Word of Encouragement (07/31/2024)
And Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said: “O Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 16 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 17 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. 19 So now, O Lord our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone.” (2 Kings 19:15–19)
After calling on God to hear and see, Hezekiah mentions what he would like God to hear and see: “...hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God” (v. 16). The basis of his appeal to God is not the misery and humiliation that he and his people are suffering; it is, rather, his concern for the honor of God’s name.
This is wise. God is merciful and compassionate, for sure. We are told, for example, “During those many days the king of Egypt died, and the people of Israel groaned because of their slavery and cried out for help. Their cry for rescue from slavery came up to God. And God heard their groaning, and God remembered his covenant with Abraham, with Isaac, and with Jacob. God saw the people of Israel—and God knew” (Ex. 2:23-24). Isn’t this comforting and encouraging? He is not deaf to the groanings of His people because He cares for them, for you.
But notice how it says, “God remembered his covenant with Abraham....” While God is compassionate in His nature, He is also just: He cannot let sin go unpunished. Even God’s people must be disciplined when they sin, precisely because He loves them and is compassionate toward them. But when God shows His mercy to them, it is not simply because He is compassionate in His nature; it is also on account of His covenant with them. He does not, and cannot, break His covenant because He is a faithful God. We must add to this His zeal for His name: breaking His covenant will bring shame to His name.
Let us remember that the chief end of God is to glorify Himself and to enjoy Himself forever. This may sound awfully self-centered. But if God is the ultimate Good, and morality consists in seeking the ultimate good, God is morally obligated to seek His glory above all. So, after accusing Israel of profaning His name among the nations by being exiled from the promised land and scattered among the nations, God expressed His intention to deliver them in this way: “It is not for your sake, O house of Israel, that I am about to act, but for the sake of my holy name, which you have profaned among the nations to which you came” (Ezek. 36:22). Paul echoes this idea when he repeatedly says in Eph. 1 that God saved His people “to the praise of his glory/glorious grace” (1:6, 12, 14).
So, we, too, should be concerned about the honor of God’s name above all, including our welfare. But the glorious thing about God’s covenant with us is that our well-being is bound up with the honor of His name! Therein lies our security and comfort. Oh, how must treasure our covenant union with God in Jesus Christ! Let us seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, then all will be well with us!