Word of Encouragement (08/01/2024)
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 asking the LORD to note Sennacherib’s blasphemous words, Hezekiah went on to show why they were so wicked and foolish: “Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands 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” (vv. 17-18).
Hezekiah did not deny the reality that Sennacherib was a powerful king. Believing in God is not denying the reality. But it is also recognizing that the reality we see with our eyes is not the whole picture. Hezekiah could not deny that Sennacherib had conquered many nations and wrought horrific devastation on them. To show himself to be more powerful than gods, he cast the gods of the defeated nations into fire. But Hezekiah knew that that was not all there was to reality. Sennacherib might have destroyed many nations and burned their gods, but “they were not gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone.” But fooled by his pride, he has mocked “the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim..., the God... of all the kingdom of the earth..., [who] made heaven and earth..., the living God” (vv. 15, 16).
This happens all the time, doesn’t it? Many think that all religions are the same—“They all teach people to be good, but they are all made up by men.” Even though God has revealed Himself in creation, people refuse to see it in their sinful rebellion against their Maker to escape their accountability to God. God has also revealed Himself in His Word, but people dismiss it as foolishness or a stumbling block. When things get bad, it feels like God is absent or distant from us. But let us humble ourselves at such times and remember that our vision is near-sighted and narrow: we don’t see all that God is doing. A farmer may not see the germination process taking place underground. But he would be foolish to doubt it. If he did, what would be the point of farming? This is a good example of how God works—constant and efficacious even if out of our sight.
In the meantime, instead of getting discouraged and despairing, we can pray like Hezekiah, “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” (v. 19). The Lord, who is zealous for the glory of His name, will not fail to answer such prayers.