Isaiah 38:16

16 O Lord, even unto all those that shall live, in these fifteen years I shall proclaim the life of my spirit in them and how thou caused me to sleep, and afterwards hast given me life.

Isaiah 38:16 Meaning and Commentary

Isaiah 38:16

O Lord, by these things men live
Not by bread only, but by the word of God: by the promise of God, and by his power performing it; and by his favour and goodness continually bestowed; it is in him, and by his power and providence, that they live and move, and have their being, and the continuance of it; and it is his lovingkindness manifested to them that makes them live comfortably and go on cheerfully: and in all these things is the life of my spirit;
what kept his soul in life were the same things, the promise, power, and providence of God; what revived his spirit, and made him comfortable and cheerful, was the wonderful love and great goodness of God unto him, in appearing to him, and for him, and delivering him out of his sore troubles. Ben Melech renders and gives the sense of the words thus; "to all will I declare and say, that in these", in the years of addition (the fifteen years added to his days) "are the life of my spirit"; so Kimchi. The Targum interprets it of the resurrection of the dead,

``O Lord, concerning all the dead, thou hast said, that thou wilt quicken them; and before them all thou hast quickened my spirit:''

so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live;
or rather, "and" or "for thou hast recovered ^F20 me, and made me to live"; for the Lord had not only promised it, but he had done it, ( Isaiah 38:15 ) , and so the Targum,

``and hast quickened me, and sustained me.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F20 So Gataker.

Isaiah 38:16 In-Context

14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I complain; I mourned as a dove; I raised my eyes upward, O LORD, I am suffering violence; comfort me.

15 What shall I say? He has both spoken unto me, and he himself has done it; I shall walk softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.

16 O Lord, even unto all those that shall live, in these fifteen years I shall proclaim the life of my spirit in them and how thou caused me to sleep, and afterwards hast given me life.

17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness; but it has pleased thee to deliver my life from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.

18 For the grave shall not confess thee, nor shall death praise thee; nor shall those that go down into the pit wait for thy truth.