Roger Lewis – The Crisis of Hezekiah – Class 4 – The Writing and The Psalter

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Brothers and sisters, we’re
ready to start our third class.

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Our speaker is Brother Rodger
Lewis.

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The theme of Brother Lewis’s
classes this week is The Crisis

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of Hezekiah.
Today’s class is entitled The

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Writing and the Psalter for the
Roger.

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Well, thank you, brother
Chairman, and good morning, my

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dear brothers and sisters in our
Lord Jesus Christ.

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Back to his A car.
So in our last study, you’ll

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remember that we found his A
car.

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I always need to make this
adjustment just before we begin.

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We found his A car in his royal
bedchamber.

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He was in despair with his face
towards the wall.

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He was trying to accept the
devastating message that had

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been brought to him by Isaiah
The prophet set thine house in

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order for thou shalt not live.
And that prospect, you remember,

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of premature death left him
regretting all the things that

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he’d wished he’d done and
lamenting the fact that he would

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be unable to complete them.
But his prayer at that vital

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moment of destiny gave an
amazing demonstration of his

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total surrender to Yahweh in
that spirit of resignation, in

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accepting whatever the divine
will might have had in store for

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him.
And that prayer which so pleased

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his God was answered in dramatic
fashion, as we saw as the

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prophet, running from the Middle
court, burst into his chamber

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again to announce with
breathless excitement that his

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life was to be spared.
And with the writing of the

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shadow on the staircase,
Hezekiah was given the ultimate

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reassurance that he would indeed
recover and go up yet again into

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the House of God.
Well, that brings us to our

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study this morning then, as we
take up the narrative of the

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prophecy of Isaiah again, and
this time to the theme of the

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writing and the Psalter.
Because do you notice in Isaiah

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38 and verse 9, as we concluded
our study yesterday in verse 8,

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verse 9 will now say the writing
of Hezekiah, king of Judah, when

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he had been sick and was
recovered of his sickness.

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Now, incidentally, in the
writing that follows, it’s

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written in lines of poetry.
And I think that what that tells

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us is that what he wrote, what
he did write in this next

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section of Isaiah 38, was in
fact the Psalm.

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This is Hezekiah’s Psalm to
commemorate the stirring events

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that had brought him back from
certain death to promised life.

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And I think that that tells us
something else as well, is that

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this was not intended to be kept
as a private reflection of the

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king.
No, no, no.

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He wanted this to be a public
expression not only of his

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things, but of what lessons
might be learned from the story.

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He wanted the nation to
understand the hand of

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Providence in this matter, which
was at work not just in the life

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of the king, but in the life of
the nation, as we shall see by

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and by in our studies.
And what’s interesting, brothers

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and sisters, is that this entire
section from verse 9 to verse 20

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in Isaiah chapter 38 is utterly
unique to Isaiah.

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This is not in the historical
records of his account.

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Neither in the Kings nor
Chronicles will we find this

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Psalm only in the book of
Isaiah.

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It’s something to do with what
he wrote about, and he was

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obviously anxious to record.
And one thing I think we can be

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certain confident of that Isaiah
was anxious that we know about

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was this.
You see, if we were to say

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what’s the theme of this
writing, one of the key ideas is

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that it’s about the matter of
sickness and recovery.

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Isaiah 38, verse 9 where we
start, says the writing of

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Hezekiah, king of Judah, when
he’d been sick and was recovered

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of his sickness.
And that word recover.

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Here is the Hebrew word higher
to live higher.

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It’s a basic word for life.
But again in verse 16 of this

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chapter it will say, O Yahweh,
by these things men live, so

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wilt thou recover me, kholam, to
bind together again and make me

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to live.
And again in chapter 38, verse

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21, Isaiah said, let them take a
lump of figs, lay it for a

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plaster on the boil, and he
shall recover to live.

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And in Isaiah 39, verse one,
when this writing is finished,

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it says Meredek Baladdin sent
letters and a present to

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Hezekiah, for he’d heard that
he’d been sick and was

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recovered.
Khazak to be strong.

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Now why?
That’s interesting.

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Or let me just show you some
other keywords here.

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Do you notice this?
He had been sick verse 9.

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He had been sick, chapter 39,
verse 1, and was recovered.

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Now this is the corresponding
passage in Second Kings 20,

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verse 12, corresponding to
chapter 39, verse one.

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The king of Babylon sent letters
in a present unto Hezekiah, for

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he had heard that Hezekiah had
been sick only Isaiah tells us,

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but he was recovered for some
reason.

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It was important that Isaiah
make a careful note about the,

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the, the, the matter of recovery
of the king and that’s going to

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become the framework on which
Hezekiah is going to be basis

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the the writing of the Psalm on
this occasion.

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Now you might remember that when
we looked at the speech of Reb

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Shaker in chapter 36 that it
broke into, do you remember 2

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sections could 2 quite distinct
sections to the speech and that

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each section had two distinct
parts.

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And that women came to the
answer of God in Isaiah 37, that

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there were two sections to the
answer and each section had two

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parts.
Well, you never guess how the

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writing of Hezekiah breaks up,
would you?

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Surprise, surprise, but it’s
going to be the same.

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And clearly this may be a mark
of, of perhaps the way that

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Hezekiah wrote his story.
So I think what we’ve got here

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in verses 10 to 14 is the first
section of his writing.

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And it says despair at the
prospect of death.

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And as always, there’s crucial
little words that become the

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guide to our thinking.
Now here’s the start that tells

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us the theme.
It’s about as previous anguish,

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I said.
I had said.

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I had thought I had spoken about
these things in the past.

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This first section is about his
previous anguish and his despair

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at the prospect of death.
And there are two sections, I

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think, to that writing verses
11:50 is an elegy of grief for

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life cut short and the daunting
prospect of premature death.

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That’s what these first verses
about opening verses are about.

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And then the second part of this
first section is about a

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lamentation versus 13 and 14 for
an untimely end and a cry for

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help from oppression.
So let’s start the writing,

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Shall we see, shall we, brothers
and sisters?

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And and see what it is that
Hezekiah would bid us to know.

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Isaiah 38 verse 10 says, I said
in the cutting off of my days, I

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shall go to the gates of the
grave.

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I’m deprived of the residue of
my years.

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And his first thought was one of
sorrow that he was to be cut off

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in the midst of his days.
But really by days what he

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really meant was labours.
He’d be cut off in the midst of

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his work with the nation because
it was right now that the nation

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needed him to inspire them.
And I think that’s the thing

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that upset him the most.
His people needed him, and he

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was going to be taken away.
He wasn’t concerned about

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prolonging life for the sake of
prolonging his life.

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It was for their sake as the
Assyrians cast its gloom upon

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the nation.
But now this man who had so

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desperately wanted to help his
nation, well, his own confidence

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was shattered because his
sickness had left him so

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bewildered and broken as he
struggled to understand the will

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of his God in the matter.
We just know how confused

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Hezekiah must have been at this
terrible turn of events.

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He says.
I’ve been taken to the gates of

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Sheol as a graphic description
of death, like a prison house.

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And I think that he was
terrified that he’d be pushed

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inside.
The doors would be locked,

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bolted, and he’d never come back
out.

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Oh yes, Hezekiah was distressed
at the thought of these things.

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And so he goes on to say in
verse 11, I said, I shall not

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see Yahweh, even Yahweh in the
land of the living.

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I shall behold man no more with
the inhabitants of the world.

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So the first thing he thought
about was I’m worried about the

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people, worried about the
nation.

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And the second thing he thought
about, wasn’t it remarkable?

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Verse 11.
I shall not see Yahweh.

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His second thought was that
death would deprive him of his

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relationship with His God.
I won’t be able to come before

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my God anymore.
Unable to help His people.

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Verse 10.
Unable to worship His God.

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Verse 11.
They were the two things that

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were the entire focus of
Hezekiah’s life.

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It begs the question what we
might focus on, doesn’t it,

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brothers and sisters?
But here’s a car is concerned

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above all all else is that he
would miss his guard in the land

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of the living.
That was an amazing spirit of

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the king.
He certainly wasn’t focused

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really on himself, was he?
So verse 12 says my age is

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departed and removed from me as
a shepherd’s tent.

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Now in those days, incidentally,
a shepherd’s tent was a very

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simple piece of fabric with a
pole to sleep under in the open

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field because it got pretty cold
at at at night time out with the

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flocks.
So there was a piece of cloth

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attached to a pole, and they
would jam the pole into the

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ground and snuggle under the
cloth and pull it around them.

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But the point of the symbol here
was that in the morning it would

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be rolled up and packed away as
the flock moved to fresh

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pasture.
So when he says my age is

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removed like a shepherd’s tent,
it was a symbol of just how

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temporary his life was.
Up for the night, down on the

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day, that’s how long my life is,
says Hezekiah.

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Like a shepherd’s tent.
Exactly.

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He says, I’ve cut off like a
weave in my life.

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And that would cut off actually
means together, together and to

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roll up.
And so Hezekiah pictured himself

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sadly rolling up the cloth of
his life, even though it hadn’t

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been finished.
In fact, it says, at least in

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the authorized version here, he
will cut me off with pining

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sickness.
But you might notice the margin.

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The margin says he will cut me
off at the thrum.

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And that’s interesting because
the thrum was the fringe of the

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unwoven ends that were left on
the loom when the completed

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cloth was cut off by the
weaver’s shears.

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So at the end of the completion
of the weaving of a cloth, the

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shears would cut off and just
leave the thrum, leave the

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tangled threads at the end.
But you see, for his a car, it

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was as if the tapestry of his
life had been cut away before

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the cloth was finished, before
the pattern was completed.

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His life was about to finish.
The cloth was still not

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complete, but the weaving was
over, and the seers had come.

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In fact, he says, from day even
to night, Wilt thou make an end

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of me?
Seen as if God had determined on

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His premature death, and the end
was so, so close now, so real,

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that he quailed at the thought.
He tried, of course, he tried to

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compose himself.
He says that verse 13 I I

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reckoned, he says, until the
morning.

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That word reckoned Shava to
level.

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Well, it’s been translated to
compose, to adjust, to quiet.

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It’s the word found in Psalm
131, verse 2, which says I have

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behaved myself.
And I think what we’re being

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told is that in the night time,
he tried to calm and soothe his

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emotions, hoping for relief to
come, that it was all to no

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avail because the next morning
brought no improvement at all.

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Instead, the agony of his
suffering grew worse because in

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the morning, what he found was
that as a lion, so will he break

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all my bones.
And the Hebrew reads in the past

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tense, he did break all my
bones.

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So such was the physical and
mental anguish of his illness

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that he felt bruised and crushed
and shattered by it from day

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even to night.
Wilt thou make an end of me?

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Isn’t that interesting, that
phrase?

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Because isn’t that what he’s
just said?

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At the end of verse 12, from day
even to night, that would make

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an end of me.
And now again, at the end of

216
00:13:25,480 –> 00:13:28,480
verse 13, from day even to
night, that would make an end of

217
00:13:28,480 –> 00:13:30,360
me.
You know, one of the things, one

218
00:13:30,360 –> 00:13:36,080
of the marks of people under
severe stress is that we repeat

219
00:13:36,080 –> 00:13:39,200
phrases over and over.
Our brains are numbed by the

220
00:13:39,200 –> 00:13:43,160
crisis and we lock onto a word
or a phrase or an expression and

221
00:13:43,160 –> 00:13:46,440
we just, we, we, it comes back
and back and back into our mind

222
00:13:46,440 –> 00:13:47,920
as if we can’t break free from
it.

223
00:13:48,160 –> 00:13:51,960
So he uses the same words.
He felt his life was going to be

224
00:13:51,960 –> 00:13:55,840
all over very soon.
Actually, there’s a sort of

225
00:13:55,840 –> 00:14:00,440
similar phrase in Job 4 verse 20
that says they are destroyed

226
00:14:00,440 –> 00:14:05,200
from morning to evening.
And I think that the import of

227
00:14:05,200 –> 00:14:08,080
that phrase in Job was that is
in the shortest space of

228
00:14:08,080 –> 00:14:12,000
possible time in the space or
span of just a single day from

229
00:14:12,000 –> 00:14:13,920
1:00 morning to it’s evening,
it’s all over.

230
00:14:14,960 –> 00:14:18,400
And that’s in his despair, how
Hezekiah felt his whole life

231
00:14:18,400 –> 00:14:22,120
would soon be finished, and all
that was left was the unbearable

232
00:14:22,480 –> 00:14:25,720
problem, the pain of his
condition and the

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00:14:25,720 –> 00:14:27,560
unannouncerable problem of its
meaning.

234
00:14:31,040 –> 00:14:33,120
Many of you will know about the
stages of grief.

235
00:14:35,680 –> 00:14:40,760
It moves from that moment of
denial to the moment of

236
00:14:41,440 –> 00:14:46,600
emotional angst that it has even
occurred, to the question of how

237
00:14:46,720 –> 00:14:51,280
it might finally be accepted,
and then the question of how you

238
00:14:51,280 –> 00:14:52,760
might actually move on from
that.

239
00:14:53,040 –> 00:14:54,760
Grief’s like a set of stages,
isn’t it?

240
00:14:54,760 –> 00:14:57,840
It passes through a stage and
the early stages of where we

241
00:14:57,840 –> 00:15:00,320
struggle to accept even the
reality of the thing itself.

242
00:15:00,480 –> 00:15:03,320
That’s where Hezekiah was.
It’s where we all are, brothers

243
00:15:03,320 –> 00:15:06,360
and sisters in such a journey,
in such a crisis.

244
00:15:07,920 –> 00:15:11,000
Totally understandable that we
pass through such stages.

245
00:15:11,000 –> 00:15:14,600
In fact, what he says, verse 14,
he says like a crane or a

246
00:15:14,600 –> 00:15:16,360
swallow.
So did I chatter.

247
00:15:16,480 –> 00:15:19,000
I did mourn as a dove.
Now, the interesting thing about

248
00:15:19,000 –> 00:15:21,680
the swallow and the crane is
that they’re both noted for

249
00:15:21,680 –> 00:15:26,680
their strident cry.
And the dove is known for her

250
00:15:26,680 –> 00:15:29,840
plaintive sound.
So you see these song, these

251
00:15:29,840 –> 00:15:34,520
birds didn’t make joyous songs.
They all had the cry of anguish

252
00:15:34,760 –> 00:15:37,920
and the call of morning.
And he said, that’s the birds

253
00:15:37,920 –> 00:15:40,240
I’m thinking of at this time.
That’s how I feel.

254
00:15:40,240 –> 00:15:43,840
He says, the morning cry of
these birds, they were the

255
00:15:43,840 –> 00:15:47,200
sounds that captured the misery
and the tears which Hezekiah

256
00:15:47,200 –> 00:15:51,240
felt at this time.
In fact, he says, verse 14, mine

257
00:15:51,240 –> 00:15:56,680
eyes pale with looking upward.
He besought God and pray so much

258
00:15:56,680 –> 00:15:59,840
in this trial that he was
exhausted from looking up into

259
00:15:59,840 –> 00:16:04,360
heaven as he pleaded.
But it still seemed that no

260
00:16:04,360 –> 00:16:09,400
answer came.
And so he says, Oh Yahweh, I am

261
00:16:09,480 –> 00:16:11,960
oppressed.
Now even in the English we know

262
00:16:11,960 –> 00:16:15,320
that the word oppressed carries
that idea of pressing down,

263
00:16:15,480 –> 00:16:19,960
forcing down, crushing weight,
keeping someone in subjection

264
00:16:20,000 –> 00:16:23,240
and hardship to press against.
And that’s what the Hebrew word

265
00:16:23,240 –> 00:16:25,720
means here.
Here’s a car felt as if he was

266
00:16:25,720 –> 00:16:29,640
under the pressure of a
merciless creditor who was

267
00:16:29,640 –> 00:16:33,160
demanding the repayment of a
debt who could not, he couldn’t

268
00:16:33,160 –> 00:16:36,120
pay.
And so he cries, Oh Yahweh, I am

269
00:16:36,120 –> 00:16:38,120
oppressed, placed undertake for
me.

270
00:16:38,320 –> 00:16:42,400
And that word undertake means to
give pledge or to become a

271
00:16:42,400 –> 00:16:45,360
guarantor.
He says I can’t pay it.

272
00:16:46,640 –> 00:16:49,240
Oh God, please become my
guarantor.

273
00:16:49,360 –> 00:16:52,160
Because the guarantor of course
was one who was prepared on

274
00:16:52,160 –> 00:16:55,960
behalf of someone else to pay
the bond that would release the

275
00:16:55,960 –> 00:16:58,560
defendant.
Oh, Yahweh, become my security,

276
00:16:58,560 –> 00:17:01,680
he says.
So death was the creditor asking

277
00:17:01,680 –> 00:17:05,520
for immediate payment, and his a
car was the debtor who could not

278
00:17:05,520 –> 00:17:10,280
pay.
O Yahweh, wilt thou act for me

279
00:17:10,280 –> 00:17:13,599
and be my security?
He’s at his lowest moment at

280
00:17:13,599 –> 00:17:17,240
this point in the writing of
Hezekiah verse 14.

281
00:17:18,480 –> 00:17:25,480
He’s at the bottom.
But when all seemed lost, and as

282
00:17:25,480 –> 00:17:28,119
I had come and gone with the
message that his illness would

283
00:17:28,119 –> 00:17:32,320
kill him, the amazing return of
the prophet and the miracle of

284
00:17:32,320 –> 00:17:34,960
his reprieve had come.
And so now we’ve got the second

285
00:17:34,960 –> 00:17:38,000
part of the writing because,
well, it follows hard on the

286
00:17:38,000 –> 00:17:41,120
heels, you see.
So if the first section of the

287
00:17:41,120 –> 00:17:45,960
writing was about his despair at
the prospect of death, then the

288
00:17:45,960 –> 00:17:50,600
second-half of the writing is
about his delight at the promise

289
00:17:50,640 –> 00:17:53,840
of life.
Verses 15 to 20.

290
00:17:55,960 –> 00:17:58,360
And there’s another little
keyword, you see, that marks out

291
00:17:58,360 –> 00:18:01,560
the beginning and the change.
Or what shall I say?

292
00:18:03,960 –> 00:18:07,520
Previously I had said it’s about
his previous anguish.

293
00:18:07,600 –> 00:18:12,440
Now what shall I say is about
his future gladness?

294
00:18:13,360 –> 00:18:15,760
This is the moment when the
Psalm changes, where the writing

295
00:18:15,760 –> 00:18:17,720
alters because the reprieve has
come.

296
00:18:20,520 –> 00:18:23,040
So he says, verse 15, What shall
I say?

297
00:18:24,360 –> 00:18:26,720
You see, this is the confession
of a man who’d been brought low

298
00:18:26,720 –> 00:18:30,560
and then rendered almost
speechless by the surprise of

299
00:18:30,560 –> 00:18:33,800
his restoration.
It was his unexpected

300
00:18:33,800 –> 00:18:36,120
deliverance which left him
struggling to find words.

301
00:18:36,240 –> 00:18:38,320
I don’t know what to say.
He says, What shall I say?

302
00:18:38,600 –> 00:18:42,760
What can I say to the answer
that had come by the mouth of of

303
00:18:42,760 –> 00:18:45,280
the prophet Isaiah?
In fact, he says at the end of

304
00:18:45,280 –> 00:18:47,600
that verse, he hath both.
That’s God.

305
00:18:47,600 –> 00:18:51,920
Of course.
He hath both spoken unto me and

306
00:18:51,920 –> 00:18:55,440
Himself hath done it.
See, God had promised His

307
00:18:55,440 –> 00:18:59,040
deliverance, verse 5.
But now he brought it to pass.

308
00:19:00,600 –> 00:19:03,200
He’d felt the healing.
And so from this point, the

309
00:19:03,200 –> 00:19:06,880
writing of Hezekiah would move
from the depression that gripped

310
00:19:06,880 –> 00:19:09,920
him to the gladness of
deliverance.

311
00:19:11,720 –> 00:19:14,720
And so he says in verse 15, What
shall I say?

312
00:19:14,720 –> 00:19:17,640
He hath both spoken unto me and
himself have done it.

313
00:19:17,640 –> 00:19:22,240
I shall go softly all my years
in the bitterness of my soul.

314
00:19:22,360 –> 00:19:24,960
See, this was a time for a new
commitment before his God,

315
00:19:24,960 –> 00:19:29,040
starting right now.
So here’s one of the lessons

316
00:19:29,280 –> 00:19:36,360
that comes out of the story.
Brothers and sisters, we can’t

317
00:19:36,360 –> 00:19:45,760
choose our trials, but we can
choose whether we will allow

318
00:19:45,760 –> 00:19:51,360
them to mark us for good or for
evil before our God.

319
00:19:53,960 –> 00:19:56,920
You see, with some the effect of
trial is to move them further

320
00:19:56,920 –> 00:20:00,280
away from God as they brood on
the injustice of their own

321
00:20:00,280 –> 00:20:05,120
position.
And with others, the same trial

322
00:20:05,120 –> 00:20:08,040
can have a the effect of drawing
them closer to God.

323
00:20:09,560 –> 00:20:11,720
As they humble themselves to
learn and to change.

324
00:20:11,720 –> 00:20:15,400
And here’s a car I chose.
He chose to have this experience

325
00:20:15,560 –> 00:20:20,920
shape him for the better with
regard to his future ServiceNow.

326
00:20:20,960 –> 00:20:25,200
Incidentally, most translations.
Read that section at the end of

327
00:20:25,200 –> 00:20:29,800
verse 15 as follows.
I shall go softly all my years

328
00:20:30,440 –> 00:20:34,400
because of the bitterness of my
soul.

329
00:20:35,120 –> 00:20:37,440
He wasn’t going to stay in his
bitterness.

330
00:20:37,720 –> 00:20:42,320
He was going to walk differently
because of his bitterness and

331
00:20:42,320 –> 00:20:44,920
how he would permit it to affect
him.

332
00:20:44,920 –> 00:20:47,000
In fact, you see that word?
Go softly there.

333
00:20:47,400 –> 00:20:50,720
That word is only found in one
other place in Scripture.

334
00:20:51,080 –> 00:20:56,040
It’s the word used in Psalm 42,
verse 4 when it says this.

335
00:20:57,600 –> 00:21:01,520
I had gone with the multitude I
went with them to the House of

336
00:21:01,520 –> 00:21:04,720
God with the voice of joy and
praise with a multitude that

337
00:21:04,720 –> 00:21:08,880
kept holy day and in that verse
in the Psalm, the words I went

338
00:21:08,880 –> 00:21:12,680
with them to the House of God.
I went with them is that same

339
00:21:12,680 –> 00:21:15,200
word translated goes softly
here.

340
00:21:16,120 –> 00:21:21,600
So the word refers to the sacred
March of those who walked in

341
00:21:21,600 –> 00:21:25,640
procession to the temple.
Now, here’s a card focused all

342
00:21:25,640 –> 00:21:29,040
his life on the House of God and
the worship of Yahweh there.

343
00:21:29,760 –> 00:21:34,040
And so he vows to use the
experience of this crisis to

344
00:21:34,040 –> 00:21:38,280
frame his thinking so that he
would always behave with the

345
00:21:38,280 –> 00:21:41,640
reverence and the humility of
one who was ascending to the

346
00:21:41,640 –> 00:21:43,800
House of God.
He’s making a commitment,

347
00:21:43,800 –> 00:21:46,080
brothers and sisters, that he
would use the blessing of these

348
00:21:46,080 –> 00:21:50,320
next 15 years just as wisely as
he could, and always with the

349
00:21:50,320 –> 00:21:53,520
truth uppermost in his mind.
That was the spirit that he had.

350
00:21:53,520 –> 00:21:57,400
It’s a wonderful spirit to have,
in other words, translated into

351
00:21:57,600 –> 00:22:02,920
ourselves.
It’s like we’re going to walk as

352
00:22:02,920 –> 00:22:08,920
if we were just coming into the
meeting every hour of our lives.

353
00:22:10,000 –> 00:22:12,920
We’re just about to enter the
meeting hall now.

354
00:22:12,920 –> 00:22:16,320
What a good spirit that would be
to walk each day as if that’s

355
00:22:16,320 –> 00:22:19,200
where we were going.
So in the second section,

356
00:22:19,400 –> 00:22:25,040
firstly, then a pain of praise
in these verses for the thanks

357
00:22:25,040 –> 00:22:28,920
that he had for the extension of
his life and a decision to walk

358
00:22:28,920 –> 00:22:34,440
in reverence for restoration.
And then in verses 18 to 20,

359
00:22:34,600 –> 00:22:37,920
he’s going to have, he’s going
to make a vow of commitment to

360
00:22:37,920 –> 00:22:41,440
teach the truth and give a
promise that he would renew his

361
00:22:41,440 –> 00:22:45,960
praises of his God.
So here’s the spirit then of the

362
00:22:45,960 –> 00:22:48,400
king.
He was going to use this

363
00:22:48,400 –> 00:22:51,840
opportunity in just the very
best way he could, this

364
00:22:51,840 –> 00:22:55,640
extension of life that had been
granted unto him.

365
00:22:56,480 –> 00:22:58,160
So you see what he says in verse
16.

366
00:22:59,760 –> 00:23:02,320
He says, O Yahweh, by these
things men live.

367
00:23:02,320 –> 00:23:05,320
Now what do you think that
means?

368
00:23:05,880 –> 00:23:10,360
By what things?
Well, I think the context links

369
00:23:10,360 –> 00:23:16,280
to verse 15 and the words of
promised restoration that God

370
00:23:16,280 –> 00:23:19,800
had uttered by these things, the
word that God had spoken.

371
00:23:19,800 –> 00:23:22,440
Do you remember Deuteronomy 8
verse three?

372
00:23:23,000 –> 00:23:25,160
Man doth not live by bread
alone.

373
00:23:26,440 –> 00:23:32,080
By every word that proceedeth
out of the mouth of Yahweh doth

374
00:23:32,200 –> 00:23:36,560
man live.
We live by the Word of God.

375
00:23:37,480 –> 00:23:40,240
You see, we all live by virtue
of the edicts of Yahweh that

376
00:23:40,240 –> 00:23:43,360
determines the governance of the
world and the declarations of

377
00:23:43,360 –> 00:23:45,680
God that outline the workings of
His Providence.

378
00:23:45,760 –> 00:23:48,480
In these things all men live.
But I think Hezekiah had

379
00:23:48,480 –> 00:23:50,840
something more unique and
personal in mind.

380
00:23:51,040 –> 00:23:54,240
He felt a connection with the
thought that we live under the

381
00:23:54,240 –> 00:23:58,120
sovereign hand of He whose word
alone can destroy or create.

382
00:23:58,360 –> 00:24:02,120
But in his life it meant this.
As he goes on to say in all

383
00:24:02,120 –> 00:24:06,240
these things he says is the life
of my spirit.

384
00:24:06,880 –> 00:24:09,920
So Rotherham says and all
together in them is the life of

385
00:24:10,160 –> 00:24:13,880
my spirit because you see he had
special reason to confess this

386
00:24:13,880 –> 00:24:16,400
truth.
God had spoken a word to him,

387
00:24:17,800 –> 00:24:23,320
verse 15, that promised his
recovery from illness that had

388
00:24:23,320 –> 00:24:26,000
threatened him by the word of
God, men live.

389
00:24:26,000 –> 00:24:28,680
But I especially so says
Hezekiah.

390
00:24:28,960 –> 00:24:32,000
And I wonder whether those 15
years that were granted to the

391
00:24:32,000 –> 00:24:38,880
king were counted by Hezekiah as
been especially and uniquely now

392
00:24:39,400 –> 00:24:43,280
the life of his spirit.
You see, he hadn’t he hadn’t

393
00:24:43,280 –> 00:24:47,720
just been restored to health.
He’d been given a fresh start to

394
00:24:47,720 –> 00:24:51,360
repeat his reign.
He wanted to use that winding

395
00:24:51,360 –> 00:24:54,920
back of the clock of his life
just as spiritually as he

396
00:24:54,920 –> 00:25:00,320
possibly could.
And so he says in verse 16, So

397
00:25:00,320 –> 00:25:03,560
wilt thou recover me and make me
to live.

398
00:25:03,880 –> 00:25:07,800
Actually, most translations
render the phrase in the past

399
00:25:07,800 –> 00:25:11,640
tense.
For thou hast recovered me and

400
00:25:11,840 –> 00:25:15,240
made me to live.
And I think that past tense as

401
00:25:15,240 –> 00:25:17,680
of something already
accomplished is highly

402
00:25:17,680 –> 00:25:19,960
appropriate here.
Because to me, what we’ve

403
00:25:19,960 –> 00:25:23,520
already been told in verse 9 at
the start of this writing, this

404
00:25:23,520 –> 00:25:28,360
was the writing of Hezekiah when
he had been sick and was

405
00:25:28,440 –> 00:25:31,840
recovered of his sickness.
And so the past tense here, I

406
00:25:31,840 –> 00:25:36,920
think in verse 16 similarly is
appropriate to what Hezekiah has

407
00:25:36,920 –> 00:25:42,040
in mind.
Behold, he says verse 17 for

408
00:25:42,040 –> 00:25:44,760
peace.
I had great bitterness.

409
00:25:46,480 –> 00:25:50,920
Do you know this is one of those
occasions where the Hebrew

410
00:25:50,920 –> 00:25:54,960
actually conveys the very
opposite idea to the English?

411
00:25:56,760 –> 00:26:02,520
Because the sense of the Hebrew
is, behold, it was for my peace

412
00:26:03,640 –> 00:26:06,760
that I had such bitterness, such
bitterness.

413
00:26:06,800 –> 00:26:09,040
Because the word bitterness is
repeated, it’s doubled in the

414
00:26:09,040 –> 00:26:12,640
Hebrew text.
It was for my peace that I have

415
00:26:12,640 –> 00:26:15,120
had such bitterness, such
bitterness.

416
00:26:15,360 –> 00:26:20,520
So Hezekiah’s response after his
recovery was to see the whole

417
00:26:20,520 –> 00:26:24,880
episode as a provision from
Yahweh for his spiritual

418
00:26:24,960 –> 00:26:28,280
development.
This bitterness, he says, has

419
00:26:28,280 –> 00:26:31,120
been ultimately for my good and
for my peace and the word peace.

420
00:26:31,120 –> 00:26:34,120
Shalom, of course, means not
just peace, but also safety and

421
00:26:34,120 –> 00:26:36,440
welfare.
It’s for my good that God’s done

422
00:26:36,440 –> 00:26:38,520
this in my life.
You see, that’s the response of

423
00:26:38,520 –> 00:26:41,640
a godly mind.
It’s the Spirit that produces

424
00:26:41,640 –> 00:26:44,440
growth in our lives, brothers
and sisters, when we recognize

425
00:26:44,440 –> 00:26:47,520
that that bitterness that has
come upon us, Yahweh’s used it

426
00:26:47,520 –> 00:26:51,120
for good in our lives to develop
our character before him.

427
00:26:51,440 –> 00:26:55,040
And Yahweh had intended the
whole experience for his good

428
00:26:55,200 –> 00:26:59,040
and for Hezekiah’s benefit.
But it’s Hezekiah’s wonderful

429
00:26:59,040 –> 00:27:03,400
attitude in accepting that
thought that’s so excitational

430
00:27:03,400 –> 00:27:06,680
to us as we go through the
crises of our own life.

431
00:27:07,200 –> 00:27:10,600
In fact, he says in the middle
of verse 17, Thou hast and love

432
00:27:10,600 –> 00:27:13,080
to my soul delivered it from the
pit of corruption.

433
00:27:13,360 –> 00:27:15,480
Do you notice the words
delivered it and not in the

434
00:27:15,480 –> 00:27:19,920
Hebrew?
And the margin is better.

435
00:27:20,720 –> 00:27:26,640
The margin says, and I think
rightly so, thou hast loved my

436
00:27:26,640 –> 00:27:31,760
soul from the pit.
So this turns love into a verb,

437
00:27:31,760 –> 00:27:32,720
doesn’t it?
Very much.

438
00:27:34,040 –> 00:27:36,120
It’s a very tender expression
when you think about it.

439
00:27:36,280 –> 00:27:39,000
It’s as if God, having seen his
servant slipping into the pit of

440
00:27:39,000 –> 00:27:42,520
death, had reached out to
embrace him, had bound his cords

441
00:27:42,520 –> 00:27:45,640
of love around him, and hauled
him back from the edge to

442
00:27:45,640 –> 00:27:48,600
safety.
He’s loved me out of the pit, he

443
00:27:48,600 –> 00:27:50,480
says.
And you know, brothers and

444
00:27:50,480 –> 00:27:53,320
sisters, before our Lord comes,
and if our Lord tarry, there

445
00:27:53,320 –> 00:27:56,360
might be many of us who finally
are in the pit before the Lord

446
00:27:56,360 –> 00:27:58,080
has come.
But it is our hope and our

447
00:27:58,080 –> 00:28:01,440
prayer that God will love us out
of the pit again at the coming

448
00:28:01,440 –> 00:28:04,480
of our Lord.
And He did that for Hezekiah on

449
00:28:04,480 –> 00:28:07,560
this occasion as a dramatic
illustration of what we all hope

450
00:28:07,720 –> 00:28:12,040
in terms of the reality of death
being removed by the blessing of

451
00:28:12,040 –> 00:28:15,920
eternal life in times to come.
And because God had hauled him

452
00:28:15,920 –> 00:28:19,560
back to safety, back from the
edge, loved him out of the pit,

453
00:28:19,560 –> 00:28:24,880
because God had done that, he
felt Hezekiah felt at the end of

454
00:28:24,880 –> 00:28:28,760
verse 17 that he had cast all
his sins behind his back.

455
00:28:29,520 –> 00:28:33,120
He reasoned that his recovery
must also signify his

456
00:28:33,120 –> 00:28:37,480
forgiveness.
And for God to cast all his sins

457
00:28:37,480 –> 00:28:44,600
behind his back meant to cast
them to a place where they can

458
00:28:44,600 –> 00:28:54,000
neither be seen or remembered.
God can do what we can’t.

459
00:28:54,000 –> 00:29:01,320
Brothers and sisters, we forgive
and try to forgive.

460
00:29:04,120 –> 00:29:09,920
We find it very hard to forget.
God can forgive so completely

461
00:29:09,920 –> 00:29:13,760
that it’s as if our sins have
been cast behind His back and He

462
00:29:13,760 –> 00:29:19,760
truly remembers them no more.
It’s an astounding blessing, the

463
00:29:19,760 –> 00:29:23,680
forgiveness of God.
And that’s how Hezekiah felt

464
00:29:23,680 –> 00:29:27,640
right now.
So he says, verse 18 For the

465
00:29:27,640 –> 00:29:30,960
grave cannot praise thee, death
cannot celebrate thee.

466
00:29:31,280 –> 00:29:33,720
They that go down to the pit
cannot hope for thy truth.

467
00:29:34,000 –> 00:29:36,440
You know, it’s interesting.
We shan’t turn them up because

468
00:29:36,440 –> 00:29:39,560
we haven’t got time.
But if you make a note of Psalm

469
00:29:39,560 –> 00:29:51,000
6 verse 5, Psalm 88 verses
11:50, Psalm 115 verses 17 and

470
00:29:51,000 –> 00:29:58,480
18, Ecclesiastes 9 verses 5 and
10, the similarities between

471
00:29:58,480 –> 00:30:02,440
those expressions in those other
places in Hezekiah’s words are

472
00:30:02,440 –> 00:30:06,600
so marked and so strong that I
wonder whether in fact, through

473
00:30:06,600 –> 00:30:09,680
the Spirit, he’s quoting from
them in his writing.

474
00:30:09,920 –> 00:30:13,880
It’s a spirit inspired utterance
of Hezekiah drawing on other

475
00:30:13,880 –> 00:30:17,880
testimonies about mortality, the
fundamental doctrine of the

476
00:30:17,880 –> 00:30:22,400
truth that teaches that death is
the cessation of existence.

477
00:30:22,520 –> 00:30:24,960
Because that’s what Hezekiah
believed, as he says in this

478
00:30:24,960 –> 00:30:28,040
verse, that in the state of
death man cannot think, cannot

479
00:30:28,040 –> 00:30:32,680
praise, cannot hope in God.
And yet again, verse 11, as

480
00:30:32,680 –> 00:30:37,240
verse 11 had said, Hezekiah was
the most distressed at the

481
00:30:37,240 –> 00:30:40,960
thought that he would lose the
privilege of communing with his

482
00:30:40,960 –> 00:30:43,240
God.
And that’s the thing he rejoices

483
00:30:43,240 –> 00:30:46,720
at the most with the promise of
this renewed life.

484
00:30:46,920 –> 00:30:51,840
It meant for him the chance to
come again before his God in

485
00:30:51,840 –> 00:30:56,160
praise, the blessing of
fellowship with God.

486
00:30:57,840 –> 00:31:00,320
But that rank is one of the
things we would fear losing.

487
00:31:00,480 –> 00:31:03,440
It was for Hezekiah.
You see, this was the man whose

488
00:31:03,440 –> 00:31:08,560
relationship with his God was so
very deep and very strong that

489
00:31:08,560 –> 00:31:11,120
he felt that most of all.
And so he says with tears of

490
00:31:11,120 –> 00:31:14,440
thankfulness, verse 19, the
living, the living, He shall

491
00:31:14,440 –> 00:31:20,240
praise thee as I do this day.
The father to the children shall

492
00:31:20,240 –> 00:31:24,440
make known thy truth.
Now it’s been observed, and

493
00:31:24,440 –> 00:31:28,520
rightly so, that in these 15
years that were added to him,

494
00:31:28,520 –> 00:31:33,000
Hezekiah did marry and he did
have a child through whom the

495
00:31:33,000 –> 00:31:37,440
Davidic line might be continued.
But do you notice it’s not child

496
00:31:37,440 –> 00:31:39,960
singular here, the father to the
child.

497
00:31:41,040 –> 00:31:45,240
It’s the father to the children.
And here’s a car.

498
00:31:45,240 –> 00:31:50,360
I had more children plural than
simply the son of his own bells.

499
00:31:51,560 –> 00:31:53,400
He was the spiritual father of
the nation.

500
00:31:53,600 –> 00:31:57,160
And I think that this was his
there in this verse, verse 19.

501
00:31:57,320 –> 00:32:00,440
This was his vow to continue
working with the nation.

502
00:32:00,720 –> 00:32:04,600
In fact, He’d already said these
words in Isaiah 37, verse 3.

503
00:32:04,720 –> 00:32:07,520
The children are come to the
birth, he says, and there’s not

504
00:32:07,520 –> 00:32:11,640
strength to bring them forth.
And now he says, Father to the

505
00:32:11,640 –> 00:32:14,400
children shall make no thy
truth, because now that he had

506
00:32:14,400 –> 00:32:18,160
his strength back again, he had
with it the determination to use

507
00:32:18,160 –> 00:32:21,920
his time in teaching the truth
to those children, the nation he

508
00:32:21,920 –> 00:32:24,240
was working with, to spiritually
reform them.

509
00:32:24,400 –> 00:32:27,600
And that’s his pledge right now,
at this moment of recovery, the

510
00:32:27,600 –> 00:32:30,960
father to the children shall
make no thy truth.

511
00:32:31,440 –> 00:32:34,080
We’re going to examine shortly,
brothers and sisters, just how

512
00:32:34,120 –> 00:32:37,680
completely his Akai fulfilled
that commitment that he made.

513
00:32:38,320 –> 00:32:46,480
So he says verse 20, Yahweh was
ready to save me, therefore we

514
00:32:46,480 –> 00:32:49,160
will sing my songs to the
stringed instruments all the

515
00:32:49,160 –> 00:32:51,600
days of our life in the House of
Yahweh.

516
00:32:52,520 –> 00:32:56,360
Now did you read that carefully?
Yahweh was ready to save me,

517
00:32:57,640 –> 00:33:04,240
therefore we will sing my songs
all the days of our life.

518
00:33:04,920 –> 00:33:08,320
Now who’s the we in the air?
Well, I think the answer is the

519
00:33:08,320 –> 00:33:10,960
nation that he was teaching, not
just a child of his own.

520
00:33:10,960 –> 00:33:13,560
He wasn’t just going to sing his
songs in the temple with his own

521
00:33:13,680 –> 00:33:15,960
family.
He wanted to guide the nation

522
00:33:16,080 –> 00:33:19,360
and he wanted them to understand
the meaning of this deliverance.

523
00:33:19,360 –> 00:33:20,720
We’re all in this together, he
says.

524
00:33:20,920 –> 00:33:23,400
In fact, he wrote this Psalm so
that the nation might learn.

525
00:33:23,680 –> 00:33:26,800
And he wanted to bring the whole
nation on a journey of discovery

526
00:33:26,800 –> 00:33:30,760
as to how God had providentially
worked in his life, but also in

527
00:33:30,760 –> 00:33:34,920
theirs at this moment and at
this time of crisis.

528
00:33:35,840 –> 00:33:40,080
And so now the writing is ended
and his Psalm was complete.

529
00:33:41,440 –> 00:33:44,480
There’s two other details about
the lump of figs and the sign

530
00:33:44,480 –> 00:33:48,960
going up to the house, verses 21
and 22, that actually in the in

531
00:33:48,960 –> 00:33:52,360
the King’s record are added much
earlier in the story.

532
00:33:52,840 –> 00:33:56,360
And so they should come between
Isaiah 38 verse 6 and Isaiah 38

533
00:33:56,360 –> 00:33:58,680
verse 7.
But because it concerned the

534
00:33:58,680 –> 00:34:02,240
matter of recovery, I think
Isaiah, at least for one reason,

535
00:34:02,240 –> 00:34:05,880
put it at the end of the Psalm,
because it was consistent with

536
00:34:05,880 –> 00:34:08,960
his theme of pointing out the
recovery of the king.

537
00:34:11,040 –> 00:34:15,560
So now his Psalm has ended.
And that vow that he made.

538
00:34:15,560 –> 00:34:19,040
Verse 20.
We will sing my songs all the

539
00:34:19,040 –> 00:34:20,719
days of our life in the House of
Yahweh.

540
00:34:20,719 –> 00:34:23,320
They were not empty words.
He was going to make good on

541
00:34:23,320 –> 00:34:25,440
them.
In fact, we have good reason to

542
00:34:25,440 –> 00:34:29,000
believe that Hezekiah threw
himself into the work of the

543
00:34:29,000 –> 00:34:32,880
truth with even more vigor than
he’d shown before his illness.

544
00:34:33,000 –> 00:34:37,040
He redoubled his efforts, and
especially in the work of

545
00:34:37,040 –> 00:34:40,360
preserving the truth for the
generation that he was guiding.

546
00:34:42,679 –> 00:34:46,280
And that there to sing those
songs was significant because

547
00:34:46,600 –> 00:34:50,320
Hezekiah was going to edit and
produce a whole section of the

548
00:34:50,320 –> 00:34:55,199
Book of Psalms in commemoration
of this one episode in his life

549
00:34:55,520 –> 00:34:58,560
and to fulfil the there of verse
20.

550
00:35:00,360 –> 00:35:04,360
And that section of Psalms which
he wrote in honor of that pledge

551
00:35:05,160 –> 00:35:12,960
is of course this section known
as the Song of the Degrees.

552
00:35:16,200 –> 00:35:17,880
Now do you notice the definite
article?

553
00:35:20,000 –> 00:35:27,040
So the Song of the Degrees is
Psalms 120 to 134, and every one

554
00:35:27,040 –> 00:35:33,920
of those Psalms bears the same
title, a song of the degrees and

555
00:35:33,920 –> 00:35:36,080
that word degrees.
Therefore, and the use of the

556
00:35:36,080 –> 00:35:39,760
definite article indicates that
the word degrees had some

557
00:35:39,760 –> 00:35:43,560
concrete and specific meaning
that was associated with this

558
00:35:43,560 –> 00:35:49,000
particular set of psalms.
Now the only incident in

559
00:35:49,000 –> 00:35:54,360
Scripture that bears any
relation to that word is the

560
00:35:54,360 –> 00:35:59,040
degrees or the steps or the
stairs which figured in the

561
00:35:59,040 –> 00:36:01,640
miraculous sign given to
Hezekiah.

562
00:36:04,000 –> 00:36:07,880
So we’re not surprised to find
that the word degrees and every

563
00:36:07,880 –> 00:36:16,160
one of those psalms is MA Allah,
the same word translated degrees

564
00:36:16,320 –> 00:36:22,720
in Isaiah 38 verse 8.
And what’s interesting about

565
00:36:22,720 –> 00:36:35,880
those psalms is there are why 15
of them, 15 psalms answering to

566
00:36:35,880 –> 00:36:40,800
15 years of additional life that
was granted to the king.

567
00:36:42,560 –> 00:36:48,000
So when he put them together, he
composed 15, set, 15 psalms

568
00:36:48,000 –> 00:36:52,560
together, not all his own, but
the collection came to 15.

569
00:36:53,920 –> 00:36:57,240
And there’s a symmetry to the
collection because the very

570
00:36:57,240 –> 00:37:01,840
middle Psalm out of those 15 was
actually written by Solomon,

571
00:37:02,120 –> 00:37:06,280
Psalm 127.
But on either side are two sets

572
00:37:06,280 –> 00:37:12,360
of seven, and in each of those
sets of seven psalms, 120 to 126

573
00:37:12,360 –> 00:37:16,720
and 128 to 134, each of those
have got two psalms written by

574
00:37:16,720 –> 00:37:19,080
David and the rest probably by
Hezekiah.

575
00:37:22,240 –> 00:37:28,120
And that 15 psalms are also
divided or divisible into five

576
00:37:28,120 –> 00:37:32,640
sets of three, which follows a
theme of distress and trust and

577
00:37:32,640 –> 00:37:34,360
blessing.
And we suggest that these are

578
00:37:34,360 –> 00:37:37,760
the songs referred to in
Isaiah’s, sorry, Hezekiah’s via

579
00:37:38,080 –> 00:37:41,360
in Isaiah 38 and verse 20.
Now let me show you the

580
00:37:41,360 –> 00:37:43,720
structure of those psalms just
so you see what I mean,

581
00:37:43,720 –> 00:37:46,520
particularly in that last
section so that it’s made plain.

582
00:37:46,880 –> 00:37:50,200
So five sets.
The first set, the second set,

583
00:37:50,440 –> 00:37:57,280
the third set, You get the idea.
The 4th set, The 5th set, 15

584
00:37:57,280 –> 00:38:02,480
psalms, 5 sets of three.
But in each case, the first

585
00:38:02,480 –> 00:38:09,880
Psalm in each set is on the
theme of distress, and the

586
00:38:09,880 –> 00:38:13,080
second Psalm in each set is on
the theme of trust.

587
00:38:15,480 –> 00:38:18,960
And the third Psalm in each set
is on the theme of blessing.

588
00:38:21,400 –> 00:38:24,360
You see, these psalms are the
story of Hezekiah’s crisis, the

589
00:38:24,360 –> 00:38:29,640
threat of the Assyrian invasion,
and the prospect of personal

590
00:38:29,640 –> 00:38:34,720
death.
They’re about as distress, about

591
00:38:34,720 –> 00:38:38,640
as trust in God, and about the
blessing of deliverance.

592
00:38:40,160 –> 00:38:43,520
And Hezekiah said, we’re going
to sing these things so that the

593
00:38:43,520 –> 00:38:47,520
nation never forgets what we’ve
been through together and that

594
00:38:47,560 –> 00:38:49,680
we can worship before our God
acceptably.

595
00:38:49,880 –> 00:38:52,000
So remember I said the middle
ones written by Solomon?

596
00:38:52,920 –> 00:38:56,120
So there it is.
But David wrote one in the first

597
00:38:56,120 –> 00:38:59,240
set and one in the second set,
and one in the fourth set and

598
00:38:59,240 –> 00:39:05,760
one in the 5th set.
And we believe that the balance

599
00:39:05,760 –> 00:39:08,960
of those psalms were written by
Hezekiah.

600
00:39:10,320 –> 00:39:14,680
So Hezekiah began the series in
Psalm 120, and he’ll end the

601
00:39:14,680 –> 00:39:16,920
series.
And 134.

602
00:39:17,160 –> 00:39:28,400
And if he wrote 2 + 2 + 2 + 2 +
2 sets in five, he wrote Y10

603
00:39:28,400 –> 00:39:36,640
psalms answering to the 10° by
which the shadow ascended the

604
00:39:36,640 –> 00:39:41,520
stairs.
He made good on his pledge.

605
00:39:41,520 –> 00:39:45,160
Brothers and sisters, he made
good on his pledge.

606
00:39:47,080 –> 00:39:49,240
And I think there’s a lesson.
You see, In fact, this is the

607
00:39:49,240 –> 00:40:04,620
lesson from our study today.
It’s wanting to reconnect, which

608
00:40:04,620 –> 00:40:08,860
is one of those deeply
technological moments which we

609
00:40:08,860 –> 00:40:12,780
have to submit to, because until
we do, my screen’s frozen just

610
00:40:12,780 –> 00:40:14,900
at the deliciously important
moment.

611
00:40:16,460 –> 00:40:19,060
It adds to the tension.
It builds interest.

612
00:40:20,020 –> 00:40:41,800
Wait, help is on the way.
All right, should we give it a

613
00:40:41,800 –> 00:40:43,520
go?
Look at that, just like I bought

614
00:40:43,520 –> 00:40:46,160
1.
Thank you for your intervention.

615
00:40:49,080 –> 00:40:54,320
So our lesson for today.
You know, brothers and sisters,

616
00:40:54,320 –> 00:40:59,920
it’s very easy to be thankful
for deliverance, but our

617
00:40:59,920 –> 00:41:02,160
thankfulness may not last for
long enough.

618
00:41:03,800 –> 00:41:07,080
And I think that we need to show
our thankfulness by the faithful

619
00:41:07,080 –> 00:41:10,520
service that we offer to God as
a result of our deliverance,

620
00:41:10,520 –> 00:41:12,960
that we might remember what God
has done for us.

621
00:41:13,200 –> 00:41:15,960
Now just look at the consistent
theme of these passages.

622
00:41:16,160 –> 00:41:18,640
And there’s a little keyword
again that binds them together.

623
00:41:18,880 –> 00:41:21,320
This was the prayer of Hannah at
the time of the giving of her

624
00:41:21,320 –> 00:41:23,640
son.
For this child, I prayed

625
00:41:23,640 –> 00:41:27,080
Yahweh’s given my petition,
therefore I’ve lent him.

626
00:41:28,760 –> 00:41:31,640
This is the words of David.
David said that thou has lifted

627
00:41:31,640 –> 00:41:34,280
me up, therefore I will give
thanks.

628
00:41:35,000 –> 00:41:36,920
This is the words of Hezekiah
and the Psalm.

629
00:41:36,920 –> 00:41:40,600
Yahweh was ready to save me.
Therefore, and so the apostle

630
00:41:40,600 –> 00:41:44,440
Paul in the 2nd Corinthians 12
verses 9 and 10, he said unto

631
00:41:44,440 –> 00:41:46,080
me, My grace is sufficient for
thee.

632
00:41:46,120 –> 00:41:49,360
Therefore now let me throw a
little more color on the screen

633
00:41:49,360 –> 00:41:52,160
and you’ll see the point.
Yahweh has given my petition,

634
00:41:52,160 –> 00:41:55,320
says Hannah.
Therefore, in response I’ve lent

635
00:41:55,320 –> 00:41:57,240
him.
She gave an act of dedication in

636
00:41:57,240 –> 00:41:59,360
return.
David had been lifted up and

637
00:41:59,360 –> 00:42:02,800
therefore he would give thanks.
Yahweh was ready to save his a

638
00:42:02,800 –> 00:42:05,800
car and he pledged therefore
that they would sing his songs.

639
00:42:06,640 –> 00:42:09,320
Paul was given the promise of a
grace sufficient for his needs.

640
00:42:09,480 –> 00:42:12,120
And therefore he said, I will
take pleasure in infirmities.

641
00:42:12,360 –> 00:42:15,360
So here’s the thing, you see,
it’s so easy to be thankful for

642
00:42:15,360 –> 00:42:18,440
the deliverance of God.
But as time passes while we

643
00:42:18,440 –> 00:42:21,360
forget about it, and yet the
circumstances of our life and

644
00:42:21,360 –> 00:42:25,280
the experiences of our crisis
are not intended to leave us the

645
00:42:25,280 –> 00:42:27,880
same.
They’re intended to change us.

646
00:42:28,200 –> 00:42:31,920
And if our thankfulness is truly
in response to God, God’s good

647
00:42:31,920 –> 00:42:37,760
hand, then it needs to be seen
in a reciprocal pledge of future

648
00:42:37,760 –> 00:42:40,280
dedication.
That shouldn’t be transient.

649
00:42:40,280 –> 00:42:42,920
It shouldn’t be temporary.
It should be a permanent

650
00:42:42,920 –> 00:42:45,320
commitment to our future life
before him.

651
00:42:45,320 –> 00:42:46,400
And that’s what Here’s a car I
did.

652
00:42:47,120 –> 00:42:48,760
So he had a much stronger
resolve.

653
00:42:48,880 –> 00:42:52,720
He was so thankful for this
extension of his life that he

654
00:42:52,720 –> 00:42:56,200
pledged to use every bit of it
in the service of the truth.

655
00:42:57,880 –> 00:43:02,600
Now just read again his words in
Isaiah 38 verses 19 and 20 while

656
00:43:02,600 –> 00:43:05,440
we’re here.
And then let me show you how

657
00:43:05,440 –> 00:43:10,640
that story concludes.
The grave cannot celebrate thee.

658
00:43:12,160 –> 00:43:14,640
Death cannot.
Sorry that the grave cannot

659
00:43:14,640 –> 00:43:17,240
praise thee.
Death cannot celebrate thee.

660
00:43:18,000 –> 00:43:20,760
They that go down into the pit
cannot hope for thy truth.

661
00:43:21,720 –> 00:43:24,120
The living the living.
He shall praise thee as I do

662
00:43:24,120 –> 00:43:26,280
this day.
The father to the children shall

663
00:43:26,280 –> 00:43:30,560
make known thy truth.
Yahweh was ready to save me.

664
00:43:30,720 –> 00:43:33,920
Therefore we will sing my songs
to the stringed instruments all

665
00:43:33,920 –> 00:43:37,120
the days of our life in the
House of Yahweh.

666
00:43:37,680 –> 00:43:42,680
And Hezekiah’s pledge of
faithful service in thankfulness

667
00:43:42,680 –> 00:43:46,160
for the hand of God upon him, I
think, was fulfilled perhaps

668
00:43:46,400 –> 00:43:52,520
more wonderfully than we might
know, because we’ve already seen

669
00:43:52,600 –> 00:43:55,480
what he had to do with regard to
the songs of degrees.

670
00:43:57,000 –> 00:43:59,800
He became involved in the
creation of those songs, which

671
00:43:59,800 –> 00:44:04,760
incidentally, becomes the basis
for book five of the Psalms.

672
00:44:04,760 –> 00:44:07,000
In fact, I think Hezekiah’s hand
may well have been in the

673
00:44:07,000 –> 00:44:10,880
shaping of that entire
collection of Psalms, the 5th

674
00:44:10,880 –> 00:44:14,880
book in the main.
There’s another part of the

675
00:44:14,880 –> 00:44:17,560
Psalms that I think Hezekiah was
involved in, because we all know

676
00:44:17,560 –> 00:44:20,080
about the Psalms of David and
the Psalms of the House of Asaph

677
00:44:20,080 –> 00:44:21,920
and the Psalms of the sons of
Korah.

678
00:44:22,200 –> 00:44:25,600
We know about the main psalms.
But did you realize that about

679
00:44:25,600 –> 00:44:29,360
50 of the 150 psalms we have
have got no author?

680
00:44:32,160 –> 00:44:33,880
They’re described as orphan
Psalms.

681
00:44:35,560 –> 00:44:38,080
Someone who put the book of
Psalms together was very anxious

682
00:44:38,080 –> 00:44:42,120
that David be given as Jew and
Asaph and others, but weren’t

683
00:44:42,120 –> 00:44:45,760
worried about their name coming
forward and the 50 new ones that

684
00:44:45,760 –> 00:44:48,080
were added.
And I think that many of those

685
00:44:48,080 –> 00:44:53,120
fifty were possibly written by
Hezekiah, including Psalm 102,

686
00:44:53,120 –> 00:44:54,680
which I think we can be pretty
certain about.

687
00:44:55,920 –> 00:44:59,240
I think his hand lies upon the
book of Psalms in a much more

688
00:44:59,240 –> 00:45:01,880
significant way than we might
have imagined, because many of

689
00:45:01,880 –> 00:45:05,200
those Psalms are about the very
threats, the very crisis that

690
00:45:05,200 –> 00:45:07,400
Hezekiah himself had
experienced.

691
00:45:07,600 –> 00:45:09,400
Oh yes, he contributed to the
Psalms all right.

692
00:45:10,280 –> 00:45:12,960
But he did more than that
because you might remember these

693
00:45:12,960 –> 00:45:17,000
words in the book of Proverbs,
chapter 25, verse one, it says

694
00:45:17,320 –> 00:45:21,880
these are also Proverbs of
Solomon, which the men of

695
00:45:21,880 –> 00:45:24,920
Hezekiah, king of Judah copied
out.

696
00:45:26,040 –> 00:45:30,200
So what we’re told in the book
of Proverbs is there was a whole

697
00:45:30,240 –> 00:45:35,080
additional set of proverbs that
were added to the Canon of

698
00:45:35,080 –> 00:45:42,840
Scripture under the express
instruction deja vu and

699
00:45:42,840 –> 00:45:47,200
authority of the king.
And if if Hezekiah hadn’t done

700
00:45:47,200 –> 00:45:49,160
that, we wouldn’t have that
particular collection of

701
00:45:49,160 –> 00:45:51,560
Solomonic psalms at all.
But he made sure that they were

702
00:45:51,560 –> 00:45:53,480
put in.
He had a hand in the book of

703
00:45:53,480 –> 00:45:56,160
Proverbs.
And there’s one more thing that

704
00:45:56,160 –> 00:45:59,280
tells us just how passionate
Hezekiah was in fulfilling is

705
00:45:59,280 –> 00:46:02,080
there the fathers of the
children shall make know thy

706
00:46:02,080 –> 00:46:06,280
truth.
This is going to be interesting,

707
00:46:06,280 –> 00:46:08,960
isn’t it?
Sort of like two things coming

708
00:46:08,960 –> 00:46:13,080
to a climax together.
We hope the train tracks will

709
00:46:13,080 –> 00:46:15,000
allow us to pass each other
safely.

710
00:46:15,520 –> 00:46:18,800
But here’s the last thought in
that brief moment of pleasurable

711
00:46:18,800 –> 00:46:21,840
silence.
You know, in the Old Testament

712
00:46:21,840 –> 00:46:26,640
Canon at the end of the Hebrew
manuscripts, every book until

713
00:46:26,640 –> 00:46:30,080
Hezekiah’s death ends with a
three letter seal.

714
00:46:32,200 –> 00:46:38,600
The letters heth sign cough and
the pointing of the letters

715
00:46:39,000 –> 00:46:43,960
means this is bound.
And the meaning of that little

716
00:46:44,160 –> 00:46:48,040
of that little cryptic sign is
that this book is now

717
00:46:48,040 –> 00:46:50,800
authenticated as the genuine
copy.

718
00:46:53,040 –> 00:46:57,800
And what we’ve been told is that
the king was involved with the

719
00:46:57,800 –> 00:47:01,720
editorship and approval of every
book of the Bible until the day

720
00:47:01,720 –> 00:47:06,640
he died.
Because kef Zine cough is HZK,

721
00:47:07,240 –> 00:47:14,840
and HZK from Kazakh is the short
form for the name Hezekiah, and

722
00:47:14,840 –> 00:47:18,560
every book of the Old Testament
until that man died bears that

723
00:47:18,560 –> 00:47:21,880
seal at the bottom of the book
to authenticate its validity.

724
00:47:22,000 –> 00:47:24,080
The Father to the children shall
make that known.

725
00:47:24,080 –> 00:47:26,080
Thy truth.
He kept that there.

726
00:47:27,480 –> 00:47:30,640
He absolutely kept that there.
He did more than we might

727
00:47:30,640 –> 00:47:33,160
realize, brothers and sisters,
in the guardianship of the truth

728
00:47:33,160 –> 00:47:37,640
that we might know.
The Spirit of God and His mark

729
00:47:37,640 –> 00:47:42,360
sits upon the Old Testament
record in that strange but

730
00:47:42,360 –> 00:47:47,480
interesting way.
Let’s show that same spirit of

731
00:47:47,480 –> 00:47:51,160
thankfulness in our own lives,
brothers and sisters, when we

732
00:47:51,160 –> 00:47:56,840
too have experienced the hand of
our God upon us for good, as it

733
00:47:56,840 –> 00:48:02,920
says in one of our hymns.
Oh, render thanks to God above,

734
00:48:03,880 –> 00:48:08,680
fountain of eternal love, Whose
mercy firm through ages past has

735
00:48:08,680 –> 00:48:14,280
stood and shall forever last.
Who can as mighty deeds express

736
00:48:14,840 –> 00:48:19,960
not only vast, but numberless?
What mortal eloquence can raise

737
00:48:19,960 –> 00:48:26,360
a tribute equal to His praise?
Happier they, and only they, Who

738
00:48:26,360 –> 00:48:33,560
from Thy precepts never stray,
Who know the right, nor only so,

739
00:48:35,720 –> 00:48:39,720
but seek to practice what they
know.

740
00:49:07,560 –> 00:49:08,960
If you all now stand.