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September 12 - Isaiah 38 · A Chapter a Day Bible Reading

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  Hello friends, it's Sean. Here it is Tuesday, it is the
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  12th of September and you have clicked on play.
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  So here I am, and you and me, let us read some more of the
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  Bible together on this International Day of
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  Encouragement. How good is that?
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  After the tragedy of of yesterday's date, today has been
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  designated, particularly around those places in the states that
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  were affected by the terrorist attack, a day to encourage
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  people. So here's my challenge to you.
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  Find someone today, as you were having a conversation with them
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  and encourage them. Tell them something that you
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  appreciate about them and that you can encourage them in.
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  And maybe we can make just a little dent in the otherwise hum
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  drumness of a Tuesday. So I'm going to start, friend,
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  good on you for joining me today.
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  And so many days to punctuate your life with God's word, with
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  1000 other things that you could be doing right now.
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  You have chosen to do this, and I am terribly biased, but I
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  think you have made an excellent decision, and I want to
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  encourage you in doing that and to continue doing this together
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  with me as we live this crazy, confusing life sometimes.
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  But we can do it in the context of the big story of creation
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  that says you and I are so loved by our Creator.
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  And today we will continue to read about Hezekiah's response
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  to the king of Assyria. And today we get to read a poem
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  that he writes of praise in response to what God has said to
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  him. So this this is a wonderful time
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  when we get to hear a king responding to God's favorable
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  judgment. That doesn't happen in Judah and
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  Israel all it does today. So settle yourself in as we read
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  together Isaiah chapter 38 about that time Hezekiah became
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  deathly ill and the prophet Isaiah son of Amos went to visit
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  him. He gave the King this message.
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  This is what the Lord says. Set your affairs in order, for
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  you were going to die. You will not recover from this
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  illness. When Hezekiah heard this, he
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  turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord.
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  Remember, oh Lord, how I've always been faithful to you and
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  have served you singlemindedly, always doing what pleases you.
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  And he broke down and wept bitterly.
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  Then this message came to Isaiah from the Lord.
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  Go back to Hezekiah and tell him this is what the Lord, the God
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  of your ancestor David says. I have heard your prayer and
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  seen your tears. I will add 15 years to your life
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  and I will rescue you and this city from the king of Assyria.
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  Yes, I will defend this city. And this is the sign from the
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  Lord to prove that he will do as he promised.
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  I will cause the sun's shadow to move 10 steps backward on the
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  sundial of Ahaz. So the shadow on the sundial
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  moved backward 10 steps. When King Hezekiah was well
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  again, he wrote this poem. I said, in the prime of my life.
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  Must I now enter the place of the dead?
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  Am I to be robbed of the rest of my years?
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  I said. Never again will I see the Lord
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  God while still in the land of the living.
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  Never again will I see my friends or be with those who
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  live in this world. My life has been blown away like
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  a shepherd's tent in a storm. It has been cut short, as when a
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  Weaver cuts cloth from a loom. Suddenly my life was over.
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  I waited patiently all night, but I was torn apart as though
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  by lions. Suddenly my life was over.
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  Deliriously I chatted like a swallow or a crane, and then I
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  moaned like a mourning dove. My eyes grew tired of looking to
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  heaven for help. I am in trouble, Lord, help me.
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  But what could I say? For he himself sent this
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  sickness. Now I will walk humbly
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  throughout my years because of this anguish I have felt.
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  Lord, your discipline is good, for it leads to life and health.
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  You restore my health and allow me to live.
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  Yes, this anguish was good for me.
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  For you have rescued me from death and forgiven all my sins.
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  For the dead cannot praise you. They cannot raise their voices
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  in praise. Those who go down to the grave
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  can no longer hope in your faithfulness.
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  Only the living can praise you as I do today.
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  Each generation tells of your faithfulness to the next.
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  Think of it. The Lord is ready to heal me.
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  I will sing His praises with instruments every day of my
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  life. In the temple of the Lord.
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  Isaiah had said to Hezekiah's servants, make an ointment from
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  figs and spread it over the boil and Hezekiah will recover.
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  And Hezekiah had asked what sign will prove that I will go to the
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  temple of the Lord? How amazing of you, Lord, that
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  you would bend your ear to us as you rule eternity and all space
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  and time, and you know all things and have them planned out
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  into the distant future. You still listen to us, and you
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  hear our requests, and you act on them.
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  Thank you for being so faithful and attentive to us tiny little
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  people on this little world spinning around in a very, very
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  big universe. But here your heart resides with
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  us. Here you have given us Jesus,
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  who lived and died and rose again right here in the dust
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  with us so that we would know how much you love us.
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  Thank you that you are so invested in us and our lives
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  that you would choose to do such a thing.
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  We worship you and we glorify you, and it's in Jesus name that
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  we pray. Amen.