•Isaiah 38
•The Living God
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•1 In those days Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came to him, and said to him, “Thus says the LORD: Set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.” 2 Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the LORD, 3 and said, “Please, O LORD, remember how I have walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart, and have done what is good in your sight.” And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
•4 Then the word of the LORD came to Isaiah: 5 “Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life. 6 I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria, and will defend this city.
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7 “This shall be the sign to you from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he has promised: 8 Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back ten steps.” So the sun turned back on the dial the ten steps by which it had declined.
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(Isaiah 38:1-8, ESV)
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•9 A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:
•10 I said, In the middle of my days
•I must depart;
•I am consigned to the gates of Sheol
•for the rest of my years.
•11 I said, I shall not see the LORD,
•the LORD in the land of the living;
•I shall look on man no more
•among the inhabitants of the world.
•12 My dwelling is plucked up and removed from me
•like a shepherd’s tent;
•like a weaver I have rolled up my life;
•he cuts me off from the loom;
•from day to night you bring me to an end;
•13 I calmed myself until morning;
•like a lion he breaks all my bones;
•from day to night you bring me to an end.
•14 Like a swallow or a crane I chirp;
•I moan like a dove.
•My eyes are weary with looking upward.
•O Lord, I am oppressed; be my pledge of safety!
•15 What shall I say? For he has spoken to me,
•and he himself has done it.
•I walk slowly all my years
•because of the bitterness of my soul.
•16 O Lord, by these things men live,
•and in all these is the life of my spirit.
•Oh restore me to health and make me live!
•17 Behold, it was for my welfare
•that I had great bitterness;
•but in love you have delivered my life
•from the pit of destruction,
•for you have cast all my sins
•behind your back.
•18 For Sheol does not thank you;
•death does not praise you;
•those who go down to the pit do not hope
•for your faithfulness.
•19 The living, the living, he thanks you,
•as I do this day;
•the father makes known to the children
•your faithfulness.
•20 The LORD will save me,
•and we will play my music on stringed instruments
•all the days of our lives,
•at the house of the LORD.
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•(Isaiah 38:9-20, ESV)
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•21 Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may recover.” 22 Hezekiah also had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?”
•(Isaiah 38:21-22, ESV)
•Main Point
•These verses show an event that happened to Hezekiah
•He was ill until death was imminent
•God hears his prayers and sees him, and heals him
•Hezekiah’s psalm over his experience is given as well as the sign
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•Application Points
•The Living God
• This is a story about mortality
• We are reminded how frail this existence is
• None of us can say that death has not influenced us
• The relationship stops when death occurs
• Death itself is a judgment, but it is a judgment which we deserve because of sin
• We are all worthy of it
• That doesn’t stop the ache
• When we stare death in the eyes it can cause us to turn our heads toward the wall
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•Application Points
•The Living God (2)
• The reaction of Hezekiah over his impending death is one which we would all have
• Death is an enemy under God’s Sovereign control
• It is just as important to consider Hezekiah’s prayer and more importantly God’s response
• God sees and hears
• What does this mean?
• That God is the Living God
• He is capable of doing what those “so called” other gods are incapable of doing
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•Application Points
•The Living God (3)
• God sees us in our pains
• God is able to see us in our weakness
• When it comes to our struggle, our times of darkness, He is capable of hearing us
• It is a amazing that the God of the universe…truly knows us in our strengths and weaknesses
• This is exactly what the God of the universe does
• God hears and sees Hezekiah in his mourning and his rejoicing
•Application Points
•The Living God (4)
• Our God is alive…which reminds us death cannot overcome that which God is
• God is not in death, He is in life
• Any belong to God will experience eternal life
• On this side of the cross it is easier for us to understand death
• We do not go to the grave without hope
• Our God is the Living God
• The promise given to those who belong to Christ is that we will have such life
• We have been given a sign of God’s greater promise of eternal life because Christ lives even now
•Application Points
•The Living God (5)
• Which sign is the greater?
• The resurrection of Christ for it tells us the promises of old have been fulfilled and any promise made will be fulfilled
• It is given to us by the living God who knows no ends giving us a love that knows no bounds
• This is the God who hears us and sees us
• He gives us hope to stare down death by knowing the mighty triumph of life through Christ
• Just as Hezekiah says, “but in love you have delivered my life, from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back” so it is with each of us by grace through faith in Christ
•Application Points
•The Living God (6)
• The experience we can see with Hezekiah is one we can learn from
• The fulfillment to Hezekiah is a glimpse of what He will do for all of us
• We face death knowing God can undo death itself
• Our God hears us, sees us, knows us, and does great things in this world
• Because He is the Living God
•Application Points
•The Gospel of Christ
•Origins
•Where we began
•Fall
•What went wrong
•Redemption
•How it is fixed
•Glorification
•Where it at leads
