In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And
Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus
says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'
" Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,
and said, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in
truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what is good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
And the word of the LORD came to Isaiah, saying, "Go and tell Hezekiah,
'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your
prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will add to your days fifteen years. (Isaiah
38:1-5)
It wasn’t
a doctor who gave Hezekiah the prognosis for the illness that had broken out
into a painful boil – it was a prophet. And no less of a prophet than Isaiah!
Hezekiah’s reaction was quite understandable. I’ve heard preachers criticize
the king for his weeping and pleading, but Hezekiah was only thirty-nine years
old! It was Moses, in Psalm 90, who said a man’s years were seventy or even
eighty. Hezekiah’s ancestor King David lived to be seventy.
So
Hezekiah was planning on many more years to serve Yahweh his God as king over
Judah. Now he’s told it’s all coming to an end. “Set your house in order, for
you shall die and not live.”
In light
of God’s answer to Hezekiah’s prayer, it might seem that Isaiah’s declaration
was just a test. (That’s what I penciled in the margin of my Bible!) It was,
indeed, a test for Hezekiah, but it was also literally true. Hezekiah still had
a death sentence upon him, but it was postponed for fifteen years. He would
still die at age fifty-four!
How much
we take for granted in this life! What precious moments we squander! I’m
reminded of a poem a heard many years ago:
“Lost,
one golden hour,
Set with
sixty diamond minutes.
No reward
is offered;
It’s lost
forever!”
So teach us to number our days,
That we may gain a heart of
wisdom.
(Psalm 90:12)
