He was a political giant who never lost a battle, and all of his enemies knew it. The King of Assyria looked at Hezekiah, a young king of Judah, with disdain. Through his army commander, he appealed to Hezekiah’s people to forget about trusting in the Lord to save them!
If you had been living in Jerusalem at that time, there might have been some credibility to what the King of Assyria was saying. It was a lost cause, right? Hezekiah had already lost one battle with the King of Assyria, and had plundered the temple and his royal treasury in order to pay silver and gold as tribute to Assyria. What chance did his kingdom have, if threatened with battle once again?
Judah was in a hopeless situation. Who would you have listened to? Remarkably, his people listened to Hezekiah, when he told them to make no reply to the king’s taunting. Perhaps you know how this story ended, with Hezekiah dropping to his knees before the Lord in desperation (2 Kings 19:1) and as a result, 185,000 Assyrians dropped dead overnight (2 Kings 19:35).
It matters who you listen to! The King of Assyria said that he was offering “life” to Judah, and that Hezekiah was offering only death. How wrong he was, because in this case worshipping and trusting God represented the true path to life, and the King of Assyria was the one who died, at the hands of his own sons, who murdered him (2 Kings 19:37) while he was worshipping a false god!
Father God, thank you for Hezekiah’s example of trusting that you would deliver him, against incredible odds! Help me to trust you now with what I am facing today. Amen.
Throughout this day: Do you feel like you are in a hopeless situation, and the world is telling you that God will not help you? Resist the temptation to listen to what the world says, and choose life in trusting God.
Photo Credit: Matthew Zheng on Unsplash