ApprehendingGrace.com

¹⁴After Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it, he went up to the LORD’s Temple and spread it out before the LORD. ¹⁵And Hezekiah prayed this prayer before the LORD: ¹⁶“O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth. ¹⁷Bend down, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.

¹⁸“It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. ¹⁹And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands. ²⁰Now, O LORD our God, rescue us from his power; then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”
Isaiah 37:14-20 (NLT)

I’ve always loved this passage from Isaiah. The Assyrians had conquered towns in Judah, then headed north to conquer Israel. They called out King Hezekiah with a speech that challenges him in front of his people. A distressed Hezekiah sent for Isaiah who delivered a prophecy from the Lord that promised  He would rescue Israel. But the Assyrians kept up their taunting:

¹⁰“This message is for King Hezekiah of Judah. Don’t let your God, in whom you trust, deceive you with promises that Jerusalem will not be captured by the king of Assyria. ¹¹You know perfectly well what the kings of Assyria have done wherever they have gone. They have completely destroyed everyone who stood in their way! Why should you be any different? ¹²Have the gods of other nations rescued them—such nations as Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Tel-assar? My predecessors destroyed them all!
Isaiah 37:10-12 (NLT)

That’s when King Hezekiah went up to the temple, spread the letter out before the Lord and prayed. I love that picture. He doesn’t just stay at home and pray. He doesn’t just go sit in a pew and pray. He goes to the altar, spreads the letter out and then prays. I see him unfolding the letter, laying it on the floor, then flattening it out with his hands before he takes a step back to pray. It’s as if he’s laying a gift at the altar. It’s a petition, but also a gift. Hezekiah is treating the message from the Assyrian king with respect, but he gives it to the One who deserves greater respect.

But after spreading the letter carefully out before the Lord, He doesn’t say “Lord, I’m in a real spot here.” He doesn’t say “Lord, help me. Rescue us from our enemies.” No. He says “O LORD of Heaven’s Armies, God of Israel, you are enthroned between the mighty cherubim! You alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth. You alone created the heavens and the earth.”

Hezekiah worshipped. When we’re in a jam, aren’t we so tempted to get right to the request? Perhaps it’s because our focus is on our need and not on our God. Hezekiah knew his need was great. But he knew His God was greater. So he first declared that.

The next time you’re in a tough spot – start by praising God.

Hezekiah continued “Bend down, O LORD, and listen! Open your eyes, O LORD, and see! Listen to Sennacherib’s words of defiance against the living God.”

Hezekiah puts the taunting in perspective. No ego here. Hezekiah doesn’t say “Lord, do you hear what they’re saying about me and my leadership?” No, he says “They are defying the living God.” Hezekiah is offended that His God has been insulted, not that he’s been insulted. The battle is not ours, but the Lords.

The next time you’re in a tough spot – put it into perspective. Whose battle is it?

Hezekiah isn’t finished praying. He has more reframing to do:“It is true, LORD, that the kings of Assyria have destroyed all these nations. And they have thrown the gods of these nations into the fire and burned them. But of course the Assyrians could destroy them! They were not gods at all—only idols of wood and stone shaped by human hands.

Hezekiah brings truth into the situation. He acknowledges that what the messenger said was true – all the other nations and their gods were destroyed by the Assyrian kings. But that’s only half the truth. The full truth is that the gods of these other nations weren’t true gods. They were only idols made of wood and stone shaped by human hands. Of course they could be destroyed by the Assyrian army.

The next time you’re in a tough spot – spell out the truth about your enemy. I don’t know who your enemy is, but I know without a doubt that your enemy is not greater than the Lord, Creator of heaven and earth, Ruler of all the nations of the earth, Lord of heaven’s Armies.

Hezekiah finishes his prayer with his request “Now, O Lord, rescue us – then all the kingdoms of the earth will know that you alone are God.” A simple request for a mighty need. A simple request with an eternal purpose – so that all may know that He is God. If the Assyrian army wasn’t so powerful that it conquered every country it attacked, it wouldn’t be so well know for it’s might…and it wouldn’t bring such glory to God when God defeats them.

The next time you’re in a tough spot – remember that you don’t need a miracle until you need a miracle. God’s glory is shown greater when the need is greater.

By the way…after his prayer, the Lord had another message for Hezekiahi:

²¹Then Isaiah son of Amoz sent this message to Hezekiah: “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: Because you prayed about King Sennacherib of Assyria, ²²the LORD has spoken this word against him: ‘The virgin daughter of Zion despises you and laughs at you. The daughter of Jerusalem shakes her head in derision as you flee.’”
Isaiah 37:21-22 (NLT)

Did you catch the phrase at the end of verse 21? “Because you prayed…” I love it. Because Hezekiah prayed, the Lord had a message of humiliation and defeat for the king of Assyria.

Hezekiah’s prayer wasn’t long or belabored. It was simple, heartfelt, full of praise and truth and confidence.

The next time you’re in a tough spot – pray as Hezekiah did.

This entry was posted on Monday, December 10th, 2012 at 10:09 pm and is filed under Confidence in God, God's power, God's ways, Praise, prayer. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.