Let us turn again to the word
of God turning to the book of the prophet Isaiah in Isaiah
chapter 38 we read that portion in 2nd Chronicles
32 where mention is made in passing really of him being sick unto
death And here, in this 38th chapter, we have the prayer of
thanksgiving that he prayed after he had recovered from that sickness. Isaiah 38, I'll read from verse
9. The writing of Ezekiah, king
of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness,
I said in the cutting off of my days I shall go to the gates
of the grave I am deprived of the residue of my years I said
I shall not see the Lord even the Lord in the land of the living
I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world
mine age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent
I have cut off like a weave of my life He will cut me off with
pining sickness. From day even to night wilt thou
make an end of me. I reckon till morning that as
a lion so will he break all my bones. From day even to night
wilt thou make an end of me. Like a crane or a swallow so
did I chatter. I did mourn as a dove. Mine eyes
fail with looking upward. O Lord, I am oppressed. Undertake for me. What shall
I say? He hath both spoken unto me,
and himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my years
in the bitterness of my soul. O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit. So wilt thou
recover me, and make me to live. Behold, for peace I had great
bitterness, But thou hast in love to my soul delivered it
from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind
thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee,
death cannot celebrate thee. They that go down into the pit
cannot hope for thy truth. The living, the living, he shall
praise thee, as I do this day. The father to the children shall
make known thy truth, The Lord was ready to save me. Therefore
we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the
days of our life in the house of the Lord. For Isaiah had said,
Let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster upon
the boil, and he shall recover. Ezekiel also had said, What is
the sign that I shall go up to the house of the Lord? Hezekiah's prayer of thanksgiving. Hezekiah's prayer of thanksgiving. And he clearly is quite a remarkable
king because we find in scripture a threefold account of his life
and the Lord's dealings with him. It's true of course with
many of the kings we do have a twofold account. We read of
them both in Kings and in Chronicles. But here we also have a great
deal of information concerning King Hezekiah in the middle of
the book of the Prophet. It's as if the Prophet breaks
off from his prophetic writings and records something of Hezekiah's
history here in chapters 36 through to 39. We also read of his reign in the second book
of Kings chapters 18 19 and 20 and then of course we read a
portion there in 2nd Chronicle where we have the record of his
reign in chapters 29 through to 32 so We gather there's something significant
with regards to this particular king amongst others. And what
do we see with regards to Ezekiel? Well, he was certainly a man
of many fears. James says of the prophet Elijah,
he was a man subject to like passions as we are, and we can
say the same. with regards to Hezekiah. It's
true, of course, of all the godly. All those that we read of, even
that great catalogue of the faithful in Hebrews 11. They were men
and women subject to like passions, as we are. They were the fallen
sons and daughters of Adam, and they were those who knew the
grace of God, but they were fearful. why Isaiah so many times addresses
them with those fear nots. Fear not thou worm Jacob and
ye men of Israel. Well, King Hezekiah was fearful. It seems he was void at times
of any hope beyond the grave. Death was a great terror to this
man. He says here in verse 10, I said
in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the
grave. I am deprived of the residue of my years. I said I shall not
see the Lord, even the Lord in the land of the living. I shall
behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world. Verse 18, the grave
cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee. They that go
down into the pits cannot hope for thy truth. How awful it was. He's not alone, of course, in
such feelings. We see the same on occasions
in the language of the Psalmist. The words of Heman are recorded
in Psalm 88. There in Psalm 88, at verse 10,
"...wilt thou show wonders to the dead?" asks Heman. Shall the dead arise and praise
the sealer? Shall thy lovingkindness be declared
in the grave, or thy faithfulness in destruction? Shall thy wonders
be known in the dark, and thy righteousness in the land of
forgetfulness? And David also at times, in Psalm
6 and verse 5, David says, In death there is no remembrance
of thee in the grave. who shall give thee thanks."
Or death was a great torment, a great adversary to these godly
people. On other occasions we see that
David is more optimistic and more positive with regards to
what he says concerning that great terror death in Psalm 17
for example. and verse 15 as for me I will
behold thy face in righteousness he says I shall be satisfied
when I awake with thy likeness and of course we have those remarkable
words of Job 19 I know that my Redeemer liveth and he shall
stand the latter day upon the earth and though after my skin
worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God,
whom I shall see for myself and not another, though my brains
be consumed within me." Oh, there is a fear and yet there is a
rejoicing in the goodness of God. And here in Isaiah 25 we
have those words, He will swallow up death in victory. But these
men are living before the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ, of
course. Many centuries previous to that
tremendous time when God sends His Son, it was the fullness
of the time when God sent Him. What a day that was. And the
Lord Jesus Christ would come to vanquish sin and Satan, death
and the grave. O death, where is thy sting?
O grave, where is thy victory? The sting of death is sin withal.
The strength of sin is the law. thanks be to God who giveth us
the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. These men lived
before Christ had come and died and risen again and showed himself
by those infallible proofs to his disciples and then ascended
to heaven. And so, let us not be too hard
on good King Hezekiah when he uses the sort of language we've
referred to here in his song in verses 10 and 11 and 18. He was a man of fear, subject
to like passions, as we are. But he was also a man of faith. Very much a man of faith. And
how tremendous are the words that we read there in 2 Chronicles. in chapter 32 at verse 7, as
he speaks comfortably to the people. What words are these? Be strong, he says, and courageous. Be not afraid nor dismayed for
the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with
him. For there be more with us than with him. With him is an
arm of flesh, But with us is the Lord our God to help us and
to fight our battles. And the people rested themselves
upon the words of Hezekiah the king of Judah. What a word! The
people rested themselves. The margin says they leaned themselves
upon the words of King Hezekiah. Here we have God's Word and it's
for us to come and lean ourselves, rest ourselves upon the Word
of God. Well, let us consider something
of his prayer of thanksgiving and for a text I want to center,
as it were, upon the words that we have here at verse 16. As
he speaks of God's dealings with him at this time now he's been
restored from his sickness. And what does he say in verse
16? O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things
is the life of my spirit, so wilt thou recover me and make
me to live. There's a very strong emphasis
then upon life, living. By these things men live, and
in all these things is the life of my spirit, so will thou recover
me and make me to live." And all that we might have something
of that life, that spiritual life that we see so evident in
this gracious man. In a sense I suppose I should
say that the text I would like to deal with is the whole of
this remarkable prayer of thanksgiving. It runs from verse 9 right the
way through to verse 20, but There in verse 16, as it were,
I leave you a text to think upon. But let us come to consider God's
word and God's dealings. Three things I want to mention
tonight. Providence, prophecy, and prayer. Providence, prophecy, and prayer. Now providence, of course, concerns
the works of God. We believe in a God of providence. We believe in a God of creation. But creation is one work, providence
is quite another work. God is not creating today. God
created all things at the beginning over a period of six days, and
on the seventh day God rested from all that's work. He finished
the work of creation, but that doesn't mean that God then became
altogether inactive. because God now works in his
providence he governs his creation he watches over all his creatures
and we see many things in scripture that encourage us to believe
that there is a God of providence he's the one in whom we live
and move and have our being and we have the record of the lives
of people in which we see a remarkable display of God's providence think
of a man like Joseph and all that befell that man and we are
told in Psalm 105 the Lord tried him by his word, the word of
the Lord tried him until there was the accomplishment of that
promise that God had given to him. Until the time that his
word came, it says, the word of the Lord tried him, but there
was a time when his word came. Now, this morning we were also
hearing the book of Isaiah and subsequently to that service
I was thinking of those words at the end of chapter 60, we
were looking at those final two verses and then the end of verse
3 in chapter 61, but I was thinking of those words at the end of
the 60th chapter, I the Lord will hasten it in His time. Oh
the Lord has His times and we have to recognize that. All
our times are in His hands. and sometimes we grow impatient,
and yet the Lord is hastening His work. We believe in a God
of providence, and we certainly see God's providence here in
the life of this king Hezekiah. And God's providential works
really seem to stand out against him. God seems to be against
him. What do we read at the beginning
of this 38th chapter? In those days, it says, was Hezekiah
sick unto death. In those days. What days are those? Well, they
are the days concerning what is written in the previous chapters.
The events recorded here in chapters 36 and chapter 37, these two chapters, in those
days. When all those events were taking
place Ezekiah is sick. Now, when exactly was that? We know
from 2nd Kings chapter 18 and verse 2 that this man reigned
29 years in Jerusalem. 29 years he reigned in Jerusalem
and then he died and he was succeeded by his son Manasseh and here
in verse 5 we're told how the Lord hears his prayer and 15
years were added to his life This is a message that the Lord
gives to Isaiah for Hezekiah. Go, say to Hezekiah, Thus saith
the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer,
I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will add unto thy days
fifteen years. So we know, if he reigned twenty-nine
years, that this was in the fourteenth year of his reign. So those days spoken of at the
beginning of this chapter, refer to that particular year. And what a year that was! When
we go back to those previous chapters, as I said, chapter
36, we read, "...he came to pass in the fourteenth year of King
Ezekiah that Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all
the defense cities of Judah and took them." And he takes all those walled
cities and he comes to Jerusalem. Does Sennacherib, the great Assyrian
emperor, or at least he sends his armies. He's at Lachish.
He's obviously expanding his great kingdom. And it's in the
14th year of the reign of King Hezekiah that all this is happening. And how he sends one of his generals,
Rabshakei, and we see him there in chapter 36 taunting the people
of Jerusalem. In the second verse of that chapter,
the king of Assyria sent Rabshakei from Lachish to Jerusalem unto
King Hezekiah with a great army, and he stood by the conduit of
the upper pool in the highway of the fullest field. Then came
forth unto him Eliakim, Hilkiah's son, which was over the house,
and Shebna the scribe, and Joah Asaph's son, the recorder." These
various court officials of Hezekiah's come And Rabshakei said unto
them, Say ye now to Hezekiah, thus saith the great king, the
king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest? And they begin to taunt the people. And they do it in the Jews' language. They're not quietly speaking
to these officials. They're doing all of this in
the in the hearing of the people as we see in that 36th chapter. Verse 11, Eliakim and Shebna
and Joar. Say unto Rabshakei, Speak I pray
thee unto thy servants in the Syrian language for we understand
it and speak not to us in the Jews language in the ears of
the people that are on the war But then in verse 13, Rabbi Shekei
stood and cried with a loud voice in the Jewish language and said,
Hear ye the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. This is all happening in the
14th year of the king's reign. And these officials, they come
and they tell the words to the king at the end of chapter 36.
Then came Eliakim the son of Hilkiah that was over the household,
and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder,
to Ezekiah with their clothes rent, and told him the words
of Rabshakei. And then, after this, Sennacherib
sends a message or a letter to King Ezekiel when we come into
the next chapter, chapter 37. Now remember, we're considering
the significance of these words at the beginning of chapter 38
in those days. Was Ezekiel sick unto death?
Those days being what's recorded previously in chapter 36 but
also in chapter 37 and we have mention of this letter. in verse 8 of that chapter Rabshakei
returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libna
for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish and he
heard say concerning to Hagar king of Ethiopia he has come
forth to make war with thee and when he heard it he sent messengers
to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of
Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive
thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of
the king of Assyria. Behold, thou hast heard what
the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them
utterly, and shalt thou be delivered, and so forth. All this is going on And then,
in the midst of all this political drama, and his very city under
siege, and so many cities throughout Judah already fallen, in the
midst of all this he is sick, and he's going to die. In those
days was Hezekiah sick unto death, and Isaiah the prophet, the son
of Amos, came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord,
Set thine house in order, For they shall die and not live. Remember what Job said on one
occasion concerning the mystery of God's dealings and God's contrary
ways. His troops come together. All
his troops come together and raise up their way against me
and encamp about my tabernacle. His tabernacle being his own
body there, of course. Oh, he's so sorely afflicted,
Joe, but couldn't Ezekiel say something very similar to that?
God's providence, it all seemed to be against him. Oh, there's
so much trouble without. There's the Assyrians, and now
he is sick in Bodom. God's works, God's providence. seems to be so much against King
Ezekiel. But more than that, prophecy,
God's Word. God's Word is also, alas, against
him. It's the Lord's prophet Isaiah
who is sent directly from God to utter those solemn words at
the end of the first verse, "...thus saith the Lord, set thine house
in order, for thou shalt die and not live now previously or
previously there were those times when in the midst of all his
political troubles Ezekiel found much comfort in the word of God
God's word seemed to be so much for him once upon a time and
not many months previously in chapter 37 And verse 6, Isaiah says unto
him, Thus shall ye say unto your master. He's speaking to the
servants of the king, Thus shall thou say unto your master. Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid
of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the
king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Behold, I will send a blast
upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and
I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. That was
God's word again but it was very much a positive word, a word
that was very much for the king and then again later in that
37th chapter in verse 33 in chapter 37, thus saith the Lord concerning
the king of Assyria he shall not come into this city nor shoot
an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank
against it, by the way that he came, by the same shall he return,
and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will
defend this city, to save it for mine own sake, and for my
servant David's sake." God's word is a comforting word, it's
very much for Hezekiah and for those in Jerusalem they're not
going to fall to the armies of the Assyrians but God is going
to deliver His people. Now, what of the sickness then
that comes upon Him? Well, we're told, aren't we,
in verse 21 that it was a boil Let them take, this is the word
of Isaiah, let them take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster
upon the boil, and he shall recover. Literally, the word that's used
here, the boil, it's literally the word a plague boil. A plague
boil. And Matthew Poole asked the question,
was it leprosy? Was it a leprous outbreak in his skin? In Leviticus
chapter 13, where we have the symptoms that the priest is to
look for when a person is suspected of having some form of leprosy,
in Leviticus 13 verses 18, 19 and 20 we do read of a leprosy
in the boil. and Matthew Paul equates that
with what he said with regards to this sickness that has come
upon Hezekiah. Now Hezekiah's great-grandfather
Uzziah was himself a leper. In 2 Chronicles 26 at verse 16,
following we see how God struck him down with leprosy. The reason
for that was because he intruded into the priest's office. He
presumed to make an offering to the Lord, which was the privilege
of the priests, not the kings. And Uzziah became a leper, and
he was a leper all his days and he died with leprosy and one
just wonders in the midst of all his troubles now God's word going out against
him as it were suddenly he is struck down with this awful disease
called leprosy And he's told quite clearly that
he is going to die. Set thy house in order for thou
shalt die and not live. Now what is he to do? Well, there's
a hymn, remarkable hymn really. I suppose it's principally a
piece of poetry because it's not a hymn that appears in Gadsby's. It's not a hymn really suitable
for singing but it's a hymn based upon the history of King Ezekiel
and some of it struck me quite forcibly only well I've seen
it previously but the other day thinking about it King Ezekiel
laid his ease with every danger symptom seized beyond the cure
of art with languid pulse and strength decayed with spirit
sunk and soul dismayed and ready to depart And then, that's the beginning
of this hymn. It's seven verses, six-line verses. And when we come to the end,
we have these two verses. Ye dumps of death that chill
me through. This is Ezekiah speaking, as
it were. Ye dumps of death that chill
me through. God's prophet and prediction
to I must withstand you all, both heaven and earth, a while
be gone. I turn me to the Lord alone,
and face the silent war." He said, and weeping poured a prayer,
that conquered pain, removed despair with all its heavy load,
repelled the force of death's attack, brought the recanting
prophet back, and turned the mind of God. And that's what he does, he prays.
He prays and we come to that in the third place. We thought
of God's providence, God's works, God's prophecy, God's word here
in particular which seems so against the man. What does he
do? Verse 2, Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and
prayed unto the Lord. And I like, I like these lines
in the hymn that I was just quoting concerning this man, favorite
of heaven. in thee we see the miracles of
prayer, in thee the omnipotence of faith." Always a favourite of heaven
this man. Favourite of heaven, in thee we see the miracles of
prayer, in thee the omnipotence of faith. And so finally this
evening I want to say something with regards to how in the prayer
we see that God is really for him. God has brought him to this.
God has brought him to a situation where what can he do? The only
thing he can do is pray. He's not dissimilar, is he, to
his great forebear, King David. Remember how David encouraged
himself in the Lord is God, when everything else was against David.
David encouraged himself in the Lord is God. And there we see
this man King Hezekiah as a man of much prayer. When Rabshakeh first came as
we see there in chapter 36 and he speaks to these servants from
the court of King Hezekiah and they report back to the king
at the end of chapter 36 with their clothes rent and they
tell the king all the words of Rabshikai and then chapter 37
it came to pass when king Ezekiah heard it that he rent his clothes
and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the
Lord he went into the house of the Lord Why does he go to the
house of the Lord? He's going there to seek the
face of the Lord, to pray. And it's not just a matter of
praying himself, but he turns also to the Prophet. As we see
there in the following verses, verse 2 of chapter 37, He sent
Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the
elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the
prophet, the son of Amos. And they said unto him, Thus
saith Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and
of blasphemy. For the children are come to
the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth, it may be. The
Lord thy God will hear the words of Rabchakei, whom the king of
Assyria, his master, hath sent to reproach the living God, and
will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard.
Wherefore lift up thy voice for the remnant that is left." Well,
we ask the Prophet, you see, to pray. Lift up thy prayer.
Lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. He's not only going
to the temple to pray, but he wants Isaiah also to join him
in prayer. And then, subsequent to that,
we see when he receives a letter from Sennacherib that's delivered
to him in that same 37th chapter, what does he do? He takes that
letter and he spreads it before the Lord. Verse 14 of that 37th
chapter, Ezekiel received the letter from the hand of the messengers
and read it. And Ezekiel went up into the
house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. And Hezekiah
prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of heaven,
that dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone,
of all the kingdoms of the earth. And Thou hast made heaven and
earth. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and
hear. Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see. And hear all the words
of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God. And
so he prays. So he pleads with his God, and
of course, the outcome is that that prayer is heard because
eventually the Assyrians do depart and Sennacherib himself is killed
by his own sons there in his own land but how this man is
clearly a man of prayer or he would turn into the temple which
was the house of prayer That's how the Lord Jesus Christ describes
it in the Gospel, isn't it? A house of prayer for all nations. But now you see, when we come
to Him here in His sickness in this 38th chapter, He's unable
to go to the Temple. He's on His deathbed it seems.
So what do we read in the 2nd verse then? Has He turned His
face toward the wall? He turned his face toward the
wall and prayed unto the Lord God. Now was it that wall that
was against the temple of the Lord as it were? Is he looking
to the temple of the Lord? Remember Solomon's great prayer
at the dedication of the temple. Whatever situation or circumstances
God's ancient covenant people might find themselves in, they
were to look to the temple. and they were to address the
Lord God. Why, in Daniel we see that when
the king made his decree that all prayer must be made only
in his name, yet Daniel still goes to his own room every day,
three times a day, and opens the windows towards Jerusalem
and prays to the Lord his God. Think of also the experience
of Jonah when he was in the belly of the great fish and cries out
and says, I am cast out of thy sight, yet will I look again
toward thy holy temple. When my soul fainted within me,
he says, I remembered the Lord and my prayer came into thine
holy temple. Well, this is what this one is
doing, surely, is looking to the Lord. and all that the temple
represents. And of course the temple is a
remarkable type of the Lord Jesus Christ. The temple in the Old
Testament is a type of Christ. He says in the New to the Jews,
destroy this temple. In three days I will build it
again. And they think he's speaking of that temple that stood in
Jerusalem. But he's speaking of himself, his own body. What
are these men doing, be it Daniel or Jonah or Ezekiah? They're looking to the Lord Jesus
Christ. He is the only mediator between God and man. But how
this man prays, and he cannot now go into the temple, but he'll
turn his face to the wall. And what does he do? He weeps
in his prayer. What does he say? Verse 3, Remember
now, O Lord, I beseech Thee. How I have walked before Thee
in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good
in Thy sight, and Ezekiel wept sore. The margin says the Hebrew
reads, wept with great weeping. He wept with great weeping. Verse 14, like a crane or a swallow,
so did I chatter, I did mourn as a dove, mine eyes failed with
looking upward, O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me,
he says, undertake for me. That's real prayer, isn't it?
That's the prayer that is such a vital part of true worship. The worship that we sang of in
our opening hymn. for thee my soul would cry and
send a laboring groan, for thee my heart would sigh and make
a pensive moan." That's true worship, that's not the worship
of a formalist, that's the worship of a man whose heart is in the
praises of God and in his prayers to God. And what does he say
here in this 16th verse? Oh Lord, by these things men
live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit. So
will thou recover me and make me to live its spiritual life
that he's speaking of here. This is the life of God in the
soul of a man. And that's what we see in this
goodly king. It's not an easy course. It's not an easy course. All
these things coming together, one on top of the other. And the Lord's dealing in this
strange way with his servant. He prays and his prayer is heard.
Verse 4, Then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah, saying, Go
and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy
father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears. Behold, I will add unto thy days
fifteen years. I said there's a threefold record
concerning the history of this man and these events in 2nd Kings,
in 2nd Chronicles, in Isaiah. Just turning briefly to the account
that we have in 2nd Kings chapter 20. What do we read there? Verse 2, he turns his face to
the wall, prays unto the Lord, and says, I beseech thee, O Lord,
remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with
a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight.
And Hezekiah wept sore, wept with a great weeping. It's virtually
the same account as we have in Isaiah, but then it's a slight
difference. And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into
the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him before
he had left the royal palace really Isaiah had come to tell him set
thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live and upon
receiving that news the king turns his face to the wall and
pleads with God in that short prayer weeping and before Isaiah
was gone out into the middle court The word of the Lord came
to him, saying, Turn again, and tell them, As he called the captain
of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father,
I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold, I will
heal thee. Then on the third day thou shalt
go up into the house of the Lord, and I will add unto thy days
fifteen years, and I will deliver thee in this city out of the
hand of the king of Assyria, and I will defend this city for
mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Oh, God hears prayer,
doesn't He? Before they call, I will answer.
While they are yet speaking, I will hear. That's to God that
we pray to. He hears. I said not unto the
seed of Jacob. Seek him, I face in vain. This
man is the seed of Jacob. Or the seed of David, I should
say. And who is this David? that we speak of so often, ultimately
it's the Lord Jesus Christ God's Beloved and if we are those who
are trusting in Him, we are the seed we are the seed of David
and God doesn't say to us, seek in my face in thine no, He will
hear us and He will teach us these lessons He will even grant to us that
life that was given to this man in the midst of all his anxieties,
in the midst of all his fears, as death was staring him in the
face. O Lord, by these things men live,
and in all these things is the life of my spirit, so wilt thou
recover me and make me to live. What a prayer of thanksgiving
we have, the writing of Ezekiel, king of Judah, when he had been
sick and was recovered of his sickness. May the Lord bless
his word to us. Amen.