One Year Chronological Bible Sampler - Flipbook - Page 118
JULY 22
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However, when ambassadors arrived from Babylon to ask about the remarkable events that had taken place in the land, God withdrew from Hezekiah in
order to test him and to see what was really in his heart.
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Hezekiah’s Poem of Praise / Isaiah 38:9-22
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When King Hezekiah was well again, he wrote this poem:
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I said, “In the prime of my life,
must I now enter the place of the dead?*
Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?”
I said, “Never again will I see the LORD GOD
while still in the land of the living.
Never again will I see my friends
or be with those who live in this world.
My life has been blown away
like a shepherd’s tent in a storm.
It has been cut short,
as when a weaver cuts cloth from a loom.
Suddenly, my life was over.
I waited patiently all night,
but I was torn apart as though by lions.
Suddenly, my life was over.
Delirious, I chattered like a swallow or a crane,
and then I moaned like a mourning dove.
My eyes grew tired of looking to heaven for help.
I am in trouble, Lord. Help me!”
But what could I say?
For he himself sent this sickness.
Now I will walk humbly throughout my years
because of this anguish I have felt.
Lord, your discipline is good,
for it leads to life and health.
You restore my health
and allow me to live!
Yes, this anguish was good for me,
for you have rescued me from death
and forgiven all my sins.
For the dead* cannot praise you;
they cannot raise their voices in praise.
Those who go down to the grave
can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
Only the living can praise you as I do today.
Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.
Think of it—the LORD is ready to heal me!
I will sing his praises with instruments
every day of my life
in the Temple of the LORD.
38:10 Hebrew enter the gates of Sheol?
38:18 Hebrew Sheol.
