These words are the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah; and they are true words, words from God.  But, if they are true words, they are true words for every one—­for you and me, for every one here in this church this day:  for they do not say, By these things certain men live, one man here and another man there; but all men.  Whosoever is really alive, that is, has life in his spirit, his soul, his heart, the life of a man and not a beast, the only life which is worthy to be called life, then that life is kept up in him in the same way that it was kept up in Hezekiah, and by the same means.

Let us see, then, what things they were which gave Hezekiah’s spirit life.  Great joy, great honour, great success, wealth, health, prosperity and pleasure?  Was it by these things that Hezekiah found men lived?  Not so, but by great sorrow.  ’In those days was Hezekiah sick unto death.  And Isaiah the prophet the son of Amos came unto him and said, Thus saith the Lord, Set thine house in order; for thou shall die and not live.  Then Hezekiah turned his face towards the wall and prayed unto the Lord; and Hezekiah wept sore.’

Trouble upon trouble came on Hezekiah; and that just when he might have expected a little rest.  The Lord had just delivered Hezekiah and the Jews from a fearful danger, of which we read in the chapter before.  Hezekiah had believed God’s promise by the mouth of Isaiah.  He held fast his faith in God when Sennacherib and his Assyrian army were camping round Jerusalem; for God had said, ’I will defend this city to save it for my own sake and for my servant David’s sake.’  He defended his city bravely and nobly, and showed himself a true, and valiant, and godly king.  And perhaps Hezekiah expected to be rewarded for his faith, and rewarded for having done his duty:  but it was not so.  He had to wait, and to endure more.  And now this fresh trouble was come upon him.  Isaiah told him he should die and not live:  and he must prepare himself to meet death.

Hezekiah, you see, was horribly afraid of death.  I do not mean that he was afraid of going to hell, for he does not say so:  but he felt, to use his own words, ’The grave cannot praise thee, death cannot celebrate thee:  they that go down into the pit cannot hope for thy truth.’  And, therefore, death looked to him an ugly and an evil thing—­as it is; the Lord’s enemy, and his last enemy, the one with which he will have the longest and sorest fight.  He conquered death by rising from the dead:  but nevertheless we die; and death is an ugly, fearful, hateful thing in itself, and rightly called the King of Terrors:  for terrible it is to those who do not know that Christ has conquered it.  Hezekiah lived before the Lord Jesus came into the flesh to bring life and immortality to light, by rising from the dead; and, therefore, the life after death was not brought to light to him, any more than it was to David, or any other Old Testament Jew.  He dreaded it, because