““Go and say to Hezekiah, Thus says the Lord, the God of David your father: I have heard your prayer; I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add fifteen years to your life.“ (Isaiah 38:5, ESV)
There is a poem by Robert Herrick titled, “To the Virgins, to Make Much of Time.” Here is the first verse.
Gather ye rose-buds while ye may,
Old Time is still a-flying;
And this same flower that smiles today
Tomorrow will be dying.
While this poem speaks of the brevity of life, its greater point is that we must use the time we have diligently. We must make the best use of our time.
I believe that this is a point we can gather from this episode of Hezekiah’s life. Hezekiah pleads for more time after the Lord tells him to get his life in order for he would soon die. What did Hezekiah do with the additional fifteen years of his life? We see some interesting things.
First, Hezekiah did something very foolish. He shows the Babylonians all the treasures of Judah (Isaiah 39:1-4). This action, steeped in pride, would have serious consequences. Isaiah tells Hezekiah that Babylon will come and cart off all the treasure of Judah and that some of his sons would end up in the Babylonian captivity (Isaiah 39:5-7).
Second, after hearing that some of Hezekiah’s sons would be taken into captivity, he stated, “The word of the Lord . . . is good,” for he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days” (Isaiah 39:8). We have to wonder about Hezekiah’s concern for the welfare of his children and the nation. I would have anticipated his first words being ones of remorse for his children and his country. Perhaps this attitude had something to do with the way his son, Manasseh turned out.
Manasseh was one of Judah’s most evil kings. He led the nation into gross idolatry. He sacrificed his own son in the worship of a false god. He caused the nation “to do more evil than the nations had done whom the Lord destroyed before the people of Israel” (2 Kings 21:9). Tradition has it that Manasseh had the prophet Isaiah martyred because he spoke against Manasseh’s sinful ways. Did Hezekiah’s seemingly self-centered attitude have anything to do with the way Manasseh turned out? We do not really have the full answer to this, but it seems probable.
The amazing thing is that Hezekiah was one of Judah’s best kings (2 Kings 18). He did institute sweeping reforms after the reign of the idolatrous king Ahaz. The Word of God declared him a very good king of Judah. Yet in the extra fifteen years the Lord gave him, he did not demonstrate prudence in all his decisions. You see good beginnings can often lead to prideful conclusions. The decisions we make in life do have a significant influence on the future.
We must realize that every moment we have is a gift from God. He desires that we honor Him with the use of our time. Therefore, it behooves us to make the best use of time. How do we make the best use of this precious commodity? We must get our priorities right. This means living godly lives, wholeheartedly seeking the kingdom of God and His righteousness. It means conducting our lives in humility, submitting to the ways and will of God. It means influencing those in our sphere of relationships to comprehend the wonder of God and His grace.
Renewing the Heart 