Isaiah 38
Do you remember Hezekiah? Hezekiah was a king of Judah. His story is told in the Book of Isaiah in the Old Testament. As we read through the history of the nations of Israel and Judah we hear of king after king who “did evil in the sight of the Lord” and whose reigns were cut short. It is with a breath of relief that we finally read about a king that got it right! Hezekiah “did what was right in the sight of the Lord”, we read in 2 Chronicles 29. “Hezekiah repaired the doors of the Lord’s Temple and made them strong. He opened the Temple again.” (2 Chronicles 29:3)
So when we get to Isaiah chapter 38 and read about Hezekiah’s terminal sickness, our hearts cry out with Hezekiah, “Let me live!” Look at what I’ve done, how I’ve served you and repaired your Temple so your people can come and worship you again. Don’t let me die now! Why, God?
So Yahweh changes his mind. And we get to watch the whole thing play out in Isaiah 38.
Hezekiah becomes deathly sick. The Bible doesn’t tell us if he sent for the prophet, Isaiah, or if God just sent Isaiah to him to deliver the news of his impending demise. “This is what Yahweh has to say to you,” Isaiah began. “Set your affairs in order, for you will not recover from this illness. You are going to die.”
What went through Hezekiah’s mind as he considered Yahweh’s message? We don’t have to wonder, because Isaiah 38 recounts Hezekiah’s own rendition of the story, “Hezekiah’s Psalm of Praise” later in the chapter.
Hezekiah’s initial reaction to Isaiah’s death sentence: “He broke down and wept…” Then he did what any other child in distress would do, he ran to the Father. He “turned his face to the wall and prayed, O please, Yahweh, please, I beg you, let me live.” I’ve walked faithfully before you. “With all my heart I have sought to do only what is good in your eyes!”
Then Isaiah, barely having left the king’s palace, heard the voice of Yahweh stopping him in his tracks.
Go back to the king and deliver this message.
What? I just left there? Seriously?
Yes, seriously. Go and deliver this message to Hezekiah:
“Go and tell Hezekiah, ‘This is what the Lord, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city.” Isaiah 38:5-6
And Hezekiah’s gonna have a hard time hearing this change of plans, going from the depths of despair to the heights of joy, so when he asks you for a sign that I will do what I say, tell him this:
“‘This is the Lord’s sign to you that the Lord 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.’” So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.” Isaiah 38:7-8
I love it! Love it when you do the impossible as if it’s no big deal. You think nothing of just making a promise of an additional 15 years of life for Hezekiah, and then turning back the clock to confirm your promise!
You say, see if I will not open the windows of heaven and pour out a blessing on you! See, look and see how much I love my kids and desire to delight their hearts! I take no pleasure in depriving my children out of anything they want or need – it is my joy that they be filled with wonder as they receive from my hand pressed down, shaken together and running over.
I encourage you to read through Isaiah chapter 38, in the Passion Translation if possible. Hezekiah’s’ “Psalm of Praise” describes what he felt as he prepared to die, weeping bitterly as he cried out to God: “..restore my health and give me life again!”
Now armed with Yahweh’s promise and seeing with his own eyes as the hands of time were turned back and the shadow receded on the steps, he pens this poem of praise so that his children, and their children, and now anyone who picks up the Bible, can read the story and believe with Hezekiah in this God who loves his own and joyfully works all things for our good.
“One generation makes your faithfulness known to the next!” Isa. 38:19
So we grab onto this picture of God’s character that he reveals through the prophet, Isaiah.
Do you need healing in your body today? Sing and declare the words of Hezekiah in Isa. 28:20 over yourself today:
“Yahweh is pleased to heal and save me! We will sing to the music of stringed instruments every day of our lives in Yahweh’s house!”
