Some days, it seems like everything goes wrong! You wake up hopeful for the new day and its possibilities, but life seems to go downhill from there. You try to live a good life and trust God, but you also wonder if he is going to show up with any miracles. Know the feeling?
Hezekiah wasn’t just having a bad hair day. His city, Jerusalem, had been under threat from Assyria, who had captured Samaria (the capital city of the 10 tribes of Israel) and taken the people into captivity. Sennecherib had been bought off by Hezekiah once, but was returning now to taunt the people of Jerusalem and mock their God, who had not saved Samaria from his attacks.
Hezekiah had done everything right from the time he became king at 25 years of age! Listen to this tribute to him in 2 Kings 18:3-7:
He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done. He removed the high places, smashed the sacred stones and cut down the Asherah poles. He broke into pieces the bronze snake Moses had made, for up to that time the Israelites had been burning incense to it. (It was called Nehushtan.) Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook.
If anyone needed a break, it was Hezekiah! After receiving a threatening letter from Sennecherib, he carried it into the temple and laid it before the Lord. He was at his wit’s end in thinking about what else he could do, but he called on the God who made heaven and earth, who ruled over all of the kingdoms of the world, including Assyria.
Do you know what happened as a result of Hezekiah’s prayer? 185,000 Assyrians died in the siege camp in one night! Sennecherib packed up and went home. It does not pay to mock the God of the universe!
Father God, you are the Creator of heaven and earth, and enthroned between the cherubim, in the Holy Place of our hearts, even today. You alone are God over all of the nations of the earth. I am overwhelmed today by my own enemies that would challenge your power in my life. I lay their threats before you, and wait for you to act. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
Throughout this day: Remember that the Battle Belongs
to the Lord, so let him fight for you!
Photo Credit: Nathan Timblin