HEZEKIAH’S RESOLUTION
(A New-Year Motto.)
Isaiah 38:15-20. I shall go softly all my years, &c.
This resolution grows out of that singular experience of sickness and recovery recorded in the preceding verses. It furnishes an excellent motto for the year. Our translation is somewhat defective, but if we substitute “on” for “in” the correct sense will be clear. The meaning is that the recovered king would walk through the fifteen years that were added to his life in salutary remembrance of his dangerous illness, and of the goodness of God in prolonging his days on earth. The memory of that trouble and of the mercy that rescued him would put a staff in his hand to make his walk more devoted, circumspect, and consistent. Understood thus, the words are applicable to all. Some of you may be able to trace a close resemblance between your experience and that of Hezekiah. Like him, you may have escaped from a well-nigh fatal illness. But all of us can look back on similar periods—on mercies received and dangers averted—and in recollection of them we may say, “I shall go softly all my years on the bitterness of my soul.”
I do not know any better commentary on these words than the opening stanza of Tennyson’s In Memoriam:—
“Men may rise on stepping-stones
Of their dead selves to higher things.”
A good New Year’s motto, which harmonises so sweetly with it. Our past experiences, our dead selves, may be made stepping-stones on which we may climb to a clearer vision and a loftier devotion. What, then, was the nature of that pathway of life which this good king engaged to pursue? What was the prospect which opened up before him?
1. A walk of humble dependence on God. This element in the resolution is distinctly expressed. In Isaiah 38:15-16, God’s Word and acts are viewed as the real supports of life. Looking above all secondary causes and natural agencies, the king acknowledges God as the source and giver of life. This is a great lesson, and one which an experience like that of Hezekiah can teach. It seems to us a natural thing to live on; we count on continued health and long life till some sickness lays us low, and we are brought to feel as we never felt before that our times are in God’s hand. But whether we have passed through a dangerous illness or not, the resolution befits us all. Let us remember that God sustains and orders our lives.
It was, indeed, a singular position in which Hezekiah was placed. He knew precisely how long he would live. The duration of our pilgrimage is just as fixed as his was, only we do not know it (P. D. 2252). The thread of our life is in God’s hand. Thus was Hezekiah taught to “go softly.” His soul had passed through “great bitterness,” and he shall bear it in mind, and his rescue from it deepen his dependence on God.
2. A walk of usefulness. It was on this plea that he had prayed for the prolongation of his life (Isaiah 38:3). He had rendered valuable service and had borne a consistent testimony. The convalescent king saw a prospect of further work for God on earth. He who a short time before this seemed about to leave his kingdom in confusion without an heir to the throne is now able to say, “The father of the children shall make known thy truth.” Does it not become us to ask, Why is my life prolonged? Why have I been permitted to enter on a new year? Is it not for this reason, among others, that we may become increasingly serviceable in advancing the cause of truth? Better far that life should terminate than that we should live to no purpose, for every year adds to our responsibilities. Advance, then, into this year resolved that, God sparing you, you will live more useful lives (H. E. I. 3228–3251; P. D. 2269).
3. A walk of thankfulness (Isaiah 38:19-20). How thankful this convalescent was for his restoration to health, and all the more so because to him, as to other saints of his age, the grave seemed dark and gloomy (Isaiah 38:18). It needed the Gospel of Christ’s resurrection to dispel the darkness and the gloom. This psalm is itself a proof of Hezekiah’s thankful spirit, and perhaps the 118th Psalm is another production of his pen, containing as it does words of hope suitable to this period of his history (Psalms 118:17-18). Are we too resolved that our remaining years shall be years of thanksgiving, our lives a psalm of praise?
4. This fifteen years’ walk was to be a walk of peace (Isaiah 38:17). The meaning here is that the affliction was sent with a view to his obtaining a more settled and abiding peace; it teaches us, as nothing else can, the secret of inward peace. What are the sources of dispeace? One of them is found—
(1.) In our earthly strivings and ambitions. “There is no peace to the wicked.” He is constantly on the rack of avaricious struggles, unsatisfied longings, sensual desires. Affliction can show us the utter vanity of earthly things. How poor the world looks as seen from within the curtains of a dying bed! The sufferer who has come back from the gates of death is able to estimate earthly things at their right value. He ceases from the low ambitions and carnal desires that once raged within him.
2. Bodily pain and weakness is another cause of unrest. An experience of this bitterness brings peace when the patient is restored to health. We set greater value on a blessing which we have lost and regained. One of our poets describes a convalescent gathering strength, and coming forth after long confinement to look upon the scenes of Nature—
“The common earth and air and skies
To him are opening paradise!”
To have such feelings we must have known affliction. For the enjoyment of this peace we must have tasted “great bitterness.”
3. But the greatest source of dispeace is unpardoned sin (Isaiah 38:17). How complete is the forgiveness of sin as thus expressed! What a peace is enjoyed when guilt is removed and God’s love shed abroad in our hearts! (H. E. I. 1893, 1894; P. D. 2675, 2677).
What more do we need to make this year a happy one than to set forward with this resolution? We cannot break away from the past. We are now what it has made us. Our “dead selves” make our living present selves. From our trials and sorrows we may gain supports for nobler endeavour. “I shall go softly,” meekly, submissively, prayerfully, “on the bitterness of my soul.” Do you wish some spring, some impulse to send you forward thus in life’s pathway? Think of some bitterness in your past experience, some Marah which the Lord sweetened for you, some trouble from which He rescued you when you lay on the brink of death, or under the feeling of Divine desertion, or under the accusations of a troubled conscience, and make that “dead self” a support for the path before you.”—William Guthrie, M.A.
THE RESTORATION OF BELIEF
Isaiah 38:15. I shall go softly all my years, &c.
In the case of Hezekiah, belief was restored by a great shock which brought him into contact with reality. He had been living, as many of us live, a pleasant, prosperous life, till he had really grown to believe that this world and its interests were the only things worth caring for. His treasures, his art collections, the beauty of his palace, made him love his life and dream that it was not a dream. God appeared to him not as to Adam, in the cool of the day, but as He came to Job, in the whirlwind and the eclipse, and Hezekiah knew that he had been living in a vain show. The answer of his soul was quick and sad, “By these things men live, O Lord;” these are the blows which teach men what life really is.
Many are prosperous, happy, and at ease. It will be wise for these to remember that thoughtless prosperity weakens the fibre of the soul (H. E. I. 3997–4014).
The blow which sobered Hezekiah was a common one. It did nothing more than bring him face to face with death. The process whereby his dependence on God was restored was uncomplicated. But there are far worse shocks than this, and recovery from them into a godlike life is long and dreadful.
1. One of these is the advent of irrecoverable disease—protracted weakness or protracted pain. Then we ask what we have done: we curse our day. But our misfortune brings round us the ministering of human tenderness: slowly the soul becomes alive to love; and through the benign influence of human love the first step towards the restoration of belief has been made, the soil is prepared for the work of the Spirit of God. Then the Gospel story attracts and softens the sufferer’s heart. Afterwards he reads that Christ’s suffering brought redemption unto man, and begins to realise how he can fill up what is behindhand of the sufferings of Christ. This is not only the restoration of belief—it is the victory of life.
2. More dreadful than protracted disease is that shipwreck which comes of dishonoured love—
“When all desire at last, and all regret,
Go hand in hand to death, and all is vain,
What shall assuage the unforgotten pain,
And teach the unforgetful to forget?”
For some there is no remedy but death. Others live on in a devouring memory. And the memory poisons all belief in God. But there are many who recover, and emerge into peace and joy. Can we at all trace how this may be? Lapse of time does part of the work. It does not touch the memory of love. The pain of having a gift thrown aside has passed; the sweetness of having given remains. When we thought ourselves farthest from God, we were unconsciously nearest to Him. And so we are saved, faith is restored. Like Christ, we can say, “Father, forgive them, for they knew not what they did.”
3. Many are conscious, in later life, that their early faith has passed away. It was unquestioning, enthusiastic. It depended much on those we loved. Religious feelings which had been without us and not within, slowly and necessarily died away. Becoming more and more liberal, we also became more and more unbelieving, and at last realised that our soul was empty. Are we to settle down into that? It is suicide, not sacrifice, which abjures immortality and prefers annihilation. Our past belief was borrowed too much from others. Resolve to accept of no direction which will free you from the invigorating pain of effort. Free yourself from the cant of infidelity. It boasts of love, it boasts of liberality. Its church is narrower than our strictest sect. Bring yourself into the relation of a child to a father. We need to come to our second self, which is a child—to possess a childhood of feeling in the midst of manhood.—Stopford A. Brooke: Christ in Modern Life, pp. 380–392.
A GREAT DELIVERANCE
Isaiah 38:17. Thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
The text forms part of a king’s song on recovering from a severe illness. “When we are raised from deep distress, our God deserves a song.” But it points beyond temporal deliverance to salvation from the power and punishment of sin.
I. THE SINNER’S CONDITION.
In “the pit of corruption.” This description suggests—
1. Loathsomeness. It is a fit simile of the world in which the unconverted live. It is not a quagmire, but a pit; not a dry pit, but one full of corruption—filth, death, worms. To God, “glorious in holiness,” every man in the pit of corruption must be loathsome. He may be educated, loving, philanthropic, and worldly wise, but being dead in trespasses and sins, he is fit only for being buried out of the sight of God and stood men.
2. Helplessness. A man in a pit is helpless, like Joseph. No man ever yet got out of the pit of corruption by his Latin, his logic, or his mother wit. It is not for him to postpone the date of a deliverance once vouchsafed.
3. Increasing danger. Men never mend in the pit.
II. THE SINNER’S HELPER.
“Thou,” &c. In vain does the sinner look within himself or to his fellow-men for help, but God gives it. Every saint praises God for his salvation: “Thou,” &c. Note,
1. The freeness of God’s redeeming love. There is nothing in a man wallowing in a pit of corruption to draw out love. Where it is shown, it is a free gift.
2. The fulness of that love. “Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” Some wink at our sins, others cast them into our teeth on all occasions. God does neither. He abhors sin, but when He forgives the sinner, He forgets the sin (Jeremiah 50:20; Romans 8:33; Psalms 32:2; H. E. I. 2322–2337).
III. THE SINNER’S DUTY.
He is not to lie quiet, but to cry for a deliverer. Wishing, hoping, thinking will not do. The crying, to be effectual, must be made now. Now God says, “My arm is not shortened,” &c. (Isaiah 59:1). When once gone, to all your cries His reply will be, “Because Ï called,” &c. (Proverbs 1:24-26).
Why will you die? Bring forth your strong reasons against salvation.—M.: Christian Witness, 18:392–393.
FORGIVENESS OF SIN
Isaiah 38:17. For Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.
This is part of the song which Hezekiah wrote when he had recovered from his sickness. He had betaken himself to prayer. The nation, threatened with invasion from the powerful kingdom of Assyria, could ill afford to lose its head. His prayer was heard. The prophet was sent with a new message. The Divine hand was visible, although ordinary means were employed. This the king fully recognised (Isaiah 38:20). God’s mercies should not be forgotten when the occasion has passed.
The king sees the connection of his disease with sin, and the removal of disease with the removal of his sins. From the text we observe that the forgiveness of sin is necessary, possible, complete, knowable.
I. Forgiveness of sin is necessary. Scripture traces suffering to sin. The fact of sin is prominent in the history of mankind. Its universality is the groundwork of the revelation of its remedy. It is written on the conscience. However oblivious of the fact in health and prosperity, men in sickness and disaster usually think of their sins as the remote or immediate cause. It is sometimes God’s way of awakening attention (H. E. I. 56–89).
Until sin is forgiven, it is before the face of God (Psalms 90:8; Hebrews 4:13). The accountability of man would be an unmeaning phrase if it did not involve the idea that an account is taken of his actions. They are all noted, good and bad, and tested by the Divine standard. Every man’s are before the face of the Supreme Ruler, and Judge for the purpose of being dealt with. This is his case until it is changed by the exercise of forgiveness. It is useless to ignore the need of forgiveness under the impression that we can, in some way, remove the stain. However much good a man may do, the fact of sin remains; and so long as he is under a law which requires unsinning obedience, the good cannot be set against the bad in the hope that the former will wipe the latter away. Forgiveness of the past is the first necessity.
II. Forgiveness of sin is possible. The Gospel builds on the groundwork laid. It provides and makes known a way by which forgiveness may be obtained. It is not by the enactment of a law obedience to which will have this effect. Law brings the sinfulness into clear relief and renders escape impossible. Nor is it by the declaration of a general amnesty, which would virtually neutralise the law and its penalties. Nor is it by an exercise of the Divine sovereignty in the way of mercy to all men, nor even to the penitent, simply as such. God’s way of forgiveness provides for the exercise of mercy by the satisfaction of the claims of righteousness. For its manifestation He prepared during long ages of teaching. In due time He sent His Son (Galatians 4:4-5). The interposition of Christ renders forgiveness possible. It includes His taking the sinner’s obligations on Himself (Colossians 1:14). This is the Divinely appointed way of forgiveness. It satisfies all the requirements of the case. It provides an adequate Mediator. It provides forgiveness on honourable terms. It is, so far as the sinner is concerned, a free forgiveness. It imposes no impossible condition. It says to the sinner under the burden of sin and guilt, satisfaction of the law, which is impossible to him, is no longer demanded, because it has been rendered by His great Substitute. It simply calls upon him to believe, repenting of his sins. If you see your sinfulness, if your soul is troubled by it, if you are anxious to obtain mercy, the Gospel bids you come to Jesus, and come at once. It assures a present, immediate, free pardon.
III. Forgiveness of sin is complete. “Thou hast cast all my sins behind Thy back.” They were previously before the face of God. They are now taken thence and cast behind His back. You do that with a thing you have done with and intend to see no more. It is a most expressive representation of the Divine forgiveness. It attracts attention to its completeness. “All his sins,” without exception or reservation, have been cast out of sight. They will never be produced against him. This is complete forgiveness. We can realise it better by comparison with the forgiveness exercised by men. Man’s forgiveness is often very poor. “I can forgive, but I cannot forget.” “I forgive, but I shall have no more to do with that man.” Many do not even pretend to forgive. But God forgives, completely, fully (H. E. I. 2328–2348).
IV. Forgiveness of sin is knowable. The text is the language of assurance. Hezekiah inferred it from his recovery. We may be certified—
1. By the written Word.
2. By consciousness of the Spirit’s work in us—repentance, faith, love, surrender.
3. By the moral effects. Put all these together (H. E. I. 309, 310, 324, &c.)
Do you possess assurance? Your experience—
1. Illustrates the Divine character: “merciful and gracious.” Its most attractive light.
2. Produces grateful love. The greatest boon has won the heart.
3. Invites to holy obedience. Appeals to what is best.
4. Suggests evangelic action. Tell others. Seek the salvation of the worst.
Are you not forgiven? Perhaps indifferent. Perhaps desirous, but hesitating. Perhaps procrastinating. Do not trifle. Do not neglect. Do not delay. Be reconciled to God.—J. Rawlinson.
THE SONG OF HEZEKIAH
(Sermon to the Young.)
Isaiah 38:18-19. For the grave cannot praise Thee, &c.
This is part of Hezekiah’s song of praise to God. He was very ill. A good man, yet rather afraid of death; certainly very anxious to live. When we are strong and full of life, it is easy to talk of braving all worldly sorrows; but when the time comes for us to prove our words, many who are now in heaven have said, “Spare me a little before I go hence and be no more seen.” In what affecting terms did Hezekiah bewail his sickness! “I said, in the cutting off my days, … I shall not see the Lord,” in His holy sanctuary on earth; “I shall behold man no more;” never again behold the human face divine, never meet again the welcoming smile of child or friend.
God heard Hezekiah’s prayer, took pity upon him, turned back the sundial of his life fifteen years. The good king rejoiced in this gift of lengthened life: “The grave cannot praise Thee.” &c.
Let us follow out this rejoicing of the king, this setting forth the advantages of the living above the dead.
1. The living are in possession of the time which is given to make reconciliation with God and secure an everlasting interest. We are all by nature strangers to God, enemies to Him in our mind and inclination. We are defiled and guilty creatures; this is the hour of cleansing, whilst the fountain stands open in which our sins may be washed away (2 Corinthians 6:2). We are by nature utterly unfit for heaven; this is the day of repentance as well as of pardon. At the summons of death we must go, whether prepared or unprepared, holy or unholy, hoping or despairing. While your hearts were unholy, your death, had it happened, must have been dreadful. Let those who have improved this gift of life to make their reconciliation with God highly value it, and magnify its important advantages with all the gratitude and zeal of the king of Judah.
2. Life is a precious and golden gift, because it affords a field for increasing in good works. We are required to be “zealous of good works.” Zealous; not to touch a good work as if we were afraid of burning our fingers. Such works “are good and profitable to men.” The days and years of life should be numbered by the multitude of good works, as by the revolutions of the earth. Lost and wasted time should not come into the account of life. Ah! if we reckoned thus, what a shrinking and contracting would take place! A Roman emperor, a heathen, used to say, “I have lost a day,” if he had not done any good action in it. How many are there who live to no purpose at all, whom the world will not miss when they are gone! How many live to wicked purposes, and the world is glad to get rid of them! Some are mere cumberers of the ground; they bear the Christian name, but how different from Christ! “The night cometh,” said He, “in which no man can work.” “Ye are the light of the world,” said Christ to His disciples, and how dark would this earth be were there no disciples of Christ upon it! “Ye are,” said He, “the salt of the earth;” if the salt were gone, what corruption of manners, what filthy communications, what odious practices would overspread and defile society! One child of God in a family is like the ark in the house of Obed-Edom, of which we read, “The Lord hath blessed the house of Obed-Edom,” &c.; or like Joseph in Potiphar’s house, of whom we read, “The Lord blessed the Egyptian’s house for Joseph’s sake,” &c. We may follow up this idea, and say if one child of God is so great a blessing in a family, many may bless and save whole cities and nations. We find this to have actually been the case from what is said of Noah, Daniel, and Job. God said three thousand years ago, “Righteousness exalteth a nation,” and it is equally certain that wickedness overthroweth it. In all the Old Testament history, we see how He ascribes prosperity to the keeping of His commandments, and ruin to the breaking of them. We cannot suppose that it is in any way different now; that the Ruler of the Universe is in slumber, or, being awake, has altered the rules of His government. Life, and especially youthful life, is the time for good works and good actions; not one can be done in the grave.
CONCLUSION.—Let young persons value life. It has been said that we “take no note of time save from its loss;” let not this be said of you. It is the gift of time that alone places you in a position to profit by all other gifts. Make good use of life; of this its pleasant morning: be obedient, be diligent, love each other, avoid quarrelling and evil words. Live so that the end will conduct you to a world where, though time will be no longer, life will continue for ever.—George Clark, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 239–246.
PRAISE FOR PRESERVATION
(Last Sunday of the Year.)
Isaiah 38:19. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day.
Such was Hezekiah’s burst of thankfulness when God heard his prayer, and gave him fifteen years more of life. While the danger lasted, he was surprised into more of alarm than became his place and character; but now, marvellously spared, he calls upon the living everywhere to praise God for His goodness. His case, he feels, was theirs too. All men alike live upon God’s bounty, and are debtors to His patience. He guards them from evil,—sends them good things, without which life must be presently extinguished,—renews their being, and makes it over to them by a fresh grant, not only when the closing year reminds us of the gift, but at each day’s working time. Therefore Hezekiah is not satisfied with a solitary strain of thanksgiving. He looks round upon a world teeming with animated, intelligent beings, and in every brother whom God hath made and kept alive he finds one who should bring in his tribute of praise. He wants a chorus of rejoicing worshippers.
1. This season naturally makes us thoughtful. We think of what life has been to us lately, and. what it might have been. We have nearly passed another stage on our journey to the grave, and we miss some who began it with us. We stand, like unwounded soldiers on the battlefield with the dead and the dying all round them. This is all God’s doing. He who gives life sustains it. If to have lived on be deemed a blessing, and praise for the boon be due anywhere, it can only be to Him whose providential government of the world is like an hourly repetition of the creative power which called it out of nothing.
2. But is life worth having? Is prolonged life a blessing, and may we fairly require men to be grateful for it? This is assumed by Hezekiah. Life and praise may go well together, because to so great a degree life and happiness go together. Not always. Some are so unhappy that they cry out under their burden, and almost wish, for a moment, for deliverance at any cost. But the settled feeling of men’s minds is the other way. To almost all of them life is the hoarded treasure which they will guard at any price. They will put up with the worst they have to bear before they will accept release on the terms of being banished straightway to the unknown world. The reason is, that by the side of this harvest of woe, of which they reap a few ears now and then, there groweth a harvest of blessing, of which they are constant reapers (P. D. 2282, 2256).
3. Remember the “common mercies” of which through another year we have been partakers. Our very senses are so many curious inlets by which pleasures, more or less vivid, come thronging in from the wide world around us. Continued health. Senses and faculties marvellously kept from injury. The happiness of our homes; specially to be remembered at this season. When we call upon the living to praise God, we have much more to show for the demand than the bare fact that God lets them live. He lets most of them live happily. He causes their cup to run over with blessings. He does all this, in spite of forgetfulness and disobedience on their part that would wear out any other love but His (H. E. I. 2307–2309). Praise God for the “common mercies” of another year.
4. While we live we are on mercy ground. That is the special mercy beyond all our common mercies. Life, while it lasts, connects us with all that is blessed and glorious in the scheme of salvation. While we are here, “there is but a step between us and death;” but while we are here, too, the door stands wide open through which we may pass into the presence-chamber of our King. While you are here, if you will make Christ your friend, sin may be cast out, and the blessed Spirit of truth become your daily Teacher, and your future years be all rich in blessing and bright with hope. Praise God for the prolongation to you of this great opportunity, and embrace it now! Let the new year find you serving Christ.
5. Living saints, as well as spared sinners, should praise God for His preserving mercy. They have had fresh opportunities for serving God and for growth in grace. They have no right eousness of their own wherein to stand before God, and never will have; but talents improved and laid out for God will bring a blessing. He is too bountiful a Master to let any of His servants work for nought. Heaven itself is not alike to all, though it shall be satisfying to the meanest child in God’s family. The disciple whom Jesus specially loved leant on His bosom at the Last Supper; and at the marriage-supper, when all the guests shall be assembled from many lands, they who have attained to the goodliest stature in their days of conflict shall sit nearest to the King, and wear the brightest crowns (H. E. I. 2751–2753, 3288; P. D. 412, 1752). Every year is a fresh sowing time for a more abundant harvest.
6. Some among you have special reasons for saying with Hezekiah, “The living,” &c.
(1.) This strain belongs to the aged man or woman, who has already lived beyond the allotted term of human life. In your feebleness, God has carried you through another stage. Beyond your expectation, perhaps, you have seen another Christmas. Many are the mercies of one year, but when they come to be multiplied by near fourscore, what an array we have then! Praise the Lord!
(2.) Some before me, while the year was running out, thought they should never see the end of it. Like Hezekiah, you prayed for life when death seemed to be close upon you. God restored your life to you. What have you done since to show yourself grateful for that mercy? Have a care that your mercies do not make your case worse. If they do not melt, they harden.
7. If the living should praise God, how largely is He defrauded of His due! We are surrounded with living men. Each one of these has a fresh grant of life with each day’s sun-rising. What a tide of praise should be going up unceasingly to His throne! Do we find the world so full of praise? Alas! no; if praise be the sign of life, we seem to be walking among the tombs. God is forgotten in His own world. While common friends are thanked for trifling favours, the Giver of mercies, repeated with every breath, is to many of us an unheeded stranger.—John Hampden Gurney, M.A.: Sermons, chiefly on Old Testament Histories, pp. 297–312.