There seems to be no tact about this abrupt declaration of the prophet Isaiah to the king. But then time was not on Hezekiah's side. He needed to know the facts so that he might put himself right before God. Our families do us no kindness at all if they hide from us such knowledge. They may deprive us of the opportunity to prepare our hearts to face God and thus to come to terms with death.
Hezekiah's reaction was immediate and overwhelming. He turned his face to the wall. He wanted to hide. So far from setting his house in order he was rendered quite powerless. If we have had similar news, however tactfully it was delivered, we may well have reacted in a similar way.
Once Hezekiah was alone, he prayed. He asked, by implication, to be spared. He was, in fact, granted another fifteen years of life, spent not entirely in a God-honouring manner. It is a moot point whether lie was better prepared to face God fifteen years later. If he was not, what did those extra years avail him? However, every believer under sentence of terminal illness is entitled to come before the Lord in prayer and plead for his life. But the Lord, in His infinite wisdom, Who knows what is good for us, does not permit us all to be suddenly healed by a remission, though it is granted to some. For the majority, news of terminal illness means time to set our house in order and prepare ourselves to be called to meet God.
Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints (Psalm 116:15).
It is not good to spend too long pleading For an extension of our days. That may preclude a more valuable work being done in our souls. If we are, in fact, going to meet with the Lord soon there may be many things to be done. We do need to set our earthly affairs in order but there is also much to be done in the realm of the soul. We need to set in order the affairs of our lifetime. There are sins to recall one by one and to repent of. There are fears of meeting with our holy God to be dispelled. There are the Scriptures to be meditated upon.
Not the least of these is our text above. The Psalmist has, like Hezekiah, been reprieved. He is very grateful for that. He has come so near to death, without dying, that he has fully realised that no one dies before God's time. There is a proper time, a precious time for each one of us to go home, which he had not yet been allowed to reach.
The Lord has chosen His people from eternity. The Saviour came two thousand years ago to accomplish their redemption. And now, when the time comes for the individual believer to be brought into His presence, with what loving care He prepares us for that great introduction. the completion of the work of eternity on our behalf! Because we are precious, the death which ushers us into the Saviour's presence is precious to Him. With what care He supervises every precious occurrence in our dying!