Isaiah 38:1-5 1IN THOSE days King Hezekiah of Judah became ill and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, came to him and said, 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 [earnestly] now, O Lord, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in faithfulness and in truth, with a whole heart [absolutely devoted to You], and have done what is good in Your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly. 4Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, 5Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will add to your life fifteen years.
Today’s devotional is a collaborative effort from the sermon my husband preached last week along with some other things that I found. For those of you that attend our church you’ve already heard part of it so bear with me. For those that don’t I pray that it speaks to your heart as it did to mine.
From the time Hezekiah became king of Judah, it says in II Kings 20:3-6 3Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his [forefather] had done. 4He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle]. 5Hezekiah trusted in, leaned on, and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that neither after him nor before him was any one of all the kings of Judah like him. 6For he clung and held fast to the Lord and ceased not to follow Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses. No matter what battle he was fighting, or what army he was up against he continually put his trust in the Lord. In today’s passage however, Hezekiah is told by the prophet that the Lord said to get his affairs in order because he was going to die. I imagine that all the other difficulties he faced in his life paled in comparison to that prophetic word. Yet we see in verse two that Hezekiah immediately turned his face to the wall and pleaded with the Lord. He went back to the place he always went when he needed direction or answers- the presence of God. He turned his back on everything else, put his face to the wall and told God, “I’ve been faithful to you, I’ve served you, I’ve been devoted to you, remember O Lord.” In the next verses Isaiah comes back and tells him the Lord heard his prayer and has granted him another 15 years.
Sometimes we have to follow King Hezekiah’s example. When something shows up that is bigger and more daunting than anything we have ever faced, we have to take our focus off of what it looks like, what it feels like and what it seems like, literally turn our faces to the wall and cry out to God. Don’t worry if your prayer isn’t fancy or correct, just get real with God. Remind him of what His word says. I don’t know about you, but I believe what the Bible says and I have learned to tell God the things that He already told me in His Word. Don’t be afraid to get tenacious. Be bold and confident that nothing that you’re walking through is beyond His reach, and just like with Hezekiah, He will hear your cry.
Today’s devotional is a collaborative effort from the sermon my husband preached last week along with some other things that I found. For those of you that attend our church you’ve already heard part of it so bear with me. For those that don’t I pray that it speaks to your heart as it did to mine.
From the time Hezekiah became king of Judah, it says in II Kings 20:3-6 3Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, according to all that David his [forefather] had done. 4He removed the high places, broke the images, cut down the Asherim, and broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until then the Israelites had burned incense to it; but he called it Nehushtan [a bronze trifle]. 5Hezekiah trusted in, leaned on, and was confident in the Lord, the God of Israel; so that neither after him nor before him was any one of all the kings of Judah like him. 6For he clung and held fast to the Lord and ceased not to follow Him, but kept His commandments, as the Lord commanded Moses. No matter what battle he was fighting, or what army he was up against he continually put his trust in the Lord. In today’s passage however, Hezekiah is told by the prophet that the Lord said to get his affairs in order because he was going to die. I imagine that all the other difficulties he faced in his life paled in comparison to that prophetic word. Yet we see in verse two that Hezekiah immediately turned his face to the wall and pleaded with the Lord. He went back to the place he always went when he needed direction or answers- the presence of God. He turned his back on everything else, put his face to the wall and told God, “I’ve been faithful to you, I’ve served you, I’ve been devoted to you, remember O Lord.” In the next verses Isaiah comes back and tells him the Lord heard his prayer and has granted him another 15 years.
Sometimes we have to follow King Hezekiah’s example. When something shows up that is bigger and more daunting than anything we have ever faced, we have to take our focus off of what it looks like, what it feels like and what it seems like, literally turn our faces to the wall and cry out to God. Don’t worry if your prayer isn’t fancy or correct, just get real with God. Remind him of what His word says. I don’t know about you, but I believe what the Bible says and I have learned to tell God the things that He already told me in His Word. Don’t be afraid to get tenacious. Be bold and confident that nothing that you’re walking through is beyond His reach, and just like with Hezekiah, He will hear your cry.
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