Commentary on Isaiah, Commentary on Isaiah · Chapter 37 · Verse 4
Verſ. 4. Then came the word of the Lord to Iſaiah, ſaying;
ISaiah went his way, and left his ſting behind him, as they ſay; leauing him as a dead man, whom in the name of the Lord he had adiudged to die. In the meane while we may gather from his ſong, how reſtleſſe his thoughts were, or rather, with how great terror he was ſurpriſed. It is not eaſie to define of the intermiſſion betweene the Prophets departure, and his returne: yet it is out of queſtion, that the promiſe both touching his recouery, and life, was not made till he had felt himſelfe forlorne; yea, after he had a long time been toſſed vp and downe with furious ſtormes and tempeſts. For his faith was tried to the vtmoſt when God thus hid his face from him, and ſuffered him to lie plunged in the darkneſſe of death: yet we hauehave told you already, that the faith of this King was not ſo quenched, but that ſome ſparks thereof appeared, though hee were left deſtitute of all outward comforts. For by the ſecret inſtinct of the holy Ghoſt, he breathed out vnutterable groanes from this bottomleſſe gulfe, which aſcended vp into the eares of the moſt high. From whence we gather, that the faithfull are ſo heard in the day of their diſtreſſe, that the fauour of God manifeſts not it ſelfe vntounto them at the firſt cry, but hee deferres of purpoſe to let them feele it, till hee ſees they be throughly humbled.
Now if it were needfull that ſo excellent a king and ſeruant of God ſhould be in a manner thus ouerwhelmed with ſorrowes, that he might be the better fitted and prouoked to deſire Gods fauour, and to ſigh and grone vntounto him, being at the laſt caſt, and almoſt ſwallowed vp of the lower hells:let vsus not wonder if ſometimes he leaues vsus perplexed with feare and anguiſh, and deferres that comfort long which we deſire. Firſt obiection.Obiect. But ſome may thinke it ſtrange that God forthwith called back his ſentence, as if he repented himſelfe of that which was gone out of his lips: for there is nothing leſſe agreeable to his nature then to be changeable. Anſ. I anſwere, Hezekias was not adiudged to death in the decree and counſell of God: but his meaning herein was to trie and examin the faith of his ſeruant. Wherefore in this denunciation there muſt be a condition ſupplied;A condition muſt be ſupplied in the denuntiatiō. for otherwiſe Hezekias could neuer hauehave bowed the Lord, nor diſanulled his irreuocable decree neither by his prayers nor teares. But the Lord threatned him as he did Abimeleck king of Gerar for taking Sarah, Abrams wife, Gen. 20.3. And as Ionas did the Nineuits, Ionas 1.2. & 3.4. But it will be further obiected, Obiect. Second obiection.that it is contrarie to Gods nature to ſpeake one thing & thinke another: for thus his words ſhall loſe their authoritie, becauſe men will eſteeme of his promiſes and threatnings as things of little weight. Anſ. But wee muſt iudge of the forme of theſe words, as of the ſenſe of thoſe which I hauehave alreadie expounded. GOD gaue ſentēce of death vpō Hezekias, becauſe he would not that he ſhould die: neither had it been needfull nor profitable to hauehave ſent him this meſſage, had not the remedie been neere at hand. Beſides, as it was the meaning of God to humble his ſeruant with feare and aſtoniſhment, that by a voluntarie condemning of himſelfe he might by prayers and teares eſcape this chaſtiſement: ſo alſo it was no leſſe his purpoſe to bring him low by this ſharp and biting ſpeech, Thou ſhalt die, to the end he might require life, and to hauehave it reſtored as to him that was now ſhut vp as it were in his ſepulchre. The Prophet ſupplied an infolded condition therefore, which Hezekias eaſily eſpied, although he perceiued it not at the firſt. We can not conclude then that God vſed any diſſimulation here, ſeeing he fits his ſpeech to the capacitie and reach of the perſon to whom he ſpeakes: for it is no vnwonted thing with him to kill before he quicken. He only then holds part of his ſpeech in ſuſpence,He only held part of his ſpeech in ſuſpence. that by the outward appearance of death, Hezekias might by little and little be framed to newnes of life.