July 1
2 Kings 18:13-19:37; Acts 21:1-17; Psalm 149:1-9; Proverbs 18:8
Hezekiah was in distress. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had sent three officers, who through psychological warfare, threatened Hezekiah and the people of Israel within ear shot of the wall. The officers emphasized the number of nations Sennacherib
had toppled and placed doubt in the people’s minds about Yahweh’s ability to deliver them. They stressed how Hezekiah removed the shrines and altars of worship, not realizing Hezekiah was obeying God when he did this. Finally, the officers said the Lord had sent Sennacherib “with orders to destroy your nation!” (18:25). This statement was partially true, because he had already defeated northern Israel and was at the wall of Jerusalem.
Hearing Sennacherib’s message, Hezekiah’s highest officials tore their clothes, perhaps aghast that Sennacherib would blaspheme their God. When Hezekiah heard Sennacherib’s message, he dressed in sackcloth (a sign of mourning), went to the temple to pray, and asked Isaiah to pray for the remnant of Israel.
Isaiah returned God’s message to Hezekiah, “I am the Lord. Don’t worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. I will upset him with rumors about what’s happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death” (II Kings 19:6-7, Contemporary English Version).
At the time of these happenings, Sennacherib was already moving his army into different battles, but he sent one last message to Hezekiah: Don’t be fooled into trusting your God. Where were the gods of all the other nations we defeated?
Upon receiving this message, Hezekiah went to the temple and “spread” out Sennacherib’s letter in prayer before the Lord. He acknowledged God’s Spirit rested between the cherubim (his God was not wood and stone like the other gods), His sovereignty over all the kingdoms and the earth, and Him as creator of heaven and earth. He pleaded with Him to listen to the insults against “the living God.” He honestly divulged his present situation and asked God to deliver them so all the other kingdoms would know the Lord was God.
True to Isaiah’s prophesy, that night the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. Several years later Sennacherib’s two sons killed him with a sword while he was in his temple worshiping his god Nisrok.
What about us? When we face a crisis — death of a loved one, dementia in a spouse, financial catastrophe, divorce, and concerns about our nation — do we spread it out before God and pray like Hezekiah?
Sovereign God, Creator of heaven and earth and me, I thank you for controlling all aspects of my life behind the scenes. I thank you for your presence in my life. I give you my worries, fears, and sorrows and ask you to handle them in your most gracious way. [And the people responded, “The Lord’s will be done” (Acts 21:14).]
Question of the day: What would it look like to spread your worries before God?
Hezekiah was in distress. Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, had sent three officers, who through psychological warfare, threatened Hezekiah and the people of Israel within ear shot of the wall. The officers emphasized the number of nations Sennacherib
had toppled and placed doubt in the people’s minds about Yahweh’s ability to deliver them. They stressed how Hezekiah removed the shrines and altars of worship, not realizing Hezekiah was obeying God when he did this. Finally, the officers said the Lord had sent Sennacherib “with orders to destroy your nation!” (18:25). This statement was partially true, because he had already defeated northern Israel and was at the wall of Jerusalem.
Hearing Sennacherib’s message, Hezekiah’s highest officials tore their clothes, perhaps aghast that Sennacherib would blaspheme their God. When Hezekiah heard Sennacherib’s message, he dressed in sackcloth (a sign of mourning), went to the temple to pray, and asked Isaiah to pray for the remnant of Israel.
Isaiah returned God’s message to Hezekiah, “I am the Lord. Don’t worry about the insulting things that have been said about me by these messengers from the king of Assyria. I will upset him with rumors about what’s happening in his own country. He will go back, and there I will make him die a violent death” (II Kings 19:6-7, Contemporary English Version).
At the time of these happenings, Sennacherib was already moving his army into different battles, but he sent one last message to Hezekiah: Don’t be fooled into trusting your God. Where were the gods of all the other nations we defeated?
Upon receiving this message, Hezekiah went to the temple and “spread” out Sennacherib’s letter in prayer before the Lord. He acknowledged God’s Spirit rested between the cherubim (his God was not wood and stone like the other gods), His sovereignty over all the kingdoms and the earth, and Him as creator of heaven and earth. He pleaded with Him to listen to the insults against “the living God.” He honestly divulged his present situation and asked God to deliver them so all the other kingdoms would know the Lord was God.
True to Isaiah’s prophesy, that night the angel of the Lord slew 185,000 men in the Assyrian camp. Several years later Sennacherib’s two sons killed him with a sword while he was in his temple worshiping his god Nisrok.
What about us? When we face a crisis — death of a loved one, dementia in a spouse, financial catastrophe, divorce, and concerns about our nation — do we spread it out before God and pray like Hezekiah?
Sovereign God, Creator of heaven and earth and me, I thank you for controlling all aspects of my life behind the scenes. I thank you for your presence in my life. I give you my worries, fears, and sorrows and ask you to handle them in your most gracious way. [And the people responded, “The Lord’s will be done” (Acts 21:14).]
Question of the day: What would it look like to spread your worries before God?
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