DIVINE RESOURCES - PRAYER & FAITH

In 2 Chronicles 29 we read this about a twenty five year old who finds himself as KIng. In verse 2 we read “ And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done.” . In II Kings we find the young king in what we would view as an impossible situation. When we face difficulties in life we very often view it as insurmountable. The mountains we face in life are opportunities for God to manifest (show) Himself strong on behalf of those who trust Him.

In II Kings 18 we meet an enemy of the King, Sennacherib. He sends his chief of staff Rabshakeh. He was a danger to Hezekiah . He tries to shake the faith of the people. He mocked their belief and he inserted questions about the God they believed in to deliver them. He suggested that they make an agreement with him and he presents them with a beautiful picture of peace and prosperity. II Kings 18:36 shows us that the people chose silence as their answer. They were giving Rabshakeh, the enemy the silent treatment, they chose to not acknowledge their adversary. Their quietness taunted the foe. We need to let God answer for us, there are situations we can’t handle and in trying times we need to leave them in God’s hands. King Hezekiah is one of the good kings of Judah and the events of his life teach us some valuable lessons about faith.

We first notice Hezekiah’s resource of faith. In the first two verse of chapter 19 of II Kings we see the deep sorrow of the king and his elders. They rent (tore) their clothes in pieces and the king covered himself in sack cloth. This act gives seriousness to the situation that the people are facing, they are utterly helpless. Hezekiah saw the desperation of the situation and he knew he was in trouble, and he sought the Lord, he prayed. Hezekiah, although a King understood his own weakness and he looks to the source of help in a message that he sends to the prophet Isaiah. ( Psalm 121: 1-2 -I will lift up mine eyes unto the hills, from whence cometh my help. My help cometh from the LORD…)

In verses 6 and 7 we see that faith is something that is what we hope for and that something may never materialize. Here the prophet gives

assurance to King Hezekiah. Isaiah’s words give comfort and peace.

God promised that Judah would be delivered and the enemy would be destroyed

From verse 8 down to 19 we see a prayer of faith. The enemy had tried to discourage the people by way of a letter. When the king received the letter he spread it out before the Lord. The Lord became his Shield and Defender. Just like the peace keeping forces we have today the Lord went between Judah and the enemy. Good King Hezekiah confidently handed the precarious situation over to the Lord. In his prayer we need to make note of three things 1) vs 15: the greatness of God 2) vs 16: the goodness of God 3) vs 18-19: the glory of God that brings victory. The key of course is that God answered Hezekiah’s faith.

There is a reward of faith as well. The answer that the Lord gave to Hezekiah was immediate. The king was assured of divine deliverance through God’s man (the prophet). Proud leaders need to learn that God is in control, if our leaders learned to acknowledge this truth things might be very different. In this dark period of Hezekiah’s reign we see God preserving and defending those who are His. God is sustaining His people for His own sake and His servant David’s sake (vs 34:For I will defend this city, to save it, for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.)

When we come to verse 35 we see the triumph of faith. “And it came to pass that night, that the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.”

All it took was one night and 185,000 Assyrian soldiers lay dead, every last one killed by one servant of Jehovah. God vindicated His glory and he answered the faith of His servant Hezekiah.

By: Pastor Brian McKibbin