When, in answer to his prayer, Hezekiah’s life was prolonged fifteen years, the grateful king rendered to God a tribute of praise for His great mercy. In this song he tells the reason why he thus rejoices: “The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth. The living, the living, he shall praise Thee, as I do this day.” Isaiah 38:18, 19. Popular theology represents the righteous dead as in heaven, entered into bliss and praising God with an immortal tongue; but Hezekiah could see no such glorious prospect in death. With his words agrees the testimony of the psalmist: “In death there is no remembrance of Thee: in the grave who shall give Thee thanks?” “The dead praise not the Lord, neither any that go down into silence.” Psalm 6:5; 115:17. (GC 546.1) MC VC

Peter on the Day of Pentecost declared that the patriarch David “is both dead and buried, and his sepulcher is with us unto this day.” “For David is not ascended into the heavens.” Acts 2:29, 34. The fact that David remains in the grave until the resurrection proves that the righteous do not go to heaven at death. It is only through the resurrection, and by virtue of the fact that Christ has risen, that David can at last sit at the right hand of God. (GC 546.2) MC VC

And said Paul: “If the dead rise not, then is not Christ raised: and if Christ be not raised, your faith is vain; ye are yet in your sins. Then they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished.” 1 Corinthians 15:16-18. If for four thousand years the righteous had gone directly to heaven at death, how could Paul have said that if there is no resurrection, “they also which are fallen asleep in Christ are perished”? No resurrection would be necessary. (GC 546.3) MC VC

Gladly the prophet returned with the words of assurance and hope. Directing that a lump of figs be laid upon the diseased part, Isaiah delivered to the king the message of God’s mercy and protecting care. (PK 342.1) MC VC

Like Moses in the land of Midian, like Gideon in the presence of the heavenly messenger, like Elisha just before the ascension of his master, Hezekiah pleaded for some sign that the message was from heaven. “What shall be the sign,” he inquired of the prophet, “that the Lord will heal me, and that I shall go up into the house of the Lord the third day?” 2 Kings 20:8. (PK 342.2) MC VC

“This sign shalt thou have of the Lord,” the prophet answered, “that the Lord will do the thing that He hath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees?” 2 Kings 20:9. “It is a light thing,” Hezekiah replied, “for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees.” 2 Kings 20:10. (PK 342.3) MC VC

Only by the direct interposition of God could the shadow on the sundial be made to turn back ten degrees; and this was to be the sign to Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer. Accordingly, “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.” 2 Kings 20:8-11. (PK 342.4) MC VC

Restored to his wonted strength, the king of Judah acknowledged in words of song the mercies of Jehovah, and vowed to spend his remaining days in willing service to the King of kings. His grateful recognition of God’s compassionate dealing with him is an inspiration to all who desire to spend their years to the glory of their Maker. (PK 342.5) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:10. (PK 343.1) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:11. (PK 343.2) MC VC

“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:” Isaiah 38:12. (PK 343.3) MC VC

“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
I reckoned till morning, that,
As a lion, so will He break all my bones:” Isaiah 38:12~13. (PK 343.4) MC VC

“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
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.” Isaiah 38:13~14. (PK 343.5) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:15. (PK 343.6) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:16. (PK 343.7) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:17. (PK 343.8) MC VC

“For the grave cannot praise Thee,
Death cannot celebrate Thee:
They that go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth.” Isaiah 38:18. (PK 343.9) MC VC

“The living, the living, he shall praise Thee,
As I do this day:
The father to the children shall make known Thy truth.” Isaiah 38:19. (PK 344.1) MC VC

“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.” Isaiah 38:20. (PK 344.2) MC VC

In the fertile valleys of the Tigris and the Euphrates there dwelt an ancient race which, though at that time subject to Assyria, was destined to rule the world. Among its people were wise men who gave much attention to the study of astronomy; and when they noticed that the shadow on the sundial had been turned back ten degrees, they marveled greatly. Their king, Merodachbaladan, upon learning that this miracle had been wrought as a sign to the king of Judah that the God of heaven had granted him a new lease of life, sent ambassadors to Hezekiah to congratulate him on his recovery and to learn, if possible, more of the God who was able to perform so great a wonder. (PK 344.3) MC VC

The visit of these messengers from the ruler of a far-away land gave Hezekiah an opportunity to extol the living God. How easy it would have been for him to tell them of God, the upholder of all created things, through whose favor his own life had been spared when all other hope had fled! What momentous transformations might have taken place had these seekers after truth from the plains of Chaldea been led to acknowledge the supreme sovereignty of the living God! (PK 344.4) MC VC

But pride and vanity took possession of Hezekiah’s heart, and in self-exaltation he laid open to covetous eyes the treasures with which God had enriched His people. The king “showed them the house of his precious things, the silver, and the gold, and the spices, and the precious ointment, and all the house of his armor, and all that was found in his treasures: there was nothing in his house, nor in all his dominion, that Hezekiah showed them not.” Isaiah 39:2. Not to glorify God did he do this, but to exalt himself in the eyes of the foreign princes. He did not stop to consider that these men were representatives of a powerful nation that had not the fear nor the love of God in their hearts, and that it was imprudent to make them his confidants concerning the temporal riches of the nation. (PK 344.5) MC VC