"The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth."
Isaiah 38:19
Before we look at our verse for today, we need to look at the chapter and the events that surround our verse if we are going to appreciate what it says.
King Hezekiah is sick to the point of death. Isaiah the prophet goes to him with a message from Jehovah, “Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live” (v. 1). Interestingly, Hezekiah’s first response to this bad news was to pray. He reminds the LORD of his faithfulness in his relationship with Him (vv. 2-3). God sends Isaiah back to the king with His answer to his prayer. He has 15 more years to live (vv. 4-5). God also promises to deliver the city out of the hands of Assyria (v. 6). And the LORD will give a sign that He will do as He said. The LORD moved the sundial’s shadow ten degrees backward (vv. 7-8)! (Now that’s real daylight savings time!)
The rest of the chapter shows King Hezekiah’s heart. When he heard Isaiah’s words about his death, he mourned for the years of his life being cut off (vv. 9-15). His understanding of death and the grave were from the Old Testament point of view. Thankfully we have Jesus’ and the New Testament teaching on life after death today! Then his mourning turns to praise for Jehovah for adding the years to his life (vv. 16-20). The chapter closes with Hezekiah’s treatment and healing and asking the LORD for a sign that he will be able to go worship in the house of the LORD (vv. 21-22).
Understanding the background, we are ready to look at our verse.
“People who are alive, people like me, are the ones who will praise you. Fathers should tell their children about how faithful you are” [1] (Isaiah 38:19, HSB).
“The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day.”
From his Old Testament point of view, this made sense to Hezekiah. His thinking is that only the living are the ones who can praise the Lord – he sees death through the lenses of the OT only.
“The dead cannot praise you. People in Sheol cannot sing praises to you. Those who have died and gone below are not trusting in your faithfulness” (Isaiah 38:18, HSB).
“When he said that those who are dead cannot praise the Lord (Isaiah 38:18), he was not denying life after death. He was simply noting that in death, one’s activities on earth are stopped and that one’s service on earth for God terminates (Psalm 30:9)” [2] (BKC).
And Hezekiah’s words, “as I do this day,” show us that he is and will continue to praise the Lord while he is living. This is an excellent reminder to all New Testament believers that we praise the Lord with our very lives while we live. Believers, we have the delightful duty of living our lives to the glory and praise of the Lord! Even the OT writers knew that praise to Jehovah was for all generations; it was temporal praise.
“First of all, Israel, whom the psalmist represents, is called upon to declare with praise the name of the Messiah from generation to generation” [3] (KDC).
“I will make thy name to be remembered in all generations: therefore shall the people praise thee forever and ever” (Psalm 45:17).
“So we thy people and sheep of thy pasture will give thee thanks forever: we will show forth thy praise to all generations” (Psalm 79:13).
But note how David’s words point us from temporal praise to the eternal.
“I will extol thee, my God, O king; and I will bless thy name forever and ever. Every day will I bless thee, and I will praise thy name forever and ever” (Psalm 145:1-2).
Today, believers understand that when we die, we are “absent from the body, and … present with the Lord” (2 Corinthians 5:8).
As I think about praising the Lord here in this life and then praising Him in the next, this makes sense. Could it be that as we close our eyes in death, we go to sleep praising Him here – and when we open our eyes in glory, we will awaken praising Him there and for all eternity?
“The father to the children shall make known thy truth.”
Hezekiah knew that his time on earth was short, with only 15 years remaining. So he is determined to teach his children everything he can about his God in the time he has left.
“Father to the children.”
He will not farm out his duty of teaching his children about God to anyone else. He will teach them about the LORD and his relationship to Him.
“If he lives, he will pass on the teaching about following Yahweh” [4] (FSB).
“Hezekiah affirmed that while he was still alive, he would proclaim the Lord’s faithfulness” [5] (BKC).
“father to the children—one generation of the living to another. He probably, also, hints at his own desire to live until he should have a child, the successor to his throne, to whom he might make known and so perpetuate the memory of God’s truth” [6] (JFB).
“Make known thy truth.”
A father is fitted well for teaching God’s truth and faithfulness to his children. Dads, your children need to hear the truth about God firsthand from you! What has God done in your life? Tell them so they can see that He is good and faithful.
“truth—faithfulness to His promises; especially in Hezekiah’s case, His promise of hearing prayer” [7] (JFB).
Hezekiah is thankful that he will be able to rejoin his people in their praise to Jehovah in the Temple.
“Again, this passage reflects the uncertain understanding of the world beyond before the finished work of Jesus Christ. Hezekiah knew he could praise God while he walked this earth, but he wasn’t so sure about the world beyond” [8] (EWC).
Believers, a good reminder is that we are people of praise! Praising the Lord is our honor and duty! And we need to remember to be faithful in teaching our children of His faithfulness to us!
Quote: “Praise is the rehearsal of our eternal song. By grace, we learn to sing, and in glory, we continue to sing. What will some of you do when you get to heaven if you go on grumbling all the way? Do not hope to get to heaven in that style. But now begin to bless the name of the Lord” [9] (Charles Spurgeon).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] BKC, John A. Martin, “Isaiah,” in The Bible Knowledge Commentary: An Exposition of the Scriptures, ed. J. F. Walvoord and R. B. Zuck, vol. 1 (Wheaton, IL: Victor Books, 1985), 1090.
[3] KDC – Keil & Delitzsch. Keil & Delitzsch’s Commentary on the Old Testament, the electronic version in eSword.
[4] FSB, John D. Barry, Douglas Mangum, Derek R. Brown, et al., Faithlife Study Bible (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2012, 2016), Is 38:19.
[5] BKC ibid.
[6] JFB, Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset, and David Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible, vol. 1 (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997), 472.
[7] JFB ibid.
[8] EWC – David Guzik. Enduring Word Commentary, the electronic version in eSword.
[9] Spurgeon’s quote downloaded: March 17, 2022. From: https://www.christianquotes.info/top-quotes/20-glorious-quotes-about-praise/.