Isaiah 38:17 - Exposition

Behold, for peace I had great bitterness ; rather, behold , it was for my peace that I had such bitterness , such bitterness. The pain that I underwent was for the true peace and comfort of my soul (comp. Psalms 94:12 ; Psalms 119:75 ; Proverbs 3:12 ; Hebrews 12:5-11 ). Thou hast in love , etc.; literally, thou hast loved my soul back from the pit of destruction—as if God's love, beaming on the monarch's soul, had drawn it back from the edge of the pit (comp. Hosea 11:4 , "I drew them with cords of a man, with bands of love"). For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back . Where they could be no more seen, and therefore would be no more remembered (comp. Micah 7:19 ; Psalms 25:7 ; Psalms 79:8 ; Isaiah 43:25 ; Isaiah 64:9 , etc.). Hezekiah, though lately he protested his integrity ( Isaiah 38:3 ). did not mean to say that he was sinless, lie knew that he had sinned; he regarded his sins as having brought down upon him the sentence of death; as God has revoked the sentence, he knows that he has pardoned his sins and put them away from his remembrance.