Hezekiah has the faith to give this a try but he wants reassurance from the Lord. I don't think there is anything wrong with this. A number of times in the Bible we find someone asking the Lord for a sign to reassure themselves that they have correctly understood His word to them. We do not find the Lord chastising them for asking for a sign, "For He knows how we are formed, He remembers that we are dust." (Psalm 103:14) The Lord, who created us from the dust, knows all of our weaknesses. He knows we sometimes need an extra word of reassurance because it's hard being human in a fallen world where all sorts of bad things can happen. He doesn't judge us for that but instead is very sympathetic toward us, as we find Him being toward Hezekiah in the passage below.
"Hezekiah had asked Isaiah, 'What will be the sign that the Lord will heal me and that I will go up to the temple on the third day from now?' Isaiah answered, 'This is the Lord's sign to you that the Lord will do what He has promised: Shall the shadow go forward ten steps, or shall it go back ten steps?'" (2 Kings 20:9) In the book of Isaiah, this is how we find the Lord's offer described: "This is the Lord's sign to you that He will do what He has promised: I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz." (Isaiah 38:7-8)
King Ahaz was the father of King Hezekiah and the stairway mentioned here was one that had been installed by Ahaz at the palace and it must have been within sight of Hezekiah's sickbed. I don't know whether it was an interior or exterior staircase but it had to have been positioned in such a way that the sun shined on it, for at least part of the day anyway. Some Bible scholars suggest it was an outdoor sundial that could be viewed from Hezekiah's window and that the word rendered as "steps" could also mean "degrees". If that's the case, then Isaiah is saying that the sun will move either ten degrees forward or ten degrees backward as the sign to the king.
It's interesting to note that Hezekiah---of his own volition---asks the Lord for a sign whereas his father Ahaz was offered a sign and refused it. When Ahaz was king of Judah he learned that the king of Aram and the king of Israel had allied themselves together against him and were coming out with their armies in an attempt to overtake the kingdom of Judah. The Lord sent the prophet Isaiah out to tell Ahaz that He was not going to allow the kingdom to fall to these enemies and the Lord offered Ahaz a sign of his choosing. Ahaz refused and instead quoted the words of Moses from Deuteronomy 6:16 by saying he would not put the Lord to the test. (Isaiah 7:12)
Ahaz's use of the reverent words of Moses was hypocritical (for Ahaz was a blatant idolater who would serve any god of any nation) and his use of the words of Moses was erroneous (for they did not apply to the situation at hand). When Moses warned the children of Israel that they were endangering themselves by putting the Lord to the test, what was happening in that scene was that the people were complaining against the Lord because they found no water at Massah. They were accusing the Lord of having driven them out into the wilderness to cause them and their livestock to die of thirst. They were threatening to stone Moses to death because he was the person the Lord used to lead them out of Egypt and into the wilderness. The people demanded a sign to prove that the Lord was with them because they were beginning to doubt that He cared about them---perhaps even beginning to doubt He existed at all. So we see how the situation at Massah was completely different from that of Ahaz and how he was quoting incorrectly from Deuteronomy 6:16. We see how he was being a hypocrite as well, for he never had any problem calling upon the name of any heathen god in an attempt to receive signs and wonders and miracles. He put on a pious act in front of the prophet Isaiah, as if he would not trouble the Lord for a sign or dare to consider himself worthy of receiving a sign from the Lord, but in his heart he did not really revere the Lord.
Hezekiah does not make the same mistake his father made. He isn't going to turn down a sign from the Lord. In fact, he doesn't even wait for the Lord to offer a sign but instead boldly asks for one in faith! I am of the opinion that if we had the faith to ask for bigger things from the Lord, we would see far more victories in this life. I am as guilty as anyone of thinking too small, so this portion of Scripture really ministers to me. Hezekiah thinks big when he thinks about God. When he asks for a sign and is presented with his choice of the sun going backward or forward ten degrees, he displays even more faith than he's already displayed by choosing the more difficult of the two options. "'It is a simple matter for the shadow to go forward ten steps,' said Hezekiah. 'Rather, have it go back ten steps.'" (2 Kings 20:10)
To have the shadow suddenly leap forward ten degrees would still be miraculous but forward is the direction in which the shadow would naturally go. Hezekiah is asking the Lord to go against the natural movement of the sun on the dial. The Lord graciously provides this wondrous sign in the sight of King Hezekiah, the prophet Isaiah, and all the king's attendants who were gathered at his bedside. "Then the prophet Isaiah called on the Lord, and the Lord made the shadow go back the ten steps it had gone down on the stairway of Ahaz." (2 Kings 20:11)
Our God is not only powerful but He's also willing to go to great lengths to demonstrate His mighty power on our behalf! In today's study we find Him bending the laws of nature to give King Hezekiah the reassurance he needs. Hezekiah loved the Lord but was not a perfect man; we've already learned earlier in our study of him that he struggles with the sin of pride. If the Lord was willing to do great things for an imperfect man like Hezekiah, He will also be willing to do great things for all those who love Him, imperfect though we may be. He knew that Hezekiah truly was devoted to Him and had never turned aside into idolatry. In response to this faithfulness on Hezekiah's part, the Lord took action on his behalf. You and I will make mistakes from time to time but the Lord looks on our hearts and knows that we love Him. He doesn't ask perfection of us, for He knows we are made of dust and cannot attain perfection in our earthly lives, but He asks instead for hearts faithful to Him. If we are faithful to Him, we can expect Him to act on our behalf.
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