Bible Strands
2 Kings 20:3
“Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before You faithfully and with wholehearted devotion; I have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Berean Standard Bible
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Study note
Setting — Hezekiah speaks directly to the LORD while facing a wall in prayer, positioned between his initial plea for extended life and the prophet Isaiah’s departure from the middle courtyard.
The words — The petition centers on זְכָר (ze.khor), "remember," coupled with הִתְהַלַּ֣כְתִּי (hit.ha.Lakh.ti), "I have walked about," framing his appeal around a life conducted in God’s presence.
The thread — This structure of requesting divine remembrance for personal faithfulness recurs in Nehemiah 13:14 and Nehemiah 13:22, where Nehemiah himself urges God to remember his stewardship of temple duties and Sabbath observance, and mirrors the textual assessment of Hezekiah’s reign in 2 Kings 18:3.
Why it lands — The text explicitly records a terminally ill king’s appeal for God to acknowledge his faithful conduct before Isaiah arrives with a countermand. It asks the reader to note the sequence of human petition meeting divine response without presuming the request itself controls the outcome.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now 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.
Cross-references
- Nehemiah 13:14 Remember me for this, O my God, and do not blot out my deeds of loving devotion for the house of my God and for its services.
- Nehemiah 13:22 Then I instructed the Levites to purify themselves and guard the gates in order to keep the Sabbath day holy. Remember me for this as well, O my God, and show me mercy according to Your abundant loving devotion.
- 2 Kings 18:3 And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, just as his father David had done.
- Nehemiah 5:19 Remember me favorably, O my God, for all that I have done for this people.
- Nehemiah 13:31 I also arranged for contributions of wood at the appointed times, and for the firstfruits. Remember me, O my God, with favor.
- 1 John 3:21 Beloved, if our hearts do not condemn us, we have confidence before God,
- Luke 1:6 Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord.
- 2 Samuel 12:21 “What is this you have done?” his servants asked. “While the child was alive, you fasted and wept, but when he died, you got up and ate.”
- 1 Kings 8:61 So let your heart be fully devoted to the LORD our God, as it is this day, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments.”
- Psalms 145:18 The LORD is near to all who call on Him, to all who call out to Him in truth.