Thy Strong Word - Isaiah 38: Hezekiah’s Life Extended, Doomsday Clock Turns Back

Rev. John Lukomski, retired pastor in Darmstadt, Illinois, joins host Rev. AJ Espinosa to study Isaiah 38.

“Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” Thus Isaiah delivered God’s harsh judgment against Hezekiah. His administration had made an idolatrous alliance with Egypt, and his heart was full of pride.

Isaiah 38 gives us not only the history but also Hezekiah’s psalm of repentance. The king laments how his life has been cut short, and yet in faith he still appeals to God, even against God’s own sentence. God gives a sign that He will heal not only Hezekiah, but all of Judah as He fights for the city against Assyria. God “adds” years to Hezekiah’s life and Similarly, when God brought His own Son back to life, He saved all of us His people from destruction.

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Thy Strong Word is a daily in-depth study of the books of the Bible with host Rev. AJ Espinosa and guest pastors from across the country. Thy Strong Word is graciously underwritten by the Lutheran Heritage Foundation and produced by the LCMS Office of National Mission.

Isaiah 38

Hezekiah’s Sickness and Recovery

38 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the Lord: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.”^[a] ²Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, ³and said, “Please, O Lord, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

⁴Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: ⁵“Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.^[b] ⁶I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.

⁷“This shall be the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised: ⁸Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.^[c]

⁹A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

¹⁰I said, In the middle^[d] of my days
    I must depart;
I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
    for the rest of my years.
¹¹I said, I shall not see the Lord,
    the Lord in the land of the living;
I shall look on man no more
    among the inhabitants of the world.
¹²My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
    like a shepherd’s tent;
like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
    he cuts me off from the loom;
from day to night you bring me to an end;
¹³    I calmed myself^[e] until morning;
like a lion he breaks all my bones;
    from day to night you bring me to an end.

¹⁴Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;
    I moan like a dove.
My eyes are weary with looking upward.
    O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
¹⁵What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
    and he himself has done it.
I walk slowly all my years
    because of the bitterness of my soul.

¹⁶O Lord, by these things men live,
    and in all these is the life of my spirit.
    Oh restore me to health and make me live!
¹⁷Behold, it was for my welfare
    that I had great bitterness;
but in love you have delivered my life
    from the pit of destruction,
for you have cast all my sins
    behind your back.
¹⁸For Sheol does not thank you;
    death does not praise you;
those who go down to the pit do not hope
    for your faithfulness.
¹⁹The living, the living, he thanks you,
    as I do this day;
the father makes known to the children
    your faithfulness.

²⁰The Lord will save me,
and we will play my music on stringed instruments
all the days of our lives,
at the house of the Lord.

²¹Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” ²²Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord?”

Footnotes:

Isaiah 38:1 Or live; also verses 9, 21
Isaiah 38:5 Hebrew to your days
Isaiah 38:8 The meaning of the Hebrew verse is uncertain
Isaiah 38:10 Or In the quiet
Isaiah 38:13 Or (with Targum) I cried for help

English Standard Version (ESV) The Holy Bible, English Standard Version. ESV® Permanent Text Edition® (2016). Copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. esv.org

Rev. AJ Espinosa

It’s no coincidence that the favorite hymn for Rev. AJ Espinosa, host of Thy Strong Word, is Thy Strong Word. Working on his PhD from Concordia Seminary St. Louis, Pastor Espinosa takes breaks from his studies by beating the competition in his favorite video and board games, reading “Mere Christianity,” or getting some quality sleep. When he’s not mixing curries or whipping up a fresh flan for dessert, you may find him researching cryptocurrency, watching Star Trek Discovery, or jamming out to the Coco and Moana Spanish-language soundtracks (with his daughter, of course). Pastor Espinosa lives in California, where he enjoys time at the beach with his wife, Gaby, precious little girls Ellie and Natalie, and exceptionally friendly black cat Heike.