We can be greatly encouraged that the Lord hears us and considers what we ask of Him. Whatever we are facing, we can bring it before the Lord and make our requests known to Him.
Hezekiah was facing significant challenges. The city was under siege in Isaiah 37 and God delivered it in victory upon the request of Hezekiah. However, God was even more gracious to Hezekiah. In Isaiah 38, Hezekiah got a report that he would die. This report was not from a doctor, but from God through Isaiah! Hezekiah pleaded with God and God granted him 15 more years to live!
How awesome that our God desires to draw near to us in a real relationship with us. He is not some distant ruler who sends out decrees upon what will happen. He is a loving father and master. He cares for us! He listens and considers what we ask!
Hezekiah Healed
1In those days Hezekiah became mortally ill. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him and said to him, “Thus says the LORD, ‘Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.’” 2Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3and said, “Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in Your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
4Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, 5“Go and say to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, “I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6“I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city.”’
7“This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He has spoken: 8“Behold, I will cause the shadow on the stairway, which has gone down with the sun on the stairway of Ahaz, to go back ten steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back ten steps on the stairway on which it had gone down.
9A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery:
10I said, “In the middle of my life
I am to enter the gates of Sheol;
I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.”
11I said, “I will not see the LORD,
The LORD in the land of the living;
I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.
12“Like a shepherd’s tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me;
As a weaver I rolled up my life.
He cuts me off from the loom;
From day until night You make an end of me.
13“I composed my soul until morning.
Like a lion—so He breaks all my bones,
From day until night You make an end of me.
14“Like a swallow, like a crane, so I twitter;
I moan like a dove;
My eyes look wistfully to the heights;
O Lord, I am oppressed, be my security.
15“What shall I say?
For He has spoken to me, and He Himself has done it;
I will wander about all my years because of the bitterness of my soul.
16“O Lord, by these things men live,
And in all these is the life of my spirit;
O restore me to health and let me live!
17“Lo, for my own welfare I had great bitterness;
It is You who has kept my soul from the pit of nothingness,
For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.
18“For Sheol cannot thank You,
Death cannot praise You;
Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your faithfulness.
19“It is the living who give thanks to You, as I do today;
A father tells his sons about Your faithfulness.
20“The LORD will surely save me;
So we will play my songs on stringed instruments
All the days of our life at the house of the LORD.”
21Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”
Thank you, Lord, for your grace, mercy, and love toward us! You and you alone are God. You are the master of the universe. There are none like you. Thank you for listening to us!
Take a few minutes and prayerfully reflect on the fact that the creator of the universe wants you to draw near to Him and to be in a close relationship with Him. He does not simply have one-way communication with us, like a distant ruler. He speaks and listens to us. He considers what we ask of Him. How awesome is that!
Shalom. May the grace and peace of our Lord, Yeshua, be with you. Devotion by John in service to Christ
Do you know for sure if you will go to heaven or hell when you die? Are you experiencing in your life the peace and joy of a personal relationship with our Creator and Father? Learn more about salvation through The Message of the Cross.