The Importance of Prayer is One of the Great Lessons Taught in This Present Passage of Scripture. But there is Also A Severe Warning About the Danger of Pride.

 

The Stage Set for the Coming Captivity of Judah by Babylon:

The Power of Prayer & the Danger of Sinful Pride (Isaiah 38:1–39:8) 

 

38 It was just before all this that Hezekiah became deathly sick, and Isaiah the prophet (Amoz’ son) went to visit him and gave him this message from the Lord:

“Set your affairs in order, for you are going to die; you will not recover from this illness.”

²When Hezekiah heard this, he turned his face to the wall and prayed:

³“O Lord, don’t you remember how true I’ve been to you and how I’ve always tried to obey you in everything you said?” Then he broke down with great sobs.

⁴So the Lord sent another message to Isaiah:

⁵“Go and tell Hezekiah that the Lord God of your forefather David hears you praying and sees your tears and will let you live fifteen more years. ⁶He will deliver you and this city from the king of Assyria. I will defend you, says the Lord, ⁷and here is my guarantee: ⁸I will send the sun backward ten degrees as measured on Ahaz’s sundial!”

So the sun retraced ten degrees that it had gone down!

 

⁹When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem about his experience:

¹⁰“My life is but half done and I must leave it all. I am robbed of my normal years, and now I must enter the gates of Sheol. ¹¹Never again will I see the Lord in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends in this world. ¹²My life is blown away like a shepherd’s tent; it is cut short as when a weaver stops working at the loom. In one short day, my life hangs by a thread.

¹³“All night I moaned; it was like being torn apart by lions. ¹⁴Delirious, I chattered like a swallow and mourned like a dove; my eyes grew weary of looking up for help. ‘O God,’ I cried, ‘I am in trouble—help me.’ ¹⁵But what can I say? For he himself has sent this sickness. All my sleep has fled because of my soul’s bitterness. ¹⁶O Lord, your discipline is good and leads to life and health. Oh, heal me and make me live!

¹⁷“Yes, now I see it all—it was good for me to undergo this bitterness, for you have lovingly delivered me from death; you have forgiven all my sins. ¹⁸For dead men cannot praise you.^a They cannot be filled with hope and joy. ¹⁹The living, only the living, can praise you as I do today. One generation makes known your faithfulness to the next. ²⁰Think of it! The Lord healed me! Every day of my life from now on I will sing my songs of praise in the Temple, accompanied by the orchestra.”

²¹(For Isaiah had told Hezekiah’s servants, “Make an ointment of figs and spread it over the boil, and he will get well again.”

²²And then Hezekiah had asked, “What sign will the Lord give me to prove that he will heal me?”)

 

39 Soon afterward, the king of Babylon (Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan) sent Hezekiah a present and his best wishes,^a for he had heard that Hezekiah had been very sick and now was well again. ²Hezekiah appreciated this and took the envoys from Babylon on a tour of the palace, showing them his treasure-house full of silver, gold, spices, and perfumes. He took them into his jewel rooms, too, and opened to them all his treasures—everything.

³Then Isaiah the prophet came to the king and said, “What did they say? Where are they from?”

“From far away in Babylon,” Hezekiah replied.

⁴“How much have they seen?” asked Isaiah.

And Hezekiah replied, “I showed them everything I own, all my priceless treasures.”

⁵Then Isaiah said to him, “Listen to this message from the Lord Almighty:

⁶“The time is coming when everything you have—all the treasures stored up by your fathers—will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left. ⁷And some of your own sons will become slaves, yes, eunuchs, in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

⁸“All right,” Hezekiah replied. “Whatever the Lord says is good. At least there will be peace during my lifetime!”^[1] (Isaiah 38:1–39:8) 

 

B.        The Stage Set for the Coming Captivity of Judah by Babylon: The Power of Prayer and the Danger of Sinful Pride, 38:1–39:8

 

(38:1–39:8) Introduction: in looking at ourselves as human beings, we realize that we are mere creatures of flesh and bone, made of decaying matter. In addition, our flesh is subject to numerous illnesses and injuries, many of which can severely cripple or shorten our lives. When we consider that we live in bodies of flesh and also in a corruptible world, a great need is immediately apparent. What is this need? The need to be delivered from this corruptible flesh and from all the diseases, accidents, trials, and temptations that happen to us in life. When illness strikes or misfortune happens, we need a deliverer, a rescuer, a savior.

In such times, God’s Holy Word gives us wonderful news: the Lord is available to help us. The Lord will rescue and deliver us from this corruptible flesh and through all the diseases and injuries that befall us. Through our prayers—our calling out to God for help—and because of our prayers, God says He will deliver us. The importance of prayer is one of the great lessons taught in this present passage of Scripture.

But there is also a severe warning about the danger of pride. Nothing will condemn our souls before God quicker than the sin of pride. These two powerful messages are clearly demonstrated in the life of King Hezekiah, the subject of the present Scripture. Keep in mind that Hezekiah’s terminal illness took place with the threat of Assyria’s returning to invade Judah lying right over the horizon. Humanly speaking, Hezekiah’s situation was gloomy, but if he died, there would be no hope whatsoever—not in the minds of the people. This is, The Stage Set for the Coming Captivity of Judah by Babylon: The Power of Prayer and the Danger of Sinful Pride, 38:1–39:8.

1.      Hezekiah’s crisis terminal illness: the power of prayer (38:1–8).

2.      Hezekiah’s testimony concerning his terminal illness: the power of God to heal (38:9–22).

3.      Hezekiah’s unwise entertainment of ambassadors from Babylon: a picture of pride (39:1–8).^[2]

 

	Chapter 38
	B.            The Stage Set for the Coming Captivity of Judah by Babylon: The Power of Prayer & the Danger of Sinful Pride, 38:1–39:8
	38:1–8; see 20:1–11; 2 Chr. 32:24–26 39:1–8; see 2 K. 20:12–19
1. Hezekiah’s crisis with a terminal illness: The power of prayer a. Isaiah’s visit to Hezekiah & the Lord’s message 1) Hezekiah was to put his affairs in order 2) Hezekiah was to die, not recover	In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
b. Hezekiah’s earnest prayer 1) He turned his face to the wall & prayed	2 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord,
2) He reminded God of three facts •          His faithful walk •          His loyal heart •          His righteous behavior 3) He wept bitterly: Submitted his life to God’s will	3 And said, Remember now, O Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
c. God’s immediate answer to Hezekiah’s prayer: Before Isaiah left the palace courtyard, 2 K. 20:4 1) The Lord sent Isaiah back to Hezekiah with a second message •          God would heal him: Add 15 years to his life	4 Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5 Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
•          God would deliver him & Jerusalem from Assyria: For God’s honor & for David’s sake	6 And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
2) The Lord would give the king a sign, 22	7 And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken;
•          The shadow on a sundial would move ten degrees backward •          The sign fulfilled: The shadow actually moved back ten degrees	8 Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
2. Hezekiah’s testimony concerning his terminal illness: The power of God to heal	9 The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
a. Hezekiah had been depressed 1) He knew he was in the prime of life & was being robbed of years	10 I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
2) He knew he would soon die & never again enjoy wonderful experiences of life •          Worship of the Lord •          Fellowship with others	11 I said, I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.
3) He felt his life was being snatched from him •          Like a tent being taken down & moved elsewhere •          Like a piece of cloth being cut away	12 Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
4) He was broken in both body & spirit: He felt the pain day & night	13 I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
b. Hezekiah had cried out to the Lord in prayer 1) He pleaded & moaned 2) He prayed so much his eyes became weary	14 Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
c. Hezekiah had made a renewed commitment to the Lord 1) To walk humbly before the Lord •          Because humility was the answer to his anguish	15 What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
•          Because humility stirs God to give people life 2) To declare the Lord’s healing power	16 O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
3) To acknowledge the Lord’s love •          In allowing him to grow through suffering •          In delivering him •          In forgiving his sins	17 Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
4) To praise the Lord: Because the dead cannot praise Him, only the living 5) To hope in God’s faithfulness	18 For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
6) To bear strong witness about the Lord •          To share God’s faithfulness with his children	19 The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
•          To proclaim God’s salvation 7) To worship faithfully in the temple (church) of the Lord	20 The Lord was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the Lord.
d. Hezekiah had been healed through a treatment prescribed by God’s prophet: An ointment of figs	21 For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaster upon the boil, and he shall recover.
e. Hezekiah had prayed for a special sign to assure he would be healed, would again worship in the temple, 7–8	22 Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?
	Chapter 39
3. Hezekiah’s unwise entertainment of ambassadors from Babylon: A picture of pride, 2 Chr. 32:25 a. The crown prince’s concern over Hezekiah’s illness	At that time Merodachbaladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
b. Hezekiah’s warm reception of & prideful entertainment of the Babylonian representatives 1) He obviously shared the story of his healing 2) He foolishly showed the Babylonians his vast wealth in the palace treasury & throughout the kingdom	2 And Hezekiah was glad of them, and showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armour, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.
c. The Lord’s rebuke of Hezekiah through His prophet Isaiah 1) Isaiah confronted & questioned Hezekiah about his unwise entertainment of the ambassadors	3 Then came Isaiah the prophet unto king Hezekiah, and said unto him, What said these men? and from whence came they unto thee? And Hezekiah said, They are come from a far country unto me, even from Babylon.
2) Hezekiah made no attempt to hide his actions, but freely shared what he had done: He had shown the representatives all the wealth & treasuries of the nation	4 Then said he, What have they seen in thine house? And Hezekiah answered, All that is in mine house have they seen: there is nothing among my treasures that I have not showed them.
d. God’s judgment pronounced upon Hezekiah & Judah: Due to Hezekiah’s pride & the sins of the nation down through the centuries 1) One day Babylon would conquer Judah & carry off all the wealth of the nation	5 Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: 6 Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord.
2) Some of Hezekiah’s descendants would be exiled to Babylon	7 And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.
e. Hezekiah’s repentance 1) He humbly accepted God’s judgment 2) He questioned if he would finish his days in peace & security	8 Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.

 

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^a 38:18  For dead men cannot praise you. The meaning is unclear. Perhaps Hezekiah was unaware of the blessedness of the future life for those who trust in God (57:1-2). Or perhaps his meaning is, “Dead bodies cannot praise you.”

^a 39:1  Merodach-baladan . . . sent Hezekiah a present and his best wishes. Merodach-baladan was at this time planning a revolt in the east against Sennacherib, so he was especially interested in Hezekiah’s activities in the west.

^[1] Taylor, Kenneth Nathaniel. 1997. The Living Bible, Paraphrased. Wheaton, IL: Tyndale House.

^[2] Leadership Ministries Worldwide. 2005. Isaiah: Chapters 36–66. Vol. II. The Preacher’s Outline & Sermon Bible. Chattanooga, TN: Leadership Ministries Worldwide.

https://my.bible.com/bible/116/ISA.38.NLT 

Pic #3 Ansel Adams