Sharper Iron — The Fifth Evangelist - Isaiah 38:1-21: The LORD Rescues Hezekiah

When Hezekiah became sick to the point of death, the LORD’s Word came to the King that he would die. Hezekiah responded by crying out to the LORD in prayer, and the LORD responded by mercifully extending Hezekiah’s life for another fifteen years. This gracious promise not only spared Hezekiah,but also sustained the line of the promised Messiah for all people. Hezekiah’s prayer rightly recognizes the transience of human life and the mortality all sinners know, yet the faithful king also places his hope in the LORD’s deliverance and gives thanks for His salvation.

Rev. Dr. Roger Paavola, president of the Mid-South District of The Lutheran Church–Missouri Synod, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Isaiah 38:1-21.

“The Fifth Evangelist” is a series on Sharper Iron that goes through Isaiah 1-39. The prophet proclaims to the people of his day and throughout history that the Holy One of Israel alone is exalted. Those who put their trust in the strength of man will be brought low, but those who trust in the LORD will see that He is their Immanuel. Jesus is God with us who reigns over the kingdom of God forever and ever!

Sharper Iron, hosted by Rev. Timothy Appel, looks at the text of Holy Scripture both in its broad context and its narrow detail, all for the sake of proclaiming Christ crucified and risen for sinners. Two pastors engage with God’s Word to sharpen not only their own faith and knowledge, but the faith and knowledge of all who listen. Submit comments or questions to: listener@kfuo.org

Sharper Iron is underwritten by Lutheran Church Extension Fund. Together in faith, LCEF helps to start, sustain and strengthen LCMS ministries through financial and strategic partnerships. Visit lcef.org.

Isaiah 38:1-21

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.”

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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

Rev. Timothy Appel

Although a mathematics degree may not be incredibly helpful to (proudly born-and-raised Texan) Rev. Timothy Appel while hosting Sharper Iron, his love of CFW Walther and the season of Easter will come in handy. His Call is shepherding the flock at Faith Lutheran Church in Godfrey, Illinois, and he’s also husband to wife Kristin and dad to their growing basketball team of children. When he’s not carrying out pastoral duties, you may find him reading “The Lord of the Rings,” snacking on Reese’s peanut butter cups, playing dominoes with his boys, or studying up on Texas history (including Sam Houston, of course).