Isaiah 38:15 - Exposition

What shall I say? The strain is suddenly changed. Hezekiah's prayer has been answered, and he has received the answer ( Isaiah 38:5-8 ). He is "at a loss to express his wonder and his gratitude" (Cheyne); comp. 2 Samuel 7:20 . God has both spoken unto him— i.e; given him a promise of recovery—and also himself hath done it ; i.e. has performed his promise. Already he feels in himself the beginnings of amendment—he is conscious that the worst is past, and that the malady has taken a turn for the better. I shall go softly all my years . Delitzsch renders, "I shall walk quietly;" Mr. Cheyne, "I shall walk at ease;" both apparently understanding the expression of a quiet, easy life, made the more pleasant by contrast with past pain. But it seems better to understand the "soft going," with Dr. Kay, of a hushed and subdued spirit, consequent upon the crisis past, and thenceforth continuing—the king walking, as it were, perpetually in God's presence. In the bitterness ; rather, after the bitterness (Delitzsch), when it has departed; and "because of it" (Nagelsbach), through its remembrance.