Family Sermons Isaiah 38:16 O LORD, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so will you recover me, and make me to live. Hezekiah was a rich and prosperous king. Surrounded by the dignities of rank, the refinements of elegance, and the gratifications of voluptuousness, he, doubtless, viewed these as the very end and delight of his being, and wished for nothing, knew of nothing better or beyond them. No; very different was his character; very different were the things of which he spake. These words were not uttered in "the house of his armour," but in the chamber of his sickness; not at the festive table of his royal banquets, but upon the couch of lassitude and pain. Let us endeavour, by a few examples, to verify his pensive contemplation; and this, that we may learn "so to number our days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom." 1. Take the case of a professed scoffer at religion. He is arrested, we will suppose, by the arm of Omnipotence, in his profligate course; he is thrown by a stronger hand than his own upon the couch of pain and dejection; he learns for the first time to tremble; we will suppose him humbled, converted. Sanctified affliction was the first step. This softened the stony ground: this prepared the heart for holy impressions. Will not such a one be ready to exclaim with Hezekiah, "By these things men live, and by these is the life of the spirit"? 2. Imagine a man careless and indifferent to religion, though not a hardened scoffer. He is too busy with the world to spend a thought upon his eternal safety. But God brings him low. In the silence and solitude of affliction he is forced to think. What cause will such a one have for ever to bless Him who wounds that He may heal, who kills that He may make alive! 3. Let us imagine an inconsistent backsliding Christian brought into deep affliction. He returns to Him whom he had forsaken. 4. Look at the Pharisee. God brings him within sight of death and eternity. He is unmasked to himself, and begins to exclaim, "What must I do to be saved?" What a blessing has affliction been to such a character! 5. The dejected Christian. How often has such a one had reason to exclaim of afflictions, that "by these things men live"! The season of weakness and distress is often that which God selects for the brightest manifestations of His love and tenderness. (Family Sermons.) Parallel Verses KJV: O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live. |
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