REMOVED AS A SHEPHERD’S TENT

Hezekiah had stared over the very brink of death. The Lord gra­ciously delivered him and promised him another fifteen years of life. God blended together medicine and miracle to restore the king of Judah. A poultice of crushed figs drew the poison of the boil. A supernatural sign confirmed that God’s hand was at work and that He would keep His promise of life. On the steps of the sundial of Ahaz, sunshine replaced shadow.

F. C. Jennings suggests that Hezekiah looked across to those steps as he composed his song of thanksgiving, with his heart filled with joy and hope. His psalm is ‘a meditation on death and life’, A. MOTYER. In it, the king reflects on the ultimate questions of human existence. His bitter trial had been for his spiritual ben­efit. God had taught him to number his days and he had applied his heart to wisdom, Ps. 90. 12.

Our text vividly portrays great lessons God had taught Heze­kiah. He pictures his ‘age’ KJV, or better, his ‘dwelling’ ESV, a metaphor for his body, as a tent of a nomadic shepherd. A Judean shepherd would always be on the move, searching for fresh pasture. Frequently, he would strike camp to pitch it again. Storms easily carried his frail shelter away.

Hezekiah had grasped that earthly life is temporary. He him­self had almost experienced being cut off in his prime. No one has power over the day of his death, Eccles. 8. 8. Our breath is in God’s hands, Dan. 5. 23. Only the Lord Jesus had the authority to lay down His life of His own accord, John 10. 18.

Hezekiah also realized that human life is fragile. Like a tent, his bodily home had nearly been pulled down. A human infant is defenceless and dependent. We remain prone to infection and disease. Accident and violence wreak awful results. Old age is accompanied by failing powers. At last, death seems victorious, Eccles. 12. 1-8.

God promised Hezekiah a few more earthly years. The New Testament believer knows that when his earthly house is taken down, he will exchange it for a heavenly building. That eternal dwelling is from God, not made with human hands. It will be permanent, not temporary; and strong, not fragile, 2 Cor. 5. 1-5.