5 "Go and say to Hezekiah , 'Thus says the Lord , the God of your father David , "I have heard your prayer , I have seen your tears ; behold , I will add fifteen e years to your life . 6 "I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria ; and I will defend this city ."' 7 "This shall be the sign to you from the Lord , that the Lord will do this thing that He has spoken : 8 "Behold , I will cause the shadow on the stairway , which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz , to go back ten steps ." So the sun's shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down .

Matthew Henry's Commentary on Isaiah 38:5-8

Commentary on Isaiah 38:1-8

(Read Isaiah 38:1-8)

When we pray in our sickness, though God send not to us such an answer as he here sent to Hezekiah, yet, if by his Spirit he bids us be of good cheer, assures us that our sins are forgiven, and that, whether we live or die, we shall be his, we do not pray in vain. See 2 Kings 20:1-11.