Hezekiah was one of the best kings God’s people ever had. He was the son of Ahaz, who was one of the worst (16:1–4; 18:1). This reminds us that God can redeem people from the worst background and move their lives in a totally different direction.

Here’s what the Bible tells us about Hezekiah:

He lived a good and righteous life
He did what was right in the eyes of the LORD (18:3).

He had great faith
He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him (18:5).

He stayed the course
He held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses (18:6).

God was with him
The LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered (18:7).

You can’t get a better commendation than that. If someone were to say about you that you did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, that you trusted God and held fast to Him, that the Lord was with you, and that whatever you did prospered, you would be greatly blessed.

How have you seen God redeem parts of your background that have brought you pain?

“Those days” is a reference to a time when God’s people were under attack. The king of Assyria had invaded the Promised Land. He began in the north, where 10 tribes had broken away from the line of David. The northern kingdom was overwhelmed, and its people were scattered.

This is a story about an unexpected change in the life of King Hezekiah. He was a direct descendent of David and he ruled in the south. And when the northern kingdom collapsed, the King of Assyria moved against the south, and demanded the king’s surrender. Hezekiah took the letter into the temple and spread it out before the Lord. This is how he prayed:

“O LORD, our God, save us, please… that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone” (2 Kings 19:19).

God answered Hezekiah’s prayer, and you can read the story of how the Lord delivered His people from the power of the Assyrian army in 2 Kings 19. It’s a great story, but then we read in 2 Kings 20, and here in Isaiah 38, that “in those days” Hezekiah became sick. The great king whose prayer was heard, was suddenly staring death in the face. God had delivered him from one crisis and now he was facing another!

Think about a time you were delivered from one crisis only to face another. How did you respond?

This seems counterintuitive. Surely if I give freely, I will have less. How does this principle work out in practice?

Think about farming. The farmer has a sack of seed. What does he do? He scatters it freely. Then, when harvest comes, the seed comes back to him in greater abundance.

The New Testament takes up this picture: “Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows bountifully will also reap bountifully” (2 Cor. 9:6).

So here are two farmers, and they both have a sack of seed. The first one says, “This seed is very precious. I need it to make bread. I can’t afford to throw it around.” So he holds back most of his seed. When harvest comes, there’s not much for him to reap.

The second farmer says, “This seed is very precious. I need it to make bread. But I know that if I sow this seed, it will multiply. So I will hold back only what I need, and everything else I will sow.” He sows bountifully, and when the harvest comes, he reaps bountifully.

No one ever gave more freely than Jesus. “For you know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sake he became poor, so that you by his poverty might become rich” (2 Cor 8:9). “The Son of God… loved me and gave himself for me” (Gal. 2:20).

What comes from His self-giving? The Father is honoured. We are blessed. And Jesus Christ Himself will see the fruit of the travail of His soul and be satisfied (Is. 53:11).

That hasn’t happened yet. But it will. The day is coming when all the redeemed will be gathered, and Christ will stand before the Father and say, “Behold, I and the children God has given me” (Heb. 2:13).

Are you holding back, or are you giving freely, so that what you have can be multiplied in God’s hands?

“Honour” means “give weight to.” Give weight to the Lord with your wealth. You do this by laying aside a portion of all that God has given you and giving it back to Him.

What should you put aside?
“The firstfruits of all your produce.” Firstfruits are the first part of whatever comes to you. God is honoured when what we set aside for Him is our first commitment, not what’s left when our other costs are met. What we give comes first. It is to be taken off the top.

Perhaps this is what you have been doing, and you can testify to the blessing of it. You wonder, “How are we going to manage?” And by God’s grace and with wise planning, you do.

How much should you give?
In the Old Testament God’s people gave a tithe, 10 percent of all that God had given to them. But there is no place in the New Testament where God tells us how much we should give.

Charles Bridges says, “The law dealt with us as children and prescribed the exact amount. The gospel treats us as men, and leaves it to circumstance, principle, and conscience.”

“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver” (2 Cor. 9:7).

God does not command you with regard to how much you should pray. It should arise out of a desire for communion with God. A law about how much you should pray would kill that.

The same is true for giving. God wants our giving to come out of love for Him. The choices you make will reflect your heart. And as you grow in Christ, your desire for giving will increase.

Are you giving “weight” to God, honouring Him with your giving?

Proverbs warns us about four temptations that will come with money.

1. The temptation to control
The people curse him who holds back grain, but a blessing is on the head of him who sells it (11:26). God has blessed this merchant with a good crop, but he holds it back to drive up the price. To only consider the bottom line, and not to weigh the common good, will be cursed. To subordinate your own interest to the good of others will be blessed.

2. The temptation to cheat
Unequal weights are an abomination to the LORD (20:23). A merchant pours grain on the scales with a weight that says 10 pounds. But it’s actually 8 pounds. The customer gets shortchanged. There are so many ways this can happen. What’s hidden in the small print. The added costs that are not mentioned. Money will tempt you to cheat.

3. The temptation to credit yourself
A rich man is wise in his own eyes, but a poor man who has understanding will find him out (28:11). A distinctive temptation that money brings is to credit it to ourselves. “Remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you power to get wealth” (Deut. 8:18).

4. The temptation to deny the Lord
Give me neither poverty nor riches... lest I be full and deny you” (Prov. 30:8-9). This is the only prayer in Proverbs, and it is a prayer of wisdom. “All I want is to have what I need.” Notice why: If I am too poor, I may be tempted to steal. But if I prosper, I will be tempted to say, “I really don’t need God.” That is the temptation that success will bring you.

Of these four temptations, which are you most vulnerable to?

If money is a blessing, how can it also be a danger? Because money is a power. It lures us as a rival god and then makes increasing demands. It will seek to take control of your life. Money is a great servant, but it is not a good master.

We must all give an account for what we did with the money God has entrusted to us. The more we have, the greater our responsibility. So, we need to know the dangers. What dangers does money bring?

Money can ruin you
An inheritance gained hastily in the beginning will not be blessed in the end (Prov. 20:21). This proverb focuses on the dangers of money that comes quickly. What would be the effect on your children if suddenly they inherited a large amount of money? Think about the capacity of a person to handle the responsibility that comes with it. The same applies to lottery winnings and lawsuits, other ways to gain wealth hastily.

Instead, Proverbs commends the value of money saved over time. “Wealth gained hastily will dwindle, but whoever gathers little by little will increase it” (13:11). As your money grows, your wisdom can grow with it.

Money can’t save you
Riches do not profit in the day of wrath, but righteousness delivers from death (11:4). Money makes us comfortable in this world. It distracts us from the reality that none of us will be here for long. “What does it profit a man to gain the whole world and forfeit his soul?” (Mk. 8:36).

Money is fleeting. The only solid and lasting things are things that are unseen! “Seek the things that are above, where Christ is” (Col. 3:1).

Which of these two warnings about money did you need to hear today?

Solomon affirms the reward of hard work. But then he goes on to say that the blessing of the Lord makes one rich. So, which is it, Solomon? Does it depend on our hard work, or does it depend on the Lord?

If you put these two statements together, they remind us of the important truth that God works through means. And the normal means by which God prospers us is the diligent work of our hands.

So, while our work may be the means of blessing, God is the source of blessing. “The blessing of the Lord makes rich.” Psalm 127 says, “Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labour in vain” (Ps. 127:1).

Sometimes people who have money are not able to enjoy it. Some sorrow came with it—either they have guilt over how they got it or they have fear over how they might lose it.

But when you know that what you have came through the blessing of God, you have freedom and peace to enjoy it, and no sorrow is added. Proverbs celebrates the blessing of money as a good gift from the Lord.

Reflect on this statement: “While our work may be the means of blessing, God is the source of blessing.”

If we want to have the joy that Jesus had, we need to live like Jesus lived. This was His approach to the work the Father gave Him to do:

Jesus began early
The sluggard was slow to start but at the age of twelve, Jesus was in the temple (Lk. 2:49). He gave Himself to the Father’s business, and He did it out of love for the Father and out of love for us.

Is there something you’ve been putting off? Are you aware of your need to get right with God and seek the new life Jesus offers? C. S. Lewis says that the devil has many ways of ruining souls, and his most effective way is to make people think that they have plenty of time. But the Bible says, “Today, if you hear His voice, do not harden your heart!” (Heb. 3:15).

Jesus stayed focused
“We must work the works of him who sent me while it is day; night is coming, when no one can work” (Jn. 9:4). Where in your life do you need to stay focused and to persevere? Jesus set his face like a flint to go to Jerusalem. When you are discouraged, do not be distracted from doing the will of the Father no matter how costly it may be.

Jesus completed His work
I glorified you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do (John 17:4). Jesus came to seek and to save the lost, and He has done it. Everything that is needed to bring you from where you are to the eternal joy of heaven has been accomplished by the Lord Jesus Christ.

Jesus entered His rest
Right now, He is seated at the right hand of the Father where He is ready to save all who look to Him in repentance and faith. May it be that each of us becomes like Him.

Is there something God is prompting you to do? Start early, stay focused, and persevere until you enter His rest.