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Tell Your Heart to Beat Again (Isaiah 38)
10 Plays8 days ago
After successfully performing a heart surgery on a woman, the heart doctor was not able to massage her heart into beating again. So, he removed his surgical mask, knelt down beside her and whispered these words, “Mrs. Johnson, this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly. Your heart has been repaired. Now tell your heart to beat again.”
This true story from Ohio reminds me of another true story from Jerusalem. It surprisingly happened to a young king in Judah when he was 39 years of age. He learned that he had a terminal illness and took it pretty hard.
God had used King Hezekiah in powerful ways by ushering in a spiritual revival in his policies and praying down a national rescue when surrounded by the Assyrian army. But something shifted in the young king’s heart. As he became more prosperous and the affluence of his administration began to rise so did his arrogance. 2 Chronicles 32:22-25 concludes with God saying of the ruler, “…for his heart was proud.”
This disturbing turn of events was used of God to reset the king’s heart. His remorse and his repentance would repair his heart and cause it to once again beat with the rhythm of trust and humility before God. Isaiah 38 gives us the true account of how his faith began to beat again.
1. Crisis in his health, 38:1
2. Sentence regarding his death, 38:1-2
3. Turning toward his faith, 38:2-3
4. Extension to his path, 38:4-6
5. Signs based upon His (God’s) strength, 38:7-8, 22
6. Healing based upon His (God’s) truth, 38:9, 21
7. Anguish if without his breath, 38:10-16
8. Appreciation upon this earth, 38:17-20
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Growing in Grace Devotions and Inspirations
Hosted by Pastor Victor Morrison
First Baptist Church
1700 Milam Street
Columbus, TX, USA 78934
http://fbccolumbustx.org/
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to Growing in Grace Ministry
00:00:08
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in Grace with Pastor Victor Morrison. This is a ministry of First Baptist Church located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas. We are praying that God will bless you as you listen to this message. If you would like additional information on worship times and ministries at FBC Columbus, you can find out more at our website, FBCColumbusTX.org. And now take your copy of God's timeless word as Pastor Victor gives today's message.
00:00:43
Speaker
Welcome to Growing in
Story of Heart Surgery and Song Inspiration
00:00:44
Speaker
Grace. I'm so glad that you're listening today. A pastor from Ohio asked a heart surgeon that was in his congregation if it would be okay if he observed a heart surgery at some point.
00:00:57
Speaker
so the doctor ah invited the pastor to attend a certain surgery. He was going to perform surgery on a lady named Mrs. Johnson. And the surgery was successful, but for some reason her heart did not start back. And so he began to massage the heart and it didn't seem to be working. And so the surgeon knelt down and he took off his mask and he whispered into her ear these words,
00:01:26
Speaker
Mrs. Johnson, this is your surgeon. The operation went perfectly. Your heart has been repaired. Now tell your heart to beat again." That story inspired the song featured on the 2012 album, Breathe In, by Phillips Craig and Dean.
King Hezekiah's Crisis and Prayer
00:01:47
Speaker
But King Hezekiah was God's instrument to usher in a spiritual revival across the kingdom of Judah. And then God heard his heartfelt prayer for a national rescue from the Assyrians who had surrounded Jerusalem.
00:02:03
Speaker
But the king's heart must have momentarily stopped in Isaiah 38, when Isaiah the prophet said, set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover. Now, just so you understand, King Hezekiah at this time, he was only 39 years old. So what did Hezekiah do in such a hopeless situation?
00:02:31
Speaker
He told his heart of faith to beat again. 2 Chronicles 32, verses 22 and 23 tells us the same story that's going to be found here in Isaiah 38, where we're going to spend our time together.
00:02:47
Speaker
but But the 2 Chronicles passage includes how after the Lord gave victory over the Assyrians, the king began to quickly rise in material affluence. And so by 2 Chronicles 32-25, it informs us that ah His heart had overlooked something, and that was the rise of not only affluence in his hands, but arrogance in his heart. 2 Chronicles 32, 25 says, For his heart was proud,
00:03:27
Speaker
You know, like the song's backstory, the king k needed his heart to be repaired. And as he went and returned to the Lord, God can revive our hearts the same way and cause our hearts to once again, beat with trust in the Lord.
Hezekiah's Health Crisis in Isaiah
00:03:45
Speaker
I wanna walk through this passage of scripture in Isaiah 38 and just let you hear what's going on sort of play by play.
00:03:54
Speaker
The first thing I want you to hear is the crisis in Hezekiah's health. Verse 1 starts out this this way. It said, in those days Hezekiah became sick.
00:04:07
Speaker
You know, sometimes health problems can be like a scalpel that slices through right to our hearts. Isn't it interesting how it's worded here? It says, in those days Hezekiah became sick. What were his days like when he became sick?
00:04:27
Speaker
Well, he was having good days. He was most likely having very busy days, successful days. He was the king, so definitely his days were influential. But suddenly this health problem cuts through everything. And so we read on to hear the sentence regarding his death.
00:04:49
Speaker
In those days, Hezekiah became sick and was at the point of death. And Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos, came to him and said to him, thus says the Lord, set your house in order, for you shall die, you shall not recover.
00:05:07
Speaker
Wow, wouldn't that be tough to hear those words? Then Hezekiah, it says, turned his face to the wall and prayed to the Lord and said, please, O Lord, remember how I've walked before you in faithfulness and with a whole heart and have done what is good in your sight. And Hezekiah wept bitterly.
00:05:28
Speaker
You know, I think whenever he received this sentence about his death, it wasn't something that he had not noticed. You see, the king was aware that his own health was declining. He knew it. And he it even says he was at the point of death. So you can't be at the point of death and not really realize it. The prophet announced to him that the prognosis, it was indeed dismal.
00:05:53
Speaker
He said, set your house in order for you shall die. You shall not recover. Boy, I mean, there are some moments in life when it seems like time stands still. And I wonder if not only did time stand still, but I wonder if the king's heart stood still.
00:06:11
Speaker
It's almost like he was afraid to take another breath. But what he did was he turned toward his faith. Some people, when they face hard times, turn away from their faith. But Hezekiah is a good example of what we should do. He turned toward his faith. And watch this man of means, this man of importance, sharpen the focus of his attention on prayer. It says he turned his face to the wall.
00:06:41
Speaker
When he turned his face to the wall, it certainly means he turned his face away from the responsibilities of his administration. Listen to him increase the intensity of fervency.
00:06:55
Speaker
in his attitude toward prayer. He says to the Lord, please, please, O Lord, remember how I have walked in the truth, worshipped from the heart, worked for the good. It says he wept bitterly. Why do you think he wept bitterly?
00:07:14
Speaker
Well, I think he wept bitterly. One reason was he did not yet have a son who would be able to take the throne in the event of his passing. But when he says to God, remember that I walked in truth. I worshiped from the heart. I worked for the good. Hezekiah was not stretching things. If you were to go to 2 Kings 18, 3 through 6,
00:07:39
Speaker
another parallel passage that's in God's word about the same event, you would see he did do that. He wasn't just trying to fool God and say, oh, you should see all these things I've done when he hadn't done anything. But I want you to listen to verses four through six.
00:07:57
Speaker
and listen to how even though sometimes God says something, sometimes he's open to what might happen if he sees the right response to what he's declared. Here's what it says in chapter 38 of Isaiah, verses four through six. Then the word of the Lord came to Isaiah. Go and say to Hezekiah, thus says the Lord, the God of David, your father,
00:08:23
Speaker
I have heard your prayers. I have seen your tears. Behold, I will add 15 years to your life. I will deliver you and this city out of the hand of the king of Assyria and will defend this city.
00:08:41
Speaker
You know, the founder of Dallas Theological Seminary's field education department, the founder of the Center for Biblical
Power of Prayer and God's Response
00:08:49
Speaker
Studies, was a man named Dr. Thomas L. Constable. He wrote this, sometime what God announced through his prophets seemed inevitable.
00:09:00
Speaker
But when His people prayed, it became negotiable. One example that Dr. Constable cites is in Exodus 32, verses 7 through 14, where God clearly says to Moses, get out of the way, Moses. I'm going to destroy all of these people that I just brought out of Egypt. And Moses hits his knees, and noses Moses intercedes for the people of God.
00:09:27
Speaker
and he asked the Lord to spare them, and he gives them his reasons for sparing them. But in this passage, we see that even though God had said through the prophet Isaiah, you're not going to recover. This this illness is gonna take your life. God graciously gives Hezekiah a 15-year extension to his life when he says, I will add 15 years to your life. Wow.
00:09:56
Speaker
What a blessing whenever after turning to God in brokenness, turning to God in humility, not making demands on God, but simply coming to Him and saying, this really is painful. This really is hard. Could you please have mercy on me?
00:10:14
Speaker
You know, God can give an extension to anyone's path. All of us have a course that He's charted out, that He wants to fulfill in our lives. But if for some reason that course is going to be interrupted by sickness or illness, if we will pray and turn to Him,
00:10:33
Speaker
He just might change his mind and grant an extension like he did here. What was it that caused God to change what he had planned? Well, he says it. We don't have to guess. He says, you know, Hezekiah, when you were praying, I was listening.
00:10:51
Speaker
Hezekiah, when you were weeping, I was watching. He says, I've heard your prayer. I've seen your tears. You know, friend, I don't know what's going on in your life. I don't know how impossible the whole situation might seem to you. Maybe your heart is just stopped. You're frozen. You don't know what to do. I just want to say, why don't you pour out your heart, the agony of your heart right now to God? He loves you. He's a good God.
00:11:20
Speaker
Pour it out and ask him to please have mercy and to work in a powerful way. You know, he wasn't sure what what to believe anymore, because at one time, Hezekiah heard Isaiah say, you're not going to make it. You're going to die. You need to set your house in order. But now, Isaiah comes with a second message, and he says, God has granted you 15 years to live on. And he's heard your prayer, he's seen your tears, and he's willing to extend it. so
00:11:51
Speaker
How would he know which one to believe? Well, verses seven and eight describe what happened next. This shall be the sign to you from the Lord that the Lord will do this thing that he has promised. Behold, I will make the shadow cast by the declining sun on the dial of Ahaz turn back 10 steps.
00:12:17
Speaker
So the sun turned back on the dial, the 10 steps by which it had declined. You know, evidently there was an exterior staircase that a former king named Ahaz had built going down the side of the palace, perhaps down from the king's chambers. And maybe a scientist or an architect of some kind had designed like a tall, let's say and something similar to an obelisk or a big tower that would cast a shadow upon the king's staircase as though forming, well, a sundial.
00:12:54
Speaker
so that the king could track time throughout his days. When God, who does not always, by the way, I wanna make this clear, God who not always confirms with signs, but when God selects a sign and he chooses to give us a sign, then you can always guarantee that it's going to correspond in some way to the work that he's about to do. In this case, the king's life was about to end So it's like the end of the the day whenever the sun sets. Well, that's kind of like what this was about. Since nothing is too difficult for God, He made the shadow on the dial of Ahaz go backwards 10 steps, symbolizing turning the set clock back, not one hour,
00:13:50
Speaker
You know, like we're going to do at our time change this fall, but turning the clock back in Hezekiah's life so that God says, okay Hezekiah, I had set that you were about to die, but I'm going to move the clock back 15 years.
00:14:07
Speaker
Can you imagine having the Lord say to you when you think that your time is up? He says, I'm going to add 15 additional years to your life. Wow, what a sign. But the thing I wanted you to notice is the sign would take God's strength all by itself. I mean, who among us can cause time to move backwards? Who among us could do something like this?
00:14:34
Speaker
Well, it's just amazing ah what God can do, and I think that the sign would have required a miracle from the Lord just as much as the miracle of healing and health would have been necessary for Hezekiah to have 15 more years to add on to his life.
00:14:55
Speaker
But you know, the healing was based upon God's truth. You know, if you look at verse 9 and read on, did it really happen? I mean, is this something that God said, but it it didn't actually happen in history, in in space and time and so forth? No, it did. Look at verse 9. A writing of Hezekiah, king of Judah, after he had been sick and had recovered from his sickness.
00:15:25
Speaker
Oh my goodness. You know, going back once again, just to review, just so you don't miss this. I mean, the Son was intended to confirm the promise. In verse 5, through the prophet Isaiah, God said, I will add 15 years to your life. And so in verse 7, when He gives the Son, the Son is intended to affirm or confirm the Lord will do this thing that He has promised.
00:15:56
Speaker
Now once again, listen closely to what I'm going to say. God doesn't promise to heal everyone on this earth. He will heal all of those who trust Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior, but that healing will always be in heaven, okay? But here's the thing. He did, God did make,
00:16:19
Speaker
a promise to heal Hezekiah. And he did promise him, I'm going to not only heal you, I'm going to give you 15 additional years to your life. And so verse 9 is like a historical marker, a biblical marker, that God, He kept His promise. He healed the king.
00:16:41
Speaker
Man, isn't it amazing though that what he used is mentioned down in verse 21 of this chapter. So if I may, let me skip down to the end of the chapter where he says, now Isaiah had said, let them take a cake of figs and apply it to the boil that he may recover. Isn't that amazing? Take a ah cake of figs and apply it to the the boil. So, evidently, what had happened was a boil had come up on the king's body.
00:17:15
Speaker
We're not told the location on his body, but a boil, when I think of boils, I don't think of something that's that large. I think of something that's relatively small compared to the things that we have to deal with in life. And so just think about how a small boil can cause a great king to be humbled and to realize, wait a minute, I cannot even control my life. And so this is incredible that God was able to heal what
00:17:48
Speaker
what This man, this king, Hezekiah could not heal. And Isaiah the prophet said, what God told me to tell you is to take some figs, make kind of like a little cake and put that cake of figs on top of that boil and you will recover. And you know what?
00:18:07
Speaker
Verse nine is right there to tell us he recovered. I just think that's incredible. You know what? Our God, he's faithful. He's a promise-keeping God. If God promised you that he would forgive you of your sins, if he promised you he would never leave you nor forsake you, if he promised you that he's going to prepare a place for you, that he'll come back and receive you to himself,
00:18:33
Speaker
He's going to keep his promise, friend, because that's just who God is. But I want you to notice something. From verse 10 down through verse 20, for those of you who like music or you like poetry, well, from verse 10 through verse 20 is something that theological Bible scholars, what they call a classic declarative praise song.
Hezekiah's Reflections and Gratitude
00:18:57
Speaker
In Hebrew, it's called a toda, a toda. But a toda is something that is a celebration. It's like jubilation. Somebody is so thankful. They're so happy. And what they're thankful for is they're thankful that God intervened. Something was going wrong.
00:19:17
Speaker
God intervenes and they can't help but write a song about it. They can't help but put it into Hebrew poetry. And so whenever you see a Hebrew toda or this declarative praise song, there's a certain pattern. The pattern is this.
00:19:35
Speaker
First, the writer of the Toda looks back. He reflects back upon the problem. He recalls the prayers that he prayed when he still was facing the problem. But then the pattern transitions and turns into praise and worship for what the Lord did in answer to his prayer.
00:19:57
Speaker
And so now he ends the time by just giving thanks to the Lord. Well, verses 10 through 16, you can hear the anguish that must have gripped ah King Hezekiah's heart before God healed him. So verses 10 all the way down through verse 16, it's all about you know this anguish that he feels. As a matter of fact, in verse 11, you can see he begins in the land of the living, but he has to exchange it because he's going to the ah land of the departed. But when he ends in verses 18 and 19, he will end with the land of the departed being exchanged for the land of the living. So it's almost like, you know, a crisscross.
00:20:45
Speaker
But what what was Hezekiah like whenever he was going through it? Well, verses 10 and 11 describe how he's making a protest to God. Here's what he was saying. I said, Hezekiah wrote, in the middle of my days, I must depart. I am consigned to the gates of Sheol for the rest of my years.
00:21:09
Speaker
I said, I shall not see the Lord, the Lord in the land of the living. I shall look on man no more among the inhabitants of the world. So what he's saying is, in the middle of my days, I'm i'm passing away too young. I'm only 39 years old. I'm going to miss the presence of God. You see, in the New Testament era, we've learned to look forward to heaven. But in the Old Testament, all of God's revelation had not been disclosed to them yet. So some who had insights, yes, they could see it as though it were a glimpse of the future, but others did not.
00:21:49
Speaker
So Hezekiah is thinking, but Lord, I'm going to miss you. He says, I'll not see the Lord. He said, I'm going to be separated from my family and from my friends. Can you feel his anguish? Can you feel what he was going through whenever he thought, I don't think I'm going to be able to take one more breath one of these mornings.
00:22:10
Speaker
And so he begins to describe it with four similes that are going to be laid out for us in verses 12 through 14, where he first compares to, you know, God is pulling up my tent. It's like he's saying, I'm like a Bedouin. I'm like a nomad. And in verses 12, he says, my dwelling is plucked up and removed from me like a shepherd's tent.
00:22:34
Speaker
But then he says, like a weaver, I've rolled up my life. He cuts me off from the loom from day to night. You bring me to an end. So he's saying, not only did he pull up my tent, but he's also rolled up my cloth. And so what he's trying to say to God is, there was more.
00:22:53
Speaker
There was more, Father, that I wanted to accomplish. I didn't finish it. As though I were a weaver trying to sow something, I wasn't quite finished with what i wanted but I felt you wanted me to do in my life. But now that I'm so sick, I can't even get out of bed. And so now he switches the simile to something painful, like being eaten up by a lion, being attacked by a lion.
00:23:20
Speaker
He said, I call myself into mourning like a lion. He breaks all my bones from day to night. You bring me to an end. And so how does it make him feel? Well, he said, I feel somewhat like a a dove. Have you ever heard a dove as it moans? Like a swallow or a crane, I chirp. I moan, he says, like a dove. My eyes are weary with looking upward. Oh Lord, I'm oppressed. Be my pledge of safety.
00:23:50
Speaker
It's referring there to someone who owes money, but he can't pay the debt. And so it's just terrible. to This longing in his heart comes out in verses 15 and 16 as he says, Lord, I know you control things, not me. Because verse 15, he acknowledges God's control. He says, what shall I say? For he has spoken to me.
00:24:14
Speaker
And He Himself has done it. I walk slowly all my years because of the bitterness of my soul." You know, it's like He's saying, I have potential to turn in the direction of bitterness, or I can trust the Lord that He's got my good in His heart, in His mind, and He's going to make me better. You'll hear that in just a moment, so hang on to that thought.
00:24:37
Speaker
But in verse 16, it's like he's saying, Lord, i lu my heart's desire, the anguish of my heart is that you would heal me. Listen to what he says in verse 16. Oh, Lord.
00:24:50
Speaker
by these things men live. And in all these is the life of my spirit. Oh, restore me to health and make me live. Oh man, I feel like I've been there right beside the king when he was praying these things, when he was writing these things. I'm so glad that the Bible is not just a bunch of cold facts. It's also a man pouring out his heart to God. But then what happens?
00:25:20
Speaker
Verses 17 through 18, he says, you know what? God's given me life. God's healed me. God's had mercy. He's added 15 years to my life. And so what he does from verses 17 to the end of his song in verse 20, he says, this is how I'm gonna spend the remaining years that I have, the remaining days of my life. And so listen to him as he describes it.
00:25:47
Speaker
Behold, it was for my welfare that I had great bitterness." In other words, he's saying, I'm going to learn to be thankful for the growth that comes through hard times. But in love, you've delivered my life from the pit of destruction. He says, God, I'm going to start thanking you for rescuing me from the deep pits of life.
00:26:07
Speaker
But he also says, you have cast all my sins behind your back. That's one of the great descriptions of God's forgiveness. It's like he threw it behind him, not looking at it in front of him. He throws it behind him. He says, God, I'm going to spend the rest of my days thanking you for the forgiveness of all my poor choices, of all the wrong choices and the bad choices that I've made in my life.
00:26:33
Speaker
He said, Lord, I'm also going to thank you for your great faithfulness. For Sheol does not thank you, he says in verse 18. Death does not praise you. Those who go down to the pit do not hope for your faithfulness. The living, the living, he thanks you. As I do this day, the Father makes known to the children your faithfulness. And so he's saying, Lord, all the rest of my life,
00:26:58
Speaker
I'm gonna thank you for the blessings of every day you give. And for the rest of my life, you know what he says he's gonna do? He's gonna sing. He's gonna sing heartfelt songs of gladness for God's salvation. When he says, the Lord will save me and we will play my music on stringed instruments all the days of our lives at the house of the Lord. Wow.
00:27:25
Speaker
What a fantastic you know passage in the book of Isaiah. I encourage you to share sometime Isaiah 38 with your friends. Tell them that only God can heal our wounded hearts, our broken hearts. Only He can take the mask off and kneel down and whisper to us through the incarnation of His Son coming down into humanity and saying to us,
00:27:54
Speaker
Now I need you, your heart's been repaired. Now I need you to tell your heart to beat again.
Living with Faith and Gratitude
00:28:01
Speaker
what Whatever is going on in your life, the word of encouragement coming to you from God is He's gonna work. He's gonna help you, whether it's this side or the other side of glory. I don't know, but all I know is let your heart beat with faith again. Learn to praise Him again. Learn to thank Him again. Learn to love Him again. Learn to get and get to know Him again.
00:28:29
Speaker
Oh, learn to walk with him again. Learn to worship him again. He's so worthy. Why don't we close in prayer today? Lord, our hearts are just ignited with Isaiah 38 and all of these wonderful truths. I know that it cost Hezekiah a lot. It cost him a lot to go through those rough experiences. He thought he was going to die. But Lord, just like he wrote in that song that he com composed there, Lord, um I thank you that even during our hard times in our lives, you're causing us to grow. We get to know you. We see your handiwork. We see you at work. So Father, thank you. Thank you for life. You're the author of life. You're the one who determines when life begins. You're the one who determines when it ends. And you're the one who can determine when it extends. And so I'm just so thankful, God, that you're all about life.
00:29:28
Speaker
Lord, I love you. I thank you for my friends. Bless them today with your kind of life, your kind of joy, your kind of peace. In Jesus' name we pray, amen. Well, thank you friends so much for being with us today on Growing In Grace. God bless you.
00:29:52
Speaker
This is a ministry of First Baptist Church, located at 1700 Milam Street, Columbus, Texas.