Verbs of Devotion
| 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. 6 He held fast to the LORD and did not cease to follow Him; he kept the commands the LORD had given Moses. And the LORD was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. From watchtower to fortified city, he defeated the Philistines, as far as Gaza and its territory. (2Kings18:5-8) |
- He trusted in the Lord. He relied on God. God was his first port of call. He turned to God and took God at His Word.
- He held fast to the Lord even when there were other voices and huge pressures. He kept turning to God and His ways and, if we look at the next phrase, which is a parallel, "holding fast" is to follow.
- He did not cease to follow Him. This is the parallel of "held fast". If holding fast is the positive, "ceasing to follow" is the negative and Hezekiah did the positive without doing the negative.
- He kept the commands that the Lord had give Moses. Sometimes leaders want to be unique and innovative for the sake of expressing their individuality and not because innovation is needed. We will see that Hezekiah could innovate when it was needed, but when there was no need to innovate, Hezekiah was content to "walk the ancient paths". There is value in the "old ways". Hezekiah was not afraid to observe God's law because he found it to be tried and tested...
Now normally people would end the list of verbs here, because these verbs demonstrate the devotional and spiritual aspects of Hezekiah's rule. But there are two more verbs that we must consider because they demonstrate the practical and social implications of a life lived God's way.
- He rebelled against the king of Assyria. Prior to Hezekiah, King Ahaz surrendered to the Assyrians who had invaded the land. He had seen the Northern Kingdom and its capital Samaria destroyed and so he paid a huge tribute (by stripping the temple) and became a vassal king, answerable to Assyria. Hezekiah rebels against the oppressive and idolatrous oversight of the Assyrians and defies their godless ways.
- He defeated the Philistines. When King Ahaz was overrun by the Assyrians, the Philistines took advantage of the situation and captured a number of Israel's towns and cities. Hezekiah rights that wrong.
The "devotional and spiritual" verbs aren't ethereal and inconsequential - To trust only in God, to hold fast, not ceasing to follow and to keep His commands will have far-reaching implications in our day to day lives. The other two verbs, to rebel and defeat speak to standing up against oppression and righting injustices. They have social and societal implications and we need to recognise the need for these too.
These are the actions that made Hezekiah special...
