About this time King Hezekiah became sick and almost died. The prophet Isaiah son of Amoz went to see him and said to him, “The LORD tells you that you are to put everything in order because you will not recover. Get ready to die.” Hezekiah turned his face to the wall and prayed: “Remember, LORD, that I have served you faithfully and loyally, and that I have always tried to do what you wanted me to.” And he began to cry bitterly. Then the LORD commanded Isaiah to go back to Hezekiah and say to him, “I, the LORD, the God of your ancestor David, have heard your prayer and seen your tears; I will let you live fifteen years longer. (Isaiah 38:1-5)
I’ve read about this event before. Hezekiah was going along nicely, but when it came time to die, he panicked. The translations say, “cry bitterly,” “wept sore,” “cried hard,” and “great weeping.” Not exactly tears of joy to join his maker, or tears of submission to God’s seemingly unpleasant will.
H1419
גּדל גּדול
gâdôl gâdôl
gaw-dole’, gaw-dole’
From H1431; great (in any sense); hence older; also insolent: – + aloud, elder (-est), + exceeding (-ly), + far, (man of) great (man, matter, thing, -er, -ness), high, long, loud, mighty, more, much, noble, proud thing, X sore, (´) very.H1065
בּכי
bekîy
bek-ee’
From H1058; a weeping; by analogy, a dripping: – overflowing, X sore, (continual) weeping, wept.
The first, H1419, has a sense of rebellion to it – insolent, noble, proud… H1065 gives me the idea that it was excessive. And God relented. I think of times when my daughter has begged me for something that I know is not in her best interest, but I permit it so she can learn the lesson from life if not from me. Oswald Chambers warns:
Always make a distinction between God’s perfect will and His permissive will, which He uses to accomplish His divine purpose for our lives.
God’s permissive will gave us Manasseh, and in the end God was glorified. But look at all the pain and suffering that occurred in between! The streets ran with the blood of the people Manasseh killed. Is the nature of humanity and our sin such that it HAD to happen? Not necessarily. As Job said, “The Lord giveth and the Lord taketh away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.” Job ultimately did question God, but he did not ask Him to change His mind. Hezekiah wanted his own will in preference to God’s. I can’t help thinking that like Hezekiah, I have failed that test many times, praying for my own will instead of God’s.
