Notes on 2 Kings 20

In those days Hezekiah was sick and near death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, went to him and said to him, "Thus says the LORD: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die, and not live.'"

Then he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed to the LORD, saying, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly.

And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. On the third day you shall go up to the house of the LORD. And I will add to your days fifteen years. I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for My own sake, and for the sake of My servant David."'"—2 Kings 20:1-6

I am so grateful that the Lord sees my tears. He considers my grief and compasses me on every side with His steadfast love and kindness. Psalm 56 says this…

You number my wanderings;

Put my tears into Your bottle;

Are they not in Your book?

When I cry out to You,

Then my enemies will turn back;

This I know, because God is for me.

In God (I will praise His word),

In the LORD (I will praise His word),

In God I have put my trust;

I will not be afraid.

What can man do to me?—Psalm 56:8-11

And Psalm 126 this…

Those who sow in tears

Shall reap in joy.

He who continually goes forth weeping,

Bearing seed for sowing,

Shall doubtless come again with rejoicing,

Bringing his sheaves with him.

Beloved…God uses both our joys and our sorrows for our good and His glory. Someday we will stand before the throne of our God and He will wipe away every tear. 

for the Lamb who is in the midst of the throne will shepherd them and lead them to living fountains of waters. And God will wipe away every tear from their eyes."—Revelation 7:17

Here in 2 Kings 20 we read that God not only saw King Hezekiah’s tears, but in His grace answered the cry of his heart and gave him 15 more years of life. Isaiah 38 has more…

This is the writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness:

I said,

"In the prime of my life

I shall go to the gates of Sheol;

I am deprived of the remainder of my years."

I said,

"I shall not see YAH,

The LORD in the land of the living;

I shall observe man no more among the inhabitants of the world.

My life span is gone,

Taken from me like a shepherd's tent;

I have cut off my life like a weaver.

He cuts me off from the loom;

From day until night You make an end of me.

I have considered until morning—

Like a lion,

So He breaks all my bones;

From day until night You make an end of me.

Like a crane or a swallow, so I chattered;

I mourned like a dove;

My eyes fail from looking upward.

O LORD, I am oppressed;

Undertake for me!

"What shall I say?

He has both spoken to me,

And He Himself has done it.

I shall walk carefully all my years

In the bitterness of my soul.

O Lord, by these things men live;

And in all these things is the life of my spirit;

So You will restore me and make me live.

Indeed it was for my own peace

That I had great bitterness;

But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,

For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

For Sheol cannot thank You,

Death cannot praise You;

Those who go down to the pit cannot hope for Your truth.

The living, the living man, he shall praise You,

As I do this day;

The father shall make known Your truth to the children.

"The LORD was ready to save me;

Therefore we will sing my songs with stringed instruments

All the days of our life, in the house of the LORD."—Isaiah 38:9-20 (emphasis mine)

King Hezekiah honors and gives glory to God for not only healing him physically but spiritually as well. 

But You have lovingly delivered my soul from the pit of corruption,

For You have cast all my sins behind Your back.

So far so good, right?  Sadly, in this very same chapter of 2 Kings we read that envoys from Babylon visit and King Hezekiah shows them all his treasures. 

At that time Berodach-Baladan the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. And Hezekiah was attentive to them, and showed them all the house of his treasures—the silver and gold, the spices and precious ointment, and all his armory—all that was found among his treasures. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.

Then Isaiah the prophet went to King Hezekiah, and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where did they come to you?"

So Hezekiah said, "They came from a far country, from Babylon."

And he said, "What have they seen in your house?"

So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasures that I have not shown them."

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD: 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 'And they shall take away some of your sons who will descend from you, whom you will beget; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"—2 Kings 20:12-18

We read nothing in the verses above about King Hezekiah giving glory to the God of Israel for all that he had been given, nor does he bear testimony to the Babylonians of the only true and living God. In regard to these verses, Spurgeon writes the following:

Hezekiah’s duty was clear. He ought to have received the ambassadors with due courtesy as becomes their office, and he should have regarded their coming as an opportunity to bear testimony to the idolatrous Babylonians of the true God of Israel. He should have explained to them that the wonders which had been worked were worked by the only living and true God, and then he might have said, in answer to Isaiah’s question, “What have they seen in thine house?” (20:15), “I have told them of the mighty acts of Jehovah, I have published abroad his great fame, and I have sent them back to their country to tell abroad that the LORD God omnipotent reigns.”—Spurgeon

Such a good reminder for us this morning that all good gifts come from our Father in Heaven with whom there is no shadow or turning. Beloved…without Him we can do nothing good. 

For by Him all things were created that are in heaven and that are on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or powers. All things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things consist. And He is the head of the body, the church, who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things He may have the preeminence.

For it pleased the Father that in Him all the fullness should dwell,—Colossians 1:15-19

Oh, Father!  In looking at the gifts our hearts should immediately remember and extoll the Giver.  Help us to use every opportunity to bring glory to Your wonderful name.

And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.—Colossians 3:17