Isaiah 38:3
And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore. And said, Remember now, O LORD, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
When sickness came upon Hezekiah, a prophet of God brought him the message that his sickness would end in death. In that extremity the verse records his crying appeal to the Lord, recalling how he had walked faithfully before God in truth and with goodness, while weeping deeply in his distress. God heard His servant's prayer for life and answered with gracious deliverance and recovery, prolonging and extending his life and granting him a new lease of life.
The answer specifically promised that fifteen years should be added to his life and spared to him. The healing came through a God-directed natural remedy in which his attendants applied a bunch or lump of figs as a poultice or plaster to his sore, boil, or affected part, and the remedy blessed by God healed him so that he recovered. The account thus shows divine power working together with appointed means, giving sanction for joining prayer for the sick with the use of remedial agencies and cooperation with natural laws to extend life and bring recovery.
Though one word from God would have healed Hezekiah instantly, special directions for treatment were given together with the promise. The use of this simple remedy taught that the elaborate treatments and drugs then being used were hindering the body's power to rally, recover, and overcome disease. As a sign that God would fulfill the promise and gift of life, the sun's going back ten degrees turned the sundial's shadow back.