May I please Almighty God to bless the reading of His holy words to the prophet of our souls this evening. Let's turn to the prophecy of Isaiah and we'll read chapter 38.

The prophecy of Isaiah and reading chapter 38. 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 thou shalt die and not live. Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the Lord and said, 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 Hezekiah wept sore.

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've seen thy tears. Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years. And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And I will defend this city. And this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken. Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees which is gone down in the sundial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward, so the sun returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down.

The writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when he had been sick and was recovered of his sickness. 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. When age is departed and is removed from me, As a shepherd's tent I've cut off, like a weaver, my life, He will cut me off with pining sickness, From day even to night, wilt thou make an end of me? I reckons till morning that as a lion so will he break 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 should I say? He hath both spoken unto me and himself hath done it. I shall go softly all my days 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 will 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 my 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 him take a lump of figs and lay it for a plaster upon the boil and he shall recover. Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I should go up to the house of the Lord?

Hezekiah was a good king. He was a king that worshipped God. And he was a man of faith. A man who was blessed with true spiritual prayer. and we see in this chapter and the preceding chapters really we see the two signs the two situations one natural victory and then also spiritual victory and it's good that we have such accounts in the Word of God to encourage us in the previous chapter we read about the Assyrians who'd come up to fight with the Israelites and we're thankful that God wonderfully appeared for them insofar that as we have other indications in the Word of God there was no real need to fight and the Lord destroyed 185,000 of the Assyrians and so Hezekiah had much reason therefore to thank God to recognize it was indeed the Lord who'd be with him.

And so as we read, then the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and four score and five thousand. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. All the honor and all the glory had to go to Almighty God.

And then we come to chapter 38. And we're told, in those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet son of Amos came unto him and said unto him thus saith the Lord set thine house in order for thou shalt die and not live.

Well that was a very dramatic statement wasn't it to Hezekiah there he was apparently a healthy man but then he became sick unto death with a very serious complaint and Isaiah was sent to him to tell him thou shalt die and not live and then we see Hezekiah's response

Hezekiah's response he turned his face toward the wall and prayed unto the Lord, and said, Remember now, O Lord, I have beseeched 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 Hezekiah wept sore.

And then came the word of the Lord to Isaiah again. And this is what he said, 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, and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria. And I will defend this city, and this shall be a sign unto thee from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing that he hath spoken.

And then he gave a wonderfully encouraging sign by the shadow of the degrees which has gone down in the sundial of Ahaz ten degrees backward. So the sundial returned ten degrees by which degrees it was gone down. So the Lord appeared again to Hezekiah showing him very clearly that he was in control of everything and that which he had spoken indeed would come to pass.

And so we're thankful to have a record like that and then really we come on to what we might describe more as the spiritual sign of Hezekiah.

The writing of Hezekiah, 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 have deprived 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.

And so he was really brought down to a low place and yet the Lord had come to him and strengthened him and given him that prevailing prayer. And he tells us, my age is departed and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent. I've cut off like a weaver my life. He will cut me off with pining sickness From day even to night, wilt thou make an end of me?

And we see then his situation. He says, I reckoned till morning that as a lion, so would 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, when I as fail we're looking upward, O Lord I am oppressed undertake for me so we have a little view of Hesekiah's innermost feelings and his true position before God and he was able to confess I am oppressed undertake for me sometimes we may feel just like that we may feel oppressed oppressed because of the sins which do so easily beset us, because of the difficulties of our life in a natural way, because of the difficulties of our life in a spiritual way. And so we find ourselves a companion with Hezekiah and thankful that God in his amazing mercy has allowed such an account to be recorded.

And then he says, 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. And then he comes to a very lovely statement. He says, Oh Lord, by these things men live. And in all these things is the life of my spirit.

He recognized the necessity of God's gracious dealings with him to bring him to that place where he had to come and to cry unto God, calling upon Almighty God. And he recognises the need of it, the necessity of it. What a blessing if God deals with us and brings us into situations which perhaps we may not like and may not really want. And yet as we stand back and consider were able to join with Hezekiah and say, O Lord, by these things men live. And in all these things is the life of my spirit.

How wonderful that is to know the Lord is dealing with us in love to our souls. And dealing with us so that we recognise that it's through these adversities that God brings us to recognise this great truth, by these things men live. God doesn't leave us just to carry on aimlessly, satisfied with the poor things of this world, but brings us to that conclusion that we need something different, something far more important. And so that's where Hezekiah came, and God indeed blessed him.

And he tells us, Behold, for peace I had great bitterness. That's not an easy path, is it? when God brings bitterness into our life rather than peace we love peace don't we but sometimes God deals with us and he deals with us in a specific way and Ezekiel tells us what that is but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption he wasn't left to himself God dealt with him graciously, mercifully. He encouraged him. He spoke to him. He answered his prayers. And he showed him where he was. And so he comes and says, so wilt thou recover me and make me to live.

He had a confidence in his God. He didn't look outside. He looked to his God. And he tells us, 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 well that was a gracious and wonderful lesson that Hezekiah had learned and it was through the grace of God and my friends it's the same today where God blesses us with his grace, blesses us with those favours that we don't deserve, and we recognise then something of the bitterness, but also to think that God has delivered our soul from the pit of corruption.

By nature, that's where we would go. But to think we have a merciful God who looks upon us in love to our soul, And it's because He does love us, thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption, for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back. A wonderful revelation. It's wonderful for you and me today. If God comes and brings us perhaps into a thorny path, a difficult way, and yet in that path, He brings us closer to Him and He reveals to us His love and He reveals to us His mercy and He reveals to us His forgiveness.

And then Hezekiah goes on and says, For the grave cannot praise thee, Death cannot celebrate thee. They that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth. Obvious statements, aren't they? The Living, the Living, He shall praise thee as I do this day.

He brings the Church of God together. with this great, wonderful favour of praising God and recognising that once we pass out of time, we will not be able to praise God. And so he says, 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. What a good desire, isn't it? To be found singing praise to our God. And it's good if you and I can examine ourselves and find, as Hekia did, great reason to praise God. and to thank Him for all His mercies.

Well, just a few remarks on part of this 38th chapter. It's an instructive chapter and the other accounts of Hezekiah don't go into the details of his soul. So we're thankful that God in His love and mercy describes these things to encourage us today and to realise we have a God who knows all about us.

The psalmist tells us, He weakened my strength in the way. Sometimes we might think we're strong in ourselves and able to stand, but God comes and draws near and shows us that it's His power that weakens us. What a mercy it is then to realize that we have such a God who is kind and gracious.

Well, may God bless us indeed as we ask it for his great name's sake. Amen.