Asking For a Sign

17 APRIL

And this shall be a sign unto thee from the LORD, that the LORD will do this thing that He hath spoken. Isaiah 38:7

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Judges 6:36-40

God gives us some signs of His own accord without our asking for them. He grants other signs to us when we ask for them. Signs are generally intended to help us in our weakness, but God does not for the most part wait till we have prayed for them to grant them.

Hezekiah seems to be insulting God by refusing to credit His word when he asks for a sign. We must not accuse Hezekiah of unbelief, however, because his faith is weak, for no person has faith that is perfect and complete in every respect. Nor can we blame Hezekiah for seeking assistance to support him in his weakness, for, having embraced the promise made to him by the prophet, he shows his confidence in God by seeking a remedy for distrust. If there was no weakness in man, he would not need any signs. Consequently, we need not wonder that the king asks for a sign, since on other occasions the Lord freely offers them.

Yet it is also proper to observe that Old Testament believers never rushed forward at random to ask for signs but did so only after being guided by a secret and peculiar influence of the Spirit.

The same thing might be said about miracles. If Elijah prays to God for rain and for drought (James 5:17, 18), it does not follow that others are at liberty to do the same. We must see what God permits us to do, lest by disregarding His Word we bargain with Him according to the foolish desires of our flesh.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION:

As Calvin says, it may not be appropriate for us to ask God for a sign. Nevertheless, we can learn from Hezekiah's example. Recognizing  the imperfection and weakness of his faith, he did not despair, but rather asked God for help in overcoming his weakness. Do we do this as well?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Lifting up Prayers

15 APRIL

It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. Isaiah 37:4

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Mattthew 6: 9-13

Hezekiah sends messengers to Isaiah, asking him to lift up prayer for the remnant of Judah. In this we learn that the duty of a prophet is not only to comfort the afflicted with the Word of the Lord but also to offer prayers for their salvation.

Pastors and ministers of the Word, therefore, should not think they have fully discharged their duty when they have exhorted and taught, if they do not also pray. This also is what all of us ought to do. Yet Hezekiah asks Isaiah to pray in a particular manner so that he might lead the way to others by his example. "To lift up prayer" is nothing more than "to pray," yet the mode of expression deserves attention, for it shows how feelings should be regulated when we pray. 

Much of Scripture tells us to lift up our hearts to heaven (Lam. 3:41), for if we do not, we will have no fear of God. Moreover, we are so dull that we may be immediately seized by gross imaginations of God. If he did not bid us look to heaven, we would choose rather to seek Him at our feet. "To lift up prayer," therefore, is to pray in such a manner that our hearts do not grovel on the earth or think anything earthly or gross about God but rather ascribe to Him what is suitable to His majesty. Then our warm and earnest affections may take lofty flight. It is thus said in Psalm 141: "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense;... as the evening sacrifice."

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: How often do we lift up prayers to heaven? When do they seem to stay on the ground? What does that do to our spirit, and how is our impression of God affected?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Smitten to Repentance

14 APRIL

And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Isaiah 37:1

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 1 Chronicles 21:1-17

The modesty of holy King Hezekiah is wonderful. For after performing so many illustrious works and being adorned by the excellence of so many virtues, the king does not hesitate to prostrate himself before God. On the other hand, the courage and steadfastness of Hezekiah's faith is wonderful, for it shows the king is not hindered by the weight of the temptation of failing to freely seek God, by whom he is so severely smitten.

Scarcely one man in a hundred does not murmur if God treats him with any degree of severity or who does not bring forward his good deeds as a ground of complaint, reasoning that he has been unjustly rewarded. Other men, whose wishes are not answered by God, complain that their worship of God serves no good purpose. 

We perceive nothing of this kind in Hezekiah. Though he is conscious of possessing uncommon piety, he does not shrink from confessing his guilt. Likewise, if we desire to turn away God's anger and to experience his favor in adversity, we must repent and sincerely acknowledge our guilt, for adversity does not come to us by chance but is the method by which God rouses us to repentance.

Indeed, sackcloth and ashes will be of little avail if they are not preceded by the inward feelings of the heart, for we know that hypocrites are abundantly liberal in the use of ceremonies. Yet the Holy Spirit justly commends the exercises of repentance when they are directed to their proper object.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: 

When we are afflicted with sickness or sorrow, do we murmur and complain, thinking God means to destroy us? Or do we come to Him in sorrow and repentance, asking for the grace to bear any affliction and for forgiveness for any sin? Let us, like Hezekiah, seek our heavenly Father in all our troubles, trusting that He will use them to make us more like our Savior, Jesus Christ, whose sufferings were for us and our salvation.

365 Days With Calvin 

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Standing Firm Against Slander

13 APRIL

And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, God up against this land, and destroy it. Isaiah 36:10.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 16:5-14

Rabshakeh, the field commander of the Assyrians, boasts of the greatness and power of his king in order to terrify Hezekiah. Such is the manner in which wicked men act toward us. They attack us with threatening words and try our patience with various terrors. Satan is at work in such labors, for we plainly see him speaking through the mouth of a person like Rabshakeh.

We ought, therefore, to distinguish between God's words and the words of those who falsely assume His name, for Satan resorts to various artifices to make himself appear to be like God. Rabshakeh unjustly brings many reproaches against Hezekiah, but the good king does not place his hope in his own strength and does not want to vaunt himself through reliance on the Egyptians. Godly men, even when they do well, must be exposed to evil reports. By these strategies Satan attacks our faith and unjustly slanders us among men.

The temptation to be terrified by such reports is highly dangerous, for we want our integrity to be well known. When we are well disposed, we take it ill if other men put a different interpretation on our conduct. Satan tries by slander to overturn all that we have done out of good conscience. Or he accuses us of something that we are not at all guilty of. Or he loads us with unfounded slanders or contrives what never came into our minds. An upright conscience ought to be like a brazen wall to us so that we might follow the example of Hezekiah to stand unshaken against the accusations and slanders of wicked men.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: 

When have you been unjustly accused of doing wrong? Did you stand unshaken in your integrity before God, or did you cower and fall before slanderous reports? How can we be more like Hezekiah when others question our character, reputation, or actions when we are sincerely following God's will?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Finding Blessing in Trouble

12 APRIL

And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, Go up against this land, and destroy it. Isaiah 36:10

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Amos 9

Rabshakeh warns Hezekiah, King of Judah, that it is useless to assemble his forces and to make other warlike preparations against the attack of Assyria. For Hezekiah is not contending with a mortal man, but with God Himself, at whose suggestion (not his own) the King of Assyria is attacking Judah. Therefore those who oppose the King of Assyria will fight against God, and all their efforts will be useless. 

From this we ought to learn that, however earnestly we may be devoted to godliness, and however faithfully we may labor to advance the kingdom of Christ, we cannot expect to be free from every annoyance. Rather, we ought to be prepared to endure very heavy afflictions.

The Lord does not always recompense our piety with earthly rewards. Indeed, it would be exceedingly unsuitable for us to possess abundant wealth and enjoy outward peace and see that everything proceeds according to our wishes. For the world reckons even wicked men to be happy on the ground that they do not endure bad health or adversity, are free from the pressure of poverty, and have nothing to disturb them. In this respect, our condition would not differ at all from that of the reprobate.

Consider the example of Hezekiah, who labored with all his might to restore religion and the true worship of God, yet endured calamities to heavy and violent that he was not far from despair. We ought to constantly place this example before our eyes so that, even when we think we have discharged our duty, we may nevertheless be prepared to endure conflicts and troubles of every kind. We should then not be disturbed if enemies gain an advantage at the onset, as if all at once they would swallow us up.

John Calvin 

FOR MEDITATION: The example of Hezekiah is a powerful corrective to the "health and wealth" gospel that is common today. Such a gospel can only bring disillusionment when troubles and trials come, as they almost always do. Our assurance of God's favor must rest in something other than external blessings - it must rest in Christ.

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke