(Dear Lord Jesus, guide me and give me insight as I read and study Your word, and let it be the meditation of my heart...)
(Isaiah 38:1-22)
1 In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said to him, “This is what the Lord says: ‘Set your house in order, for you are going to die and not live.’” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 and said, “Please, Lord, just remember how I have walked before You wholeheartedly and in truth, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept profusely.
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.”’
7 “And this shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform this word that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
9 This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the middle of my life
I am to enter the gates of Sheol;
I have been deprived of the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a weaver I rolled up my life.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
13 I composed my soul until morning.
Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,
From day until night You make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I moan like a dove;
My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.
15 “What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will walk quietly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, by these things people live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
Restore me to health and let me live!
17 Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is certain to save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” 22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
4 Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying, 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David says: “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will save you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will protect this city.”’
7 “And this shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will perform this word that He has spoken: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
9 This is a writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10 I said, “In the middle of my life
I am to enter the gates of Sheol;
I have been deprived of the rest of my years.”
11 I said, “I will not see the Lord,
The Lord in the land of the living;
I will no longer look on mankind among the inhabitants of the world.
12 Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a weaver I rolled up my life.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
13 I composed my soul until morning.
Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,
From day until night You make an end of me.
14 Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I moan like a dove;
My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.
15 “What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will walk quietly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16 Lord, by these things people live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
Restore me to health and let me live!
17 Behold, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
But You have kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have hurled all my sins behind Your back.
18 For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19 It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20 The Lord is certain to save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the Lord.”
21 Now Isaiah had said, “Have them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, so that he may recover.” 22 Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I will go up to the house of the Lord?”
TODAY'S THOUGHTS AND MEDITATION:
After Hezekiah's very self-centered and self-serving prayer in verse 3, God still decided to answer it and allow him to live 15 more years. BUT Hezekiah suffered with his illness - to the point that he finally turned to God with humility and repentance. Because Hezekiah became a believer, immediately at that point in time, he was able to stand before the Lord, clean and righteous, no matter what he had done in the past.
From verse 17, we can see that Hezekiah understood that in order to find eternal life, God allowed him to come close to death. God is love, and God is also all-knowing, righteous and just. God knew that Hezekiah would become a believer! And He knew what it would take to get Hezekiah's attention! And because of His forgiveness and amazing grace, God chooses to no longer remember our sins.
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