Hezekiah wasn’t a perfect King. He tried to do what was right and he followed in the footsteps of his father, David, in that he had a heart that followed God. But like David, he too had his weaknesses. We all do! Many scholars recognize Hezekiah as the best of the Kings of Judah. He was regularly compared to David.
When Hezekiah got sick and faced death he wept before God and prayed to be given more time. I love the answer God sent to him. It’s recorded in verse 5 of chapter 20. He said to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah, “I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will heal you.”
These are the words that God speaks to us all. We’re all sick. The disease is called “sin.” We’ve all failed. Even the greatest of us with hearts that seek after God have our own weaknesses and have failed at times to live up to God’s standards. The end result of this disease called sin is death. It’s always terminal. We spend all our days walking through this valley of the shadow of death. It colors everything we think, say and do. We’re captive to it.
But God has heard our prayers. He has seen our tears and he has healed us. Isaiah, the very same prophet, tells us about the coming Messiah, Jesus, who took our disease upon himself and suffered for our sake. Isaiah tells us “Surely he has borne our grief’s and carried our sorrows; But he was wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace,
and with his stripes we are healed.” (Isaiah 53:4-5)
Chuck
“The purpose of my instruction is that all believers would be filled with love that comes from a pure heart, a clear conscience, and genuine faith.” 1 Timothy 1:5