Daily Devotions
September 4th, 2020 by Pastor Solley2 Kings 20:1-6 In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2 Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, saying,
3 I beseech thee, O Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore.
4 And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying,
5 Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the Lord.
6 And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
KJV
I have often wondered about this passage and Hezekiah. The king was about to die, he was saved as we would say, about to go to paradise. What will be better than heaven? But Hezekiah prayed and asked more time in this world. Wouldn’t it have been better to be in heaven? That answer is yes but it also shows just how hard we try and hang onto life here because this is all we have experienced, this is all we know. I see saved men and women today fighting to hang onto life and it times I think they would be better off in heaven. At the very same time I know I will fight to hang onto life as well. For what other reason do I take medications, go to the doctor to have a physical, get my MRI and so on? What did Hezekiah do with those fifteen years? One thing he did was arraigned the Proverbs of Solomon. Hezekiah did make use of those additional years.