Isaiah 38
Today's Passage: Isaiah 38
In Isaiah 38, we see the Lord use Isaiah to reveal to Hezekiah his looming death. God had permitted this sickness, and He also allowed Hezekiah to know that this sickness was going to lead to Hezekiah’s death. In Hezekiah’s next choices, we see his heart on full display.
“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.”
God had told Hezekiah to go and put his house in order, but before he chose to do any of those things, he chose to privately turn and acknowledge the Lord. Not only did he acknowledge God, but he cried out to Him using the name Yahweh. Hezekiah cried out deeply and personally to God, revealing the deep devotion of his heart.
How Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, looks a little differently than we usually pray today. He asked the Lord to remember how he had walked, and he wept bitterly. Hezekiah turned to God, acknowledging Him as sovereign over life and death, but he was still in pieces over the prospect of death. Why?
Hezekiah lived under the Old Covenant, and even though he walked faithfully with God and “with a whole heart,” Hezekiah was still unsure that he would be with God after his death.
In the writing of Hezekiah, we get a deeper look at how Hezekiah processed his looming death and recovery. He saw himself as “consigned to the gates of Sheol.” Hezekiah recognized the depth of his sin, and that that sin separated him from God. He knew that his punishment for sin was that he would “not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living.”
But God responds to Hezekiah’s cry saying, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”
God heard Hezekiah’s cry and gave him a sign showing that He would give Hezekiah more time in his life. Why did God do this? Was it because of Hezekiah’s deeds or his pleading? No, in verse 17, Hezekiah answers this question for us. God delivered Hezekiah’s life because of His love he has “cast all my sins behind your [His] back.”
God has the authority over life and death, and the greatest place we see that triumph is in the resurrection. Now, in the midst of sin, death and destruction, we can have hope and lift our weary eyes to see Christ on the Cross, and we can see the sign of the destruction of sin in the resurrected Christ.
Written By: Paulette Black
In Isaiah 38, we see the Lord use Isaiah to reveal to Hezekiah his looming death. God had permitted this sickness, and He also allowed Hezekiah to know that this sickness was going to lead to Hezekiah’s death. In Hezekiah’s next choices, we see his heart on full display.
“Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD.”
God had told Hezekiah to go and put his house in order, but before he chose to do any of those things, he chose to privately turn and acknowledge the Lord. Not only did he acknowledge God, but he cried out to Him using the name Yahweh. Hezekiah cried out deeply and personally to God, revealing the deep devotion of his heart.
How Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, looks a little differently than we usually pray today. He asked the Lord to remember how he had walked, and he wept bitterly. Hezekiah turned to God, acknowledging Him as sovereign over life and death, but he was still in pieces over the prospect of death. Why?
Hezekiah lived under the Old Covenant, and even though he walked faithfully with God and “with a whole heart,” Hezekiah was still unsure that he would be with God after his death.
In the writing of Hezekiah, we get a deeper look at how Hezekiah processed his looming death and recovery. He saw himself as “consigned to the gates of Sheol.” Hezekiah recognized the depth of his sin, and that that sin separated him from God. He knew that his punishment for sin was that he would “not see the LORD, the LORD in the land of the living.”
But God responds to Hezekiah’s cry saying, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.”
God heard Hezekiah’s cry and gave him a sign showing that He would give Hezekiah more time in his life. Why did God do this? Was it because of Hezekiah’s deeds or his pleading? No, in verse 17, Hezekiah answers this question for us. God delivered Hezekiah’s life because of His love he has “cast all my sins behind your [His] back.”
God has the authority over life and death, and the greatest place we see that triumph is in the resurrection. Now, in the midst of sin, death and destruction, we can have hope and lift our weary eyes to see Christ on the Cross, and we can see the sign of the destruction of sin in the resurrected Christ.
Written By: Paulette Black
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