Hezekiah wept bitterly.
Isaiah 38:3
When Hezekiah faced this unexpected crisis, the first thing he did was to pray, and the second thing he did was seek to live with a clear conscience. Notice what happened next: “Hezekiah wept bitterly” (38:3).
Why did he weep bitterly? Why did Hezekiah not say like Paul, “To depart… is far better” (Phil. 1:23)? Or, “To me to live is Christ, and to die is gain” (1:21)?
One reason is that Hezekiah did not have the clarity of hope that we enjoy on this side of the resurrection of Jesus. Yet even in the Old Testament, Job was able to say, “I know that my Redeemer lives… And after my skin has been thus destroyed, yet in my flesh I shall see God” (Job 19:25-26).
There is likely something more here: Hezekiah was convinced that his life’s work was not yet done. God had promised that the king who would bring hope to the whole world would be born into the line of David (2 Samuel 7). Hezekiah was in that line, but at this point he had no son.
We know this because after he recovered from this illness, God gave him 15 more years (Isa. 38:5). And when he died, his son became king at the age of 12 (2 Kgs. 21:1).
The reason this godly king had such a strong desire to live was his profound conviction that his life’s work was not yet done. If he has no son, how can the line of David continue? And if the line of David does not continue, how can God’s promise be fulfilled? Hezekiah must have a son, and if he is to have a son, he must live!
So, he prayed. And God heard and answered his prayer. Hezekiah lived and he had a son. And so, the line of David continued, and Jesus Christ was eventually born into the world.
What work might God be calling you to complete before your life is over?
