ISAIAH 38-39 TIME TO PRAY AND REPAY2019 Teaching by Jerry B Simmons

Teaching Transcript: Isaiah 38-39 Time To Pray And Repay

You are listening to FerventWord, an online Bible study ministry with teachings and tools to help you grow deeper in your relationship with God. The following message was taught by Jerry Simmons in 2019.

Well, this morning as we dive into Isaiah chapter 38, we are jumping into this point in Isaiah where there's kind of a shift in the tone and the focus of the book of Isaiah. Mostly as we look through the book of Isaiah, it's a collection of the prophecies and prophetic words that the Lord spoke through Isaiah.

But here in these latter portions of like 36 through 40, 36 through 39 really, there's kind of a switch and Isaiah now records a particular point in history. And it's not so much like his prophetic works in the rest of the book, but it's a kind of a retelling, a narrative of a particular timeframe in the life and reign of King Hezekiah.

And so these are things that we looked at as we studied through the history of Israel in 2 Kings as well as 2 Chronicles. We saw the life and the reign of King Hezekiah and these events are recorded there as well. But here they are again in the midst of the book of Isaiah because it was during this time that Isaiah was ministering and King Hezekiah was there on the throne while Isaiah was prophesying the words of the Lord.

And so we're going to see some interaction between Isaiah and Hezekiah and some of the things that took place in his ministry, which is an interesting occasion for us to consider. As we begin to consider these things this morning, I would say that

Today's message involves perhaps a bit more wrestling than we might be normally accustomed to going through a passage together or spending some time in a service together. That there are some things that you're going to need to wrestle with in your mind and in your heart and kind of work out with the Lord and consider that. I would encourage you to think through some of these thoughts in a way that

really would help you to digest them and accept them and believe them in the way that God wants to minister to you. And so as we look at this passage here in Isaiah chapter 38 and 39, I've titled the message this morning, Time to Pray and Repay. Time to Pray and Repay. Here we see an occasion where Hezekiah prays.

And then in response to that, God does a work. And afterwards, the opportunity is there for Hezekiah to repay the Lord for his kindness and his work. And yet we find that Hezekiah takes a different course. And so some interesting things for us to consider in that. Time to pray and repay. Now, just to kind of

Back up and share some of the history for a moment to kind of get us up to speed on where we're at in Hezekiah's life. The ministry of Isaiah, he ministered during a time where the nation of Israel was divided into two.

And there was the northern kingdom called Israel, the southern kingdom called Judah. The northern kingdom had no good kings and never once really turned and sought to follow the Lord. They, from the beginning, from the split, they were pursuing other gods and they were not interested in the things of the Lord.

The southern kingdom, on the other hand, which is where Hezekiah was a king, they had some good kings and mostly bad kings. And the people as a whole in general were on this trajectory of rebellion against God. But there would be these revivals that would spark, that would take place under the reign of some of the good kings. They would bring people back to God and they would get right with God for a little bit and then they would go back to their old ways once that king moved on and was out of the picture.

And so this was something that we see repeated throughout the history of the nation of Judah. Well, the prophet Isaiah came along the scene then to call God's people to repentance. The northern kingdom that never turned back and repented, there was no revivals there, but Isaiah was ministering to them. And then the southern kingdom, he was ministering to them and calling them to repentance. And specifically during this time in the reign of King Hezekiah,

Isaiah was there calling the people back to the Lord. And Hezekiah, as he began his reign, really did start a revival. He called people back to the worship of God. He reopened the temple.

They partook of the Passover for the first time in many, many years. And they began to experience the work of God and they began to worship God once again where they had not for much time before that. And so there was a real revival that took place under King Hezekiah and a real work that God did as a result of that. But here, as we jump into chapter 38, we find Hezekiah has come down ill.

He's done some good work. He's walked with the Lord. He's served the Lord. He's been a good king. But now he's become ill. And well, it looks like this illness will end in death. And in fact, the Lord's going to tell him it's going to end in death. But then also he's going to receive a miraculous healing. And there's some

Really interesting and challenging things for us to consider as we work through this situation that took place in Hezekiah's life. So again, it's time to pray and to repay. Jumping into verses one through six, we get point number one this morning, and that is ask the Lord to do what you want. As I mentioned, this message may involve a little bit of wrestling for us, and maybe it's already started with just the way I worded this point. You're like, I don't know, Jerry, if

You should have worded it that way. Ask the Lord to do what you want. That sounds kind of bold. Maybe that's not the way that we should be thinking. Maybe we shouldn't think about what I want. Maybe we should be thinking about what the Lord wants or what is the will of God. And we can wrestle with those thoughts, but I stand behind the wording. And I want to encourage you this morning, ask the Lord to do what you want.

Check it out as we jump into verse 1 of chapter 38. It says, Here is Hezekiah is reigning over Judah. He's 39 years old at this point. He's a young king still.

Now, 20 years ago, I would have said 39. Wow, he's old, but that's like a couple years younger than me now. So 39, that's young, man. That's really young. Yeah, he's 39 years old. He has this illness and well, it looks like it will end in his death. He's near death. It describes it in verse one. That's his physical condition. And then the prophet of the Lord Isaiah shows up and says, Hezekiah, set your house in order.

If you haven't written out your will yet, it's time to write out your will. If you haven't, you know, worked out all those details that need to be worked out at the end of your life, if you haven't, you know, set forth your burial plans, you haven't, you know, made all those final arrangements, Hezekiah, it's time to do that. It's time to set your house in order because you're going to die. You're not going to survive this illness. Your life is coming to an end.

This is the word that is brought forth from the Lord to Hezekiah. But Hezekiah's response is interesting. In verse 2, it says, And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

I don't know how you would respond in a similar situation. I don't know how I would respond. Kind of putting myself in Hezekiah's shoes. They're having an illness, being near death, and having a word from the Lord. Prophet Rick comes into the room and says, thus says the Lord, set your house in order. You're going to die. How would you respond? What would you do in response to that? Well, Hezekiah, it says he turns his face toward the wall.

And he prays to the Lord. This pictures for us the condition of Hezekiah. He wasn't excited about this. He wasn't happy about this. He was depressed. He was distraught. He was overwhelmed. And even as it says that he wept bitterly, you can understand there was this bitterness that he was experiencing. You can hear him saying perhaps, I'm too young to die. I'm too young for this to be the end. This

This isn't what I want. This is not what I planned. I have so much more that I was hoping for. And so he calls out to the Lord. He prays. And his prayer is really kind of focused on, you know, where he's coming from. He's like, Lord, remember I pray. Like, I've walked before you in truth. Remember I started revival, you know, back in the first year of my reign. And remember how I've done what is good in your sight. And, oh, Lord, it doesn't seem fair that I would...

this young and this early after I've done so much for you? And there's a lot of things that you could wrestle with in Hezekiah's prayer and perhaps maybe some things that you would want to correct and say, Hezekiah, you know, really, you should have this perspective instead of that perspective. And we could perhaps have those kinds of discussions and consider those kinds of things. But what I would highlight as we consider this this morning is the genuineness of Hezekiah.

Whether his heart was right, whether his attitude was right, whether it was, you know, the exact right approach for him to come to God with these things. Laying all of that aside, what I would point out is, look at Hezekiah. He came to the Lord with a genuine, open heart. This is really what Hezekiah was feeling and thinking and experiencing in this time. Having heard this news, he's shocked.

He's overwhelmed. He's distressed, perhaps bitter. He's really sorrowful. And it doesn't sit right. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem like this should be the route. It doesn't seem like this should be the way that things take place. And so he asked God to remember. God says, this is the path. You're going to die. This illness, it's going to be your end. Hezekiah turns and prays and says, oh Lord, can we negotiate?

This isn't what I was expecting. This isn't what I was wanting. This isn't what I planned. It doesn't seem fair to me. It doesn't sit right with me. He wept bitterly. He's in turmoil. He's in conflict over this and what the Lord has said. Now as Hezekiah prays in this way before the Lord, the Lord responds. In verse four, it tells us the word of the Lord came to Isaiah saying, go tell Hezekiah. Thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father, I have heard your prayer and

I have seen your tears. Surely I will add to your days 15 years. I will deliver you in this city from the hand of the king of Assyria and I will defend this city. Now as you read the parallel passages there in 2nd Kings chapter 20, we get a little bit more insight that Isaiah, as he came and delivered the initial message to Hezekiah, then Isaiah left and Hezekiah began to pray to the Lord.

But things happen pretty fast. As Hezekiah called out to the Lord and prayed this prayer before the Lord, it tells us that before Isaiah could leave the courtyard, he wasn't even out of the palace yet. He wasn't even gone yet. He's like walking out the gate. And then the Lord tells Isaiah, turn back, go back to Hezekiah and give him this message. I have heard your prayer. I've heard your prayer. You're not going to die from this illness after all.

That's a bit kind of interesting thing for us to consider, right? Back in verse two or verse three, no, verse one, sorry. Verse one, thus says the Lord, set your house in order, you shall die and not live. How do you get from that to thus says the Lord, you're not going to die? You know, it's been observed many times throughout the scriptures. Whenever a word from the Lord has gone out, specifically a word of judgment has gone out from the Lord, you're not going to die.

that many times it is, I would say actually every time, it is God's invitation for people to repent. Whenever God announces judgment, it's always an invitation to repent. If God wanted to judge people without opportunity to repent, he would just bring the judgment without the announcement ahead of time. But because he is merciful and gracious and he's not desiring that any should perish, he

He will precede judgment oftentimes with an announcement of the judgment. And although the announcement may sound permanent and, you know, final, the very fact that God is announcing it ahead of time, well, it indicates that there is opportunity. It's still not too late for there to be repentance. The example of Jonah is always a good example to consider for that. Because Jonah went to Assyria by the word of the Lord and said, in 40 days,

This city is going to be destroyed. No call to repentance. No invitation. No here's how to get right with God. None of that. It's just in 40 days judgment is coming. And the people of Assyria at that time. They responded to that. And they repented and turned to the Lord. And so well they responded to God's invitation. And God relented on the judgment that was proclaimed. Many times when God brings forth a word. Well.

It is a word of the Lord and word from the Lord, but it's also an opportunity for us to respond to what the Lord is saying. And so God says, you're going to die. You shall not live, but Hezekiah prays and God updates his word. And he says, okay, you are going to die, but not right now. It'll be 15 years from now. I'm adding 15 years to your life and God heals him. And it

It is seen here through this passage, it's a direct result of this prayer that Hezekiah prays. Pastor David Guzik puts it this way, Hezekiah's prayer was important by all indications. If Hezekiah had not made his passionate prayer, then his life would not have been extended. He goes on to say prayer matters. Sometimes we can feel like prayer really doesn't make a difference.

that it really doesn't change things and it's not that effective. But here we see in this occasion of Hezekiah's life a good reminder of, well, the power of prayer and the impact of prayer. Hezekiah is healed because he prayed this prayer before the Lord. He has 15 years added to his life because he was bold enough, he was open and honest enough to ask the Lord to do what he wanted.

Hezekiah says, Lord, I know you said this is the end, but here's my will. Here's what I would ask. Lord, would you grant me some more time? Would you allow me to have some more life? Would you please not let this be the end? And the Lord says, okay, I've heard your prayer. I've answered your prayer and I've added 15 years to your life. Now that's some good stuff for us to consider about prayer, but this account also stirs up some discussion amongst theologians, Bible scholars, preachers,

Because as you look at this account and you see what takes place now in Hezekiah's life, it really brings up the question, okay, Hezekiah had 15 more years, but was that really a good thing? That's the question that's asked. Was it really a good thing that he had 15 more years? And one of the reasons for asking that question is because of his son, Manasseh. Now, Manasseh is going to be king after Hezekiah.

And he's going to turn out to be the worst king that Judah ever saw. He's going to lead the people into gross sin and describes throughout the different accounts of Manasseh's life of him filling Jerusalem with the blood of the innocent. He does great wickedness. And there's a great judgment that is brought upon Judah as a result of the wickedness of Hezekiah's son, Manasseh.

And the reason why Manasseh is a factor in this discussion is because, well, Manasseh was 12 years old when he became king. So just kind of try to picture the timeline in your head, right? So Hezekiah is 39 years old. He gets the word, you're going to die. And Hezekiah prays and says, please, Lord, don't let me die right now. So God says, okay, I'm going to give you 15 more years. So in those 15 years, well, that's when Manasseh was born. If Hezekiah died when he was 39, Manasseh would have never been born.

But Manasseh was born during that extension that God gave him. And then he went on to turn out to be the worst king that Judah ever saw and brought great judgment upon the people of Israel. And so that fact causes many to wrestle with this idea like, well, maybe it would have been better for Hezekiah and for his family and for the nation if he had died when he was 39.

from that illness. Maybe that would have been better. And a lot of times this discussion, it revolves around the concept of the perfect will of God versus the permissive will of God. And you probably have heard those terms, right? The idea is there's a perfect will of God. God knows what's best. He knows the exact right path. He knows the perfect plan. He has his perfect will.

But he also has a permissive will. So you refuse his plan. You say no to his plan. You want your way. And so God says, okay, this way is the better way, but I will allow this way as well. And scholars will wrestle with that. And I'm not going to really answer all of the questions about that or resolve that this morning. Like I said, this is a message that really there's some wrestling for us to do. But here's the way that I would think about this as we consider these things this morning.

There is definitely a permissive will of God in the sense that if you refuse to follow him, he lets you. You know, sometimes he puts some roadblocks in the way to try to help you rethink that idea, right? So, you know, you're Jonah running from the call of God and God says, here's a great fish, you know, to help you rethink that. But if Jonah had insisted on rebelling against God, God would have permitted him, right? He never, he doesn't force anyone to,

to choose to love him and to choose to walk with him. He calls us, he gives us really strong encouragements and reminders, but there is that permissive will of God in that God does not force us to do what he wants. There is the perfect will in that he does have his plans for us. He does have what is best for us and he wants to accomplish what is best for us. So I do believe in those concepts. At the same time, I would say,

I'm a little bit concerned about applying this specifically to Hezekiah's condition. And as I was reading through, because we're reading through the Bible in three years, we're here in Isaiah, I was reading through this this week, and it really stood out to me that, you know, the permissive will of God does apply to our choice to obey or to not obey, our choice to walk with God or not walk with God. But I don't think that it applies to our prayers. Let me put it this way.

You don't have to be afraid of praying for the wrong thing. You don't need to be afraid. If the situation is, well, it really wasn't a good thing for Hezekiah to live for 15 years longer. It was really kind of a bad choice. It was a bad decision. So man, really would have been better Hezekiah if you just didn't pray for that because God answered that prayer and boy, are you sorry, right? Like,

That strikes fear in us. And we already have some issues with prayer and some difficulty in calling out to the Lord. We don't need the extra added pressure of make sure you don't pray the wrong thing or God may answer it and you're going to be sorry, right? Like that is not the way that we need to understand our approach to God and our walk with God.

There is the permissive will of God in that God will let you disobey. If you insist on refusing him, he allows you to make that choice. He gives you that freedom. But at the same time, we can come to God with a genuineness. We can come to God, you know, we sing the song, we say it, we can come to God as we are. And sometimes we know that to be true, but we don't actually do that in practice. I would say it this way. Sometimes we're too spiritual to pray.

to pray. Like, what does that mean? Well, you know, sometimes it's like, I know I shouldn't feel this way. And so I pretend like I'm not. Instead of taking the way that I'm feeling and

The things that I'm experiencing and pretending like they don't exist, what I need to do is to come to God as I am with the struggles that I have, with the feelings that I have, with the things that I'm wrestling with and the things that I'm going through, the turmoil, the questions that I don't think this is fair, God. I don't feel right about this. I don't know why you're allowing this. I don't know why you would do this. Those kinds of things, sometimes we're so fearful of bringing that to God.

But what I would suggest is Hezekiah sets a good example for us in that he's feeling all of those things and maybe for good reasons, maybe not for good reasons, but that's beside the point. What he did was he actually then took where he was at with a genuine, with an open, with a real conversation with the Lord. He shares his heart before the Lord. I would encourage you to pray according to how you really feel, not pray according to how you know you're supposed to feel, right?

Or pray pretending you don't feel this way or that way. No, no, no. Pray according to how you really feel. And be open with God about where you're at and what you're thinking and what you're struggling with and what the highs and lows are of what you're going through. I think Jesus sets forth a good model for us in this. We revisit this often because it was such an impactful point in the life of Jesus where he was there in the Garden of Gethsemane.

It's on the eve of his crucifixion. And there Jesus, although he is God who became man, one with God from all eternity, now for the first time in all of eternity, there is this conflict within. In Jesus, it says in Mark chapter 14, 36, says, Abba, Father, all things are possible for you. Take this cup away from me. Nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will.

And here in Jesus, we see a great model for us. As he comes to the Father, he says, Father, I'm really wrestling with this now. I mean, I agreed to this. This is my plan, your plan, our plan. We're together on this. But now in my humanity, I'm evaluating the difficulty that I'm about to go through and the pain of having the sin of all humanity laid upon me and the weight of that and the burden of that. This is pretty overwhelming. If there's any other way for humanity to be saved,

There's any other way for forgiveness to be given? Jesus says, take this cup from me. He's being real and genuine before the Father. Sharing where he's at, sharing what he's going through. This is a great example because then he goes on to say, nevertheless, not what I will, but what you will. It's not a sharing what I feel in rebellion against God. No, God, I demand that you do it my way, right? That's not...

what the Lord is doing, and that's not what we are to do, and I'm not advocating, ask the Lord to do what you want, and that you demand, no God, this is what I want, and you know, it has to be my way, and that's not fair, and you should do, no, no, no, not that kind of attitude, with the attitude of Jesus, hey, not my will, but your will, but at the same time, with the genuineness, what I think this is not going the way that it should go, I think this is

I don't really understand this at all. It doesn't seem fair. It doesn't seem right for you to do this, you to allow this. But Lord, your will, not my will, but I'm open and I'm able to share with God genuinely where I'm at and what I'm going through and what I'm experiencing. Ask the Lord to do what you want, not in defiance, in submission, but genuinely being open about what you're experiencing within.

I think this is further illustrated by the Apostle Paul in Philippians chapter 4. Philippians chapter 4 verse 6 and 7, Paul says, Now notice some of the wording that Paul uses here. He says, He doesn't say, pretend like you're not anxious.

For things that you know are unspiritual or that shouldn't really be taking place in your life. So pretend like you're not anxious for those things. No, he says, be anxious for nothing. Let nothing drive you to that anxiety. But in everything, so notice that nothing and now everything, right? It's everything. Every aspect of your life, every thought, every emotion, every experience, everything you go through, he says, everything.

By prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God. Let your requests be made known. Now, God knows your requests before you ever ask them. At the same time, he says, ask and let your requests be made known. Present your requests. Bring forth your requests. In other words, ask the Lord to do what you want.

Now, Paul says it in a way that's much more spiritual, right? He says, let your requests be made known to God. He's much more righteous and holy than I am, but it's the same concept. Let your requests be made known. Ask God what you want. You have requests. You have situations. You have feelings. You have things that you're going through, and you have requests associated with that. Make those requests. Ask God, even if it seems like directly opposite of what the Lord has already revealed.

Even if it seems like, ah, this isn't, you know, maybe the thing that I should ask, or maybe I shouldn't be feeling this way, or maybe I shouldn't be wrestling with this. Maybe it shouldn't be a question for me that, that you can kind of talk yourself out of asking the Lord for things. That's easy to do. We talk ourselves out of prayer all the time. And this morning, I would remind you and encourage you as we look at Hezekiah that, no, you don't have to talk yourself out of prayer.

You're going through all kinds of things. And yes, you even know better than to feel the way that you feel. And yet, at the same time, you feel that way. Don't pretend like it's not there. Don't deny it. But take it to the Lord and present your requests. Make them known. Verbalize them to the Lord. In James chapter 4, we have another form of this. And James talking to the people who are dissatisfied with their lives and

They don't have what they want. They're unsatisfied, unsettled in where they're at. And he says, you know, you lust and you do not have. You murder and you covet and you cannot obtain. You fight and you war. He says, yet you do not have because you do not ask. He goes on to say, now there are some things that you do ask for and you don't receive because you ask amiss that you may spend it on your pleasures. He's describing some different occasions, but

Generally speaking, he's saying, look, here you are. You're unsettled. You're unsatisfied. You wish you had this. You wish you had that. You wish things were going differently. And you're trying really hard and all of your strength and all of your resources to get that. But he says, you don't have, sometimes just simply because you have not asked. But this is a reality that there are things in your life that God would want to do, that God desires to do, and that God is willing and able to do. But he has not done that.

because you have not asked. There's things that God does in your life that you never asked for, right? But there's also things that God waits for you to ask. As you look at this account of Hezekiah, if Hezekiah had not asked, every indication here says he would not have been healed. Is there something like that happening in your life? Does God want to do something that you want and

And you would ask for it, but it just felt wrong to ask for it. It felt like, ah, it's too bold to ask for that. It felt like, I shouldn't ask for that. I'm not supposed to ask for that, right? Is there things that God wants to do in your life that he is not doing because you are not asking for it?

Now again, James goes on to say, now sometimes you do ask, but it's a selfish ask. And it's all for you and your pleasures and what you want. And God's not obligated just because you ask to give you everything that you ask for. So don't come at it that way. And again, demanding my will, my way, what I want. So that's not the right heart. But at the same time acknowledging, yeah, there's some things that I may not get what I'm asking for. It may not ultimately be best for me.

There are those things that I won't even have an opportunity to know if it's God's will if I don't ask for him to work in this way. Ask the Lord to do what you want. Not demanding, not requiring, but openly, honestly, evaluating. Coming to the Lord and saying, Lord, this is how I'm feeling. This is what I'm going through. This is what I'm experiencing. This is where I'm at. This is what I would like for you to do.

But would you heal me, Hezekiah says. Would you give me more time? Would you work in my life? I would encourage you to ask the Lord to do what you want. Well, moving on to look at verse seven and eight here in Isaiah chapter 38, we get point number two, and that is ask the Lord to do the impossible. Ask the Lord to do the impossible. Verse seven and eight says this, and this is the sign to you from the Lord, that the Lord will do this thing which he has spoken.

behold, I will bring the shadow on the sundial, which has gone down with the sun on the sundial of Ahaz, 10 degrees backward. So the sun returned 10 degrees on the dial by which it had gone down. Something impossible takes place as a sign to Hezekiah that God will give him these extra 15 years. The shadow goes backwards on the sundial.

Now, when you and I picture a sundial, we usually picture, you know, that round thing with that post in the middle and the sun, you know, as it goes, it casts a shadow and that's our typical picture of a sundial. But...

For them, a traditional sundial was a little bit differently in that it was structures that were built, sometimes stairs, sometimes different shapes that would catch the shadow in different ways to indicate the time. And actually, that's why I chose the background for the slides that I chose this morning. Because this is currently existing. It's the largest sundial that exists. And so this middle wall here,

provides the wall that casts the shadow. And so as the sun goes across, then the shadow is cast. And then there's these curved portions on the side. You can see the top portion there on that side. So when the sun's here, it's casting that side. When the sun's coming from this way, it casts a shadow on that side. And so the shadow, where it's cast and where it's placed here,

Upon that curved portion indicates what time it is. Now, this one in particular was built in the 1700s. It's 88 feet tall at its peak there, and it's the tallest, the largest of sundials that exist today. This one is so accurate, it actually records to the second sundial

time of day by where the shadow lands. It's actually measurable that every second the shadow moves a millimeter. So you can actually like watch it move. Sounds pretty cool. I haven't seen it, but reading about it, it sounded pretty interesting, sounded pretty cool that, you know, they could have this kind of accuracy and to the second looking at the time of day based on the shadow as it's cast.

So pretty cool. Now for Hezekiah, there was the sundial of Ahaz.

Probably wasn't as, you know, elaborate as this, but they would build these stairs. And so the shadow would be cast on the stairs and they could see like where the shadow was on the steps and know what time of day it was as a result. So things like that. And it's probably the case that Hezekiah could see that from his bed where he was laying there ill, his deathbed. And so he's looking at that and the Lord performs this sign to give him that indication to

Show him that God will perform his word and give him those extra 15 years of life. So pretty cool, this miracle that takes place. Now, how did this take place? Why did the Lord do it this way? Why did God do it like that? Well, again, there's some further detail that's found in 2 Kings 20. And there we learn that God actually presents Hezekiah with an option. Hezekiah asked for a sign that he will be healed.

And God says, okay, I'll give you a sign, but you get to choose which sign it will be. Option number one, the shadow will increase 10 degrees. So in other words, like it will jump ahead 10 degrees or the shadow will decrease. It will back up 10 degrees. So those are your options, Hezekiah. You want a sign, here's a sign. Either the shadow is going to jump forward like it wouldn't normally, it would like zoom ahead, right? Or it would rewind and back up.

And so Hezekiah chooses. He says, you know, it's easy thing for the shadow to go down 10 degrees. We see that happen every day. The shadow goes down as the sun moves, right? That continues, the shadow goes, that's pretty normal, but it's unusual. In fact, it never happens that the shadow goes backwards because, well, if you think about the physics, right, how would that work? The sun hitting the wall, casting a shadow,

How does it go backwards except for the sun to reverse course? Now you think about the earth revolving around the sun. Okay, the sun reversing course for the shadow to change, that's pretty involved as far as the physics are concerned. I mean, you try to work that out. Okay, the rotation of the earth would have to stop. The rotation this way, the spinning, what...

What would need to take place? And how catastrophic would that be to the earth? And, you know, we understand the orbit and the rotation and all of the perfect balance of what we have here. It'd be, well, it's a lot to consider. All of that to take place for this shadow to go back 10 degrees. Now there's other occasions in the scripture, other miraculous, similar types of things that, well, men have come up with all kinds of ideas about how maybe the Lord has done it.

Remember the day that the sun stood still? Joshua's long day when he prayed and the sun stood still. There are many who believe that and hold fast to you. And there's some perhaps astronomical evidence that there was a shift, that there was a change in the rotation of the earth. And that's what caused the sun to stand still from the perspective of the battlefield. And there's a good case to be made for that. But here in this case, well, there's no real certainty. There's no real...

Everybody has questions. We don't know how God did this. Did God reverse the rotation? Did he move the sun? Did he add a flashlight to just make the shadow go back a little bit? How did God do this? We don't know. But here's what we do know. However God did it, it was impossible. But he did it anyways. It wasn't normal. It's not part of the normal cycle of the sun or the earth or anything. It's impossible. And yet God did it anyways.

Back sharing the first point, ask the Lord to do what you want. I said sometimes we're too spiritual to pray, right? Like I know I shouldn't feel this way, so I won't pray this way because maybe I shouldn't feel this way. Here looking at this point, I would say sometimes I'm too practical to pray. I'm not even going to pray for that. It's impossible. So why bother praying for that? It's not even possible. It's why waste my time? Why spend my energy? It's not practical. So I don't pray for it. Now, maybe that's just me. But in case some of you are like me,

Listen, I can have a fatalistic mentality many times. I give up before even trying because it's not even possible. When Kim and I were dating, I let her know, listen, if you're going to live with me, we're going to be married and have a life together. You need to know I'm never going to own a home. It's just never going to happen. I mean, look at my financial history. Look at my credit history. Look at my debt. Look at all the issues I have.

And then look at, okay, I'm going to be a pastor. Pastors don't make any money. It's just, look at Corona, Riverside, Southern California. It's really expensive to live here and own a home. Like, it's just never going to happen. And so you need to settle now before we get married. We're never going to own a home. This month we celebrate 10 years living in our home. And you know how that happened? It wasn't because of me, because I have the fatalistic mentality. I'm never even going to try. But

A little over 10 years ago, Kim said, well, what if God could do the impossible? And she began to pray and she began to look. And I was like, why are you looking? We can never, no, stop looking. Like, it's never going to happen. We can't do it. It's just too impossible. But Kim was bold enough to pray. You know, sometimes we just, we talk ourselves out of praying and asking God to work because, oh, the work is too big. It's too impossible. Let's learn from Hezekiah.

He said, Lord, could you take the shadow back 10 degrees? Do the impossible. He had that boldness to ask. And God had the strength to do it, the power to do it. Ask the Lord to do the impossible. In Mark chapter 9, Jesus encounters a man who has a son who's demon-possessed. And Jesus tells him, if you can believe, all things are possible to him who believes.

Now Jesus said this to him because, well, this man had tried many things to rescue and deliver his son from the demon possession. He even brought his son to Jesus' disciples and the disciples tried their best while Jesus was up on the mount to deliver this son from this demon possession. But all things that they had tried, they found it's impossible. But he brings his son to Jesus and he says, if you can do anything,

Jesus is, I don't know, everybody's tried. It's impossible. But if there's anything you can do, you know, maybe you could do that. And Jesus in response says, if I can do anything, listen, if you can believe, then God can do it. That doesn't mean that God does everything we believe or everything we want or everything we wish for, right? But God is not limited by what we call impossible, right?

And so the father cries out. He says, oh, I do believe. Help my unbelief. I have this conflict within. I believe and I know you can do anything. And God is capable. But I also wrestle with doubts. I have unbelief. And so he expresses that conflict. But the Lord says here, look, if you can believe. The father, he's tried everything, but he still comes to Jesus and says, look, this looks impossible. But if you can do anything, ask God to do the impossible.

Ask him to do what you want, even if it's impossible, even if it seems like it could never happen, it would never work. Ask the Lord for miracles. Again, sometimes you do not have simply because you talked yourself out of it, seemed to impossible, and so you never bothered to ask. But maybe God wants to do something miraculous for you, not with the heart and the attitude of demanding, but

But with it, genuineness, I believe, help my unbelief. I'm wrestling with this. Here's how I feel. This is what seems right. I like this in my life. Lord, this is where I'm at. And I'm asking you, would you work and do the miraculous? Well, we're going to finish up with just a quick look at chapter 39, the first couple of verses. But here's point number three. Use your time to repay the Lord. Here in Isaiah chapter 39, after Hezekiah is healed, he's

Some messengers from Babylon come. Verse 1 says, At that time, Merodach Baladin, the son of Baladin, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that he had been sick and recovered. And Hezekiah was pleased with them and showed them the house of his treasures, the silver, the gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory, all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

Here we find that after the miraculous has been done, Hezekiah asked from the Lord and received from the Lord great incredible things. Now he has 15 more years. And the big question is, how is Hezekiah going to use his time? And the tragedy that we find in the life of Hezekiah is that he does not use his time well. He's given extra time from the Lord, but he does not use that time well.

These visitors come from Babylon. Now Babylon at that time was a small little nation. They weren't a world power that they would be. Right now the world power of the day is Assyria. Babylon would come next. And they're far away, a thousand miles away. But they hear about Hezekiah. They hear about perhaps the sun going backwards on the sundial, right? And they go to check it out. They go with a present. And they go to the

And it describes this whole scene where Hezekiah brings them in. He shows them around. He shows them every closet, every back room, every, you know, treasury, every treasure, every gold, every piece of silver, everything that they had. And maybe not obvious, but Hezekiah, his heart is not right as he's showing them around. It tells us in 2 Chronicles 32, verse 25, Hezekiah did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up.

Therefore, wrath was looming over him and over Judah and Jerusalem. As Hezekiah is showing them around, his heart is lifted up. He's not glorying in the Lord. He's not glorifying the Lord. He's showing off himself, his strength. His heart is lifted up. And so there it's described, he did not repay according to the favor shown him. God showed him great mercy and grace and worked miraculously in his life. Gave him that extra time.

But Hezekiah did not use the time to glorify the Lord. Instead, he used the time to glorify himself. And so going back to this occasion, should Hezekiah not have prayed for this or should God not have given him the 15 years? The issue wasn't in Hezekiah's prayer or in his request. It wasn't in God answering the prayer. The issue is in Hezekiah's behavior afterward. I would describe it as squandered potential, much like Samson, right? Samson had great potential, right?

but he also had the responsibility to behave according to the will of God and to live in a way that honors and glorifies God. In a similar way, you and I, we have received much grace and mercy from God. So much so that we really have no business asking for anything else, but God calls us to ask and invites us to ask and wants us to ask. And so let's ask, even for the impossible.

even for the impractical, even for the improbable, right? Let's ask, let's go before the Lord with a sincere and genuine, this is where we're at, this is what we're going through, this is what we're wrestling with, this is what we desire. Let your requests be made known to God. But as you make your requests known, also be looking to glorify God and honor the Lord with what he provides and in the work that he does.

Hezekiah started his reign in revival. First year of his reign, he opens the doors of the temple. He's on fire, but he ended his reign fizzled out, lukewarm, puffed up, filled with himself, squandering the time, squandering what God has done. He sets for us a good example and an example of caution. We can easily find ourselves in this place, especially having walked with the Lord for a while. We can kind of end just like, just...

not caught up with repaying the Lord. We could never repay the Lord for the grace and mercy he's shown. But at the same time, we need to be seeking to repay the Lord, to honor him as a result of the honor that he has shown to us. Pastor, not pastor, the Apostle Paul puts it this way in Romans 12, when I beseech you, therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God, which is your reasonable service.

Here's the reasonable thing. Here's your repayment, Paul says. Present yourself as a living sacrifice. Use your time to repay the Lord. Use the resources and the answers to prayer that God gives you. Use those to repay the Lord, to honor him, to glorify him, to lift him up above all else in your life. It's time to pray and it's time to repay. Ask the Lord.

and then serve the Lord with all that he has provided. Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for this example from your word. Lord, that helps us and encourages us to ask as we have perhaps talked ourselves out of asking. We've given up a long time ago presenting our requests before you. And Lord, there are things that we would ask for that would not be good for us. And so you probably aren't gonna answer those. But there are also things that you want to do in our lives.

And you're waiting for us to ask, would you give us, Lord, that confidence in you and in your grace and goodness, Lord, that we would be bold enough to ask, even for the impossible, help us, God, to come to you with a genuine heart and a sincerity in what we're feeling, what we're experiencing, what we desire, not pretending like we don't have these wrestlings and struggles, but Lord, coming to you in open honesty, asking of you.

while submitting to your will. And I pray, God, that you'd give us a clear picture, many opportunities on how to repay you, how to honor you, to glorify you with all that you've provided for us. We thank you for your goodness in our lives. We ask now that you'd help us to walk worthy of the calling with which we've been called. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.

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