A Case Study in Prayer and Promise--I
Isaiah 38-40
Dr. Roger W. Thomas, Preaching Minister
First Christian Church, Vandalia, MO
A man was hired to paint the center line down the middle of the highway. The first day he painted three miles, the second day two miles and the third day one. The boss came to him and asked him why he painted three miles the first day and only one mile the third day.
His answer was simple: “Well, I’ll tell you boss, the farther I painted, the farther away I was from the paint bucket.”
The lesson is not far to find. The farther we get from our source of supply (our personal relationship with our God) the harder life becomes. The solution is to keep our source of supply at our side and never begin to think we can wander out away from him alone.
Or consider the fellow who sent the following letter to his workman’s compensation insurance company:
I am writing in response to your request for additional information. In block #3 of the accident form, I put "trying to do the job alone" as the cause of my accident. You said in your letter that I should explain more fully, and I trust that the following details will be sufficient. I am a bricklayer by trade. On the date of the accident I was working alone on the roof of a new six story building. When I completed my work, I found that I had about 500 pounds of brick left over. Rather than carry the bricks down by hand, I decided to lower them in a barrel by using a pulley which fortunately was attached to the side of the building at the 6th floor.
Securing the rope at ground level, I went up to the roof, swung the barrel out, and loaded the bricks into it. Then I went back to the ground and untied the rope, holding it tightly to insure a slow descent of the 500 pounds of brick.
You will note in block #11 of the accident report that I weight 135 pounds. But to by surprise at being jerked off the ground so suddenly, I lost my presence of mind and forgot to let go of the rope. Needless to say, I proceeded at a rather rapid rate up the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming down. This explains the fractured skull, and broken collar bone. Slowed only slightly, I continued my rapid ascent, not stopping until the fingers of my right hand were 2 knuckles deep into the pulley. Fortunately, by this time, I had regained my presence of mind, and was able to hold tightly to the rope, in spite of my pain.
At approximately the same time, however, the barrel of bricks hit the ground, and the bottom fell out of the barrel. Devoid of the weight of the bricks, the barrel then weighed approximately 50 pounds. I refer you again to my weight in block #11. As you might imagine, I began a rapid descent down the side of the building. In the vicinity of the third floor, I met the barrel coming up. This accounts for the two fractured ankles, and the lacerations of my legs, and lower body area. The encounter with the barrel slowed me enough to lessen my injuries when I fell onto the pile of bricks, and fortunately only three vertebrae were cracked.
I am sorry to report, however, that as I lay there on the bricks, in pain . . . unable to stand . . . and watching the empty barrel six stories above me . . . I again lost my presence of mind and let go of the rope. The empty barrel weighed more than the rope, so it came back down on me, and broke both my legs. I hope I have furnished the information you have required.”
I don’t suspect any of us are likely to get into a mess like this any time soon. But without the partnership of the Lord in all we do, problems are never too far away.
Remember the Ten Prayer Principles that we have been considering for nearly three months:
a. prayer is our first, not last, resort
b. anyone can pray; everyone should pray
c. all of us could prayer more and better
d. prayer changes us and our circumstances
e. Satan doesn’t want us to pray; he will do anything to stop us
f. prayer is hard work; it is not easy for most of us
g. the most important thing we can do in Vandalia this year is to become a (more) praying church;
h. God wants to answer our prayer more than we want to ask him;
i. most of us don’t have a clue about what could happen if we really prayed;
j. God often supplies our needs even when we don’t pray, but failing to pray deprives us of opportunities to give God the credit and the praise due him.
Tonight I want to look at a case study in prayer; lessons learned and lessons missed. We will consider three chapters from Isaiah that turn on the experiences of King Hezekiah. I will mostly tell you the background story, read major sections of this part of Isaiah, and briefly suggest some lessons for our pursuit of a closer, lasting prayer life with our God. These three chapters can be summarized under these three headings:
Chapter 38: What can happen when we pray
Chapter 39: What can happen when we don’t
Chapter 40: What God can do all the time
These chapters take place about 700 years or so before the time of Christ. The northern Kingdom of Israel is falling. Judah is threatened. It too will eventually fall in another 150 years or so –as a result of God’s judgment on the nation. These chapters ably illustrate why the nation would eventually fall and how the Lord would remain a God of grace and mercy even in much deserved judgement. It is important to note that this section is the beginning of the heart of Isaiah. Chapters 38-55 are often rightly termed “The Gospel According to Isaiah.” Here the most strikingly beautiful promises of the appearance, atonement and triumph of the Messiah are presented in amazing detail.
First, what can happen when we pray (chapter 38):
Hezekiah was king of Judah. In many ways, he was one of the most faithful and righteous kings. He had learned in tough times how gracious and powerful God can be. He knew it professionally. Eventually he would learn it personally. There is a difference.
In the previous chapter (37), Hezekiah turns to God when his nation is threatened by Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Isaiah 37:14 tells of the Jewish kings response to a warning from the enemy. Note all the powerful descriptions of God included in this prayer—descriptions that still apply—
(Isa 37:14-20 NIV) Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. {15} And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: {16} "O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. {17} Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. {18} "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. {19} They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. {20} Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God."
The Lord of Israel heard the prayer. Vss 36-38 tells what happened-- (Isa 37:36-38 NIV) Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning--there were all the dead bodies! {37} So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. {38} One day, while he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer cut him down with the sword, and they escaped to the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son succeeded him as king.
But Hezekiah’s greatest lesson in faith and prayer was yet to come. It is one thing to believe God’s power to deliver your nation. It is altogether another matter to experience this in your personal life. Read the beginning of chapter 38: (Isa 38 NIV) 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."
If ever there was a time to learn to pray, it is when you receive such a message as that. Oh, if we could only have such a sense of urgency at other times. Oh, if it didn’t take a personal crises to drive us to our knees before God. Hezekiah was desperate so he prayed!
Never was a more heart-felt prayer uttered: {2} Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed 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.
God hears his children whether in desperation or not. Here is a perfect case study in what prayer can do. This example leaves no room for fatalistic thinking—when your time comes, it comes. There is nothing you can do about it. In case, there was something that could be done. Hezekiah could pray. The result was that circumstances and destinies were altered. Prayer just doesn’t make us feel better. It’s effect is not just psychological. Prayer changes the course of history because the God of history hears and answers.
{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. {7} "’This is the Lord’s sign to you that the LORD will do what he has promised: {8} I will make the shadow cast by the sun go back the ten steps it has gone down on the stairway of Ahaz.’" So the sunlight went back the ten steps it had gone down.
How would you respond if given a new lease on life? If one day, you had received a death sentence and the next day God gave you fifteen more years? What would you do if you knew you had fifteen years to live? Waste 14 ½ and then get serious? Or devote every day in grateful service to the God who had taught you to recognize each and every day as a gift? What is to keep you from living that way tomorrow—even though you have no idea whether you have fifteen years or fifteen days to live.
The rest of chapter 38 is the King’s song of gratitude to God, his testimony of faith:
{9} A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery: {10} I said, "In the prime of my life must I go through the gates of death and be robbed of the rest of my years?" {11} I said, "I will not again see the LORD, the LORD, in the land of the living; no longer will I look on mankind, or be with those who now dwell in this world. {12} Like a shepherd’s tent my house has been pulled down and taken from me. Like a weaver I have rolled up my life, and he has cut me off from the loom; day and night you made an end of me. {13} I waited patiently till dawn, but like a lion he broke all my bones; day and night you made an end of me. {14} I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!" {15} But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul. {16} Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live. {17} Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back. {18} For the grave cannot praise you, death cannot sing your praise; those who go down to the pit cannot hope for your faithfulness. {19} The living, the living--they praise you, as I am doing today; fathers tell their children about your faithfulness. {20} The LORD will save me, and we will sing with stringed instruments all the days of our lives in the temple of the LORD.
The last two verses offer an interesting insight in how prayer and medicine can work together. {21} Isaiah had said, "Prepare a poultice of figs and apply it to the boil, and he will recover." {22} Hezekiah had asked, "What will be the sign that I will go up to the temple of the LORD?"
Clearly God uses both prayer and medicine to bring healing. Sometimes separately, sometimes in combination. There is no contradiction between the two. No one should ever argue that genuine faith avoids regular medical treatment. This passage demonstrates otherwise. Clearly, the healing of medicine is the healing of God working through “natural” means. We can be grateful for which ever method he chooses to use.
Next consider chapter 39—what happens when we don’t pray. This is a vital lesson for all of us who tend to separate our lives into our pocket and God’s pocket. This is what our secular society teaches us to do. God takes care of certain things; the rest is our business not his. That is dangerous thinking. It can cause us to think that God doesn’t care about major areas of our life or is powerless in those areas or that he isn’t Lord at work as well as at home.
So far Hezekiah had learned to pray when faced with an overwhelming military disaster. He found power in prayer in the midst of a personal health crises. But he didn’t translate that into the day to day work of leading his people. He left God out of the equation of life when it looked like he could figure a human solution all by himself. Like our bricklayer, Hezekiah found out what can happen when you decide to work by yourself. Or like the road painter, how difficult things can become when you drift too far from your bucket.
A new threat disguised as an opportunity appears. (Isa 39 NIV) At that time Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon sent Hezekiah letters and a gift, because he had heard of his illness and recovery.
A little flattery and good will can turn the head of any king. Non-kings too!
{2} Hezekiah received the envoys gladly and showed them what was in his storehouses--the silver, the gold, the spices, the fine oil, his entire armory and everything found among his treasures. There was nothing in his palace or in all his kingdom that Hezekiah did not show them.
What this part of the story doesn’t make clear is that Hezekiah was probably doing what many of the kings of Judah before and after him would do—look for a human solution rather than rely on the promises of God. Again and again, the kings would “take out an insurance policy” just in case God didn’t come through. In this case, Hezekiah is using diplomacy to fashion and alliance with a third king who could help him if Assyria or Egypt became a problem again. His actions were faithless and really quite stupid. It would prove his undoing. Note Isaiah’s response:
{3} Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah and asked, "What did those men say, and where did they come from?" "From a distant land," Hezekiah replied. "They came to me from Babylon." {4} The prophet asked, "What did they see in your palace?" "They saw everything in my palace," Hezekiah said. "There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them." {5} Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD Almighty: {6} The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the LORD. {7} And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood who will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon."
This was actually a warning of judgement. But Hezekiah missed the point. He thought that just because the prophet spoke of future doom then the present as OK. The future doom was because of the present problem. Listen to the king’s response: {8} "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime."
Hezekiah’s behavior in chapter 39 contradicted his experiences in the two previous chapters. He failed to consider God’s direction and sought a human solution that was totally in his control. Is there a lesson here? When we think we can handle our own problems is the very time we most need God’s guidance. It is then that we are vulnerable to foolish, prideful, departures of faith. Anyone need to remember that?
Hezekiah could have benefited from James advice: (James 4:10-17 NIV) Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will lift you up. . . . {13} Now listen, you who say, "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money." {14} Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. {15} Instead, you ought to say, "If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that." {16} As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. {17} Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins.
Praying for God’s direction is certainly a part of the good we know we ought to do!
***Dr. Roger W. Thomas is the preaching minister at First Christian Church, 205 W. Park St., Vandalia, MO 63382 and an adjunct professor of Bible and Preaching at Central Christian College, 911 E. Urbandale, Moberly, MO. He is a graduate of Lincoln Christian College (BA) and Lincoln Christian Seminary (MA, MDiv), and Northern Baptist Theological Seminary (DMin).
