Wesley Corpus

Chapter XX Hezekiah's sickness and recovery, ver 1 - 7. The sign given him, ver. 8 - 11. He shews the Babylonians all his treasures, ver. 12 - 13. The Babylonish captivity foretold, ver. 14 - 19. He dies, ver. 20, 21 Those days - In the year of the Assyrian invasion. Set, &c. - Make thy will, and settle the affairs of thy family and kingdom. Not live - Such threatenings, though absolutely expressed, have often secret conditions. Turned his face - As he lay in his bed. He could not retire to his closet, but he retired as well as he could, turned from the company, to converse with God. In truth - Sincerely with an honest mind. I am not conscious to myself of any gross exorbitances, for which thou usest to shorten mens days. Wept - For that horror of death which is and was common to men, especially, in the times of the Old Testament, when the grace of God in Christ was not so fully manifested, as now it is: and, for the distracted condition in which the church and state were then likely to be left, through the uncertainty of the succession to the crown. Court - Of the king's palace. This is noted to shew God's great readiness to hear the prayers of his children. God of, &c. - I am mindful of my promise made to David and his house, and will make it good in thy person. Shalt go - To give me solemn praise for this mercy. Fifteen years - We have not an instance of any other, who was told before - hand just how long, he should live. God has wisely kept us at uncertainties, that we may be always ready. Go down - In an instant: for that motion of the sun is natural for the kind of it, though miraculous for the swiftness of it; but the other would be both ways miraculous. Degrees - These degrees were lines in the dial: but whether each of these lines or degrees noted an hour, or half an hour, or a quarter of an hour, is uncertain. But the sun itself went back, and the shadow with it. This miracle was noted by the Babylonians, who, having understood that it was done for Hezekiah's sake, sent to enquire into the truth and manner of it, 2Chron 32:31.