Good Morning Everyone,
Our theme for this month: “Trusting God”
Our Bible verse for today: “Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers, read it, then went up to the Lord’s temple, and spread it out before the Lord.” 2 Kings 19:14 (HCSB)
Our thought for today: “Trust God to help you.”
At a time when both Israel and Judah had a long run of really bad kings, Hezekiah was one of the good ones. There was much evil in the land in those days, but Hezekiah was a godly man who was determined to honor the Lord. In 2 Chronicles 29:2 it is recorded of him, “He did what was right in the Lord’s sight just as his ancestor David had done.”
One of the chief characteristics of Hezekiah as a man, and of his reign as king, is recorded in 2 Kings 18:5, “Hezekiah trusted in the Lord God of Israel.”
We see his trust in God on full display a little later in chapter 18 and then on into chapter 19. There we read that the king of Assyria sent a huge army to attack and capture Hezekiah’s kingdom. The force was overwhelming. It was more than the Jews could withstand in their own power. Either God was going to show up in a big way, or Hezekiah and the whole nation would go down in defeat.
How did King Hezekiah respond to such a big problem? The same way he handled all his problems, we just read about it in 2 Kings 18:5, “he trusted in the Lord god of Israel.”
In 2 Kings 19:4 we read of the king receiving a letter from the commander of the Assyrian army demanding immediate surrender and threatening dire consequences otherwise. The king went into the temple, knelt at the altar, spread the letter on the altar, and gave the entire situation over to God. The king’s trust was in God to handle the problem. And He did. The Assyrian army was miraculously defeated and the people of God were delivered from almost certain doom.
How do you handle your problems? The bills you can’t pay; the relationship problem that seems to defy resolution; the difficult co-workers; the addiction you can’t seem to kick. Do you struggle with it in your own power? Do you look for worldly solutions (perhaps you’ll win the lottery!); do you just give up? Or, do you lay it before God and trust Him to guide you to a solution?
I love the imagery of Hezekiah actually taking the physical letter, laying it on the actual altar, then kneeling before the altar (and the letter), and talking to God about it. What a great example of trusting God!
Why don’t we do this? Take the eviction notice to the altar (or into your prayer closet), lay it before God and talk to Him about it. Bring a picture of the person you’re having relationship problems with and set it in front of you and talk to God about them. Bring that last unemployment check with you into your prayer time, show it to the Lord, remind Him that it’s the last one, and talk to Him about your need for a job. You get the idea.
Trust God to help you. Really trust Him. Show Him that you trust Him. And then expect to receive the help you need. When you do you’ll discover that God is very trustworthy.
God Bless,
Pastor Jim
Oak Hill Baptist Church 