I will add fifteen years to your life, and I will deliver you and this city from the hand of the king of Assyria for My own sake and for My servant David’s sake.  2 Kings 20:6.

Though he was faithful, Hezekiah seemed chiefly concerned with his own life.  He weeps bitterly over his own mortality.  He exhibits his great wealth to the Babylonians.  Rather than shudder at the prophetic word that all of his and all the wealth of the entire nation – to say nothing of the people – will be carried off into exile, Hezekiah thinks the word is good because there will be peace in his days.

God’s purposes for His people through Hezekiah seem to be lost on Hezekiah.

What is another 15 years, in the scheme of God’s plans?  If one is not connected and engaged in God’s eternal purposes, what difference does mortal life ending now versus in fifteen years make?

God answers Hezekiah’s prayer for deliverance from mortal illness.  But as so often the case with God, He does more.  God’s answer is not just to save Hezekiah.  God delivers the city, which is essentially the southern kingdom of Israel, from the hand of Assyria.  God does so for His own sake, and for the sake of His servant David.  In other words, God does not just answer Hezekiah’s prayer; He fulfills His own purposes.

There will ultimately be captivity for the generations of apostasy, but it will not come at the hand of the Assyrians as it did for the northern kingdom of Israel.  Rather it will come from Babylon, and not for another 15 years.

One wonders if there had been national repentance during that time if captivity might have been avoided altogether.  God’s merciful word of delay seems to be part of his infinite patience and continuous desire for restoration and to avoid judgment if at all possible.

In any event, Hezekiah seems oblivious.  There is no expression of concern for his people.  He is foolish in disclosing his wealth to the Babylonians, which may very well have been a factor in their later deciding to invade and capture.

How does my prayer life compare?  Is it all about me and mine?  Is there awareness of God’s purposes for my “city,” my sphere of influence that God has entrusted to me?

Jesus, confronted with His imminent death, prayed that if it be possible, that His death be avoided.  He did not stop there.  He understood that his life and even His death had meaning and value because they were part of God’s purposes.  And so he would continue in His prayer, not My will but Yours be done.

To seek long life is instinctive and natural.  But to seek it only out of a self-preservation instinct is to miss the truly eternal value of our life and existence.

Long life is not for its own purpose.  It is but a tool for the Master to use.  Absent that understanding, the self-preservation instinct risks becoming self-centered, and may lose its eternal kingdom purpose.

Life has a purpose – His.  To discover God’s purpose and obey it is our purpose.  For His purpose we may seek long and healthy life, that we may be and fulfill what He intends. In this is real purpose  In this is real joy.

LORD, may I be aware of, indeed be focused on, Your purposes, large and small, and how you would have me fit in and further them.