Day #207

Sermon - Audio
Isaiah 37-39 & Psalm 76 - Audio
Isaiah 37-39 & Psalm 76 - Reading

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Isaiah 37-39 and Psalm 76

Isaiah 37 – Hezekiah didn’t hide himself with his advisors to consider what “spin” to put on the events rather he gave instructions. We don’t need to make Hezekiah look better than he was: we know from 2 Kings 18 that he had already tried to buy himself out of the situation by giving Sennacherib a large sum of money.

Hezekiah called on God to observe the way that Sennacherib had insulted God. The issue wasn’t whether Jerusalem would be taken but whether Sennacherib’s claim would stand that God was just one more god created by humans. Assyria was nothing more than a puppet being moved by God. Just as God had brought Sennacherib on the stage, He could remove him.

v. 1-2 – Unlike his faithless father Ahaz, Hezekiah responds to crisis by turning to God and seeking a word from God.

v. 7 – Sennacherib, who blasphemies God, is actually under God’s control. And God controls him merely by words.

v. 16 – Hezekiah does not put his own safety first or plead his own righteousness. He bases his prayer on the character of God. He directs his thoughts to the King who is above all creation and yet present in everything here below.

v. 20 – “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know” – The ultimate reason why God intervenes for His people is to make them living proof of His glory. Hezekiah sees the exclusivity of God not as an embarrassing problem but as the message the world must know. A real salvation puts the unique reality of God on visible display in human experience.

v. 22 – The virgin daughter of Zion is Jerusalem like a girl mocking her would-be but defeated rapist.

v. 29 – The Assyrians were notorious for leading away their captives by ropes tied to rings in their noses. You have to love God’s sense of humor.

v. 30-32 – God promises Hezekiah that he will faithfully preserve the land, feeding the people as they recover from the invasion, to show that His purpose, not chance, orchestrated the entire event. Moreover the agricultural miracle will symbolize a remnant saved by grace.

v. 33-35 – God will defend His city for His own glory and out of covenant faithfulness to David, suggesting His larger purpose for history consummated in Jesus.

Isaiah 38 – Hezekiah falls terminally ill, receives a message from Isaiah to put his house in order, and receives a reprieve from death accompanied by a confirming sign. Hezekiah then composes a psalm of praise built around God’s rescue from death.

The events of chapters 38-39 take place before chapters 36-37, clarified by 38:6. Isaiah located chapters 38-39 here in order to establish the context for chapters 40-55.

v. 6 – God looks beyond Hezekiah’s personal crisis to what matters more – the defense of the city of God.

v. 7-8 – Perhaps this particular sign – the sun’s shadow moving back up the steps – was chosen to signify that just as God can move time backward, He can add days to our lives.

v. 9-20 – Hezekiah’s psalm is clear about this truth: God alone has the power of life and death, and he prefers life. The psalm is divided into the anguish of death (v. 10-15), the hope of deliverance (v.16-19) and a confession of faith (v. 20).

Isaiah 39 – Hezekiah, having lost the humility that he had voiced in his poem of deliverance, shows off his wealth to the king of Babylon. He is called into account by Isaiah and selfishly disengages himself from the prophecy that his own family will one day be carried into exile by taking refuge in the thought that at least he will be dead by the time that happens.

v. 1 – Babylon comes to woo Judah into joining an alliance against Assyria. Hezekiah shows all his treasures to demonstrate that he can be a valuable member of the alliance. In doing so, he chooses to rely on Babylon rather than God.

v. 8 – Hezekiah reveals little concern for the future; it is a low point for him as king.

Psalm 76 – The psalm was written after God had destroyed Sennacherib’s army when the Assyrians threatened Jerusalem (2 Kings 19). God, the divine warrior who dwelt in Zion, was to be praised among His own and feared by the nations. The adoration of the divine warrior by His own people includes a reflection on past victories and a hope for full establishment of his kingdom on earth.

v. 2 – Salem was another name for Jerusalem.

v. 5 – Those who were strong in the eyes of the world were not able to stand against the power of God.

v. 11-12 – The Psalmist changes from praising God to calling on people to make vows to God. People of other nations are to bring Him gifts as a way of showing that God is the most worthy King.

v. 12 – Not only do the people fear God, so do the kings of the earth.