When we are ill to death,
When our illness is healed
“A writing of Hezekiah king of Judah after his illness and recovery” (Isaiah 38:9)
How would you react if your doctor did a biopsy of you and told you, ‘You have cancer’? How would you react if he told you that it is also stage 4 cancer, not early stage cancer? When it comes to the fourth stage of cancer, most of us seem to think that we are ‘dead now’ as the terminal stage of cancer. But, is stage 4 cancer really the last stage and are we going to die? Even if that is true, do we have to give up life and wait for death? Today, I would like to receive some lessons on what to do when we are stricken with a mortal disease and are healed of a mortal disease, focusing on the words of Isaiah 38:9-20, which Hezekiah, who was sick to death, wrote when he was healed. As we receive those lessons and put them into practice, I hope and pray that you and I will be able to glorify God with praise.
The first lesson is that when we are ill to death, we must face death.
Look at Isaiah 38:10 – “I said, "In the middle of my life I am to enter the gates of Sheol; I am to be deprived of the rest of my years.” God said to Hezekiah through the prophet Isaiah, “Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live” (v. 1). In a word, King Hezekiah received death sentence from God. When receiving such a death sentence, it is human nature to deny. The reason is because we fear death. But we should not be afraid of death. Rather, we must prepare for death. A Christian who prepares for death faces death rather than denying it when he receives death sentence. As Christians we prepare for death, we must face death.
The second lesson is that when we are ill to death, we must look back on our lives.
Look at Isaiah 38:11 – “I said, "I will not see the LORD, The LORD in the land of the living; I will look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world.” When King Hezekiah received death sentence from God, he looked back on his life. And he thought about God and those whom he would never see again in this world before his death. We must learn to look back on life in the face of death. And when we look back on our lives, we need to think about whether we loved God with all our heart, all our soul and all our mind while we were on this earth, and whether we loved our neighbors who we will never see again on this earth as ourselves.
The third lesson is that when we are ill to death, we must believe that life and death are in the hands of the Lord.
Look at Isaiah 38:12-13: “Like a shepherd's tent my dwelling is pulled up and removed from me; As a weaver I rolled up my life He cuts me off from the loom; From day until night You make an end of me. I composed my soul until morning. Like a lion--so He breaks all my bones, From day until night You make an end of me.” Here, King Hezekiah said, “He cuts me off from the loom” and “You make an end of me.” In a word, he said that life and death are in the hands of the Lord. No matter how much the doctor in charge declares death, we will not die unless it is given by God. But if the Lord has pronounced death sentence upon us, He will end our lives. That is why we must not take our own lives. Life depends on God. We must believe that the Lord is in control of our life and death.
The fourth lesson is that when we are ill to death, we should look to the Lord even our eyes may grow weak.
Look at Isaiah 38:14 – I cried like a swift or thrush, I moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew weak as I looked to the heavens. I am troubled; O Lord, come to my aid!” Even after King Hezekiah received death sentence from God, he wept and prayed to the Lord who was in control of life and death. After receiving God's death sentence through the prophet Isaiah, he turned his face to the wall and wept bitterly and prayed to God (vv. 2-3). He prayed, “O restore me to health and let me live!” (v. 16), asking God to remember how he had walk before Him in truth and with a whole heart and what he had done what was good in His sight (v. 3). In a word, King Hezekiah wept bitterly and looked to the Lord until his eyes grew weak (v. 14). Even after we have received death sentence, we should weep and pray to the Lord who is in control of life and death. We should cry out to God even if we are ill to death because God may change His will and extend our lives.
The fifth lesson is that when we are ill to death, and when our illness is healed, we should give glory to the Lord.
Look at Isaiah 38:15 – “But what can I say? He has spoken to me, and he himself has done this. I will walk humbly all my years because of this anguish of my soul.” When Hezekiah wept bitterly and prayed to God until his eyes grew weak, God heard his prayer and saw his tears, and then added fifteen years to his life (v. 5). Hezekiah, who received this life extension, glorified God. He did so by confessing that God had fulfilled His promise to him (v. 15). He never glorified himself by extorting the glory of God. The reason is because he knew that God had extended his life. We need to know too. We must not forget that when we live at the crossroads of life and death, it is only the grace of God. Only God can extend our lives. Only God can heal our illness. Therefore, we, who have been healed of a mortal disease by God's grace, must walk humbly before the Lord like Hezekiah for the rest of our lives (v. 15).
The sixth lesson is that when we are ill to death, and when our illness is healed, we must realize that the only way for man to live is the word of God.
Look at Isaiah 38:16 – “Lord, by such things men live; and my spirit finds life in them too. You restored me to health and let me live.” King Hezekiah came to understand that God's word is for people to live after being healed of a deathly illness according to the word of God's promise. In other words, he came to realize that the life of his soul was entirely in the word of God. That's right. Our soul's life is entirely in the word of God. Our life is only in the word of God. We must know that “man does not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of the Lord” (Deut. 8:2). And we must live according to the word of God.
The seventh lesson is that we must realize the will of the Lord who allowed us to suffer from our fatal illness when we are healed of it.
Look at Isaiah 38:17 – “Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish. In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction; you have put all my sins behind your back.” What does it mean that God allows us to suffer the great suffering of a mortal disease? King Hezekiah realized that the will of God was to forgive all his sins, so that he could have peace. How great is God's blessing and grace? What great blessing and grace is this if, even through death, the problem of our sins can be resolved (forgiveness of our sins) and as a result we can enjoy the perfect peace that God gives us. We should long for the forgiveness of sins more than the cure of illness. And through the forgiveness of sins, we must enjoy the peace of God that the world cannot give.
The eighth and last lesson is that we should give thanks to the Lord and praise Him when we are healed from our fatal illness.
Look at Isaiah 38:18-20: “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.” Here, King Hezekiah is grateful for being able to praise God for being saved from his illness (Park). He praised God for His faithful grace and love for him being saved from his sin. The Christian who have experienced God's grace of salvation in this way are thankful and cannot but praise God. I hope and pray that we too, like King Hezekiah, experience the grace of God's salvation, so that we can give thanks to God and praise Him.
Thinking of the loved ones who experienced God's grace of salvation even in their illness to death,
James Kim