Would we want God to grant us extra time on this earth, if during that extra time we make some big mistakes? Let’s look at Isaiah 38.
What did Hezekiah do when Isaiah prophesied that he was about to die?
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.” Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord, 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. (Isa 38:1-3 ESV)
How did God let Hezekiah know that his prayer had been granted? How much longer would he live?
Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah: “Go and tell Hezekiah that this is what the Lord God of your ancestor David says: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Look, I am going to add 15 years to your life. And I will deliver you and this city from the power of the king of Assyria; I will defend this city. This is the sign to you from the Lord that He will do what He has promised: I am going to make the sun’s shadow that goes down on Ahaz’s stairway go back by 10 steps.” So the sun’s shadow went back the 10 steps it had descended. (Isa 38:4-8 HCSB)
How did Hezekiah express his gratitude to God for giving him 15 more years?
A composition by King Hezekiah of Judah, following his illness and recovery: I said, “Must I leave in the prime of my life? Must I be consigned to the control of Sheol [the grave]? Bitter are my years!” I said, “I won’t see the Lord in the land of the living; and I’ll no longer observe human beings among the denizens of the grave. My house has been plucked up and vanishes from me like a shepherd’s tent; like a weaver, I’ve taken account of my life, and he cuts me off from the loom—day and night you make an end of me. I’ve been swept bare until morning; just like a lion, he breaks all my bones—day and night you make an end of me. Like a swallow or a crane I chirp, I moan like a dove. My eyes look weakly upward. O Lord, I am oppressed, so stand up for me! What can I say, so I tell myself, since he has done this to me? I will walk slowly all my years because of my soul’s anguish. (Isa 38:9-15 ISV)
How grateful was Hezekiah for God giving him an extra 15 years of life?
O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt 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 thy back. For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not 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. (Isa 38:16-20 KJV)
What simple medicine did Hezekiah use to heal his boil?
Now Isaiah had said, “Let them take up a cake of figs and apply it to the boil, that he may live.” Then Hezekiah had said, “What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of Yahweh?” (Isa 38:21-22 LSB)
No matter how long a life God grants to us, how should we live it?
I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me. (Gal 2:20 NASB)
Would we want God to grant us extra time on this earth, if during that extra time we make some big mistakes? You decide!
