Take it to God
We're back from 10 days of wonderful leave (we camped at AlDam, Gariep, Nieu Bethesda, Cango(Oudshoorn), Ladismith (WC), Keurboom Lagoon(Plett) and Middleburg(EC) and I rode my bicycle every second day and we feasted on the beauty of our country.)----------------------------
Just before I left, we looked at the Assyrians who were camped on Jerusalem's doorstep and Hezekiah called out to the Lord and consulted the prophet Isaiah. Isaiah consoled Hezekiah, assuring him that God had heard his prayers and that the Assyrians would withdraw. This was all fulfilled.
Now Sennacherib, king of the Assyrians, having withdrawn from Jerusalem to deal with other pressing matters, writes to Hezekiah. The letter is haughty, threatening and, once again, a classic example of psychological warfare.
What does Hezekiah do? He takes it to God. Literally. He carries the letter into the temple, unrolls the scroll and spreads it before the Lord.
What a stunning act of trust and devotion!
"Look Lord! Look what is happening!"
And then he prays a stunning prayer: "Yes it's true that they have trampled over everyone, but their gods are wood and stone. Lord deliver us for your glory."
(The rest of the chapter shows how God decimates Sennacherib's army and he flees back home and is cut down in his pagan temple by his own sons. Evil does not last.)
Maybe we need to spread our newspapers before the Lord.
"Look at the wars and the corruption Lord!"
"See the grief and heartache!"
"All because of greed and materialism"
"Deliver us for Your glory Lord!"
Read of Hezekiah's actions below and read his prayer.
Let your heart and trust slide into Hezekiah's framework and know that God hears and delivers.
| Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: "O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. "It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men's hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God." (2Kings19:14-19) |
