Isaiah 38 is a beautiful chapter, as most are. In this chapter God tells Isaiah to go and tell Hezekiah to get his house together that he will die (boy talk about being the bearer of bad news). When Hezekiah hears this he turns his face to the wall and prays (38:) and weeps bitterly (38:3). God then relents and adds 15 years to his life.
What is recorded next is what Hezekiah wrote after his illness and recovery. This contains beautiful thoughts that are inner twined with emotion. There is one verse in particular that caught my eye today, that is Isaiah 38:17b:
In your love you kept me from the pit of destruction;
you have put all my sins behind your back. (NIV)
Do you remember playing that game with a child of hiding something behind your back, to the person you are playing with whatever you are hiding is gone.... out of sight..... disappeared!
In this verse Hezekiah is reflecting on what God has done for him, and it is a helpful reminder to you and I what God has done for us. In God's unconditional infinite compassionate deep love for us, He saves us. He saves us from Hell, He saves us from the enemy, and He saves us from ourselves. Our sins, the many sins that we have, He has graciously taken those off us and has put them behind His back. So that neither He nor us have to look at them any more. You are forgiven, no matter what you have done, God takes them and He does not return or mention them again! Thank goodness for grace.
Chris
No comments:
Post a Comment