Hezekiah's Healing

Isaiah shows us we have reason to praise God.

9 When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem about his experience:  

10 I said, "In the prime of my life, must I now enter the place of the dead? Am I to be robbed of my normal years?"  

 

11 I said, "Never again will I see the LORD GOD while still in the land of the living. Never again will I see my friends or laugh with those who live in this world.  

 

12 My life has been blown away like a shepherd's tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly, my life was over.  

 

13 I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though by lions. Suddenly, my life was over.  

14 Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane, and then I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!"  

15 But what could I say? For he himself had sent this sickness. Now I will walk humbly throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.  

16 Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health. You have restored my health and have allowed me to live!  

17 Yes, it was good for me to suffer this anguish, for you have rescued me from death and have forgiven all my sins.  

18 For the dead cannot praise you; they cannot raise their voices in praise. Those who go down to destruction can no longer hope in your faithfulness.  

19 Only the living can praise you as I do today. Each generation can make known your faithfulness to the next.  

20 Think of it -- the LORD has healed me! I will sing his praises with instruments every day of my life in the Temple of the LORD.

--Isaiah 38: 9-20 New Living Translation

 

This special Bible reading came courtesy of that wonderful list of Bible verses that I had collected years ago.  The collection was compiled so that I could explain our homeschooling.  I wanted to give Biblical reasons as to why I homeschool.  I wanted to show how I have put my trust in God to help me homschool my children.  I wanted to show my total dependence on God for all areas of my life.

Imagine my surprise when I realized that it would be Resurrection Sunday.  This was a chance to praise the Lord.  The beginning of chapter 38 of the book of Isaiah is about God telling Isaiah to visit Hezekiah.  Isaiah is to tell Hezekiah to get his household in order because he would be dying soon.  Hezekiah then takes it upon himself, after hearing this news, to pray directly to God for mercy.

  

God instructs Isaiah to inform Hezekiah that fifteen years would be added to his life.  Further, as a sign of His intent to fulfill the promise, God says that He will show a special sign.  After all, God is most powerful.  God says in verse 8:

"I will cause the sun's shadow to move ten steps backward on the sundial of Ahaz..."

So the shadow on the sundial moved backward ten steps.

I want to tell you something funny now.  Yes, this is a serious situation that Hezekiah went through.  I just want to show you how life happens in my world.  I was instructing my oldest, Gabriel, in his Algebra.  I had literally stepped back a few times to show him the negative aspect of numbers.  This was so hilarious to me when I later read about the backward steps of the sun's shadow.  I laughed out loud.

Another thing that was funny to me was that I would be reading a poem.  It's so interesting because we are in April, celebrating National Poetry Month.  I get to read a poem in the Bible.  It's as though the events lined up for me to have all of these situations coincide.  The poem above was written by Hezekiah as a praise report for what God did in extending his life.

  

Hezekiah experienced a very real healing.  Eventually, Isaiah let Hezekiah's people know what to do for him.  They were to create an ointment with figs and spread.  This was to be spread over Hezekiah's boil.  He received his healing!

Here's an extra shocker: I am suffering with several boils at this moment.  I have had them on and off throughout the last fifteen years.  I have Fig Newton Bars.  Guess what I just ate?  You guessed it--some of the bars.

The poem in blue font is in praise of God's mercy and goodness.  I wanted to pick something to blog about to brag on God's love for us all.  He provided Jesus as an ultimate healing of the breach between us (humans) and Himself.  Jesus filled the need for a reconciliation.  We have to be grateful and praise (openly share) about God the Father and Jesus, the Son. 

How about you, my readers?  Has God done something in your lives worthy of praise?  I would encourage you to to bless others with your praise report.

Thanks everyone, for reading this entry.  I hope you are blessed and encouraged by it.

This has been an entry for Spiritual Sundays.

To compile this mini- bible study, I consulted: http://www.biblestudytools.com/