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Isa 38:1-11  I Have Heard Your Prayer, I Have Seen Your Tears

Isa 38:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
Isa 38:2  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
Isa 38:3  And said, Remember now, O 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.
Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Isa 38:6  And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
Isa 38:7  And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
Isa 38:8  Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.
Isa 38:9  The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isa 38:10  I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
Isa 38:11  I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

This chapter is the story of King Hezekiah's sickness "unto death", and how the Lord first tells Hezekiah that his death is certain and that he  must "set [his] house in order". Upon hearing these words from Isaiah, the Lord's prophet, Hezekiah is understandably grief-stricken, and he cries out to the Lord and reminds the Lord that he has "walked before thee in Truth, and with a perfect heart, and [has] done that which is good in Thy sight", and Hezekiah weeps sorely before the Lord.

It appears to our natural mind that Hezekiah's prayer causes the Lord to simply change His mind, and He decides to heal the king and add 15 years to Hezekiah's life. Let's read another version of what happened here and get some more details from the account of this same story as it is recorded for our admonition in 2nd Kings:

2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2Ki 20:2  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3  I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now 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.

To this point this account is almost word for word the same as what we just read in Isaiah 38. However, now we have some details which are not recorded in Isaiah. This apparent change of the Lord's heart was an immediate thing according to the account here in 2nd Kings, and the Lord promises that in three days Hezekiah will "go up unto the house of the Lord". These details are not mentioned in Isaiah's account. The Lord tells Hezekiah that He is giving him 15 more years of life and that during those fifteen years the king of Assyria will not be permitted to take the city of Jerusalem.

2Ki 20:4  And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying,
2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.

Here in 2nd Kings we are even given the kind of disease afflicting King Hezekiah and the cure by which the Lord heals him:

2Ki 20:7  And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.

In 2nd Kings 20 we also learn that King Hezekiah, typifying us and our lack of faith, requests a sign of the Lord that the Lord will heal him. The Lord even gives Hezekiah a choice of whether the shadow on the sun dial will go forward or backward by ten degrees.

2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9  And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?

And this is what Hezekiah chose:

2Ki 20:10  And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11  And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

These things all happened to King Hezekiah, and they are all written down for our admonition upon whom the ends of the eons (aions) have come:

1Co 10:11  Now all these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they are written for our admonition, upon whom the ends of the world [Greek: ages] are come.

With that principle in mind, let's look at these two accounts of the same story and see what the Lord's signified words are telling us. We will examine this story in a harmony of Isaiah and 2nd Kings fashion, and we will ask the Lord to open our spiritual eyes to see the spiritual lessons in this true story:

This Account According to Isaiah

Isa 38:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz came unto him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order: for thou shalt die, and not live.
Isa 38:2  Then Hezekiah turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the LORD,
Isa 38:3  And said, Remember now, O 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.

The Same Account According to 2nd Kings

2Ki 20:1  In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death. And the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz came to him, and said unto him, Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live.
2Ki 20:2  Then he turned his face to the wall, and prayed unto the LORD, saying,
2Ki 20:3  I beseech thee, O LORD, remember now 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.

These three verses in both books contain the exact same message. The message for us is that the Lord is trying the king's faith by telling Hezekiah that he will die of this affliction and that he needs to set his house in order. Upon hearing these words coming from the Lord's prophet, King Hezekiah is brought to his wits' end, and he cries out to the Lord for His mercies.

Hezekiah typifies us. Each of us from time to time find ourselves in very dire circumstances. At times those can be life or death circumstances, and the last thing any of us should ever do when we find our brother or sister in such a trial is to become one of Job's "miserable comforters" who think that all of our trials are given to demonstrate just how sinful a person is. There are books written based upon that very premise, quoting this verse in Proverbs 26 as proof that we bring all of our afflictions upon ourselves:

Pro 26:2  As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come.

All that the modern-day 'Job's miserable comforters' can see is the last part of that verse, as they point three fingers at themselves while wagging one finger at the poor suffering elect of God who are being judged in this age. Nowhere does Proverb 26:2 state that we are responsible for our own trials and sins. The self-righteous Pharisees among us overlook the first part of that verse which reads, "As the bird by wandering, as the swallow by flying, so the curse causeless shall not come." The bird's wandering and the swallow's flight patterns are both the work of the Lord's hand as are "all things". This same writer told us these very words ten chapters earlier:

Pro 16:4  The LORD hath made all things for himself: yea, even the wicked for the day of evil.

Job's trials were also the Work of the Lord's hand, and for Job's miserable comforters to look down on him as more cursed of God than themselves is nothing less that the insidious sin of self-righteousness.

Job 1:11  But put forth thine hand now, and touch all that he hath, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 1:12  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, all that he hath is in thy power; only upon himself put not forth thine hand. So Satan went forth from the presence of the LORD.

Job 2:5  But put forth thine hand now, and touch his bone and his flesh, and he will curse thee to thy face.
Job 2:6  And the LORD said unto Satan, Behold, he is in thine hand; but save his life.

Even the adversary and all of his "legions" are nothing more than the Lord's hand. He does only what he is sent to do - nothing more and nothing less.

The Lord Himself gives us a grave warning against judging anyone's standing with the Lord based upon the things which happen to them with these words:

Luk 13:1  There were present at that season some that told him of the Galilaeans, whose blood Pilate had mingled with their sacrifices.
Luk 13:2  And Jesus answering said unto them, Suppose ye that these Galilaeans were sinners above all the Galilaeans, because they suffered such things?
Luk 13:3  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.
Luk 13:4  Or those eighteen, upon whom the tower in Siloam fell, and slew them, think ye that they were sinners above all men that dwelt in Jerusalem?
Luk 13:5  I tell you, Nay: but, except ye repent, ye shall all likewise perish.

Did the men who died at the hand of Pilate do something that made them greater sinners than others? Christ tells us they were not "sinners above all the Galileanas". Were the men who died when the tower of Siloam fell on them worse than anyone else in Jerusalem? Again, Christ tells us they were not. Nothing is further from the truth, as the story of Christ healing of the man who was born blind demonstrates:

Joh 9:1  And as Jesus passed by, he saw a man which was blind from his birth.
Joh 9:2  And his disciples asked him, saying, Master, who did sin, this man, or his parents, that he was born blind?
Joh 9:3  Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

Christ is not saying that this man and his parents are the only people in the history of the world who never once sinned. What He is telling us is that this man's sins were in no way whatsoever connected to or involved with this man's blindness "from his birth".

In the same manner, Hezekiah's affliction, as a type of the Lord's elect, was not because of his or his parents' sins. It was simply "that the works of God should be made manifest in him... for [our] admonition" (1Co 10:11).

None of this is meant to make all sins equal, as some falsely claim. Stealing a loaf of bread to feed your family is not the same as malicious, premeditated murder.

Exo 22:1  If a man shall steal an ox, or a sheep, and kill it, or sell it; he shall restore five oxen for an ox, and four sheep for a sheep.

Stealing an ox is stealing a man's way of making a living and was a greater crime than stealing a sheep.

The Lord inspired Solomon to tell us:

Pro 6:30  Men do not despise a thief, if he steal to satisfy his soul when he is hungry;
Pro 6:31  But if he be found, he shall restore sevenfold; he shall give all the substance of his house.

Whereas the punishment for murder is far more severe:

Num 35:31  Moreover ye shall take no satisfaction for the life of a murderer, which is guilty of death: but he shall be surely put to death.

Christ Himself made this statement when He stood before Pilate:

Joh 19:11  Jesus answered, Thou couldest have no power at all against me, except it were given thee from above: therefore he that delivered me unto thee hath the greater sin.

Finally, we are even told this concerning the Lord's judgments of our works:

Pro 24:11  If thou forbear to deliver them that are drawn unto death, and those that are ready to be slain;
Pro 24:12  If thou sayest, Behold, we knew it not; doth not he that pondereth the heart consider it? and he that keepeth thy soul, doth not he know it? and shall not he render to every man according to his works?

The New Testament stresses this same principle:

Rev 20:12  And I saw the dead, small and great, stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is the book of life: and the dead were judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their works.
Rev 20:13  And the sea gave up the dead which were in it; and death and hell delivered up the dead which were in them: and they were judged every man according to their works.

If all sins were equal in the Lord's sight, then Christ would never have told us:

Mat 16:27  For the Son of man shall come in the glory of his Father with his angels; and then he shall reward every man according to his works.

Punishment for sins is dealt out in accordance with the degree of one's knowledge:

Luk 12:47  And that servant, which knew his lord's will, and prepared not himself, neither did according to his will, shall be beaten with many stripes.
Luk 12:48  But he that knew not, and did commit things worthy of stripes, shall be beaten with few stripes. For unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required: and to whom men have committed much, of him they will ask the more.

Our judgment accords with our works. That is a Biblically demonstrated principle. But that fact does not mean that all of our trials are punishments for our sins, as the Lord's words concerning the deaths of the Galileans at the hand of Pilate and the healing of the man was born blind prove. Some trials are indeed punishments, but many of our trials are simply "that the works of the Lord might be made manifested in [us]" (Joh 9:3).

One of the "works of the Lord" manifested in the lives of every believer is "the trial of [our] faith":

1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

This is what the Lord is doing with Hezekiah as a type of His elect. Let us all be careful not to look down upon each other because of the various afflictions the Lord places upon us.

Hezekiah is stricken with a disease which is "unto death" and then the Lord sends His prophet to tell the king to set his house in order because his death is imminent. This affliction and the sentence of death have worked their purpose and "the works of the Lord [continue to] be made manifested in [Hezekiah's life]". "The works of the Lord" have brought Hezekiah to his wits' end, and he has cried out to the Lord 'to deliver him from death and he is heard in that he feared the Lord'.

Heb 5:7  Who in the days of his flesh, when he had offered up prayers and supplications with strong crying and tears unto him that was able to save him from death, and was heard in that he feared;

Hezekiah had eventually feared the Lord more than he feared the great king of Assyria, and in time he had come to place his trust in the Lord for deliverance. Hezekiah's healing from his "sickness unto death" typifies our resurrection from the dead as our reward for fearing the Lord more than we fear men, and for depending on Him for our salvation and our deliverance from our enemies and from all the false doctrines which enslaved us. These are all symbolized here by the king of Assyria.

This story demonstrates that the Lord rewards the tried faithfulness He gives us:

Luk 6:22  Blessed are ye, when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you from their company, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake.
Luk 6:23  Rejoice ye in that day, and leap for joy: for, behold, your reward is great in heaven: for in the like manner did their fathers unto the prophets.

Joh 5:28  Marvel not at this: for the hour is coming, in the which all that are in the graves shall hear his voice,
Joh 5:29  And shall come forth; they that have done good, unto the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation.

So there is a great reward for our fidelity. It is the reward of life from death, "the resurrection of life", which Hezekiah, as a type of us, experienced.

Isa 38:4  Then came the word of the LORD to Isaiah, saying,
Isa 38:5  Go, and say to Hezekiah, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years.
Isa 38:6  And I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria: and I will defend this city.
Isa 38:7  And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that he hath spoken;
Isa 38:8  Behold, I will bring again the shadow of the degrees, which is gone down in the sun dial of Ahaz, ten degrees backward. So the sun returned ten degrees, by which degrees it was gone down.

Here is the 2nd Kings 20 version of these five verses of Isaiah 38. It takes two additional verses to include the extra details:

2Ki 20:5  Turn again, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the LORD, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee: on the third day thou shalt go up unto the house of the LORD.
2Ki 20:6  And I will add unto thy days fifteen years; and I will deliver thee and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria; and I will defend this city for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake.
2Ki 20:7  And Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered.
2Ki 20:8  And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the LORD will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the LORD the third day?
2Ki 20:9  And Isaiah said, This sign shalt thou have of the LORD, that the LORD will do the thing that he hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?
2Ki 20:10  And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.
2Ki 20:11  And Isaiah the prophet cried unto the LORD: and he brought the shadow ten degrees backward, by which it had gone down in the dial of Ahaz.

The fact that Hezekiah asked for a sign of his healing, and the lump of figs as the cure of the boil is alluded to only at the very end of Isiah 38.

Isa 38:20  The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22  Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?

There is no mention of "three days" in Isaiah 38. That is how it is supposed to be because "the sum of thy word is truth", and the Truth is only gleaned "line upon line and precept upon precept":

Psa 119:160  The sum of thy word is truth; And every one of thy righteous ordinances endureth for ever. (ASV)

Isa 28:9  Whom will he teach knowledge? and whom will he make to understand the message? them that are weaned from the milk, and drawn from the breasts?
Isa 28:10  For it is precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little.
Isa 28:11  Nay, but by men of strange lips and with another tongue will he speak to this people;
Isa 28:12  to whom he said, This is the rest, give ye rest to him that is weary; and this is the refreshing: yet they would not hear.
Isa 28:13  Therefore shall the word of Jehovah be unto them precept upon precept, precept upon precept; line upon line, line upon line; here a little, there a little; that they may go, and fall backward, and be broken, and snared, and taken. (ASV)

So all the lessons of this story are "precept upon precept [and] line upon line". Not for the purpose of making the meaning clear, but rather for the fact that "it is not given to [the multitudes of Christendom] to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven":

Mat 13:10  And the disciples came, and said unto him, Why speakest thou unto [the multitudes] in parables?
Mat 13:11  He answered and said unto them, Because it is given unto you to know the mysteries of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it is not given.
Mat 13:12  For whosoever hath, to him shall be given, and he shall have more abundance: but whosoever hath not, from him shall be taken away even that he hath.
Mat 13:13  Therefore speak I to them in parables: because they seeing see not; and hearing they hear not, neither do they understand.
Mat 13:14  And in them is fulfilled the prophecy of Esaias, which saith, By hearing ye shall hear, and shall not understand; and seeing ye shall see, and shall not perceive:
Mat 13:15  For this people's heart is waxed gross, and their ears are dull of hearing, and their eyes they have closed; lest at any time they should see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and should understand with their heart, and should be converted, and I should heal them.
Mat 13:16  But blessed are your eyes, for they see: and your ears, for they hear.
Mat 13:17  For verily I say unto you, That many prophets and righteous men have desired to see those things which ye see, and have not seen them; and to hear those things which ye hear, and have not heard them.

This story of the healing of Judah's most righteous king from a sickness "unto death" is just such a parable. Hezekiah symbolizes the Lord's elect whose salvation from death, from "the wages of sin", comes to them only "through death":

Joh 12:24  Verily, verily, I say unto you, Except a corn of wheat fall into the ground and die, it abideth alone: but if it die, it bringeth forth much fruit.
Joh 12:25  He that loveth his life shall lose it; and he that hateth his life in this world shall keep it unto life eternal.

Rom 6:23  For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through [the death of] Jesus Christ our Lord.

Col 1:22  In the body of his flesh through death, to present you holy and unblameable and unreproveable in his sight:

Heb 2:14  Forasmuch then as the children are partakers of flesh and blood, he also himself likewise took part of the same; that through death he might destroy him that had the power of death, that is, the devil;

Hezekiah's healing from his 'sickness unto death' typifies our own healing from the death penalty under which we are conceived and under which we are all born:

Psa 51:5  Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me.

The "three days" Hezekiah had to wait for his healing typifies the process we all must endure as we are being judged in this age, leading up to our own death and resurrection with our Lord "on the third day".

Mat 16:21  From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.

Mat 17:23  And they shall kill him, and the third day he shall be raised again. And they were exceeding sorry.

Mat 20:19  And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.

This story is a prophecy of these verses in Matthew and all the verses on the subject of the resurrection of Christ in the other gospels, such as these words of our Lord:

Luk 13:32  And he said unto them, Go ye, and tell that fox, Behold, I cast out devils, and I do cures to day and to morrow, and the third day I shall be perfected.

Perfection and life come only through death and resurrection "on the  third day", after 'patience has had its perfect work' through the process of being judged in this life. Here is the URL for the in depth study on the spiritual significance of the number three:
Three: The Process of Spiritual Completion Through Judgment

The fifteen years added to Hezekiah's life signify nothing less than the process of our salvation "by grace through faith... of Jesus Christ" in us.

Rom 3:22  Even the righteousness of God which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe: for there is no difference:

Gal 2:16  Knowing that a man is not justified by the works of the law, but by the faith of Jesus Christ, even we have believed in Jesus Christ, that we might be justified by the faith of Christ, and not by the works of the law: for by the works of the law shall no flesh be justified.

Gal 3:22  But the scripture hath concluded all under sin, that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

Fifteen is the product of three fives, signifying that Christ's chastening grace and His faith working within us are also a process which takes place within our lives, requiring the trying of our faith and the development of patience in each and every saint of God.

Therefore we are instructed:

Luk 21:19  In your patience possess ye your souls.

An impatient, unmerciful person is not fit to be a ruler and to reign with Christ because that person is not yet perfected:

Jas 1:2  My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations;
Jas 1:3  Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience.
Jas 1:4  But let patience have her perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, wanting nothing.

Faith requires patience because our faith must be tried, and trials require time, and our flesh wants what it wants now!

1Pe 1:3  Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which according to his abundant mercy hath begotten us again unto a lively hope by the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead,
1Pe 1:4  To an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that fadeth not away, reserved in heaven for you,
1Pe 1:5  Who are kept by the power of God through faith unto salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1Pe 1:6  Wherein ye greatly rejoice, though now for a season, if need be, ye are in heaviness through manifold temptations:
1Pe 1:7  That the trial of your faith, being much more precious than of gold that perisheth, though it be tried with fire, might be found unto praise and honour and glory at the appearing of Jesus Christ:

Here is the URL to an in-depth study on the spiritual significance of the number five.

Hezekiah asking for a sign that the Lord would indeed heal him on the third day, typifies all of us as we struggle to take the Lord at His word while the circumstances of life tell us we simply cannot do that.

Mat 12:39  But he answered and said unto them, An evil and adulterous generation seeketh after a sign; and there shall no sign be given to it, but the sign of the prophet Jonas:

Mar 9:20  And they brought [the epileptic young man] unto him: and when he saw him, straightway the spirit tare him; and he fell on the ground, and wallowed foaming.
Mar 9:21  And he asked his father, How long is it ago since this came unto him? And he said, Of a child.
Mar 9:22  And ofttimes it hath cast him into the fire, and into the waters, to destroy him: but if thou canst do any thing, have compassion on us, and help us.
Mar 9:23  Jesus said unto him, If thou canst believe, all things are possible to him that believeth.
Mar 9:24  And straightway the father of the child cried out, and said with tears, Lord, I believe; help thou mine unbelief.
Mar 9:25  When Jesus saw that the people came running together, he rebuked the foul spirit, saying unto him, Thou dumb and deaf spirit, I charge thee, come out of him, and enter no more into him.
Mar 9:26  And the spirit cried, and rent him sore, and came out of him: and he was as one dead; insomuch that many said, He is dead.
Mar 9:27  But Jesus took him by the hand, and lifted him up; and he arose.

Php 4:13  I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.

Hezekiah was at his wits' end, and he, too, in effect cried out, "Lord I believe; help Thou mine unbelief." It is "through Christ" that any of us are given the Lord's grace through the Lord's faith to be saved from death:

Eph 2:8  For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God:
Eph 2:9  Not of works, lest any man should boast.
Eph 2:10  For we are his workmanship,created in Christ Jesus unto good works, which God hath before ordained that we should walk in them.

Hezekiah tells us clearly that this affliction, this "sickness unto death" was something he had been enduring for some time:

Isa 38:9  The writing of Hezekiah king of Judah, when he had been sick, and was recovered of his sickness:
Isa 38:10  I said in the cutting off of my days, I shall go to the gates of the grave: I am deprived of the residue of my years.
Isa 38:11  I said, I shall not see the LORD, even the LORD, in the land of the living: I shall behold man no more with the inhabitants of the world.

This story of Hezekiah's sickness unto death is part of what the Lord has chosen to show us He is doing in our lives (1Co 10:11). We must be brought to our wits' end before we will cry out to the Lord. When that is accomplished, then the Lord will deliver us in our time of trouble:

Psa 37:39  But the salvation of the righteous is of the LORD: he is their strength in the time of trouble.

Psa 46:1  To the chief Musician for the sons of Korah, A Song upon Alamoth. God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble.

Psa 107:25 For he [the Lord Himself] commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof.
Psa 107:26 They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble.
Psa 107:27 They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wits' end.
Psa 107:28 Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses.

Next week the Lord will use Hezekiah to show us the depth of the troubles of our flesh, and the hopelessness of our flesh to deliver us from death. We will all identify and empathize with Hezekiah. We will also see and rejoice in being raised with Christ in newness of life (Rom 6:1-4).

Isa 38:12  Mine age is departed, and is removed from me as a shepherd's tent: I have cut off like a weaver my life: he will cut me off with pining sickness: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:13  I reckoned till morning, that, as a lion, so will he break all my bones: from day even to night wilt thou make an end of me.
Isa 38:14  Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter: I did mourn as a dove: mine eyes fail with looking upward: O LORD, I am oppressed; undertake for me.
Isa 38:15  What shall I say? he hath both spoken unto me, and himself hath done it: I shall go softly all my years in the bitterness of my soul.
Isa 38:16  O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit: so wilt thou recover me, and make me to live.
Isa 38:17  Behold, for peace I had great bitterness: but thou hast in love to my soul delivered it from the pit of corruption: for thou hast cast all my sins behind thy back.
Isa 38:18  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.
Isa 38:19  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth.
Isa 38:20  The LORD was ready to save me: therefore we will sing my songs to the stringed instruments all the days of our life in the house of the LORD.
Isa 38:21  For Isaiah had said, Let them take a lump of figs, and lay it for a plaister upon the boil, and he shall recover.
Isa 38:22  Hezekiah also had said, What is the sign that I shall go up to the house of the LORD?