Ted Lee: Isaiah and we come to a section of Isaiah which is an inflection point in the book of Isaiah.
Ted Lee: We've come to a transition of the book of Isaiah and for the past couple of weeks we've been spending time in that, looking at this historic transition.
Ted Lee: Our text for today is chapters 38 and 39.
Ted Lee: These two chapters complete this transition in the book of Isaiah from the prophecies of judgment to the prophecies of comfort and hope and restoration.
Ted Lee: The title of today's message is Faltering and Failing, and I've subtitled it.
Ted Lee: The Choices we Make, the Lessons from the Life of Hezekiah.
Ted Lee: In 1685, a young musician in Germany was the eighth and youngest child to be born to a family of musicians.
Ted Lee: He received a strong Christian education and a theological foundation as a schoolboy.
Ted Lee: At the age of 10, though, he encountered the most significant crisis in his life His mother died and eight months later his father died.
Ted Lee: By the grace of God, his eldest brother took him in where he studied, performed and copied music.
Ted Lee: He received valuable teaching from his brother.
Ted Lee: Finding a job was difficult and there are a limited number of opportunities, and the demand for musicians was primarily tied to the patronage of nobles and the church.
Ted Lee: At the age of 18, he received a modest commission to create music for a church.
Ted Lee: How did this young man's heart view these blessings that God had given him?
Ted Lee: The attitude that this young man held in his heart toward God's blessings would shape his decisions and not only impact his life, but also the legacy he would leave for future generations.
Ted Lee: So it is with us.
Ted Lee: The choices that we make in response to God's blessings flow out of the attitudes we hold in our hearts.
Ted Lee: They will impact not just our lives, but also the legacy we will leave for our children and our children's children.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's story urges us to evaluate our heart's attitude and response towards the blessings God has given you.
Ted Lee: You can falter and fail, like Hezekiah, or you can respond wisely, grounded, humility and faithfulness to God's purpose.
Ted Lee: Your legacy will bear the marks of your choices.
Ted Lee: Let's examine a part of Hezekiah's life that we have not seen in our studies in Isaiah so far.
Ted Lee: We will look at a time when he was threatened by a fatal disease but yet recovered, and shortly thereafter he received a visit by delegates from Babylon, the aspiring power to be.
Ted Lee: This is recorded in Isaiah chapters 38 and 39.
Ted Lee: We'll dissect these events and learn from Hezekiah's response by way of three points Pleading with God, praising God for his goodness and pride.
Ted Lee: Before the fall, let's go to God in prayer.
Ted Lee: Heavenly Father, we come before you with humble hearts, asking that you would open our eyes to see and our minds to understand the truths you have revealed to us in your word.
Ted Lee: Remove any blindness or hardness from our hearts that would keep us from receiving what you desire to teach us.
Ted Lee: That would keep us from receiving what you desire to teach us.
Ted Lee: Help us to approach your word with reverence, expectancy and hearts ready to be transformed.
Ted Lee: In Jesus' name, we pray Amen.
Ted Lee: In Isaiah chapters 36 and 37, hezekiah's faith was tested by events in international politics.
Ted Lee: His capital city, jerusalem, was on the brink of collapse as the Assyrian war machine was poised to bulldozer over Jerusalem.
Ted Lee: These events occurred in 701 BC.
Ted Lee: In chapters 36 and 37, hezekiah showed how it is possible to turn fear into a calm and confident trusting in God's promises and finding deliverance.
Ted Lee: The events recorded in Isaiah chapters 38 and 39 occurred a couple of years before the Assyrian king Sennacherib attacked Jerusalem, so they are out of sequence.
Ted Lee: But many of the chapters in Isaiah are not chronological but are arranged thematically, addressing different historical situations.
Ted Lee: The king of Babylon, merodag Baladin, mentioned in chapter 39, ruled Babylon in the years 722 to 710 BC and again in 704 BC.
Ted Lee: His reign ended when the Assyrian king, sennacherib, quelled that rebellion in 703 BC.
Ted Lee: It was during Merodag Baladin's second reign that Hezekiah became severely ill and miraculously recovered.
Ted Lee: After Hezekiah recovered, the king of Babylon sent an envoy to visit Hezekiah.
Ted Lee: This event took place two to three years before the Assyrian invasion two to three years before the Assyrian invasion.
Ted Lee: So Hezekiah still had his military resources.
Ted Lee: They were stockpiled and he had not yet squandered his rich treasury in a last-ditch effort to pay off Sennacherib to avoid Assyrian domination.
Ted Lee: So with this background, let's look at the first point Pleading with God.
Ted Lee: We'll look at this first as what triggered Hezekiah to plead with God?
Ted Lee: What action did Hezekiah take and what was the result of Hezekiah's action?
Ted Lee: So what triggered Hezekiah to plead with God?
Ted Lee: In contrast to the national crisis brought on by the military campaign of Sennacherib and his massive Assyrian army in chapters 36 and 37, the crisis Hezekiah encountered here was intensely personal.
Ted Lee: Let's look at verse 1, chapter 38, verse 1.
Ted Lee: In those days, hezekiah became terminally ill.
Ted Lee: The prophet Isaiah, son of Amos, came and said to him this is what the Lord says set your house in order, for you are about to die.
Ted Lee: You will not recover.
Ted Lee: You are about to die, you will not recover.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah appears to have suffered from a serious skin infection.
Ted Lee: We learn that in verse 21.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah appears to have suffered quite badly, to the point of death.
Ted Lee: Some have thought it might have been leprosy, but then leprosy is never really life-threatening.
Ted Lee: Some thought it might have been the bubonic plague, and if you're infected with a bubonic plague you have a matter of days to a week still to live.
Ted Lee: Regardless of what sickness that was, it was extremely serious and Hezekiah was at the point of death.
Ted Lee: But it's odd that we are not given any reason for this announcement and why Hezekiah was struck with this illness.
Ted Lee: Famous, righteous kings generally do not die at a young age without some reason or without God's involvement age without some reason or without God's involvement.
Ted Lee: We get a hint of a possible reason from the chronicler's commentary in 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verse 25.
Ted Lee: He writes however, because his heart was proud, hezekiah didn't respond according to the benefit that had come to him.
Ted Lee: So there was wrath on him, judah and Jerusalem.
Ted Lee: God gave an imperative to Hezekiah here.
Ted Lee: He said set your house in order To put his house in order might include more than just the obvious need to make political decisions about who the next king would be.
Ted Lee: Another aspect of getting things in order before you die could include things like spiritual things, getting back into a right relationship with God.
Ted Lee: His illness, perhaps, was a kind of wake-up call.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah was only 39 years old.
Ted Lee: He was still young and was looking forward to much more of life ahead of him, and he had a young son, manasseh, to train.
Ted Lee: What action did Hezekiah take?
Ted Lee: How did Hezekiah respond to this news?
Ted Lee: Instead of dwelling in despair, hezekiah turned to God in prayer.
Ted Lee: He demonstrated faith and humility.
Ted Lee: Look at verse 2 and 3.
Ted Lee: Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.
Ted Lee: He said Please, lord, remember how I have walked before you faithfully and wholeheartedly and have done what pleases you, and Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Ted Lee: Now notice that Hezekiah did three things.
Ted Lee: He turned his face to the wall and prayed.
Ted Lee: He removed himself from distractions and concentrated his focus onto prayer.
Ted Lee: The second thing is he pleaded his faithfulness, his wholeheartedness, doing what was good in God's eyes, his wholeheartedness, doing what was good in God's eyes.
Ted Lee: He aimed to walk faithfully and was devoted to the Lord, in the early years of Hezekiah's reign, he initiated significant reforms that included cleaning, repairing and reopening the temple the temple which had been used for idol worship by his father, king Ahaz.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah removed the high places and destroyed idols.
Ted Lee: But do you remember Hezekiah's prayer in chapter 37 that we looked at last week?
Ted Lee: This prayer in chapter 38 seems radically different from the humble tone of the prayer in chapter 37.
Ted Lee: In this prayer, hezekiah does not proclaim his bold and uncompromising faith in God.
Ted Lee: In chapter 37, he confessed how great God is and that he is the creator who rules over all kingdoms, and that he is the creator who rules over all kingdoms.
Ted Lee: In this prayer, hezekiah doesn't repent of any sin, nor does he implore God to act in ways that would declare his glory to all peoples of the earth, as he did in chapter 37.
Ted Lee: But also remember, this prayer reflects a spiritually less mature heart than what his heart was two years later.
Ted Lee: The third thing Hezekiah did was he wept.
Ted Lee: Possibly he wept bitterly, causing him to realize his own unworthiness and his need to trust God rather than his own good works.
Ted Lee: Instead of having a pity party over his terminal health conditions, hezekiah humbled himself and turned to God in prayer.
Ted Lee: Now, what was the result of Hezekiah's prayer?
Ted Lee: The Lord responded to Hezekiah's plea almost immediately.
Ted Lee: But don't take this to mean that God always answers prayers right away.
Ted Lee: What we do need to know is that God himself calls his people to trust in him.
Ted Lee: He tells us to be still and know that I am God Psalm 46.10.
Ted Lee: The Lord's response to Hezekiah is seen in verses 5 and 6.
Ted Lee: Go and tell Hezekiah.
Ted Lee: This is what the Lord, god of your ancestor David, says I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears.
Ted Lee: Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life and I will rescue you and the city from the grasp of the king of Assyria.
Ted Lee: I will defend this city.
Ted Lee: In the parallel passage in 2 Kings 20, verse 5, the Lord, speaking through Isaiah, added the Lord was going to heal him in a matter of three days.
Ted Lee: There are several general principles we can take from this.
Ted Lee: First, god's positive response to your prayers is not a way of paying you back for your good deeds.
Ted Lee: In fact, god acknowledged Hezekiah's prayer and his tears, but said nothing about his good works.
Ted Lee: So don't get in your mind into thinking that you can make deals with God by considering Lord.
Ted Lee: I'll do this for you if you can do that for me.
Ted Lee: It's evident in Hezekiah, first, that good works alone will not prevent any early death.
Ted Lee: Second thing is that all you can do, and the most important thing you can do, is to confess your sins and cry out to God for mercy.
Ted Lee: And thirdly, that God might sometimes choose to heal the sick miraculously if it fits into his greater purposes.
Ted Lee: The second general principle we come to see as a result of Hezekiah's prayer is God is able to do far more than what you ask or imagine.
Ted Lee: This same principle is seen in Paul's doxology, in his prayer to the Ephesians at the end of Ephesians, chapter 3.
Ted Lee: Prayer to the Ephesians at the end of Ephesians, chapter 3.
Ted Lee: God's power exceeds human understanding.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah never asked to live for 15 more years, nor did he ask for God to deliver the city of Jerusalem, which wasn't going to be attacked, by the way, for another two or three years.
Ted Lee: The third principle we see is that God's plans take into consideration not only the current situation but also future situations that you might not even be aware of today.
Ted Lee: For Hezekiah, it was God's deliverance of Jerusalem and his plans for Hezekiah himself as he faced the Assyrian invasion a few years later, as you recall, in chapters 36 and 37, there were lessons that Hezekiah still needed to learn.
Ted Lee: God could foresee the bigger picture and knew that he needed to teach Hezekiah, in other words, to get Hezekiah into a position to trust him completely.
Ted Lee: We learned that what would mean breaking Hezekiah's pride was that the extension of life that God granted him.
Ted Lee: The Lord was then sovereignly orchestrating Hezekiah's experiences, ultimately to meet the major shock of his life a face-to-face encounter with the Assyrian army.
Ted Lee: So, in your moments of crisis, plead with God, turn to God in prayer, seek his mercy and his intervention, but know this God may respond to your pleading in order to teach you to trust him completely.
Ted Lee: When you're feeling emotionally drained and burdened by a very difficult situation, make it a regular practice to set aside time each evening to turn your face to the wall.
Ted Lee: Create a peaceful spot in your home where you can escape distractions.
Ted Lee: Use this time to pray and meditate on God's promises, allowing yourself to process your feelings.
Ted Lee: Invite the Lord to carry your burdens with you and remind yourself that you are not alone in your struggles.
Ted Lee: Find rest in God's presence.
Ted Lee: In deep despair for the sudden news of his impending death, hezekiah pleaded with God in humility, being full of mercy and grace, god responded to Hezekiah and miraculously healed him from his near-death condition.
Ted Lee: Not only that, god gave him 15 extra years of life and promised to rescue him and Jerusalem from the king of Assyria.
Ted Lee: These undeserved blessings catalyzed Hezekiah to praise God for his goodness.
Ted Lee: So this is our second point regarding Hezekiah's response to God.
Ted Lee: He praised God for his goodness.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's response to God for his healing is filled with gratitude and reflection, acknowledging God's goodness.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah composed a psalm.
Ted Lee: Acknowledging God's goodness.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah composed a psalm.
Ted Lee: Not all of us can readily compose a psalm, but we do so in different ways in our own hearts.
Ted Lee: But he composed a psalm that had two parts.
Ted Lee: There was a lament over his impending death and a thanksgiving for the Lord's deliverance.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah reflected over the danger that he was in and the despair that he felt.
Ted Lee: Turn with me to verse 10.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah says in the prime of my life I must go to the gates of Sheol.
Ted Lee: I am deprived of the rest of my years.
Ted Lee: I said I will never see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the rest of my years.
Ted Lee: I said I will never see the Lord, the Lord, in the land of the living.
Ted Lee: I will not look on humanity any longer, with the inhabitants of what is passing away.
Ted Lee: My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent.
Ted Lee: I have rolled up my life like a weaver.
Ted Lee: He cuts me off from the loom by nightfall.
Ted Lee: You make an end of me.
Ted Lee: I thought until the morning he will break my bones like a lion.
Ted Lee: By nightfall you make an end of me.
Ted Lee: We see here three images of despair.
Ted Lee: The shepherd's tent, which is taken down forcibly by a storm or by an enemy, depicts how fragile life is.
Ted Lee: The weaver the weaver who severs the thread of life.
Ted Lee: And when the cloth of life gets large enough, that's an image of life's determined end.
Ted Lee: The pain felt as every bone in his body was being broken by a lion portrays divine hostility.
Ted Lee: These are the feelings that Hezekiah was feeling.
Ted Lee: And from these three images another image emerged, an image of despair in the way we respond.
Ted Lee: We see this in the feebleness of prayer.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah felt that his voice became thin and weak, sounding like the weak and mournful sounds of birds.
Ted Lee: See that in verse 14.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah grew weary as the strain of prayer seemed to make him grow even weaker.
Ted Lee: But notice how Hezekiah's prayer looked to the power of God in verse 14 at the end oh Lord, he says.
Ted Lee: He also expressed his need, saying I am oppressed.
Ted Lee: He says, and Hezekiah pleaded with God to come to his aid.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah knew that he wasn't able to heal himself.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah realized that the experience should humble him because he knew that God brought on this illness.
Ted Lee: Verse 15 says what can I say?
Ted Lee: He has spoken to me and he himself has done it.
Ted Lee: So he pleaded with God to answer him and pay the debt he could not pay himself.
Ted Lee: How God delivered Hezekiah from death foreshadows what Jesus Christ did to pay the penalty of death that wretched sinners like you and me owe to a holy and just God.
Ted Lee: This salvation is a major blessing from God to a believer in Christ and encompasses a wide range of spiritual gifts.
Ted Lee: Salvation is by grace alone, through faith alone in Jesus Christ alone.
Ted Lee: Trust in him, and he will give you rest from all your burdens.
Ted Lee: So, after reflecting on these recent dangers that Hezekiah faced with his life-threatening illness, hezekiah abruptly changed the tone of this psalm.
Ted Lee: He changed it to express gratefulness and God restored him to health.
Ted Lee: Look at verse 16.
Ted Lee: Lord, by such things people live, and in every one of them my spirit finds life.
Ted Lee: You have restored me to health and let me live.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah acted as one who had personally benefited from the Lord's mercy.
Ted Lee: He sensed that God's love was with him and that God did not punish him in accord with what his sins deserved.
Ted Lee: We see this in verse 17.
Ted Lee: Indeed, it was for my own well-being that I'd had such intense bitterness, but your love has delivered me from the pit of destruction, for you have thrown all my sins behind your back.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah voiced his grateful praise in the presence of the covenant community, and we see this in Isaiah 38, verses 19 and 20.
Ted Lee: 19, the living, only the living, can thank you as I do today.
Ted Lee: A father will make your faithfulness known to children.
Ted Lee: The Lord is ready to save me.
Ted Lee: We will play stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the Lord.
Ted Lee: In his joy, hezekiah makes two longer-term commitments.
Ted Lee: The first one is to teach his children about God's faithful covenant love, his covenant love for his people, and second, to continually praise God.
Ted Lee: Well, let's see if Hezekiah follows up on this.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's commitment to praise God and to declare his faithfulness should be mirrored in our own lives.
Ted Lee: God's interventions in our lives are his blessings and they warrant heartfelt thanksgiving.
Ted Lee: When God intervenes in your life.
Ted Lee: Do you wholeheartedly thank God and praise him in your life?
Ted Lee: Do you wholeheartedly thank God and praise him?
Ted Lee: When we acknowledge our blessings and praise God for his goodness?
Ted Lee: Our faith deepens, especially in preparation for future uncertainties.
Ted Lee: Future uncertainties when you recognize that all of what you have has come to you from the Lord, when you recognize that there is absolutely nothing that you did to deserve God's mercy, and when you recognize that your deliverance from paying the debt you owe God for your sins was paid for by the death, burial and resurrection of Jesus Christ, then you will begin to realize how exceedingly blessed you are.
Ted Lee: This deepens your faith in God of the universe and prepares you to enter life's uncertainties.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah was a man of faith who recognized his mortality and sinfulness.
Ted Lee: He pleaded for God's grace and mercy and was blessed with a miraculous healing from near death and was graced with an extension of life.
Ted Lee: He praised God for his goodness and promised God a new obedience.
Ted Lee: But when past and present blessings produce pride in your heart instead of a lasting thankfulness, as we shall see in Hezekiah, your heart's attitude might cause you to make decisions that could negatively impact your relationship with God, your future and your children and your children's children.
Ted Lee: So beware, there is pride before the fall.
Ted Lee: This is our third point Pride before the fall.
Ted Lee: God's blessings could lead you to deeper faithfulness or dangerous pride.
Ted Lee: How did Hezekiah treat?
Ted Lee: God's blessings?
Ted Lee: Could lead you to deeper faithfulness or dangerous pride.
Ted Lee: How did Hezekiah treat God's blessings?
Ted Lee: Well, let's look at chapter 39.
Ted Lee: Verse 1.
Ted Lee: At that time, merodag Baladan, son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah, since he heard that he had been sick and had recovered.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah was pleased with the letters and he showed the envoys his treasure house, the silver, the gold, the spices and the precious oil and all his armory and everything that was found in his treasures.
Ted Lee: There was nothing in his palace and in all his realm that Hezekiah did not show them.
Ted Lee: Look at the blessings Hezekiah had.
Ted Lee: He had newly found health, he had an extended lifespan, he had wealth and riches of various kinds.
Ted Lee: Do you see Hezekiah's pride surfacing?
Ted Lee: Is there something about Hezekiah that reminds you about yourself?
Ted Lee: To better understand Hezekiah's pride issue, let's see what contributed to and led up to this foolish display of his wealth.
Ted Lee: Assyria repeatedly defeated and controlled Babylon.
Ted Lee: Muradak-baladan, the king of Babylon, was subject to the Assyrian empire.
Ted Lee: When the Assyrian king Sargon II died in 705 BC, he left the kingship to his son Sennacherib.
Ted Lee: He left the kingship to his son Sennacherib.
Ted Lee: This brought on some political instability in Assyria, so Meridach-Baladin tried to take advantage of the situation and he tried to gain independence from Assyria.
Ted Lee: This was the setting of this visit.
Ted Lee: So, while the exact reason for why the king of Babylon sent letters and a gift to Hezekiah following his recovery is not explicitly stated, but it appeared to involve more than just a simple visit to an old friend.
Ted Lee: Muradach Baladin's actions were likely aimed at forming a rebellious alliance against Assyria, with Hezekiah as a potential partner.
Ted Lee: Let's look at verse 3, chapter 39.
Ted Lee: Then the prophet Isaiah came to King Hezekiah and asked him what did these men say and where did they come to you from?
Ted Lee: And Hezekiah replied they came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.
Ted Lee: Notice that Hezekiah replied they came to me from a distant country, from Babylon.
Ted Lee: Notice that Hezekiah conveniently did not answer the first question, the first question being what did these men say?
Ted Lee: Isaiah must have sensed that Hezekiah was hiding something.
Ted Lee: And then, verse 4 Isaiah asked what have they seen in your palace?
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's answer to this question revealed to Isaiah, what was really going on?
Ted Lee: The text says Hezekiah answered they have seen everything in my palace.
Ted Lee: There isn't anything in my treasuries that I didn't show them.
Ted Lee: And with this statement Hezekiah admitted to personal responsibility in all of this.
Ted Lee: Isaiah knew that no king would reveal strategic national security matters to a foreign nation unless there was some plan to work together on something important.
Ted Lee: Being noticed on the international geopolitical stage fed into Hezekiah's pride.
Ted Lee: He became so entrenched with how Babylon thought about him.
Ted Lee: So Hezekiah's display of wealth and military power demonstrated his pridefulness, his sinfulness.
Ted Lee: Instead of focusing on glorifying God for healing him of his sickness, which he proclaimed in the psalm, he seemed to be determined to display his own earthly glory.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah knew he was going to survive another 15 years.
Ted Lee: He knew that the Assyrians would not defeat Jerusalem.
Ted Lee: He knew that God would defend Jerusalem and furthermore, god had previously reassured Hezekiah, through Isaiah, of his covenant relationship with his people and his divine preservation.
Ted Lee: So with this knowledge, hezekiah should have known that there was no need to make any alliance with Babylon.
Ted Lee: King Hezekiah's foolish actions could not be justified and Hezekiah's lack of spiritual awareness here was absolutely inexcusable.
Ted Lee: The chronicler in 2 Chronicles gave a commentary on this event and he said in chapter 32, verse 31, when the ambassadors of Babylon's rulers were sent to him, god left him to test him and discover what was in his heart.
Ted Lee: The chronicler recorded that God allowed all of this to test him and to know everything that was in Hezekiah's heart.
Ted Lee: Pride brings on God's rebuke.
Ted Lee: Isaiah proceeded to pronounce God's rebuke on Hezekiah's behavior In verse 5,.
Ted Lee: Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah Hear the word of the Lord of armies.
Ted Lee: Look, the days are coming when everything in your palace and all that your predecessors have stored up until today will be carried off to Babylon.
Ted Lee: Nothing will be left, says the Lord.
Ted Lee: Notice that the plunder was going to be taken to Babylon, not Nineveh, the capital of Assyria, the current power at the time.
Ted Lee: This prediction was not by human insight, but by the one sovereign Lord who knows the end from the beginning Isaiah 46.10.
Ted Lee: Although Hezekiah was exempted from the coming violent disaster, his pride cost him and his kingdom financially.
Ted Lee: His pride brought upon his people exiled to Babylon four generations later.
Ted Lee: And his pride even risked ending the Davidic line of kings by causing some of his dependents to serve as eunuchs in the court of Babylon.
Ted Lee: And what did Hezekiah have to say about the Lord's judgment on him?
Ted Lee: Verse 8,.
Ted Lee: Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah the word of the Lord that you have spoken is good, for he thought there will be peace and security during my lifetime.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's selfish relief does not speak well for him.
Ted Lee: This incident sets up the obvious prediction of the dark days awaiting the house of David and the people of Judah, hezekiah.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's pride in his wealth and military resources revealed that his heart did not fully trust God.
Ted Lee: But you might ask me, didn't we see in chapter 37 that Hezekiah fully trusted God?
Ted Lee: Yes, but also remember that the events of chapter 36 and 37, the Assyrian invasion of Judah and Jerusalem, occurred after two years, three years after the events of chapter 38 and 39.
Ted Lee: Perhaps that is why the Lord extended his life.
Ted Lee: He extended his life maybe to break his pride and cause him to trust God fully.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's foolish display of his treasures came about because Hezekiah claimed God's blessings for his own glory.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah's spiritual recovery had to wait to the trauma of the full-scale invasion on Jerusalem before he came to his senses.
Ted Lee: So this season of Hezekiah's life serves as a cautionary tale to us about the dangers of pride, the dangers of boasting, the dangers of misplaced priorities.
Ted Lee: Failure to appreciate and properly manage God's blessings leads to pride and an inflated sense of self.
Ted Lee: Our response to God's blessings should be rooted in proper stewardship and humility, not pride or show.
Ted Lee: Imagine that you're gifted a beautiful garden filled with vibrant flowers and fruitful trees.
Ted Lee: You're so excited and you tell everyone about it, boasting of its beauty and the blessings it brings.
Ted Lee: Yet you never tend to it.
Ted Lee: You allow the weeds to take over.
Ted Lee: This garden once was a source of joy for you and now becomes a hidden shame, because, much like pride can distort the blessings from God when we fail to obey his promises.
Ted Lee: The garden can flourish only if you nurture it with care, just as our faith is meant to produce fruit through obedience.
Ted Lee: Hezekiah was one of the most truly human of kings of Judah Because of his faith and humility in turning to God in prayer at the time of his deepest personal crisis.
Ted Lee: God not only blessed him with a miraculous healing from a fatal illness.
Ted Lee: God gave him far more than that, far more than what he had asked for an extra 15 years of living and deliverance for him and the city of Jerusalem from the power of the king of Assyria.
Ted Lee: His heart was genuinely moved towards God and he composed a psalm of thanksgiving in response to his healing.
Ted Lee: But his will, like yours and mine, was fickle under the pressures and temptations of life.
Ted Lee: Like David, and unlike the greater David who was his ascendant, jesus Christ, hezekiah's thoughts were often largely about himself.
Ted Lee: God's blessings could lead to a deeper faithfulness or a dangerous pride, and the choices that we make and the attitudes that we hold in our hearts towards God's blessings impact not just our lives but also the legacy we leave behind.
Ted Lee: Remember that young musician who was blessed with an ability to make music and a first job to write music for a church.
Ted Lee: Rather than seeing it just as a job, he approached it with gratitude and poured his heart into his work.
Ted Lee: He recognized God's blessings through his deepened faith, and he saw his musical talent and his life as gifts from God, and he used them to praise God and to share the gospel of Jesus Christ through his compositions.
Ted Lee: Little did he know his compositions would shape church music for centuries.
Ted Lee: Johann Sebastian Bach's legacy reminds us that by acting wisely and responding joyfully to the blessings we receive, we can leave an indelible mark for Christ on future generations.
Ted Lee: If you respond to God's blessings foolishly, like Hezekiah, you will also leave an indelible mark on future generations.
Ted Lee: You can falter and fail.
Ted Lee: Fail or you can choose wisely, grounded in humility and faithfulness to God's purpose.
Ted Lee: Let's pray.
Ted Lee: Heavenly Father, you have been generous to us with earthly treasures, as well as having blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavens.
Ted Lee: In Christ, cause us to recognize your blessings.
Ted Lee: I pray that your blessings cause us to grow in our devotion to Christ.
Ted Lee: Cause us to use your blessings to minister to others and point them to Christ.
Ted Lee: Our goal, Father, is to glorify you in all we do, whether through our actions, our devotion or even how we face challenges.
Ted Lee: I pray this in the name of Jesus, amen.