Have you ever had a crisis that makes you doubt? Have you ever felt like it is easier to have faith for other people’s problems? A whole church can fall away and we take heart that God will protect a remnant; the mountains shake, and we trust that God is sovereign over all. We may feel, to put it a bit bluntly, like our faith is quite strong. But when trouble comes knocking on our doors, it is quite a different picture. When our health, or our job, or our relationships take a hit, we can really spiral. The illusion of our strong faith, competence, and independence fades. Suddenly, we realise we were never strong, but weak. We may even feel like God is punishing us for our sins.
Think about such times in your own life. Perhaps you’ve experienced a similar struggle, where you find yourself praying to God for the nations on Sunday yet on Monday, struggle to get out of bed because of anxiety about work. In this study, we will study how God’s Word addresses the prayers of the weak, and how His gospel provides hope for the sinner. We will see a raw, unvarnished, real picture of a king – the sovereign of a nation – who discovers that he is weak. God responds to the prayers of the weak with gentle assurance rooted in covenantal grace and restores the sinner through loving deliverance unto worship.
(A) God responds to the prayers of the weak with gentle assurance rooted in covenantal grace (IsA 38:1-8)
In this section of Isaiah, God’s people face the threat of invasion. The King of Assyria has conquered all the fortified cities of Judah and Jerusalem faces an impending invasion from Assyria (Isa 36:1-2). Hezekiah prays to the Lord (Isa 37:15-17). God answers Hezekiah’s prayer and delivers Jerusalem, striking down the Assyrian king (Isa 37:36-38). God promises to deliver Jerusalem and Hezekiah out of the hand of the king of Assyria (Isa 38:6). After Hezekiah recovers, he ushers in the Babylonian crisis (Is 39:1-2, 5-8).
But, sandwiched between two national crises is one of a much more personal nature. In Isaiah 38:1, we learn that the nature of the crisis is a more personal one — a health crisis. This is in contrast to the national crisis written about in Isaiah 36. We realise that nobody is exempt or immune from personal crises, especially health crises, not even the king. Serving God does not exempt you or me or our pastors from suffering, thus, we should not be surprised that we will face such crises in life. Yet, do not miss how God cares about individual humans!
How does Hezekiah respond? He “turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD” (Isa 38:2). Interestingly, he also speaks with honesty and brings out what he had done and his emotions (Isa 38:3). In dealing with the Assyrian crisis, we read in Isaiah 37:14-20 of how he went up to the house of the LORD (Isa 37:14) and his prayer was premised on the sovereignty of God and His covenantal relationship with His people (Isa 37:16-19). He showed a high and mighty view of God.
Isn’t it easier in times of big, outside-there crises to focus on God, nut when the pain is personal, when we feel the pain, it is so much harder to fight for faith? It is so much harder to remember God’s goodness when the problem is nearer and dearer to us. There may also be times in our lives that all we can do is turn to the wall and cry out to God.
Isaiah 38:22 also shows us his request — for personal healing, seemingly on the basis of his good works. In contrast, the request for deliverance from Assyria previously was for God’s glory (Isa 37:20).
In these verses, we see a continuation of a theme from last week. We don’t just win wars by praying, but when the war is within us, we also fight for faith in prayer. Why is it a war? We see here a reflection of the human heart’s incessant turn towards entitlement on the basis of self-righteousness. How often do we go to God and say - Oh but God, why haven’t you blessed me with a spouse, a great career, a successful ministry, good health, the salvation of my parents, on the basis that I have served you? This comes to a head in times of crisis. In times of personal crisis, it is hard for us to focus on God’s glory. We start to turn inwards. We can lead others well, encourage others through crisis, but however great we are as leaders, we still need propping up, support, community ourselves. Our weakness takes us by surprise. Hezekiah reminds us that the basis for our healing should not be our self-righteousness.
God graciously answers his prayer and adds 15 years to to his life (Isa 38:4-6, c.f. 2 Ki 20:6). The LORD reassures Hezekiah that he has heard his prayer; He has seen his tears (Isa 38:5). Yet, there is no endorsement of healing on the basis of good works.
Instead, the LORD alludes to His covenantal relationship with David as the reason for answering Hezekiah’s prayer (“for my servant David’s sake”, Isa 38:4). Furthermore, while Hezekiah only prays for personal deliverance, the LORD promises personal and national deliverance (Isa 38:6). In Isaiah 38:7-8, the LORD further bolsters Hezekiah’s questioning faith by providing a sign that he will do this thing that he has promised.
Friends, if you find yourself going through a crisis today, take heart. Take heart even when you find your faith frail, when you find your prayers short and timid. A bruised reed He will not break, and a smouldering wick He will not quench. God hears your prayers in the night. That prayer you mutter quietly as you face the wall in your room. God sees the tears that nobody else does. God still cares for struggling Hezekiah who doesn’t have textbook, Book of Common Prayer prayers. He doesn’t ‘pray the Psalms’, he fumbles, and God draws near mercifully. What an assurance that is for us!
Not only does he hear and see. He tells you, He wants you to know, that he hears and sees. He presides sovereignly not over only your personal crises, but all the larger crises of the world. All the ways in which you cannot see how your life and your problems will affect your children, your parents, your girlfriend or boyfriend, work, He manages. He sees His purposes and promises to fruition. So, let us turn away from self-righteousness as a basis for God being good to us! Let us also exchange your filthy rags for pure linen. There is grace sufficient for all our needs and all our afflictions in Christ.
(B) God restores the sinner through loving deliverance unto worship (IsA 38:9-22)
Isaiah 38:9-20 details for us Hezekiah’s emotional response to his sickness after he has recovered. We see how Hezekiah feels like his life is only half-done. He is not ready to leave (Isa 38:10) and he fears being removed from fellowship with man and God (Isa 38:11). He also feels the shock of being transplanted as he believed himself firmly rooted and established on earth, but has discovered that his life can be plucked up like a tent (Isa 38:12a). As a result, he feels a loss of control over his life. He has been weaving his life, making his own way, and then, all of a sudden he realises he has been cut off at the loom (Isa 38:12b). (c.f. Jas 4:13-16)
We also read of how he keeps trying to calm himself in the night, but he feels an unrelenting sense of punishment from God. It is like God is breaking his bones with the strength of a lion (Isa 38:13a). He is moaning and groaning and feels oppressed (Isa 38:14).
Isaiah’s crisis of physical health provokes him to worry about the crisis of his spiritual health. He is faced with a sudden knowledge of his lack of self-determination when he realises he may soon die. He knows he is a sinner and feels that this illness is God’s judgement on him. He fears not only the end of his life on earth and fellowship with man, but separation from God in Sheol.
What does Hezekiah discover about himself and God? There is a parallel between Isaiah 38: 14 and Isaiah 38: 15 in who is speaking and the effects of their speech. Hezekiah’s speech is impotent. He chirps and moans, looking upward, and all he can hope is that God will act. By contrast, God’s speech is powerful, he speaks, and he acts. For all of Hezekiah’s groaning, he cannot heal himself — on a deeper level, he cannot address His sins. Unless this God is his pledge of safety, he is hopeless.
What does this mean for us? We are often obsessed with planning out our lives. We chart our education, plan when we will marry, when we will have children, when we will do this and that. There is the illusion of control. We believe that we decide. But we are not actually in charge. will it take a crisis to show that to us? Friends, Hezekiah’s reflections show us that it is terrifying to face the prospect of death without the assurance of the casting of our sins behind God’s back. Death under God’s judgement for sin means permanent separation from God and His saints. Once we have crossed into death, we cannot return — those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness (Isa 38:18c).
Have we done business with God? Do you know where you stand with Him? Are there those among us who have put off thinking about sin, death, and judgement? Consider this a gentle warning from our Lord’s Word - don’t delay. There is only one pledge of safety in whom there is no condemnation. See your utter helplessness to save yourself, turn away from your sin, and place your faith in Him today. Do not tarry.
This also has implications for our evangelism. For those of us who have been feeling like we ought to share the gospel with those around us, let us seize the opportunity. Let us not wait too long!
How does God restore Hezekiah? Isaiah 38:16-20 are a mirror of Isaiah 38:10-13. Hezekiah gained back his physical health (Isa 38:16). Hezekiah also saw God’s loving deliverance from the pit of destruction and his own forgiveness from sins. Isaiah 38:12-13 described God’s disposition, while Isaiah 38:17-18 detailed God’s judgment. He describes it so beautifully. There was a pit of destruction that Hezekiah was in. God delivered him from it in love. And he did so by casting all of Hezekiah’s sins behind his back. It is a picture of God not just looking away from Hezekiah’s sins, not avoiding them, but acting to cast them behind Him, where He will no longer see them.
Flowing from that are life and fellowship. We read in Isaiah 38:11 that Hezekiah laments his death and how he no longer has fellowship with God or the living. Yet in Isaiah 38:19, Hezekiah lives and enjoys fellowship with others who live.
Lastly we see that Hezekiah is worried that his days are cut short as he must go to Sheol (Isa 38:10). But in Isaiah 38:20, we see how Hezekiah is saved and will worship for all his days at the house of the LORD.
True restoration goes beyond physical healing. It is more than any physical or earthly blessing we may receive. It is the privilege of spending an eternity praising God His house, and it is only made possible by forgiveness of sins. That should put all of our concerns about life into perspective. Our health, our work, our relationship. How do we see these in light of the great deliverance that we have undergone?
How should we respond to so great a salvation? Our God is a gentle, reassuring God, who hears our weak prayers and sees our tears. Take heart and don’t feel the need to impress Him or earn His favour. Rest in His love for you.
We can also praise God for trials and recognise that it is for our welfare. God uses our times of greatest sorrow and trial to cause us to return to Him.
We are also to praise God for His faithfulness. Hezekiah thanks the LORD (Isa 38:19), and promises to make known the LORD’s faithfulness to his children (Isa 38:19). He looks forward to worshipping the LORD with music for the rest of his life (Isa 38:20). We know that because of Jesus Christ, death will lose its sting, and we will have unending days to sing His praise, with the saints.
What then, are some areas of your life where you are prone to trusting in your self-righteousness even in prayer? How often do you think about death? What is God saying to you today about how you should live in light of His gospel?