Isaiah 38-39 - Faltering and Failing: Hezekiah's Choices

Isaiah and we come to a section of Isaiah which is an inflection point in the book of Isaiah.

We've come to a transition of the book of Isaiah and for the past couple of weeks we've been spending time in that, looking at this historic transition.

Our text for today is chapters 38 and 39.

Isaiah 38 · chapter mention

These two chapters complete this transition in the book of Isaiah from the prophecies of judgment to the prophecies of comfort and hope and restoration.

The title of today's message is Faltering and Failing, and I've subtitled it.

The Choices we Make, the Lessons from the Life of Hezekiah.

In 1685, a young musician in Germany was the eighth and youngest child to be born to a family of musicians.

He received a strong Christian education and a theological foundation as a schoolboy.

At the age of 10, though, he encountered the most significant crisis in his life His mother died and eight months later his father died.

By the grace of God, his eldest brother took him in where he studied, performed and copied music.

He received valuable teaching from his brother.

Finding a job was difficult and there are a limited number of opportunities, and the demand for musicians was primarily tied to the patronage of nobles and the church.

At the age of 18, he received a modest commission to create music for a church.

How did this young man's heart view these blessings that God had given him?

The attitude that this young man held in his heart toward God's blessings would shape his decisions and not only impact his life, but also the legacy he would leave for future generations.

So it is with us.

The choices that we make in response to God's blessings flow out of the attitudes we hold in our hearts.

They will impact not just our lives, but also the legacy we will leave for our children and our children's children.

Hezekiah's story urges us to evaluate our heart's attitude and response towards the blessings God has given you.

You can falter and fail, like Hezekiah, or you can respond wisely, grounded, humility and faithfulness to God's purpose.

Your legacy will bear the marks of your choices.

Let's examine a part of Hezekiah's life that we have not seen in our studies in Isaiah so far.

We will look at a time when he was threatened by a fatal disease but yet recovered, and shortly thereafter he received a visit by delegates from Babylon, the aspiring power to be.

This is recorded in Isaiah chapters 38 and 39.

Isaiah 38 · chapter mention

We'll dissect these events and learn from Hezekiah's response by way of three points Pleading with God, praising God for his goodness and pride.

Before the fall, let's go to God in prayer.

Heavenly Father, we come before you with humble hearts, asking that you would open our eyes to see and our minds to understand the truths you have revealed to us in your word.

Remove any blindness or hardness from our hearts that would keep us from receiving what you desire to teach us.

That would keep us from receiving what you desire to teach us.

Help us to approach your word with reverence, expectancy and hearts ready to be transformed.

In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.

In Isaiah chapters 36 and 37, hezekiah's faith was tested by events in international politics.

Isaiah 36 · chapter mention

His capital city, jerusalem, was on the brink of collapse as the Assyrian war machine was poised to bulldozer over Jerusalem.

These events occurred in 701 BC.

In chapters 36 and 37, hezekiah showed how it is possible to turn fear into a calm and confident trusting in God's promises and finding deliverance.

The events recorded in Isaiah chapters 38 and 39 occurred a couple of years before the Assyrian king Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem, so they are out of sequence.

Isaiah 38 · chapter mention

But many of the chapters in Isaiah are not chronological but are arranged thematically, addressing different historical situations.

The king of Babylon, merodag Baladin, mentioned in chapter 39, ruled Babylon in the years 722 to 710 BC and again in 704 BC.

His reign ended when the Assyrian king, sennacherib, quelled that rebellion in 703 BC.

It was during Merodag Baladin's second reign that Hezekiah became severely ill and miraculously recovered.

After Hezekiah recovered, the king of Babylon sent an envoy to visit Hezekiah.

This event took place two to three years before the Assyrian invasion two to three years before the Assyrian invasion.

So Hezekiah still had his military resources.

They were stockpiled and he had not yet squandered his rich treasury in a last-ditch effort to pay off Sennacherib to avoid Assyrian domination.

So with this background, let's look at the first point Pleading with God.

We'll look at this first as what triggered Hezekiah to plead with God?

What action did Hezekiah take and what was the result of Hezekiah's action?

So what triggered Hezekiah to plead with God?

In contrast to the national crisis brought on by the military campaign of Sennacherib and his massive Assyrian army in chapters 36 and 37, the crisis Hezekiah encountered here was intensely personal.

Let's look at verse 1, chapter 38, verse 1.

Let's look at verse 1, chapter 38, verse 1.

In those days, hezekiah became terminally ill.

The prophet Isaiah, son of Amos, came and said to him this is what the Lord says set your house in order, for you are about to die.

You will not recover.

You are about to die, you will not recover.

Hezekiah appears to have suffered from a serious skin infection.

We learn that in verse 21.

Hezekiah appears to have suffered quite badly, to the point of death.

Some have thought it might have been leprosy, but then leprosy is never really life-threatening.

Some thought it might have been the bubonic plague, and if you're infected with a bubonic plague you have a matter of days to a week still to live.

Regardless of what sickness that was, it was extremely serious and Hezekiah was at the point of death.

But it's odd that we are not given any reason for this announcement and why Hezekiah was struck with this illness.

Famous, righteous kings generally do not die at a young age without some reason or without God's involvement age without some reason or without God's involvement.

We get a hint of a possible reason from the chronicler's commentary in 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 25.

2 Chronicles 32:25

He writes however, because his heart was proud, hezekiah didn't respond according to the benefit that had come to him.

So there was wrath on him, judah and Jerusalem.

God gave an imperative to Hezekiah here.

He said set your house in order To put his house in order might include more than just the obvious need to make political decisions about who the next king would be.

Another aspect of getting things in order before you die could include things like spiritual things, getting back into a right relationship with God.

His illness, perhaps, was a kind of wake-up call.

Hezekiah was only 39 years old.

He was still young and was looking forward to much more of life ahead of him, and he had a young son, manasseh, to train.

What action did Hezekiah take?

How did Hezekiah respond to this news?

Instead of dwelling in despair, hezekiah turned to God in prayer.

He demonstrated faith and humility.

Look at verse 2 and 3.

Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.

He said Please, lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you, and Hezekiah wept bitterly.

Now notice that Hezekiah did three things.

He turned his face to the wall and prayed.

He removed himself from distractions and concentrated his focus onto prayer.

The second thing is he pleaded his faithfulness, his wholeheartedness, doing what was good in God's eyes, his wholeheartedness, doing what was good in God's eyes.

He aimed to walk faithfully and was devoted to the Lord, in the early years of Hezekiah's reign, he initiated significant reforms that included cleaning, repairing and reopening the temple the temple which had been used for idol worship by his father, king Ahaz.

Hezekiah removed the high places and destroyed idols.

But do you remember Hezekiah's prayer in chapter 37 that we looked at last week?

This prayer in chapter 38 seems radically different from the humble tone of the prayer in chapter 37.

In this prayer, hezekiah does not proclaim his bold and uncompromising faith in God.

In chapter 37, he confessed how great God is and that he is the creator who rules over all kingdoms, and that he is the creator who rules over all kingdoms.

In this prayer, hezekiah doesn't repent of any sin, nor does he implore God to act in ways that would declare his glory to all peoples of the earth, as he did in chapter 37.

But also remember, this prayer reflects a spiritually less mature heart than what his heart was two years later.

The third thing Hezekiah did was he wept.

Possibly he wept bitterly, causing him to realize his own unworthiness and his need to trust God rather than his own good works.

Instead of having a pity party over his terminal health conditions, hezekiah humbled himself and turned to God in prayer.

Now, what was the result of Hezekiah's prayer?

The Lord responded to Hezekiah's plea almost immediately.

But don't take this to mean that God always answers prayers right away.

What we do need to know is that God himself calls his people to trust in him.

He tells us to be still and know that I am God Psalm 46.10.

The Lord's response to Hezekiah is seen in verses 5 and 6.

Go and tell Hezekiah.

This is what the Lord, god of your ancestor David, says I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears.

Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life and I will rescue you and the city from the grasp of the king of Assyria.

I will defend this city.

In the parallel passage in 2 Kings 20, verse 5, the Lord, speaking through Isaiah, added the Lord was going to heal him in a matter of three days.

2 Kings 20:5

There are several general principles we can take from this.

First, god's positive response to your prayers is not a way of paying you back for your good deeds.

In fact, god acknowledged Hezekiah's prayer and his tears, but said nothing about his good works.

So don't get in your mind into thinking that you can make deals with God by considering Lord.

I'll do this for you if you can do that for me.

It's evident in Hezekiah, first, that good works alone will not prevent any early death.

Second thing is that all you can do, and the most important thing you can do, is to confess your sins and cry out to God for mercy.

And thirdly, that God might sometimes choose to heal the sick miraculously if it fits into his greater purposes.

The second general principle we come to see as a result of Hezekiah's prayer is God is able to do far more than what you ask or imagine.

This same principle is seen in Paul's doxology, in his prayer to the Ephesians at the end of Ephesians, chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

Prayer to the Ephesians at the end of Ephesians, chapter 3.

Ephesians 3 · chapter mention

God's power exceeds human understanding.

Hezekiah never asked to live for 15 more years, nor did he ask for God to deliver the city of Jerusalem, which wasn't going to be attacked, by the way, for another two or three years.

The third principle we see is that God's plans take into consideration not only the current situation but also future situations that you might not even be aware of today.

For Hezekiah, it was God's deliverance of Jerusalem and his plans for Hezekiah himself as he faced the Assyrian invasion a few years later, as you recall, in chapters 36 and 37, there were lessons that Hezekiah still needed to learn.

God could foresee the bigger picture and knew that he needed to teach Hezekiah, in other words, to get Hezekiah into a position to trust him completely.

We learned that what would mean breaking Hezekiah's pride was that the extension of life that God granted him.

The Lord was then sovereignly orchestrating Hezekiah's experiences, ultimately to meet the major shock of his life a face-to-face encounter with the Assyrian army.

So, in your moments of crisis, plead with God, turn to God in prayer, seek his mercy and his intervention, but know this God may respond to your pleading in order to teach you to trust him completely.

When you're feeling emotionally drained and burdened by a very difficult situation, make it a regular practice to set aside time each evening to turn your face to the wall.

Create a peaceful spot in your home where you can escape distractions.

Use this time to pray and meditate on God's promises, allowing yourself to process your feelings.

Invite the Lord to carry your burdens with you and remind yourself that you are not alone in your struggles.

Find rest in God's presence.

In deep despair for the sudden news of his impending death, hezekiah pleaded with God in humility, being full of mercy and grace, god responded to Hezekiah and miraculously healed him from his near-death condition.

Not only that, god gave him 15 extra years of life and promised to rescue him and Jerusalem from the king of Assyria.

These undeserved blessings catalyzed Hezekiah to praise God for his goodness.

So this is our second point regarding Hezekiah's response to God.

He praised God for his goodness.

Hezekiah's response to God for his healing is filled with gratitude and reflection, acknowledging God's goodness.

Hezekiah composed a psalm.

Acknowledging God's goodness.

Hezekiah composed a psalm.

Not all of us can readily compose a psalm, but we do so in different ways in our own hearts.

But he composed a psalm that had two parts.

There was a lament over his impending death and a thanksgiving for the Lord's deliverance.

Hezekiah reflected over the danger that he was in and the despair that he felt.

Turn with me to verse 10.

Hezekiah says in the prime of my life I must go to the gates of Sheol.

I am deprived of the rest of my years.

I said I will never see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the rest of my years.

I said I will never see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the living.

I will not look on humanity any longer, with the inhabitants of what is passing away.

My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent.

I have rolled up my life like a weaver.

He cuts me off from the loom by nightfall.

You make an end of me.

I thought until the morning he will break my bones like a lion.

By nightfall you make an end of me.

We see here three images of despair.

The shepherd's tent, which is taken down forcibly by a storm or by an enemy, depicts how fragile life is.

The weaver the weaver who severs the thread of life.

And when the cloth of life gets large enough, that's an image of life's determined end.

The pain felt as every bone in his body was being broken by a lion portrays divine hostility.

These are the feelings that Hezekiah was feeling.

And from these three images another image emerged, an image of despair in the way we respond.

We see this in the feebleness of prayer.

Hezekiah felt that his voice became thin and weak, sounding like the weak and mournful sounds of birds.

See that in verse 14.

Hezekiah grew weary as the strain of prayer seemed to make him grow even weaker.

But notice how Hezekiah's prayer looked to the power of God in verse 14 at the end oh Lord, he says.

He also expressed his need, saying I am oppressed.

He says, and Hezekiah pleaded with God to come to his aid.

Hezekiah knew that he wasn't able to heal himself.

Hezekiah realized that the experience should humble him because he knew that God brought on this illness.

Verse 15 says what can I say?

He has spoken to me and he himself has done it.

So he pleaded with God to answer him and pay the debt he could not pay himself.

How God delivered Hezekiah from death foreshadows what Jesus Christ did to pay the penalty of death that wretched sinners like you and me owe to a holy and just God.

This salvation is a major blessing from God to a believer in Christ and encompasses a wide range of spiritual gifts.

Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.

Trust in him, and he will give you rest from all your burdens.

So, after reflecting on these recent dangers that Hezekiah faced with his life-threatening illness, hezekiah abruptly changed the tone of this psalm.

He changed it to express gratefulness and God restored him to health.

Look at verse 16.

Lord, by such things people live, and in every one of them my spirit finds life.

You have restored me to health and let me live.

Hezekiah acted as one who had personally benefited from the Lord's mercy.

He sensed that God's love was with him and that God did not punish him in accord with what his sins deserved.

We see this in verse 17.

Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I'd had such intense bitterness, but your love has delivered me from the pit of destruction, for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.

Hezekiah voiced his grateful praise in the presence of the covenant community, and we see this in Isaiah 38, verses 19 and 20.

Isaiah 38:19

19, the living, only the living, can thank you as I do today.

A father will make your faithfulness known to children.

The Lord is ready to save me.

We will play stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.

In his joy, hezekiah makes two longer-term commitments.

The first one is to teach his children about God's faithful covenant love, his covenant love for his people, and second, to continually praise God.

Well, let's see if Hezekiah follows up on this.

Hezekiah's commitment to praise God and to declare his faithfulness should be mirrored in our own lives.

God's interventions in our lives are his blessings and they warrant heartfelt thanksgiving.

When God intervenes in your life.

Do you wholeheartedly thank God and praise him in your life?

Do you wholeheartedly thank God and praise him?

When we acknowledge our blessings and praise God for his goodness?

Our faith deepens, especially in preparation for future uncertainties.

Future uncertainties when you recognize that all of what you have has come to you from the Lord, when you recognize that there is absolutely nothing that you did to deserve God's mercy, and when you recognize that your deliverance from paying the debt you owe God for your sins was paid for by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you will begin to realize how exceedingly blessed you are.

This deepens your faith in God of the universe and prepares you to enter life's uncertainties.

Hezekiah was a man of faith who recognized his mortality and sinfulness.

He pleaded for God's grace and mercy and was blessed with a miraculous healing from near death and was graced with an extension of life.

He praised God for his goodness and promised God a new obedience.

But when past and present blessings produce pride in your heart instead of a lasting thankfulness, as we shall see in Hezekiah, your heart's attitude might cause you to make decisions that could negatively impact your relationship with God, your future and your children and your children's children.

So beware, there is pride before the fall.

This is our third point Pride before the fall.

God's blessings could lead you to deeper faithfulness or dangerous pride.

God's blessings could lead you to deeper faithfulness or dangerous pride.

How did Hezekiah treat?

God's blessings?

Could lead you to deeper faithfulness or dangerous pride.

How did Hezekiah treat God's blessings?

Well, let's look at chapter 39.

Verse 1.

At that time, merodag Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.

Hezekiah was pleased with the letters and he showed the envoys his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices and the precious oil and all his armory and everything that was found in his treasures.

There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.

Look at the blessings Hezekiah had.

He had newly found health, he had an extended lifespan, he had wealth and riches of various kinds.

Do you see Hezekiah's pride surfacing?

Is there something about Hezekiah that reminds you about yourself?

To better understand Hezekiah's pride issue, let's see what contributed to and led up to this foolish display of his wealth.

Assyria repeatedly defeated and controlled Babylon.

Muradak-baladan, the king of Babylon, was subject to the Assyrian empire.

When the Assyrian king Sargon II died in 705 BC, he left the kingship to his son Sennacherib.

He left the kingship to his son Sennacherib.

This brought on some political instability in Assyria, so Meridach-Baladin tried to take advantage of the situation and he tried to gain independence from Assyria.

This was the setting of this visit.

So, while the exact reason for why the king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah following his recovery is not explicitly stated, but it appeared to involve more than just a simple visit to an old friend.

Muradach Baladin's actions were likely aimed at forming a rebellious alliance against Assyria, with Hezekiah as a potential partner.

Let's look at verse 3, chapter 39.

Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him what did these men say and where did they come to you from?

And Hezekiah replied they came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.

Notice that Hezekiah replied they came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.

Notice that Hezekiah conveniently did not answer the first question, the first question being what did these men say?

Isaiah must have sensed that Hezekiah was hiding something.

And then, verse 4 Isaiah asked what have they seen in your palace?

Hezekiah's answer to this question revealed to Isaiah, what was really going on?

The text says Hezekiah answered they have seen everything in my palace.

There isn't anything in my treasuries that I didn't show them.

And with this statement Hezekiah admitted to personal responsibility in all of this.

Isaiah knew that no king would reveal strategic national security matters to a foreign nation unless there was some plan to work together on something important.

Being noticed on the international geopolitical stage fed into Hezekiah's pride.

He became so entrenched with how Babylon thought about him.

So Hezekiah's display of wealth and military power demonstrated his pridefulness, his sinfulness.

Instead of focusing on glorifying God for healing him of his sickness, which he proclaimed in the psalm, he seemed to be determined to display his own earthly glory.

Hezekiah knew he was going to survive another 15 years.

He knew that the Assyrians would not defeat Jerusalem.

He knew that God would defend Jerusalem and furthermore, god had previously reassured Hezekiah, through Isaiah, of his covenant relationship with his people and his divine preservation.

So with this knowledge, hezekiah should have known that there was no need to make any alliance with Babylon.

King Hezekiah's foolish actions could not be justified and Hezekiah's lack of spiritual awareness here was absolutely inexcusable.

The chronicler in 2 Chronicles gave a commentary on this event and he said in chapter 32, verse 31, when the ambassadors of Babylon's rulers were sent to him, god left him to test him and discover what was in his heart.

The chronicler recorded that God allowed all of this to test him and to know everything that was in Hezekiah's heart.

Pride brings on God's rebuke.

Pride brings on God's rebuke.

Isaiah proceeded to pronounce God's rebuke on Hezekiah's behavior In verse 5,.

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah Hear the word of the Lord of armies.

Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon.

Nothing will be left, says the Lord.

Notice that the plunder was going to be taken to Babylon, not Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the current power at the time.

This prediction was not by human insight, but by the one sovereign Lord who knows the end from the beginning Isaiah 46.10.

Although Hezekiah was exempted from the coming violent disaster, his pride cost him and his kingdom financially.

His pride brought upon his people exiled to Babylon four generations later.

And his pride even risked ending the Davidic line of kings by causing some of his dependents to serve as eunuchs in the court of Babylon.

And what did Hezekiah have to say about the Lord's judgment on him?

Verse 8,.

Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah the word of the Lord that you have spoken is good, for he thought there will be peace and security during my lifetime.

Hezekiah's selfish relief does not speak well for him.

This incident sets up the obvious prediction of the dark days awaiting the house of David and the people of Judah, hezekiah.

Hezekiah's pride in his wealth and military resources revealed that his heart did not fully trust God.

But you might ask me, didn't we see in chapter 37 that Hezekiah fully trusted God?

Yes, but also remember that the events of chapter 36 and 37, the Assyrian invasion of Judah and Jerusalem, occurred after two years, three years after the events of chapter 38 and 39.

Perhaps that is why the Lord extended his life.

He extended his life maybe to break his pride and cause him to trust God fully.

Hezekiah's foolish display of his treasures came about because Hezekiah claimed God's blessings for his own glory.

Hezekiah's spiritual recovery had to wait to the trauma of the full-scale invasion on Jerusalem before he came to his senses.

So this season of Hezekiah's life serves as a cautionary tale to us about the dangers of pride, the dangers of boasting, the dangers of misplaced priorities.

Failure to appreciate and properly manage God's blessings leads to pride and an inflated sense of self.

Our response to God's blessings should be rooted in proper stewardship and humility, not pride or show.

Imagine that you're gifted a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers and fruitful trees.

You're so excited and you tell everyone about it, boasting of its beauty and the blessings it brings.

Yet you never tend to it.

You allow the weeds to take over.

This garden once was a source of joy for you and now becomes a hidden shame, because, much like pride can distort the blessings from God when we fail to obey his promises.

The garden can flourish only if you nurture it with care, just as our faith is meant to produce fruit through obedience.

Hezekiah was one of the most truly human of kings of Judah Because of his faith and humility in turning to God in prayer at the time of his deepest personal crisis.

God not only blessed him with a miraculous healing from a fatal illness.

God gave him far more than that, far more than what he had asked for an extra 15 years of living and deliverance for him and the city of Jerusalem from the power of the king of Assyria.

His heart was genuinely moved towards God and he composed a psalm of thanksgiving in response to his healing.

But his will, like yours and mine, was fickle under the pressures and temptations of life.

Like David, and unlike the greater David who was his ascendant, jesus Christ, hezekiah's thoughts were often largely about himself.

God's blessings could lead to a deeper faithfulness or a dangerous pride, and the choices that we make and the attitudes that we hold in our hearts towards God's blessings impact not just our lives but also the legacy we leave behind.

Remember that young musician who was blessed with an ability to make music and a first job to write music for a church.

Rather than seeing it just as a job, he approached it with gratitude and poured his heart into his work.

He recognized God's blessings through his deepened faith, and he saw his musical talent and his life as gifts from God, and he used them to praise God and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through his compositions.

Little did he know his compositions would shape church music for centuries.

Johann Sebastian Bach's legacy reminds us that by acting wisely and responding joyfully to the blessings we receive, we can leave an indelible mark for Christ on future generations.

If you respond to God's blessings foolishly, like Hezekiah, you will also leave an indelible mark on future generations.

You can falter and fail.

Fail or you can choose wisely, grounded in humility and faithfulness to God's purpose.

Let's pray.

Heavenly Father, you have been generous to us with earthly treasures, as well as having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.

In Christ, cause us to recognize your blessings.

I pray that your blessings cause us to grow in our devotion to Christ.

Cause us to use your blessings to minister to others and point them to Christ.

Our goal, Father, is to glorify you in all we do, whether through our actions, our devotion or even how we face challenges.

I pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.