Hezekiah’s Reaction (2 Kings 20:1-3, June 4, 2018)
1 In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to him and said, “This is what the Lord says: Put your house in order, because you are going to die; you will not recover.”
2 Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 3 “Remember, Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly. [2Kings 20:1-3]
Hezekiah’s near-fatal illness was an additional misery that occurred right as he struggled with the king of Assyria’s attacks on all of the fortified cities of Judah.
Dear friends, what would you do if you were in Hezekiah’s shoes, experiencing multiple miseries in the row? God had been very good to Hezekiah so far, and Hezekiah had lovingly and faithfully served God. In his sick bed, His God said to him: “You are going to die; you will not recover.” Can you believe that? How could God say this to him? How would you react to God if you were in Hezekiah’s place? What about Hezekiah’s reaction to facing his death?
First, Hezekiah needed his personal moment alone to think and digest the meaning of the word of God by himself. He had to deal with his shock and sorrow, which soon gushed out, like the roaring of an animal, through his mouth bitterly. No one was able to understand his sorrow; only the One who owned his life and had omnipotent power in heaven and earth, whom he had talked with often, could truly hear him as he faced the wall to call out and bitterly cry to Him for His mercy. “Remember, O Lord, how I have walked before you faithfully and with wholehearted devotion and have done what is good in your eyes.”
He asked God to remember who he had been to Him, and how he tried to walk and follow God’s law with wholehearted devotion; this was because critical illness and premature death were believed to be God’s punishment. The people commonly believed that a long life and uninterrupted good health were promised as the rewards for obedience to God. Hezekiah didn’t want his death to be denounced as a punishment by his God or have himself viewed as a disobedient criminal sinner in God’s eyes. He was begging for God’s mercy, asking that if any of his acts were good to God, He should be merciful and spare his life.
We remember Abraham’s prayer for God’s mercy to stop God’s punishment upon Sodom, where Lot was living. Abraham argued with God, asking if he was willing to kill the righteous along with the wicked in the city. Abraham pleaded to change the number of righteous men needed to spare the city from 50 to 10; God agreed that if He found ten righteous men, He would spare all the people in the city for their sake. There were no righteous men except Lot, Abraham’s nephew in the city. When God destroyed the cities, He remembered Abraham (and his prayer and his heart for Lot), and God brought Lot and his family out of the catastrophe that overthrew the cities where Lot had lived. (Genesis 18)
Prayer is one of the best powers God gave to His people, because it is direct dialogue between God and his people; this is especially true for people with trust in Him. The entire Bible is God speaking words and answers to prayers and requests of the common people who came to God in OT, and Jesus in NT.
I hope all of us have very intimate and deep conversations with God everyday, listening to His voice and speaking to Him all the time. Amen. Shalom(Rev. Insook Do)
