TRY AND TRY AGAIN (ISAIAH 38:1-20)
A good friend sent me an introspective e-mail on his birthday:
Dear Victor:
Today is my big five O day. My life is in half time. Or maybe it has actually passed half time for a long time. Some of my friends went back to be with the Lord at ages like 37 or 40; so I am grateful for these extra time I have from the Lord to enjoy and to continue to see the exciting things happening here on earth.
My Lord Jesus passed away at age 33. I have lived 17 more years than He did on earth.
One Chinese pastor in Vancouver I know passed away in his early years of ministry after a brief illness. He was young when he died. He came to my church for a while too when he attended seminary.
My coworker at another church passed away at 37 of liver cancer. I was ordained one day after his funeral service. He left a young widow and twin boys -- about the same age as my daughter/youngest.
Members of my church...
A treasurer passed away at 40 something - of cancer.
An elder’s wife passed away after some years of struggle with cancer, been through a lot of pain.
A man passed away at the beginning of this year after one and half year of cancer treatment. He is 59, a little short of 60.
My father passed away at age 51 of lung cancer.
Conclusion: I am living much longer than some good people (some not-so-good perhaps). Anyhow, I have to be thankful that I am allowed to live and to enjoy life. Life is precious but it is not to be taken for granted. It is a gift from God. I am thankful at 50! I am still not used to use that number to refer to myself. I don’t think I have ever totally grown up yet. I have much more to work on in my life, but whether I finish or not, I will be complete when I see Him again!
Life is unpredictable enough, but what if your life was shortened by fifteen years or extended by 15 years? Hezekiah, the king of Judah, suffered an unknown fatal illness when he was at the prime of his life. He was sick to the point of death. What would you do? What can you do when you’re poor in health, when you’re sick to death and when you’re all but dead?
Cling to the Lord
38:1 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 (Isa 38:1-2)
A young man came to Socrates one day and said, “Mr. Socrates, I have come 1,500 miles to gain wisdom and learning. I want learning, so I come to you.”
Socrates said, “Come, follow me.” He led the way down to the seashore. They waded out into the water until they were up to their waists, and then Socrates seized his companion and forced his head under the water. In spite of his struggles, Socrates held him under.
Finally, when most of his resistance was gone Socrates laid him out on the shore and returned to the market place. When the visitor had regained his consciousness and strength, he returned to Socrates to learn the reason for his behavior.
Socrates said to him, “When you were under the water, what was the one thing you wanted more than anything else?”
“I wanted air.”
Then Socrates said, “When you want knowledge and understanding as badly as you wanted air, you won’t have to ask anyone to give it to you.” (Sterling W. Sill, quoted in 7,700 Illustrations)
When Isaiah the prophet marched into Hezekiah’s palace and advised him to put his house in order, Hezekiah knew it was pointless to consult the finest doctors, take the rarest medication or seek a second opinion. Already, his health was failing before he received worse news. Not only did Isaiah the prophet pointedly tell him that he was going to die, he also told the king that he would not live or recover. The description of his illness was unique in the Bible. The word “ill” could have meant anything from a sickness to a stroke. Jacob suffered from the same illness in his old age, and he had to muster all his strength and mount a big challenge just to sit up on his bed to bless his sons before he breathed his last (Gen 48:1-2).
Hezekiah’s future was very bleak; however, he did not give up and die, shut up and die, shrivel up and die, curl up and die, or fess up and die. He did a most unexpected thing, a most unusual thing and a most untested thing. He turned to the wall and implored God, which was an unusual move in the Bible. The king left Isaiah alone, faced the wall and sought the Lord right there and then. The first Hebrew word from his mouth was a passionate “Please” or “I pray” or “I beseech Thee” in KJV (v 3). NIV usually does not translate this word anywhere in the Bible, but this opening word in a speech translates to a sense of urgency and drama. The other instances this word was used to begin a speech include Joseph’s brother plea for Joseph’s forgiveness after their father Jacob died (Gen 50:17), Nehemiah’s prayer when he heard of Jerusalem’s plight (Neh 1:5), Daniel’s prayer when he learned of the seventy years of exile (Dan 9:4), the sailor’s plea for God’s mercy before throwing Jonah into the sea (Jonah 1:14) and Jonah’s petulant prayer to die (Jonah 4:2).
Hezekiah prayed as if God would hear him, understand him, pity and spare him. He did not believe in the other alternative: to blame God, curse or deny Him. The dying king prayed all the way till his last word, his last breath and his last tear. He did not ask Isaiah for prayer, mercy or counsel. He had no questions to ask, no time to lose, and no breath to waste. Hezekiah prayed immediately, forcefully, continually, steadfastly, intensely, powerfully and untiringly. He spoke from his heart, got to the point, went straight to the Source, the Maker and the Giver of life.
Hezekiah couldn’t coo or chirp or call – he could only moan (v 14). Nevertheless, in verse 15, he accepted that he would go gently and quietly after an intense internal debate and conflict, expressing the “anguish/bitterness” of his soul like Job did (Job 7:11, 10:1). His words about himself were many but his prayer to God was just one: “Let me live” (v 16).
Commit to the Lord
3 “Remember, O 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. (Isa 38:3-4)
An old legend tells of a merchant in Baghdad who one day sent his servant to the market to run an errand. Before very long the servant came back, white and trembling, and in great agitation said to his master: “Down in the market place I was jostled by a woman in the crowd, and when I turned around I saw it was Death that jostled me. She looked at me and made a threatening gesture. Master, I am terrified. Please lend me your fastest horse, for I must hasten away to avoid her. I will ride to Samarra and there I will hide, and Death will not find me.”
The merchant granted his request and the servant galloped away in great haste. Later the merchant went down to the market place and saw Death standing in the crowd. He went over to her and asked, “Why did you frighten my servant this morning? Why did you make a threatening gesture?” “That was not a threatening gesture,” Death said, “Frankly, it was I who was startled. I was astonished to see him in Baghdad, for I have an appointment with him tonight in Samarra.”
Death and taxes are inevitable and inescapable. Andy Rooney said, “Life is like a roll of toilet paper. The closer it gets to the end, the faster it goes.” It’s been said, “Time and tide wait for no man.”
Hezekiah recounted his life before God. His claims were audacious but not grandiose. First, he claimed that he had walked before God faithfully as only David his ancestor (1 Kings 3:6, Ps 26:3) did. The Hebrew for verse 3 says, “I have walked before You in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done good in Your sight.” He had walked in nothing but the truth, had stepped up like no other successor had, and had done the best imitation of David there was.
Hezekiah also claimed that he walked before God with a perfect heart or with wholehearted devotion. Only three other kings had achieved this feat: David (1 Kings 11:4), Asa (1 Kings 15:14), and Amaziah (2 Chron 25:2).
Lastly, if that was not enough, Hezekiah’s last claim was even bolder. He claimed that he did what was good in the eyes of God. It is well-known that ten southern kings, including David (1 Kings 11:38, 14;8, 15:5), Asa (1 Kings 15:11), Jehoshaphat (1 Kings 22:43), Joash (2 Kings 12:2), Amaziah (2 Ki 14:3), Azariah (2 Kings 15:3), Uzziah and his son Jotham (2 Kings 15:34), Hezekiah (2 Kings 18:3), and Josiah (2 Kings 22:2), did what was right in the eyes of God, but Hezekiah was the only one who did was “true/faithful” and “good” in God’s eyes, as he often claimed (v 3, 2 Kings 20:3). He did not ask for his health back but ask for the Lord’s mercy. However, the Lord did not dispute Hezekiah on his claim, deny him of the claim or distant Himself from his claim.
No king’s reign in the northern or southern kingdom was covered as much as Hezekiah’s in the Bible. Other kings could succeed Hezekiah but no one could replace him. The Bible says, “Hezekiah trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses” (2 Kings 18:5-6).
What separated Hezekiah from other good kings was that he had to work harder than other kings to overturn the past wrongs. All the other good kings but for Josiah had good fathers. No king had a worse father as predecessor and succeeded like Hezekiah. He successfully overturned the wicked practices of his father, Ahaz, who for sixteen years did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God, walking in the ways of the kings of Israel and even sacrificing his son in the fire, besides offering sacrifices and burning incense at the high places, on the hilltops and under every spreading tree (2 Kings 16:2-4). So, Hezekiah wasn’t arrogant about his record. He was an outstanding king and had done an excellent job.
Cry to the Lord
4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and tell Hezekiah, ’This is what the LORD, the God of your father David, says: I have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 And I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria. I will defend this city. (Isa 38:4-6)
For many years animal-rights activists have championed that animals were capable of such emotions as anger, fear, jealousy, pain, and sadness. Some researchers even identify their research animals by name rather than by numbers.
In 1998, a visitor to a Long Island, N.Y., game farm and zoo demanded companionship for a lonely chimp named Barney after visiting the tourist attraction. The case went to court, the court sided with the visitor, and animal-rights advocates hailed the court decision. Unfortunately, Barney couldn’t join in the celebration. By the time the verdict was handed down, Barney had already been shot dead for skipping out of his cage and biting someone. (Time 9/6/99 “A Plaintiff Cry for Animals”).
Scientists, researchers, and experts are divided into two camps. One says that animals don’t cry, and the other says they cry but they don’t weep. Jeffrey Masson, the author of “When Elephants Weep: The Emotional Lives of Animals,” says, “Lots of animals show sadness, but probably none of them cry the way humans cry.”
Tears are a sign of helplessness and powerlessness, and never a sign of weakness. The Chinese say, “Men shed blood and not tears.” However, it is not true. Babies cry, adults cry, women cry, men cry, even God the Son cried. Jesus wept for his friend Lazarus (Jn 11:35) and Jerusalem – symbolic of his tears for the nation and people (Lk 19:41).
The “weeping” (v 3) in Hezekiah’s case was similar to Hannah, Samuel’s mother. The Hebrew text recorded that Hezekiah and Hannah wept much or wept sore before the Lord (1 Sam 1:10). The only other instances of people crying so profusely or bitterly were when Israel wept for the near extinction of the tribe of Benjamin (Judg 21:2), when the servants of David wept bitterly at his flight (2 Sam 13:36), and when Ezra wept for the sins of Israel (Ezra 10:1). Hezekiah’s words and tears of distress were very impressive.
Complaining to the Lord is futile, but crying to the Lord is fruitful. Complaining is blowing off your feelings but crying is reaching out for God. However, crying is not enough. Tears and prayers are a good combination, but tears and pillow do not mix. Prayers and tears lift a person, but pillows and tears wet the bed. Prayers raise our tears to the heavens, but pillows sink a person to the depths.
The dying king did nothing but pray. He did not spend time choosing a coffin, giving funeral instructions or writing his will. Hezekaih cried till his last breath, till he was blue, white, pale or colorless in the face. What did Hezekiah ask for? One day, one month, or one year to put his house in order, to say farewell to the family, or to do what he hadn’t done? He knew he couldn’t twist God’s arm, force God’s hand, bargain with God or argue with Him. He knew he couldn’t ask for one more second, one more breath, or one more gasp, so he asked God for one thing – mercy.
This is the only time God declared he had seen someone’s tears. The list of what God declared He had seen in the Bible included people’s deeds (Gen 31:12), character (Ex 32:9), blood (2 Kings 9:26), hypocrisy (Jer 7:11), idolatry (Jer 13:27), folly (Jer 23:13). Nothing escapes his eyes. Hezekiah’s crying was dramatic but not melodramatic. He did not occupy himself with crying. He did not cry in his sleep, cry himself to sleep and cry till he slept; more importantly, he wept and prayed. God said, “I have heard your prayer and seen your tears.” God was impressed with his praying along with his crying.
Conclusion: Life is God’s gift. A line from the movie “Pearl Harbor says, “Life did not ask me what I wanted.” Things can go wrong, people can get sick, and answers are never enough. One minute you’re on the throne, the next you’re on the bed. Have you thanked Him for the gift of life – long or short? God has not promised man a long life or a blissful life. When all is said and done, the body, the mind and the will be undone. Are you ready if death knocks on your door? Are you living a life of meaningless, hopelessness and fruitlessness? The Bible says, “God has given us eternal life, and this life is in his Son. He who has the Son has life; he who does not have the Son of God does not have life." (1 John 5:11-12)
Victor Yap
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