In Isaiah 38 King Hezekiah becomes seriously ill and the prophet comes to him and says that the his time time of death is approaching and he should wind up his affairs. Hezekiah, who is only 39 at the time, becomes very upset and prays to G-d. He does not specifically ask for anything, simply cries and says that he has walked before G-d with a full heart in truth and has done that which is good in His eyes. The holy One, blessed be He, is moved and gives him fifteen more years of life.
The king of Babylon hears about the illness of Hezekiah and is happy that he had a full recovery. As an expression of his joy, he sends him letters and a gift. Hezekiah cheerfully receives the envoys and proceeds to show them his gold, silver, and all the treasures of his palace and his kingdom.
The Lord of Hosts is not pleased with this and sends Isaiah to rebuke him. The prophet relates the message saying that the time will come when all these valuables will be seized by Babylon along with his royal descendants, who will be made into eunuchs in the palace of the enemy. Hezekiah is not chastened and instead puts a bright face on this dismal prophecy and replies that this is good news because it means that in his times there will be peace.
The calm reaction is peculiar as the norm would be to be terribly upset. It is appropriate to look for the concealed good in bad news, but there's an aspect here of calling bad, good. The times of Hezekiah were very good and he was an exceedingly righteous king. However part of the message of Isaiah is that even in these good times there were fatal flaws that would culminate with the destruction of the first Temple and its attendant horrors. While it was appropriate for Hezekiah to be moved by the actions of the King of Babylon, he should have been cognizant of the problems. Consequently the welcome that he gave to the envoys was too effusive.
There are similar themes in the books of the prophets. Good King of Judah Yehoshafat is strongly scolded by the prophet, because of his affection and his assistance towards Ahav, the bad king of Israel (see 2 Chronicles 19:2). Because of his many good deeds, Hakadosh Baruch Hu does not punish him, but the marriage between the son of Jehoshaphat and the daughter of Ahav is an unqualified disaster. Similarly King David mourns too strongly over the death of his rebellious son Avshalom. The root of the root of all this may be King Saul having compassion (see 1 Samuel 15:9 וַיַּחְמֹל) on Agag, king of Amalek. It seems that the people's lust for wealth blurred their perception of how evil Amalek really was. Consequently they did not see the plunder as dirty money.
It seems there is an evil inclination to play the fool when faced with evil and say it's not as bad as it sounds. In fact it is a mitzvah to say the blessing, "blessed is the true Judge", when bad things happen, because at the deepest level G-d only does good for His creation. However the good concealed in tragedy should not be confused with revealed absolute good even if it had a few small flaws. Likewise it is inappropriate to pursue consolation prizes.
The sad truth is during this era of prehistory, we are living in a flawed world with flawed people. It is important to know that just like the bad times will pass, so too will the good. As a result it's appropriate to be a bit cautious in our dealings with others. Contracts must be read, doors must be locked, merchandise must be checked before buying it. A Jewish wedding contract today makes a provision for a divorce settlement. In the days to come these things will be mere formalities and then our mouths will be filled with laughter and our tongues with song.
לע"נ האמא מלכה בת חיים ז"ל נלב"ע טז ניסן תשנ"ח
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