Self-Centered Man Pleasers

[Isa. 39:1] At that time Merodach-baladan, the son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah: for he had heard that he had been sick, and was recovered.
This was after the miraculous recovery of Hezekiah. The L-rd was good enough to give King Hezekiah 15 years more of life; but it was up to Hezekiah if those years would be lived in wisdom and to the glory of G-d.
The king of Babylon sent letters this was a gesture of kindness from the king of Babylon, showing concern to Hezekiah as fellow royalty.
The presence of Merodach-Baladan shows this was more than a courtesy call. This was an attempt to bring the kingdom of Judah on to the side of the Babylonians against the Assyrians.
To the Assyrians Merodach-Baladan was a terrorist; to himself he was a freedom-fighter with his life devoted to the liberation of his beloved Babylon from Assyrian tyranny.
Hezekiah was deeply worried about Assyria.
Hezekiah showed them the house of his treasures. We can imagine Hezekiah wanting to please these envoys from Babylon, and wanting to show them that they had good reason to be impressed with him and his kingdom. So he does everything he can to impress them, and shows them the very best riches of the royal household - and he showed them everything. There was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them.
As the coming rebuke from Isaiah will demonstrate, this was nothing but proud foolishness on Hezekiah's part. He is in the dangerous place of wanting to please and impress man, especially ungodly men.
It was a genuine compliment for Hezekiah to receive this recognition from the king of Babylon. But Hezekiah received it wrongly, and let it go to his head. It is easy to get too puffed up when people compliment or recognize us, and to begin to take their praise - and ourselves - too seriously.
In this place of wanting to please man, Hezekiah is no longer a true servant of G-d. Paul wrote in Galatians 1:10, for if I still pleased men, I would not be a bondservant of Messiah. When we live to please men, we cannot at the same time live to please and serve G-d. When we live to please men, we are really living to serve ourselves, because what we value from men is the praise and honor and recognition they may give us. It is a glorious thing to live to serve men, but not to live to please them.
Feeling honored by the embassy, he gladly welcomed the envoys of this archenemy of Assyria. Without consulting either the L-rd or Isaiah, he showed them his vast treasures, his abundant supplies of food, and his military armaments. G-d had given Hezekiah great wealth, so the visitors were duly impressed (2 Chron. 32:27-29).
What should Hezekiah have said to the envoys? The answer is plain: 'Thank you for coming and thank Merodach from his gift and invitation, but the fact is I have a divine promise to lean on; it has been confirmed personally in my return to health and cosmically in the sign of the sun. I cannot turn from faith in the promises of G-d.'"
The king of Babylon would take the sons of the king of Judah which were his true riches!
One fulfillment of this was the taking of Daniel and his companions into captivity. Daniel was one of the king's descendants taken into the palace of the king of Babylon (Daniel 1:1-4). Because of this promise of G-d through Isaiah, many think that Daniel and his companions were made eunuchs when they were taken to serve in the palace.
Think about it, first Hezekiah ask for more years to his life then he waste the time he was given because of his pride and inflated ego had made him blind!
With a Word from G-d Hezekiah response “At least there will be peace and truth in my days." This is a sad state of heart in the king of Judah. G-d announces coming judgment, and all he can respond with is relief that it will not happen in his lifetime.
In this, Hezekiah shows himself to be almost the exact opposite of an "others-centered" person. He is almost totally self-centered. All he cares about is his own personal comfort and success.
There is no doubt that Hezekiah started out as a godly king, and overall his reign was one of outstanding godliness (2 Kings 18:3-7). Yet his beginning was much better than his end; Hezekiah did not finish well. God gave Hezekiah the gift of 15 more years of life, but the added years did not make him a better or more godly man.
I spent the greater part of my life being a ‘people pleaser’ which got me earning a few brownie points with some but not all. The year I turned sixty I laid it all down for life had taught me you just can not please everyone! All I needed to do was please my Maker and to be able to look at the person in the mirror. Some people are slow learners.
I remember the days I worked at Regal Ware and people from China came through often. The company proudly showed them what the plant made and how it was made. It didn’t take too many years for all was taken away and moved to China.
Then the Y2K scare was circulating in 2000, everyone was praying for the ‘end’ not to come in their lifetime.
Time or age doesn't necessarily make us any better. Consider that time does nothing but pass away. We sometimes say, "time will tell," "time will heal," or "time will bring out the potential in me." But time will do nothing of the sort! Time will only come and go. It is only how we use time that matters. Hezekiah didn't make good use of the extra time
G-d gave him.
What do you do with your time? Whom are you trying to please?