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Isaiah 38:
1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord:
Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
3 and said, Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done good in Your sight.
And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
We immediately notice the utter simplicity of the words of this prayer;
bringing remembrance before the Lord. What raises this prayer
to the level of supplication and contrition is the lesson. He wept bitterly.
This prayer could have been simply lip service to the Lord, while expecting his team of physicians to bring him a cure. Some people even get angry at God in this situation. But it wasn't a doctor's prognosis of terminal illness.
This is the Word of the Lord from his prophet.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
While this word clearly states; "you shall die and not live",
how swiftly the Lord repents of His word in response to Hezekiah's
contrite heart. How willing He is to repent in response to ours.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord,
the God of David your father:
I have heard your prayer,
I have seen your tears;
surely I will add to your days, fifteen years.
6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand
of the king of Assyria,
and I will defend this city.
In addition to receiving healing favor from the Lord for his own health,
he also receives assurance that Jerusalem will be delivered from the
Assyrian army, for the king stands in the stead of his people.
We see this in a microcosm in the New Testament.
Acts 16:
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison, awakening from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.
28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling
before Paul and Silas.
30 And he brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 So they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household.
As Christ is the head to His Body, the church, a man stands in headship
on behalf of his wife and family. A faithful man can bring salvation to many
by a contrite heart, and a faithful spirit.
1 In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, Thus says the Lord:
Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.
2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the Lord,
3 and said, Remember now, O Lord, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done good in Your sight.
And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
We immediately notice the utter simplicity of the words of this prayer;
bringing remembrance before the Lord. What raises this prayer
to the level of supplication and contrition is the lesson. He wept bitterly.
This prayer could have been simply lip service to the Lord, while expecting his team of physicians to bring him a cure. Some people even get angry at God in this situation. But it wasn't a doctor's prognosis of terminal illness.
This is the Word of the Lord from his prophet.
Psalms 51:17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit:
a broken and a contrite heart, O God, thou wilt not despise.
While this word clearly states; "you shall die and not live",
how swiftly the Lord repents of His word in response to Hezekiah's
contrite heart. How willing He is to repent in response to ours.
4 And the word of the Lord came to Isaiah, saying,
5 Go and tell Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord,
the God of David your father:
I have heard your prayer,
I have seen your tears;
surely I will add to your days, fifteen years.
6 I will deliver you and this city from the hand
of the king of Assyria,
and I will defend this city.
In addition to receiving healing favor from the Lord for his own health,
he also receives assurance that Jerusalem will be delivered from the
Assyrian army, for the king stands in the stead of his people.
We see this in a microcosm in the New Testament.
Acts 16:
25 But at midnight Paul and Silas were praying and singing hymns to God, and the prisoners were listening to them.
26 Suddenly there was a great earthquake, so that the foundations of the prison were shaken; and immediately all the doors were opened and everyone’s chains were loosed.
27 And the keeper of the prison, awakening from sleep and seeing the prison doors open, supposing the prisoners had fled, drew his sword and was about to kill himself.
28 But Paul called with a loud voice, saying, Do yourself no harm, for we are all here.
29 Then he called for a light, ran in, and fell down trembling
before Paul and Silas.
30 And he brought them out and said,
Sirs, what must I do to be saved?
31 So they said, Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, and you will be saved,
you and your household.
As Christ is the head to His Body, the church, a man stands in headship
on behalf of his wife and family. A faithful man can bring salvation to many
by a contrite heart, and a faithful spirit.