222
Prophets and Kings
Only by the direct interposition of God could the shadow on the
sundial be made to turn back ten degrees; and this was to be the sign
to Hezekiah that the Lord had heard his prayer. Accordingly, “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.”
Verses
8-11
.
Restored to his wonted strength, the king of Judah acknowledged
in words of song the mercies of Jehovah, and vowed to spend his
remaining days in willing service to the King of kings. His grateful
recognition of God’s compassionate dealing with him is an inspiration
to all who desire to spend their years to the glory of their Maker.
[343]
“I said
In the cutting off of my days,
I shall go to the gates of the grave:
I am deprived of the residue of my years.
“I said,
I shall not see the Lord, even the Lord, in
the land of
the living;
I shall behold man no more with the inhab-
itants of the
world.
“Mine age is departed,
And is removed from me as a shepherd’s tent:
“I have cut off like a weaver my life:
He will cut me off with pining sickness:
“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
I reckoned till morning, that,
As a lion, so will He break all my bones:
“From day even to night wilt Thou make an end of me.
Like a crane or a swallow, so did I chatter:
I did mourn as a dove:
Mine eyes fail with looking upward:
O Lord, I am oppressed; undertake for me.