SERMON XXXV.

ISAIAH XXXviii. 1.

In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.

THERE is not perhaps any incident in Holy Writ which comes more, home to the understanding and heart of all, than that which is recorded in the chapter before us. What happened to Hezekiah the monarch of Israel has happened to many among us, and may happen to many more. Neither riches nor poverty can ward off the pains of sickness, or the approach of death; both high and low are equally exposed to the danger, and are equally sensible of the deliverance. The meanest among us may find the circumstances of Hezekiah to be his own. Let us all, then, as we listen to the eventful narrative, make the application either by experience or by anticipation to ourselves.

The history is a very simple one—" Hezekiah was sick unto death." The Almighty however, who

rarely strikes without a warning, sent the prophet Isaiah, who spake to him in the words of the Lord. "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." Under the ancient covenant God was pleased to maintain an immediate communication with his people: under the Gospel the warning is more general, but not less impressive. The most careless and hardened among us must own that he has had warnings in awful abundance. The Redeemer has told us that "he cometh suddenly, at an hour when we know not," and does not the experience of every day teach how true are his words, and how merciful is his warning! The fearful accidents, the sudden deaths of those around, speak to our hearts and consciences in the words of the prophet, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live." Though days and years pass without the infliction of the blow, we know that it is still suspended over us, and that it soon must fall. Yet still we "walk on in darkness, seeing, we see and do not perceive; hearing, we hear and we will not understand." The oftener our warnings are repeated, the more we disregard them; we listen not to the call of daily experience which teaches us, that the next awful visitation may be our own, we turn a deaf ear to the Gospel which calls aloud, "Be ye also ready." It is true that we may have long escaped, but are we therefore

to disregard repeated warnings? This is to tempt the long suffering of God, and to make his very mercies an excuse for neglect. "To day then if ye will hear his voice, harden not your hearts," for to day, does the Almighty warn every one of us in the history of the Jewish monarch, "Set thine house in order, for thou shalt die, and not live," and this night, remember, the event may follow.

Hezekiah did not disregard the warning, but he turned his face toward the wall, and prayed unto the Lord. Happy it was for him, that he was able to pray. Many are there who in the hour of sickness and of danger cannot pray; because, in the day of health and strength, they have neglected their God, they fear to approach him when their spirits sink and their strength faileth. He therefore that desires to be enabled to pray when he is sick, let him learn to pray when he is in health. He that habituates himself to prayer as a duty in the time of prosperity, will find it a support, a consolation, and a joy in the time of need.

The substance of the prayer which Hezekiah made is well worthy of our attention. "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."

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This was not the boast of a proud and selfsufficient heart, but the testimony of a good conscience before God. If we compare the words of Hezekiah with the words of the Pharisee in the Gospel, we shall find this striking difference, that the Pharisee takes the conduct of other men as his measure, while Hezekiah takes the law of God, as a test of his actions. Hezekiah does not say, "Lord, I have not been as other men are," but, "Lord, I have walked before thee in truth, and with a perfect heart." If we would distinguish between that self-righteousness which arises from pride, and that which arises from a good conscience, let us take this as our rule; do we compare ourselves with others, or do we judge ourselves by the precepts of the Gospel? If we think ourselves as good or better than our neighbours, our self-righteousness is but an empty boast, and leads us to evil; if, on the contrary, we can try our actions by the rules of the Gospel, and find that we have done our best to fulfil its commands, then our self-approbation is justifiable and leads to good: and in the words of the apostle," if our heart condemn us not, then have we confidence towards God."

So with Hezekiah, he had confidence because his heart and life, when weighed in the balance appointed by God, were not found wanting. We know also from the history that king Hezekiah

was really and truly what he represented himself to be. We read that he "trusted in the Lord God of Israel, so that after him was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor any that were before him. For he clave to the Lord, and departed not from following him, but kept his commandments."

We must also observe, that in the prayer of Hezekiah we do not find any idle lamentation or even any particular requisition. He does not even pray for life: he leaves all to the wisdom and the mercy of God, and by his very silence on this point he seems in humble resignation to say, "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away, blessed be the name of the Lord." This forbearance will appear to us the more remarkable when we remember that a long and happy life on earth was the principal reward of obedience under the Mosaic law. Hezekiah had but a faint and distant view of a life beyond the grave. He had not come, as we all have, into the city of the living God; his was but an earthly Jerusalem, ours is an heavenly. He had not the bright prospects of life and immortality before him, to cheer and comfort his departing spirit.

Though patient and resigned, we read, "he wept sore." Well might he be afflicted in thus being suddenly called out of the only world, in which he had any certain habitation! Hezekiah