Isaiah 38
Message by Matt LaMaster
Part of our series through Isaiah.
The Big Idea
When God relieves our suffering in this life, he is pointing us to something greater: the forgiveness of our sins, which should move us to worship.
Summary
King Hezekiah, one of the few good kings of Judah, fell sick to the point of death. The prophet Isaiah told him to set his house in order because he would not recover. Hezekiah turned his face to the wall, wept, and prayed. God answered by adding fifteen years to his life, promising to protect Jerusalem from Assyria, and confirming his word with a remarkable sign: the shadow on the sundial of Ahaz moved backward ten steps. Hezekiah then wrote a song recalling the bitterness of his illness. In it he came to see that God had done something far greater than heal his body: he had cast all his sins behind his back.
Pastor Matt said this passage is more practical than its sundials, boils, and fig poultices might suggest. God really does heal, and we should pray boldly for it. But physical healing in this life is always temporary. Its purpose is to point us to eternal redemption, the forgiveness Jesus brings. The right response to God’s help, whether or not our suffering is lifted, is to draw near to him in worship.
Key Points
1. The Back and Forth (05:20)
Isaiah 38:1–8 records an exchange between Hezekiah and the Lord, carried by Isaiah, whom Pastor Matt called Hezekiah’s pastor. When Hezekiah heard he would die, he prayed and asked God to remember how he had walked before him faithfully. Pastor Matt said this was not a proud claim that God owed him anything. Hezekiah was appealing to God’s covenant: Lord, would you show that you are for me, as you promised? God replied that he had heard the prayer and seen the tears (vv. 4–6). Fifteen more years was a long span in a world where people rarely lived past their forties. As a sign that he would keep his word, God made the shadow on the steps of Ahaz’s sundial go the opposite way from its natural course (vv. 7–8).
2. The Song (10:27)
After he recovered, Hezekiah wrote a song (vv. 9–20) in the form of a lament psalm. Pastor Matt explained that a lament has four parts, which make it a good model for praying through suffering:
- An address to God
- A complaint: Hezekiah felt cut off in the middle of his days, his life pulled up like a shepherd’s tent and cut from the loom (vv. 10–15). He had the best care of any man in his world, yet he knew there was nothing anyone could do.
- A request: “Restore me to health and make me live” (v. 16).
- An expression of trust
Between verses 16 and 17, Pastor Matt said, you can almost feel Hezekiah step back from his pain and see God’s purpose in it. He realized his bitterness was for his welfare. Pastor Matt connected this to the morning’s reading from Hebrews: the Lord disciplines those he loves. Then comes the turning point of the song:
“But in love you have delivered my life from the pit of destruction, for you have cast all my sins behind your back.” (Isaiah 38:17)
More important than removing Hezekiah’s sickness was removing his sins. Pastor Matt said most of us first come to the Lord not over a theological question but because of a crisis, such as a broken marriage, a prodigal child, or a life that feels aimless. God kindly uses relief from that temporal trouble to draw us to eternal redemption.
He gave two examples. John Newton, a slave-ship captain, cried out to God in a storm and was saved from it. He then came to see that God saves from sin as well. He went on to become a pastor, write “Amazing Grace,” and champion abolition. Pastor Matt also shared Bryan Chapell’s account of three women whose personal crises brought them to a church for help and ultimately into the family of God. He warned that we should not complain to God about our suffering if we are unwilling to actually turn to him.
3. The Worship (25:38)
Having seen that his sins were forgiven, Hezekiah broke into worship. The dead cannot praise God, he sang, but the living thank him. He promised to make music all his days in the house of the Lord (vv. 18–20). Pastor Matt then turned to verses 21–22, which describe a cake of figs applied to Hezekiah’s boil. He pointed to Leviticus 13, where boils made a person ceremonially unclean and unable to enter the temple. He said we can’t know exactly why figs were used, but the purpose is clear: God provided a remedy so Hezekiah could go up to the house of the Lord and worship. We are not meant to copy the method. We are meant to share the desire to enter God’s presence with praise.
4. Six Applications (29:57)
- God heals. God calls himself “the Lord, your healer” (Exodus 15:26). Pastor Matt explained the debate over whether sign gifts like healing continue today. He said he leans toward the view that they were given for a specific season of the early church (citing Hebrews 2). But God is bigger than any theological category, so we should pray boldly for healing. He said he has seen God answer prayer in ways he can only call miraculous.
- God saves. As amazing as healing is, God’s forgiveness of sin is far greater. We want to be like the one healed leper who returned to worship Jesus, not like the others who didn’t.
- Your suffering is meant to draw you to salvation and sanctification. We may not know all of God’s purposes in our trials, but we know he means to use them to draw us closer to himself and grow us in holiness.
- Long for ultimate healing. Even healing in this life is temporary. Pastor Matt said he has prayed for healing that did not come and does not know why God answers differently at different times. But for those in Christ, a day is coming with no more weeping, sickness, or sorrow, when God will wipe away every tear.
- Respond with worship, whatever the answer. Whether God has resolved your problem or you see no light at the end of the tunnel, the response is the same: draw near to him and praise him. He is still good, and he will not let go of us.
- Make the most of the life God has given you today. God told Hezekiah to set his house in order, to use his remaining time well and leave things in order for the next generation. Life is short, and we should ask God to teach us to number our days. Pastor Matt closed with this: though he slay us, yet will we trust in him.
Pointing to Christ (20:20)
The healed leper in Luke 17 saw that Jesus was more than a healer and returned to worship him as Lord. Matthew 8 shows how to read all of Jesus’ healing miracles. After describing his healings, Matthew says they fulfilled Isaiah’s prophecy: “He took our illnesses and bore our diseases.” That prophecy comes from a later chapter of Isaiah, the song of the Suffering Servant, which tells how the Messiah would die on the cross for our sins. Pastor Matt said Jesus truly healed people, and God still heals today. But every healing is a sign that points to the gospel, the forgiveness of sins and eternal redemption through Christ. Even Lazarus, raised from the dead, would die again. Only what Jesus accomplished on the cross lasts forever.
For Reflection
- Pastor Matt said a lament has four parts: address, complaint, request, and trust. Which of these comes most naturally to you when you pray through hard times, and which do you tend to skip?
- Hezekiah came to see that having his sins cast behind God’s back mattered more than his recovery. What has God used, perhaps a hardship or an answered prayer, to draw you toward him?
- Pastor Matt urged us to worship whether or not God removes our suffering, and to make the most of the days we have. What would “setting your house in order” look like for you this week?
Scripture quotations are from the ESV® Bible, © 2001 by Crossway. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
This summary was prepared by Steve Rock from a transcription of the full sermon recording. Any errors introduced are Steve’s alone.
