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Show HEZEKIAH, A FAITHFUL STEWARD "Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord, And said, Remember now 0, Lord, I beseech thee, how I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight. And Hezekiah wept sore." (Isaiah 38: 2-3) (2 Kings 20: 6) The prophet Isaiah came to the Hezekiah with a word from the Lord. He announced to this man that his time was winding up and that his death was imminent. "Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live." (Isaiah 53: 1b) For 1 Hezekiah was and had been sick unto death, having a disease that could not be healed by human doctors. So Isaiah told him that the death angel was catching up with him. Hezekiah was not ready to died and thought he had to do something. So The Bible says, "Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord. " I tell you it is never too late to pray, to tum to God, to call on Him for help. But when you pray you have to take the focus off the world. The New Testament says that there were two men who went up at the hour of prayer. One stood in the synagogues and in the comers of the streets to be seen by men. All that first man wanted was to be heard by men. The other entered his closet and 2 shut the door and called on the Lord in secret. The Father heard the call of the second man and gave him his reward. (Matthew 7: 5-8) He was a faithful steward. Notice the relationship of Hezekiah to the Lord. First, he asked God to remember how he walked before Him. God has a long memory and can recall all that we have ever done. Plus some of it is written in the book of life to be opened and read. Make no mistake about it God sees and knows everything. Either we repent of our wrong and do right or one day He will call us to account. Hezekiah had walked straight before the Lord. He was a faithful steward. Second, Hezekiah had a right heart. He believed the right thing and leaned in 3 the right direction. Unlike the children of Israel some years ago who leaned toward that wicked place called Sodom. This servant of the most high God had the same mind that was in God. The Apostle Paul told us to "Be not conformed to this world but be transformed by the renewing ofyour mind" and "let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus." What we start we have to keep on thinking with a new mind. Hezekiah had a right mind and was a faithful steward. Third, Hezekiah did that which was good in the sight of God. He stayed away from the popular, broad roads with lots of travelers but traveled on the straight and narrow road. The poet Robert Frost wrote a poem entitle "The 4 Road Not Taken" "Two roads diverged in a yellow woods and sorry I could travel both ... Oh, I kept the first for another day, yet knowing how way leads on to way. I doubted if I shall ever get back. I shall be telling this with a sigh somewhere ages and ages hence Two roads diverged in a woods and I, I took the one less traveled by And that has made all the difference." Hezekiah walked before God with integrity and righteousness. He lived to do what the Lord said do and to leave alone what He said not to do. For Hezekiah was a faithful steward. God heard the prayers of His servant Hezekiah, healed him of his sickness, and granted his fifteen more years to live. 5 The number 15 means deliverance which results in rest. It always represents the elevation from physical to spiritual. It signifies the step to attaining a lofty objective. The longest words other than names in the KJV of The Bible fifteen letters: Notwithstanding (Ex. 16: 20), Unrighteousness (Lev. 19: 15), Bloodguiltiness (Psalm 51: 14), Righteousnesses (Isaiah 64: 6), Stumblingblocks (Jeremiah 6: 21), Fellowprisoners (Romans 16: 7), Administrations (1 Cor. 12: 5). Then He turned the sun back 10 degrees. The number 10 speaks of that which is completed perfectly. It signifies the perfection of divine order. It is the beginning of a new order. There are ten 6 commandments covering all human and spiritual relations. We give a tenth of our increase followed by blessings more than we can contain. There were 10 plagues and then the glory of God was made visible. There are 10 "I am"s in the gospel of John ... "I am the bread of life, I am the bread of life which came down from heaven, I am the living bread, I am the light of the world, I am one that bears witness of myself, I am the door of the sheep, I am the good shepherd, I an th e resurrection and the life, I an the way, the truth and the life, I am the true vine. 7 |
