But further — The resemblance holds good in the probable consequences of their illness — Hezekiah was sick nigh unto death, so that, till his recovery, he was utterly incapacitated for the business of the nation. If he had been left in the state he was, or had been taken away, his subjects would have suffered an irreparable loss. What they would have suffered we may judge in part from what they did actually suffer, when Manasses the son of Hezekiah came to the throne : idolatry was re-established throughout the kingdom ; and God, wearied as it were with the greatness of their provocations, gave them
d 2 Chron. xxxi. 20, 21.
over, together with Manasses their king, into the hands of their Babylonish enemies. What would have been the consequence if our Sovereign's illness had continued, none can tell. We mean not to cast reflections upon any person or party ; we would abhor a party spirit either in religion or politics : but this we may say without a possibility of giving offence to any; that, however wisely the defect of an executive power might have been supplied, and however faithfully it might have been employed, still the nation would have suffered an almost irre- parable injury ; for the very sinews of government would have been cut asunder. This, we say, would have been the case, supposing that every thing had been planned with the most consummate wisdom, and executed with the most unblemished integrity: but what might have happened, God alone knows: blessed be his name ! he has delivered us now from the appre- hensions of the calamities we have so earnestly deprecated, and so justly dreaded.
Again — The resemblance holds good in the means by which they were recovered from their illness. What was there in a plaster made of figs that could give so sudden a turn to a mortal disorder as to remove it in three days ? Just as much as there was in the waters of Jordan to cleanse Naaman from his leprosy, or in the clay and spittle which our Lord used, to open the eyes of a blind man. It was prayer that healed Hezekiah ; yes, prayer pierced the skies and entered into the ears of the Lord of Hosts. " I have heard thy prayer, said God, and have seen thy tears, and will heal thee." And what has healed our gracious Soverign ? we answer without dispa- ragement to any, prayer : a spirit of prayer has been poured out upon all God's people throughout the nation : all that have an interest in the court of heaven, have cried day and night to God on his behalf. The prayers of the church prevailed for the delivering of Peter out of prison : so we doubt not but that the king's recovery is an answer to prayer ; to the prayers of those very people who are yet too often hated, despised, and persecuted. It is true: God has used means ; but what means ? not the art of medicine, but repose and quiet. We mean not to detract from the merit of those who have assisted in his cure ; they deserve well of the nation at large : and we shall rejoice to see them rewarded according to their desert : but the glory is God's, and his alone : the king's recovery is the gift of God ; and that in answer to the prayers of his own people; and, we trust, that they will not discontinue their prayers for him even to the latest hour of their lives.
Once more — The resemblance holds good in the readiness with which God> vouchsafed the desired mercy. Hezekiah's and Isaiah's prayer was answered before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court ; and in three more days the cure was effected.
919. J HEZEKIAH's THANKSGIVING. 115
So has it been with respect to the cure vouchsafed unto our Sovereign; it was withheld for a season, just to make all pray- ing people earnest in their supplications. The rod impending over the nation seemed for some time ready to fall : yet was the stroke by various occurrences providentially delayed : and then at the very moment that it was expected to fall, behold ! deliverance comes : so truly may the words of the text be applied to this event, " the Lord was ready to save." Surely that proverb has been again verified to us, that " in the mount of the Lord it shall be seen ;" for God did not deliver Isaac more seasonably from the hand of Abraham, than he has done us from the calamities which threatened us.