The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 367

• much to do in this life. The "house" is out of order. (2) Unless the work is done here, H will not be done yonder. "Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might," etc. 3. How he felt in the consciousness of its approach. "Then he turned his face to the wall." (1) He seems to have) been overwhelmingly distressed. "He wept sore." He turned away from the world, with all its multiplex concerns, from all his regal pomp, and pcereu into the invisible and the infinite. (2) He cried earnestly to heaven. "He prayed unto the Lord, saying, I beseech thee, 0 Lord, remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." In his prayer we note the cry of nature. All men, even those who ar'3 atheistic in theory, are urged by'the law of their spiritual nature to cry to heaven in great and conscious danger. In his prayer we also note something of self-righteousness. "Remember now how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart, and have done that which is good in thy sight." Though he bad been free from most sins, and had displayed some virtues, he had not done this. Perhaps no man that ever appeared on this earth, save the "Son of man," could say, "I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart." Moral self-deception is one of the most prevalent sins of the human heart. Like the Pharisee in the temple, we exult in virtues we have not. Now, death is approaching all men, whether we are conscious of the fact or not. The decree has gone forth," Thou sbalt die, and not liv<>." Death is ever coming with stealthy steps, yet with resistless force. He is corning always, whether we are at home or abroad, on ocean or on land, in society or in solitude; asleep or awake, he, the king of terrors, is coming. II. As TEMPORARILY ARRESTED. Five things are to be observed here. 1. The primary Author of its arrest. "And it came to pass, afore Isaiah was gone out into the middle court, that the word of the Lord came to him, saying, Turn a.gain, and tell Hezekiah the captain of my people, Thus saith the Lord, the God of David thy father, I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will beal thee." How came Isaiah into possession of this knowlerlge, this "word of the Lord," con- cerning Hezekiah's restoration? Was it bya dream, or through some other supematurn.l communication? On this point I confess my utter ignorance. The grand practical idea is that God can arrest death, and he only. Our times are in his bands. His constant visitation preserveth us. He is the absolute Master of death. At his bidding the most fragile creature may live for ever, the most robnst expire. 2. The secondary means of its arrest. "Isaiah said, Take a lump of figs. And they took and laid it on the boil, and he recovered." It would seem that the ancients, in the case of boils, abscesses, and such like, frequently applied figs to the affected parts, and no doubt there was remedial virtuo in the figs. For aught we know, there may be an antidote sleeping in plants and minerals for all onr physical complaints. The man who lives by the medical art is untrue to his mi~sion, and unfaithful to his patient, unless he, with an independent mind and a devoted heart, searches Nature for those remedial elements with which she is charged. 3. The extraordinary sign of its arrest. "And Hezekiah said unto Isaiah, What shall be the sign that the Lord will heal me, and that I shell go up into the house of the Lord the third day? And Isaiah said, 'l'his sign shalt thou have of the Lord, that the Lord will do the thing that he bath spoken: shall the shadow go forward ten degrees, or go back ten degrees? And Hezekiah answered, It is a light thing for the shadow to go down ten degrees: nay, but let the shadow return backward ten degrees. And Isaiah 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." Perhaps it was nature.I for a man, who when he felt him- self on the brink of eternity was told he would recover, to desire some assurance of the fact so unexpected and yet so acceptable. Heztkiah desired a sign, and be had it. But what was the sign? We are told that the shnclow on the dial-plate" returned ten degrees backwards." How wns this? Did the sun recede, or, in other words, was the rotation of the earth reversed? I know not; neither docs it matter. It is sufficient to know that, whether it was an illusion, or n natural eclipse of the sun, which some astronomers say did actually take place at this time (s.c. 689), or a pby~ical miracle, it see1.ns to have satisfied tho king. It seems to be a law of mind, that phenomena which it earnest~·r expects often occur. "Bo it to thee according to thy faith." 4. The er,;act e:.ctension of its arrest. "I will add uuto thy days fifteen years." The addition 416 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [oB, tx, 1-21,