< Isaiah 38 >

Hezekiah v.1Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:1 was the king of Judah during part of the time that Isaiah prophesied to God’s people. He was a good king and faithful to the LORD but became sick unto death v.1Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:1 and wept sorely at the prospect of this imminent and early death. He prayed to the LORD for life, beseeching him as a man who had walked before God in truth and with a perfect heart, having done that which was right in God’s sight v.3,Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:3 and God heard, acceded to his request, and granted him a further fifteen years of life v.5.Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:5 Furthermore, Hezekiah would see God’s deliverance out the hand of the invading Assyrians who would besiege Jerusalem but be unable to take it v.6.Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:6

Hezekiah rejoiced in his deliverance from the grave and in his praise he expressed the hope of the saints who will be saved permanently from death: “So wilt thou recover me, and make me to live” v.16Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:16 and after resurrection they will say to God: “Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back” v.17.Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:17

Hezekiah recognised the truth about death - it is oblivion in the grave - and had no desire to go there early. This is not a truth accepted by all, for many people hope for continued existence in some form after death. However, if we acknowledge the true state of the dead we can readily accept God’s offer of salvation from death by resurrection. Hezekiah declared in his prayer to God: “The grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day” vs.18-19.Waiting for response for Isaiah 38:18-19 The desire of Hezekiah for life was natural but he was also motivated by God’s promise to David that his royal line would never fail. Hezekiah was of that line which in due course would lead to Jesus, the promised seed of David (Matthew 1:10Waiting for response for Matthew 1:10 Ezekias = Hezekiah). If Hezekiah had died at that time the royal line would have ended, but three years after his recovery he had a son, Manasseh, who was twelve years old when he ascended the throne at Hezekiah’s death (2 Chronicles 33:1).Waiting for response for 2 Chronicles 33:1