIM FROM ALL THE GUILT AND TERROR THAT LAY UPON HIM. Whereunto is added a brief relation of his call to the work of the ministry, of his temptations therein, as also what he hath met with …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Meditations for the Sick.
Whilst thy sickness remains, use often, for thy comfort, these few meditations, taken from the ends wherefore God sendeth afflictions to his children. Those are ten. 1. That by afflictions God may not only correct our sins past, but also work in us a deeper loathing of our natural corruptions, and so prevent us from falling into many other sins, which otherwise we would commit; like a good father, who suffers his tender babe to scorch his finger in a candle, that he may the rather learn to beware …
Lewis Bayly—The Practice of Piety

Assurance
Q-xxxvi: WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS WHICH FLOW FROM SANCTIFICATION? A: Assurance of God's love, peace of conscience, joy in the Holy Ghost, increase of grace, and perseverance therein to the end. The first benefit flowing from sanctification is assurance of God's love. 'Give diligence to make your calling and election sure.' 2 Pet 1:10. Sanctification is the seed, assurance is the flower which grows out of it: assurance is a consequent of sanctification. The saints of old had it. We know that we know …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

The Power of God
The next attribute is God's power. Job 9:19. If I speak of strength, lo, he is strong.' In this chapter is a magnificent description of God's power. Lo, he is strong.' The Hebrew word for strong signifies a conquering, prevailing strength. He is strong.' The superlative degree is intended here; viz., He is most strong. He is called El-shaddai, God almighty. Gen 17:7. His almightiness lies in this, that he can do whatever is feasible. Divines distinguish between authority and power. God has both. …
Thomas Watson—A Body of Divinity

I Will Pray with the Spirit and with the Understanding Also-
OR, A DISCOURSE TOUCHING PRAYER; WHEREIN IS BRIEFLY DISCOVERED, 1. WHAT PRAYER IS. 2. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT. 3. WHAT IT IS TO PRAY WITH THE SPIRIT AND WITH THE UNDERSTANDING ALSO. WRITTEN IN PRISON, 1662. PUBLISHED, 1663. "For we know not what we should pray for as we ought:--the Spirit--helpeth our infirmities" (Rom 8:26). ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. There is no subject of more solemn importance to human happiness than prayer. It is the only medium of intercourse with heaven. "It is …
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as …
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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