Hezekiah: Isaiah 36-39 (6)

Pray Psalm 6.1-3.
O LORD, do not rebuke me in Your anger,
Nor chasten me in Your hot displeasure.
Have mercy on me, O LORD, for I am weak;
O LORD, heal me, for my bones are troubled.
My soul also is greatly troubled;
But You, O LORD—how long?

Read Isaiah 39.

Reflect.
1. How did Hezekiah’s pride get the best of him in this situation?

2. How would you describe Hezekiah’s attitude about the consequences of his actions?

Meditate.
“Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall” (1 Cor. 10.12). Hezekiah’s healing went to his head. He must have become puffed up with thinking that he was just so special to God, and the gift from the King of Babylon only served to puff him more.

But Hezekiah mistook the reason for Merodach-Baladan’s gift and the visit of his envoys. They weren’t there to honor Hezekiah. They were casing the joint, to discover as much as they could about whether Jerusalem was a prize worth taking, and how much effort might be required to breach their defenses and reduce their military.

Hezekiah answered the first question resoundingly in the affirmative (v. 2), rendering the second question rhetorical. He had been sucked in on the bait of his pride, and Judah and Jerusalem would sink under the tsunami of Babylon’s siege.

In confronting Hezekiah (vv. 5-7), Isaiah wasn’t saying anything he hadn’t already said. He merely informed the king that his actions had lit the slow fuse that would blow Jerusalem and its temple to smithereens. Hezekiah’s response shows a heart grown suddenly cold and self-serving: “At least there will be peace and truth in my days” (v. 8).

How easy it is to tumble into self-serving, ego-satisfying ways. Take heed.

Prepare.
1. How can you know when you’re being tempted to sin? What should you do then?

2. In a very real sense, we never sin alone. Our sins always have consequences for others. How can you see that in the case of Hezekiah?

3. Our actions in the present affect the generations that will succeed us. Should we care? Explain.

Often the care of government when undertaken distracts the heart in many different directions. The ruler finds himself unequal to the task of dealing with particular things when his mind becomes confused, having its attention diverted by so many different things.… When one, because of this, neglects the business of self-examination, that person does not even consider the losses it is suffering or know how great they are. For neither did Hezekiah believe himself to be sinning when he showed to the strangers who came to him his storehouses of spices. Gregory the Great (540-604 AD), Pastoral Care 1.4

Keep me from pride, Lord! Keep me from self-serving ways! Guide me instead to…

Pray Psalm 6.
Listen as the Lord searches your soul. Let Him bring to light any sins. Confess and repent of them, and commit your day to the Lord.

Sing to the Lord.
Psalm 6 (Lancashire: Lead On, O King Eternal)
O Lord, do not rebuke me, nor chasten me in wrath; 
Let graciousness and love be companions on my path.
I long to be restored, Lord; repentance is my song. 
Receive my fainting word, Lord: How long, O Lord, how long? 

My broken spirit rescue, O Lord, restore my soul! 
No hope have I unless You return and make me whole. 
O Lord, let lovingkindness prevail, or I shall die!
In death who shall Your Name bless? Who shall Your praises cry? 

I weep, and weary sighing, by night pour forth my tears. 
I cease not from my crying and tremble in my fears. 
My foes array before You; they bring my soul to grief. 
My wasting eyes implore You, Lord bring my soul relief! 

Let all who sin delight in depart from me with haste. 
My prayers have entered right in before my Savior’s face. 
My foes turn back in anguish; they are no longer there!
My enemies are vanquished, for God has heard my prayer!

T. M. Moore

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Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. All psalms for singing adapted from The Ailbe Psalter. All quotations from Church Fathers from Ancient Christian Commentary Series, General Editor Thomas C. Oden (Downers Grove: InterVarsity Press, 2006).All psalms for singing are from The Ailbe Psalter (available by clicking here).