James Nisbet Commentary - 2 King 20:2 - 20:2

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James Nisbet Commentary - 2 King 20:2 - 20:2


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This Chapter Verse Commentaries:

HEZEKIAH’S PRAYER

‘He turned his face to the wall and prayed unto the Lord.’

2Ki_20:2

Hezekiah is reckoned as one of the three perfect kings of Judah, the other two being David and Josiah. His reign of twenty-nine years was marked by great material advancement. The aqueduct of Jerusalem preserves his fame to this day. Under Ahaz the kingdom had deteriorated in morals. The idolatry which he established was suppressed by his son. The worship of Jehovah, which had been neglected, was restored, and the nation enjoyed an era of great prosperity. Ahaz had permitted, in the very precincts of the Temple, to be set up chariots and altars dedicated to the sun. Hezekiah was fortunate in having Isaiah as his tutor and prophet.

I. Hezekiah was a man of prayer.—We see the names of the good prophet and the good king often linked together. The man who can pray best in sickness is the man who prays in health. The man who prays in sickness, but never in health, is a moral coward. Hezekiah went to the secret place for prayer. Shutting the world out he was shut in with God. If we would have Christ hear our prayers we must remember the five rules He gave us for prayers. First, a period for prayer, ‘when thou prayest.’ Second, a place for prayer, ‘enter into thy closet.’ Third, privacy in prayer, ‘when thou hast shut the door.’ Fourth, persons in prayer, ‘pray to thy Father.’ Fifth, promise in prayer, ‘and thy Father which is in secret, He shall reward thee openly.’ The safeguard to all our prayers should be, ‘Thy will be done.’

II. Hezekiah pleaded his own righteousness, which was the best he could do at his time.—We, however can plead the righteousness of Jesus Christ. God has a variety of ways by which He can answer prayer. Our sign is the Cross of Calvary, and in that sign we shall conquer. It cast its shadows on the summit of Calvary, and to the end of time those who come within its shadow will find peace and rest and sweet assurance.

III. Prayer is the one instrument in the power of man by which he can halt the golden chariot of the sun and call to his side the God of the universe.—Prayer from Hezekiah’s lips had the power to destroy the adversaries of God. His prayers had the power to save his nation when it was depleted and seemed an easy prey for the enemy. His prayers brought to him God’s gift, length of days and other temporal blessings. His prayers also brought him remission of his sins and removal of the punishment which sin incurs. Not only does God hear our prayers, but He sees our tears. There will come a time when He will wipe away all tears from our eyes. Hezekiah need have no fear of death during the fifteen years that had been given to him. But with the cancelling of the death warrant for fifteen years he would only be a man of fifty-four years when the warrant would be issued again. Added life is not always added blessing. The gift of God to us is eternal life through Jesus Christ. We are bidden to ask forgiveness of God daily, and it is His high prerogative to forgive those who are forgiving. In God’s hands alone are the issues of life and death.

Illustration

‘God answers our prayers instrumentally. The case of Hezekiah is a typical one! God could have raised him from the sick bed as He did Lazarus from the grave, by a word; but, as a matter of fact, He did so by suggesting to Isaiah the remedy needed, and by blessing that remedy. In like manner, God could have answered St. Paul’s prayer for his storm-driven companions by stilling the tempest, as Christ did that by which the disciples were imperilled on the Lake of Galilee, by a word; but, as a matter of fact, He did so by giving them wisdom and strength to lay hold upon the boards and broken pieces of the ship, by which they all escaped safe to land. This is a most important truth, and it answers not a few semi-philosophical cavils against prayer. In 1872 King Edward VII, when Prince of Wales, and again, thirty years later, just before his coronation, was dangerously ill, and the whole nation united in supplications on his behalf; and our belief is, that his restoration on both occasions was an answer to prayer, quite as much as was the restoration of Hezekiah. Some say, “No, he owed his recovery to the skill of his physicians and the assiduity of his nurses.” Very good. But who gave the physicians their skill and the nurses their assiduity? Let those who, on the ground that medical skill of the highest order waited constantly at the bedside of the King, deny that his recovery was an answer to prayer, cipher out how much of the loaf on their table is due to mechanical causes, and how much of it is due to God. Their doing so will help them to understand the principle of which I have reminded you, that God answers prayer, as He dispenses blessing, instrumentally.’