29 Dec 2015, Isaiah 38 以赛亚书 38, Humble Prayer to God 谦卑祷告神

Posted on Dec 28, 2015 in Devotions, Isaiah |

Scripture Reading  : Isaiah 38

Theme                  : Humble Prayer to God

This event actually occurred before the Assyrians attacked Jerusalem in chapters 36-37 because God promises to defend the city from the Assyrians in v. 6. For some reason, God wants to end Hezekiah’s life. Perhaps it is due to his sin (v. 17). Hezekiah humbly requests God to spare his life because he wants to continue to serve God faithfully and to defend the city from Assyria (v. 6). Hezekiah is not appealing to his godliness as to bribe God, for he knows his sins and is unworthy (v. 17). He is appealing to God’s grace, not his merits (Luke 17:10). At the end, he realizes that the sickness is for the good of his soul (v. 17), probably because he is humbled by it (2 Chron. 32:25-26: He realizes God is truly in control of his life, not him).


Praying the Scripture

God wants a relationship with us and interacts with us. His ultimate purposes do not change, but He does respond to our repentance and humble requests. Because of our complete forgiveness in Christ, God says that we can come to His throne of grace boldly, but also humbly (Heb. 4:16). We should never come to God by bribing Him with our righteousness, our faithful service, or our godly characters, for we always fall short and are in need of His grace. Instead, we ought to come with a sense of unworthiness before God and appeal to His character of mercy only (Luke 17:10). God owes us nothing, we owe Him everything since He has loved us so much by giving Jesus to save us and to strengthen us. Never try to bribe God. Pray that you will always come before God based upon His grace through Jesus.

经文：以赛亚书38

主题：谦卑祷告神

 

这个事件实际上是在36-37章前发生的，即亚述人攻打耶路撒冷之前，因为神在第6节应许要保护耶路撒冷脱离亚述王的手。神基于某些原因决定要结束希西家的命；这或许是因于他的罪（17节）。希西家谦卑地祈求神饶了他，因为他想继续忠心侍奉神，并保护耶路撒冷沦陷于亚述（6节）。希西家并非要凭自己的敬虔收买神，因为他晓得自己有罪，是不配的（17节）。他是凭着神的恩典祈求，不靠自己的功劳而行（路17:10）。最后，他看到这场疾病对自己的灵是有益的（17节），因为他或许由此谦卑了（代下32:25-26：他明白真正掌控他生命的是神，不是自己）。


用经文祷告

神要与我们相交，和我们建立关系。祂所定意的不会改变，但祂对我们的悔改和谦卑祈求是有回应的。因着我们在基督里的全然饶恕，神说我们能坦然无惧地来到神的宝座前，但也要谦卑地来（来4:16）。我们绝不能凭自己的公义、忠心的侍奉或敬虔的品格尝试收买神，因为我们凡事都亏缺了神的荣耀，急需神的恩典。因此，我们当视自己为不配的，唯靠神的怜悯向祂祈求（路17:10）。神对我们没有亏欠，但我们凡事亏欠，因为祂深爱我们，甚至将耶稣赐给我们，叫我们能得救，重新得力。万不得尝试收买神。祷告你总会凭着神借着耶稣的恩典来到祂面前。