DISCOURSE: 919
HEZEKIAH’S THANKSGIVING FOR HIS RECOVERY
Isaiah 38:20. 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.
TO make public acknowledgments to God for national mercies is a duty so evident, that persons of all characters and denominations are forward to the performance of it. The very heathens thought that they had not properly testified their joy on account of any signal victories or deliverances, till they had made some public procession to the temples of their deities, or offered sacrifices to their honour. A greater cause for thankfulness than that which we are now assembled to commemorate, England scarce ever saw [Note: Preached on the occasion of the recovery of his late Majesty, George III. March 15, 1789.]. A sovereign, who, for his excellent qualities in domestic life, stands almost unrivalled; a sovereign, who is truly the father of his people; a sovereign, who is, if I may so speak, the idol of the nation which he governs, is restored to health from the most afflictive of all disorders, and to the government of his kingdom at the very moment it was to be transferred to other hands: what cause for joy and thankfulness is this! And indeed ye have already in some measure testified your joy; and I would hope the reality was as universal as the appearance: but surely we should not rest satisfied with such demonstrations of joy; we should have our lamps trimmed and our lights burning within us: we should have a sacred flame kindled in our hearts; and we should endeavour to excite others to rejoice with us. When David was brought, as he tells us, into the dust of death, and, in answer to his prayer, was delivered from it, he said, “I will declare thy name unto my brethren; in the midst of the congregation will I praise thee. Ye that fear the Lord praise him; all ye, the seed of Jacob, glorify him; and fear him all ye the seed of Israel: for he hath not despised nor abhorred the affliction of the afflicted; neither hath he hid his face from him, but when he cried unto him, he heard: my praise shall be of thee in the great congregation; I will pay my vows before them that fear him [Note: Psalms 22:22-25.].” Now such should be the desire of our hearts to glorify God for the king’s recovery: not contented with offering up our praises in secret, we should say with him in the text, “the Lord was ready to save; therefore we will sing our songs in the house of the Lord.”
In discoursing upon these words, we will consider,
I. The import of the words—
This will partly appear from the occasion on which they were uttered—
[This chapter begins with a very affecting account of King Hezekiah’s sickness: a message was sent to him from the Lord, to tell him that he should die of his disorder. These melancholy tidings no sooner reached his ears than he turned his face towards the wall and wept very sore. In the ninth and following verses we have a copy of what he himself wrote concerning the workings of his own mind under that affliction: “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 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 weaver, my life; he will cut me off with pining sickness, from day even to night will he make an end of me: I reckoned till morning that as a lion so will he break all my bones, from day even to night will he make an end of me: like a crane, or a swallow, so did I chatter; I did mourn as a dove; mine eyes failed with looking upwards! O Lord, I am oppressed, undertake for me.”
Now it is possible enough that he was, in a considerable degree, under bondage to the fear of death; but yet we cannot suppose that all this grief originated from that one cause: no, he doubtless felt much for the glory of God and the prosperity of his people, both of which, as far as he could judge, would be very materially affected by his removal at that particular crisis. He was one of the best kings that ever governed the Jewish nation. No sooner did he come to the throne than he began to reform the abuses which had been introduced in preceding reigns. He threw down the altars that had been built; he opened and repaired the temple which had been shut up and left to decay; he restored the sacrifices which had been long neglected; he stirred up the people throughout all the kingdom to reform their lives; and he ardently longed to see these beginnings of reformation carried further into effect. He had very lately beheld the whole country overrun by Sennacherib’s army, and Jerusalem itself reduced to the utmost distress and danger; and though he had seen a great part of the Assyrian army destroyed by the hand of God, yet he knew that the Assyrians were still a powerful enemy, and that if the Jewish nation should relapse into their former wickedness, they could not expect another miraculous interposition from God. He was aware also that having no son to succeed him, there would probably be intestine divisions about a successor; so that if he were taken away at this time, the cause of religion would be neglected, and the whole Jewish nation be given over to suffer the consequences of their apostasy from God. That these reflections greatly contributed to his grief, seems plainly intimated in the answer which God gave to his prayer, as it is recorded both in 2 Kings 20:6, and in the chapter before us; in both of which places God not only promises to prolong his life, but to deliver the city out of the hands of the king of Assyria, and to defend it for his own name’s sake. Afflicted with these gloomy prospects, he betook himself to the best of all remedies, prayer; and as we are expressly told that Isaiah joined with him in crying to heaven on a former occasion, it is reasonable to suppose that, when he saw the king so overwhelmed with the news which he had brought him, he did not neglect this opportunity of joining with him in prayer for his recovery. Behold, their prayer prevailed; yea, so speedily did it prevail, that before Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, the word of the Lord came to him, saying, “Tell Hezekiah, thus saith the Lord; I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears, behold, I will heal thee.” God moreover commanded the prophet to make a plaster of figs, and to put it upon the boil, and to assure the king that in three days he should be well enough to go up to the house of the Lord. This was done to show that we ought to use means, while at the same time we look not to the means, but to God, for the desired success. Being restored to health he comes into the house of the Lord, and pours out his soul in pious and devout thanksgivings: knowing that, if he had died in his illness, he should never have had any more opportunities of glorifying God before men, he exclaims, “The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee, they that go down to 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:” and then he adds in the words of the text, “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.”]
But we shall have a further insight into the meaning of the text, if we consider more particularly the words themselves—
[They contain a thankful acknowledgment to God for his recovery, and a determination to glorify him for it as long as he should live. “The Lord was ready to save me,” says the king. He does not blasphemously ascribe his recovery to his physicians, or to the means used, notwithstanding they were used according to God’s own prescription; but he gives the honour, where alone it is due, to God. In disorders of any kind our eyes should not be so fixed upon the creature as they usually are; our expectation should be from God alone: it is “he who killeth and maketh alive; he bringeth down to the grave and bringeth up.” But that which Hezekiah seems to have been more particularly affected with, was the Lord’s readiness to help him; “the Lord was ready to save me.” This is a matter of astonishment to all who have ever tried the power and prevalency of prayer: God does not indeed bind himself to answer prayer immediately, at least not in the way in which we expect it to be answered; yet does he often with marvellous condescension grant the requests of his people as soon as they are offered up; he often visibly fulfils that precious promise recorded in Isaiah, “It shall come to pass that before they call I will answer, and while they are yet speaking I will hear.” David mentions this as his own experience, and seems to have been struck with it as Hezekiah was; “I will praise thee with my whole heart, O God; for in the day when I cried, thou answeredst me, and strengthenedst me with strength in my soul [Note: Psalms 138:1; Psalms 138:3.]. So Hezekiah in the text; “The Lord was ready to save me; therefore will we sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life, in the house of the Lord.” He determined that as the mercy vouchsafed to him was a public benefit, so he would manifest his sense of it by public acknowledgments. He recorded this mercy and had it set to music, that all the nation might join with him in singing praises to God for it. Nor would he suffer it ever to be effaced from his memory: he made the recital of this mercy a part of his daily devotions; and determined he would continue to do so as long as he should live; judging very properly that his life, which had been so miraculously spared, should be spent wholly in the service of his God.]
Nothing more being necessary to illustrate the meaning of the words, we shall pass on to notice,
II.
The use we should make of them—
1. To excite our gratitude for the king’s recovery—
[There is a striking resemblance between the event which we are now met to commemorate, and that recorded in the passage before us. I will beg leave to point it out in several particulars.
It holds good in the persons who were ill. Hezekiah, you have heard, was one of the most illustrious kings that ever sat upon the Jewish throne: the glory of God and the welfare of his people were ever near his heart. He set a good example to all his subjects, and ardently desired to see them no less obedient to their God than loyal to himself: he published his edicts prohibiting whatever was offensive to God, and enforcing the observance of the divine laws: in short, if you would know his character, see it drawn by the inspired penman: “Thus did Hezekiah throughout all Judah, and wrought that which was good, and right, and truth before the Lord his God: and in every work that he began in the service of the house of God, and in the law, and in the commandments, to seek his God, he did it with all his heart, and prospered [Note: 2 Chronicles 31:20-21.].” Now compare that of our gracious Sovereign: he has but limited power, and therefore cannot effect all he would; but what he would do if he were able, we see by the proclamation which was not long since issued. But this is a part of our subject on which it would not be proper to say much, nor is it needful that we should; for we trust his excellent qualities are too deeply engraven in all our hearts to need any repetition of them from this place—
But further—The resemblance holds good in the probable consequences of their illness—Hezekiah was sick nigh unto death, so that, till his recovery, he was utterly incapacitated for the business of the nation. If he had been left in the state he was, or had been taken away, his subjects would have suffered an irreparable loss. What they would have suffered we may judge in part from what they did actually suffer, when Manasses the son of Hezekiah came to the throne: idolatry was re-established throughout the kingdom; and God, wearied as it were with the greatness of their provocations, gave them over, together with Manasses their king, into the hands of their Babylonish enemies. What would have been the consequence if our Sovereign’s illness had continued, none can tell. We mean not to cast reflections upon any person or party; we would abhor a party spirit either in religion or politics: but this we may say without a possibility of giving offence to any; that, however wisely the defect of an executive power might have been supplied, and however faithfully it might have been employed, still the nation would have suffered an almost irreparable injury; for the very sinews of government would have been cut asunder. This, we say, would have been the case, supposing that every thing had been planned with the most consummate wisdom, and executed with the most unblemished integrity: but what might have happened, God alone knows: blessed be his name! he has delivered us now from the apprehensions of the calamities we have so earnestly deprecated, and so justly dreaded.
Again—The resemblance holds good in the means by which they were recovered from their illness. What was there in a plaster made of figs that could give so sudden a turn to a mortal disorder as to remove it in three days? Just as much as there was in the waters of Jordan to cleanse Naaman from his leprosy, or in the clay and spittle which our Lord used, to open the eyes of a blind man. It was prayer that healed Hezekiah; yes, prayer pierced the skies and entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. “I have heard thy prayer, said God, and have seen thy tears, and will heal thee.” And what has healed our gracious Soverign? we answer without disparagement to any, prayer: a spirit of prayer has been poured out upon all God’s people throughout the nation: all that have an interest in the court of heaven, have cried day and night to God on his behalf. The prayers of the church prevailed for the delivering of Peter out of prison: so we doubt not but that the king’s recovery is an answer to prayer; to the prayers of those very people who are yet too often hated, despised, and persecuted. It is true: God has used means; but what means? not the art of medicine, but repose and quiet. We mean not to detract from the merit of those who have assisted in his cure; they deserve well of the nation at large: and we shall rejoice to see them rewarded according to their desert: but the glory is God’s, and his alone: the king’s recovery is the gift of God; and that in answer to the prayers of his own people; and, we trust, that they will not discontinue their prayers for him even to the latest hour of their lives.
Once more—The resemblance holds good in the readiness with which God vouchsafed the desired mercy. Hezekiah’s and Isaiah’s prayer was answered before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court; and in three more days the cure was effected. So has it been with respect to the cure vouchsafed unto our Sovereign; it was withheld for a season, just to make all praying people earnest in their supplications. The rod impending over the nation seemed for some time ready to fall: yet was the stroke by various occurrences providentially delayed: and then at the very moment that it was expected to fall, behold! deliverance comes: so truly may the words of the text be applied to this event, “the Lord was ready to save.” Surely that proverb has been again verified to us, that “in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen;” for God did not deliver Isaac more seasonably from the hand of Abraham, than he has done us from the calamities which threatened us.
Now if the occasions for joy and thankfulness are so similar, ought not our expressions of thankfulness to be similar also? Ought we not to render unto God according to the benefits he hath conferred upon us? Yes, surely. Did Hezekiah then make his deliverance a matter of universal praise? let us stir up both ourselves and others to a devout and holy joy on account of the recovery of our king. Did he determine that he would make it a subject of public thanksgiving? let us do the same: and did he determine to remember it and sing of it all his days? let us endeavour to keep upon our minds a lively sense of this mercy, and not provoke God to withdraw it from us by our ingratitude.]
2. To excite our gratitude for the mercies of redemption—
[We all without exception are sick nigh unto death: what Isaiah says of the Jews is applicable to every nation upon earth: “the whole head,” says he, “is sick;” that is, the kings and nobles, and all the governors in church and state, are infected with a mortal disease; “and the whole heart is faint,” that is, the people at large, without any exception, are dying of the same malady: “from the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in us, but wounds, and bruises, and putrefying sores.” Sin is this deadly disorder, and unless we be recovered from it, the consequence must be dreadful to us all. We are not left to conjecture what this may be; we know; we know for certain; we know that no temporal calamity whatever can be compared with it: we know that our disorder, if not speedily cured, must issue in everlasting death; in an everlasting separation of soul and body from God, and in an everlasting suffering of divine vengeance. But we are fully warranted to say with Hezekiah in the text, “the Lord is ready to save us.” Of all the thousands and tens of thousands who came to our Lord for healing when he was on earth, not so much as one applied in vain: nor did ever any one call upon him for spiritual healing without experiencing his readiness to save. And is he not “the same yesterday, to-day, and for ever?” Would Jesus ever have come down from heaven, if he had not been ready to save? Would he have shed his precious blood for us, if he had not been ready to save? Would lie have sent his word, his ministers, and his holy Spirit, to invite and draw us to him, if he had not been ready to save? Has he not said, “As I live I have no pleasure in the death of a sinner, but rather that he turn from his wickedness and live; turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways, for why will ye die?” And would he thus have sworn, invited, entreated, and expostulated, if he had not been ready to save? Beloved brethen, would to God that ye would all put him to the trial! not one of you would then ever perish in your sins; he would cleanse you in his blood from all sin; he would restore your souls to health; and make them to flourish in immortal youth and beauty. Do you ask, How shall I obtain this blessing? We answer, just as the king of Judah, or the king of Britain, were restored to health: means were used for both; but the means were very inadequate to the end which was to be obtained: that which prevailed for both, was prayer; and that shall prevail for you. If you were like Jonah at the bottom of the sea in a whale’s belly, the prayer of faith should deliver you. Still however you must use the means; attend to the word that is preached; and read the Bible in your closets: but do not imagine that these means can convert your souls: no; that is the Lord’s work; and you will use all means in vain, if you do not beg of God to render them effectual. But if you pray, you will find the Lord far more ready to give, than you are to ask. To save sinners is his work, his office, his delight; it is “the joy which was set before him, in expectation of which he endured the cross and despised the shame:” yea, it is the import of his very name; for he was “called Jesus, because he was to save his people from their sins.” This is a perpetual ground of joy to all; it calls for our devoutest thanks and praises: it should make us all adopt the language of the text, and say, “The Lord is ready to save me; therefore will I sing songs to him all the days of my life, in the house of the Lord.”
But if you have been restored to health; if you have experienced his salvation; if upon a review of your past life you can say with Hezekiah, “The Lord was ready to save me;” what ought to be the frame of your mind? how should you give thanks! the Psalmist says, “Let them give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed;” and if they will not, who will? The angels were not half so much indebted to him, as they for whom he shed his blood. “O then give thanks, give thanks unto our God; for it becometh well the just to be thankful:” “O come let us sing unto the Lord, let us heartily rejoice in the God of our salvation.”]
An Analysis of The Foregoing Sermon
[The Author had at one time thought of inserting a considerable number of short sketches; but he relinquished the idea, from an apprhension that they would not afford sufficient aid to those, whose more immediate benefit he consulted. The following Analysis is added as a specimen.”]
PUBLIC acknowledgments of national mercies are proper. The king’s recovery is a just ground for them at this time.
I. The import of the words. In which observe—
1. The occasion of them. Here notice—
[Hezekiah’s illness, and dread of Approaching death. His character, as most concerned for God’s glory and the national welfare. The probable consequences of his death. The means of his recovery: prayer—figs. His expressions of thankfulness for it.]
2. The words themselves. These contain—
[The grounds of his thankfulness; that God had restored him; and that he had been ready to do so. The expressions of it. He would give all the glory to God. He would do it publicly. He would have others to do the same. He would do it all his life.]
II.
The use we should make of them—
1. To excite our gratitude for the king’s recovery—
[The occasions are similar; as to the persons that were ill (compare Hezekiah, and the king): as to the probable consequences of their not recovering: as to the means used for their recovery, Prayer: and as to the readiness of God to comply with our requests.
Our gratitude should be similar; public—universal—fervent—perpetual.]
2. To excite our gratitude for the mercies of redemption—
[All are sick nigh unto death. The consequences of not recovering will be dreadful. The Lord is ready to heal us. Prayer is the grand mean of recovery. All should rejoice; the sick, that the Lord is ready to save; the recovered, that he was, and still is, ready.]