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Daily Devotion: Isaiah 38:16-19

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Isaiah 38:16-19     "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.  (17)  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.  (18)  For the grave cannot praise thee, death can not celebrate thee: they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.  (19)  The living, the living, he shall praise thee, as I do this day: the father to the children shall make known thy truth."

Hezekiah had just listed many of the blessings he had experienced in life because of God's mercy and favor. We often think about those things and hopefully we are grateful and express our gratitude unto the Lord. But there was something missing in Hezekiah's "theology." It seems he only expected God's blessings to happen in this life.  He could only see the grave as a final resting place. Afterall, isn't that what we call it?  We say that individual has gone to his final resting place. But that is not true! The grave is not the final resting place, for, there is coming a day when the Lord shall complete redemption of the body, soul, and spirit. There is coming a day when the spirit that has gone on to be with the Lord shall be reunited with a glorious body that will come forth from that temporary resting place. Hezekiah could not see that great truth.  Death is not the end. For the child of God, death is the transporting into the glorious heaven where our Lord abides. Our spirit shall return to the One Who gave it. It's sad that Hezekiah could only see the earthly side of God's blessings.  I look at a part of verse 18 and read, "... they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth." This is only a half truth. We will no longer need hope when our spirits are returned unto the Lord.  Paul tells us in Romans 8:24, "... hope that is seen is not hope: for what a man seeth, why doth he yet hope for?"  We will no longer need hope when we arrive in heaven, for we shall see Christ face to face.

I join with Hezekiah but with an updated understanding of the final resurrection of the body,  "O Lord, by these things men live, and in all these things is the life of my spirit."  I live in this world with the hope of eternity in the fulness of the presence of my Lord. That is my hope for now and my security forever.

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