Isaiah 38:19
The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
The words are the praise of Hezekiah after God spared him from mortal sickness unto death when all other hope had fled. He speaks as one restored from near death, in gratitude for being restored to life and having his life prolonged. That recovery gives him cause to praise God and to devote his remaining days to His service. After he prayed, God promised him fifteen more years, and a fig applied to the affected place was part of his healing. Trusting God for healing does not mean neglecting practical remedies or the laws of nature. The turning back of the shadow ten degrees on the sundial was the sign given to the king of Judah that his life had been spared. It was a wonder observed with great marvel by wise men given to astronomy dwelling in the valleys of the Tigris and Euphrates.
The living praise God, and the father makes known His truth to the children. Knowledge of God and His truth is to be passed from parents to children and from one generation to the next. Hezekiah gives this as the reason to praise God for prolonging his life, that while alive he can praise God and tell the next generation what is true of Him. The dead in the grave cannot praise or celebrate God and cannot hope in His truth. Praise and witness belong to the living, not to the dead; death is a state without conscious praise, not a time when the righteous are already praising God in heaven.
His spared life gave him opportunity to extol the living God of supreme sovereignty and upholder of all created things to seekers after truth from Babylon and Chaldea and to lead them to acknowledge Him. When Merodach-baladan learned the miracle was wrought for Hezekiah, he sent ambassadors to congratulate him on his recovery and to learn more of the God able to perform so great a wonder. So the living king's praise became the occasion for Babylon to seek knowledge of God. Instead of glorifying God to those visitors, pride and vanity took possession of his heart. In self-exaltation he laid open to covetous eyes the treasures with which God had enriched His people, not to glorify God but to exalt himself before them. He made foreign princes who had neither the fear nor the love of God his confidants concerning the temporal riches of the nation. The verse applies to a person near death who may yet receive renewed life and praise the Saviour.