Charles Ellicott Commentary Isaiah 38:17

"Behold, [it was] for [my] peace [that] I had great bitterness: But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption; For thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back." — Isaiah 38:17 (ASV)

For peace I had great bitterness... — The words in the Authorized Version read like a retrospect of the change from health to suffering. Really, they express the very opposite. It was for my peace (that is, for my salvation, in the fullest sense of the word) that it was bitter, was bitter to me (emphasis of iteration). All things were now seen as working together for good.

Thou hast in love to my soul... — The italics show that the verbs “delivered it” are not in the present Hebrew text. A slight change, such as might be made to correct an error of transcription, would give that meaning, but as it stands, we have the singularly suggestive phrase, You have loved me out of the pit of corruption. The very love of Jehovah is thought of as ipso facto a deliverance.

Thou hast cast all my sins... — As in our Lord’s miracles, the bodily healing was the pledge and earnest of the spiritual. Arise and walk guaranteed, Thy sins be forgiven thee (Matthew 9:2–5). (For the symbols of that forgiveness, compare Micah 7:19).