Homilist Isaiah 38:2-3 Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD,… In these tears we can discover — I. A DREAD OF DEATH COMMON TO HUMAN NATURE. 1. This dread of death has a moral cause. What is the cause? A consciousness of sin, and an apprehension of its consequences. On the assumption that man would have died, had he not sinned, his death, we presume, in that case, would have been free from all that is terrible. 2. This dread of death has a moral antidote. "O death, where is thy sting?" &c. Those who apply this remedy hail rather than dread mortality; they "desire to depart," &c. II. THE INABILITY OF THE WORLD TO RELIEVE HUMAN NATURE. Hezekiah was a monarch. His home was a palace, and the great men of the nation were his willing attendants. Whatever wealth could procure, he could get at his bidding; and yet with so much of the world, what could it do for him? Could it raise him from his suffering couch? Nay! Could it hush one sigh, or wipe one tear away? No! In truth, the probability is that his earthly possessions and splendour added to the awfulness of the idea of death. The world has no power to help the soul in its deepest griefs and wants. The soul weeps in palaces. III. THE POWER OF PRAYER TO HELP HUMAN NATURE. These tears were the tears of prayer as well as of fear, and his fear stimulated his prayer. And what was the result of this prayer? "I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years." This is a remarkable instance of the power of prayer, and is recorded here to encourage our suffering nature to direct its cries to heaven. (Homilist,) Parallel Verses KJV: Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,WEB: Then Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed to Yahweh, |
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