As I was reading Isaiah chapter 39, I couldn’t help but sit with two heavy themes that jump off the page.
1. Hezekiah’s Pride After His Miracle
This is the same king who just days earlier had been on his deathbed…
The same man who cried out to God…
The same man God healed and even turned the sun backward for as a sign.
Yet in Isaiah 39, when the envoys from Babylon arrive, Hezekiah doesn’t point them to the Lord.
He doesn’t testify about the God who saved him.
He doesn’t speak of the miracle he just received.
Instead, he shows off his treasure.
All his wealth.
All his weapons.
All his storehouses.
“Everything that was in his house.”
It reads like a moment of pure human pride — as though he wanted these foreign dignitaries to be impressed with Hezekiah, not with Yahweh.
2. Isaiah’s Rebuke — and Hezekiah’s Tragic Response
Isaiah confronts him with a devastating prophecy:
Everything he just showed off… will one day be taken to Babylon.
His own sons will be taken captive.
His dynasty will suffer because of this careless act.
And how does Hezekiah respond?
“The word of the Lord you have spoken is good… for there will be peace and security in my lifetime.”
(Isaiah 39:8)
It’s almost chilling.
It’s as if he says:
“Well… at least it won’t happen while I’m alive.”
No sorrow for his sons.
No repentance for his pride.
No intercession like the Hezekiah we just saw in chapter 38.
After being given 15 extra years of life by the mercy of God, his heart seems strangely indifferent to the consequences that will fall on the next generation.
3. A Lesson for All of Us — and for Leaders Especially
Isaiah 39 shows the danger of:
• Forgetting God’s mercy
• Letting blessing turn into pride
• Living only for our own comfort
• Failing to consider the spiritual inheritance we leave behind
Hezekiah was a good king overall — Scripture honours him.
But this moment exposes the weakness of every human heart when pride creeps in.
God had just demonstrated unimaginable grace to him…
Yet Hezekiah let his guard down and made it about himself.
And I can’t help but think — that must have grieved God.