For There Shall Be Peace and Truth in My Days

Isaiah 39:5-8, “[5] Then said Isaiah to Hezekiah, Hear the word of the Lord of hosts: [6] Behold, the days come, that all that is in thine house, and that which thy fathers have laid up in store until this day, shall be carried to Babylon: nothing shall be left, saith the Lord. [7] And of thy sons that shall issue from thee, which thou shalt beget, shall they take away; and they shall be eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon. [8] Then said Hezekiah to Isaiah, Good is the word of the Lord which thou hast spoken. He said moreover, For there shall be peace and truth in my days.”

This is such a sad passage of Scripture. King Hezekiah had his focus in the wrong place. In the chapter prior to these verses, he became sick. His sickness caused him to turn to the Lord and pray. God gave him fifteen more years of life. However, he did not use those years wisely.

He brought in people from Babylon (a heathen place) and showed them all of the riches of his kingdom. The prophet Isaiah told Hezekiah that everything that he showed them would be taken away. Isaiah went on to say that the men would take stuff from his sons as well.

This did not bother Hezekiah. He said, “Good is the word of the Lord…For there shall be peace and truth in my days.” What a selfish statement. He did not care what would happen to future generations. As long as his days were good, he did not care what happened afterwards.

I would hope that we are not that way. I would hope that we would not be so concerned with ourselves that we do not care a bit about those that come after us. We should not go through life selfishly; we should go through life trying to leave a positive impact on future generations. Where is our focus in life? Are we focused too much on ourselves or are we focused on others? Is peace in our days enough or do we want peace for those that come after us. Let us ask God today to help us make sure our focus is right and to make sure we care about others more than ourselves.