In the Middle of Miraculous

Lord, I want you to answer my prayer so everything can settle back down.

You know, take me back to life when it was comfortable, when everything was humming along, nobody threatening. The principle is that God is not nearly as interested in delivering us as he is in developing us. And when you are desperately alone and your world is surrounded, the character of God is going to be developed by means of that crisis.

It doesn't make it easy, but it gives it purpose. When crisis hits, where do you turn? For many of us, panic sets in before we even think to pray. Hezekiah, a king largely forgotten today, faced an overwhelming crisis when the brutal Assyrian army surrounded Jerusalem. But instead of surrendering to fear, Hezekiah turned to the only one who could save them, God. This king's story shows us how to pray when everything around you is falling apart. It also reveals that faithfulness to God doesn't guarantee a life free from trouble. In fact, Hezekiah's faith led him right into greater trials. But what God did next was miraculous.

If you've ever felt surrounded by problems with no way out, today's message is just what you need to hear. What I love about Hezekiah's biography is the unfiltered way God delivers to us a number of issues and responses, problems, successes as we are given information about him. Issues where Hezekiah will succeed are, how do you pray when everyone around you is panicking? How do you live for God when it makes so little sense?

Or how to change a legacy of unfaithfulness and walk with God. In fact, his dad was so wicked, the nation refused to bury him in the cemetery of the kings. Now Hezekiah isn't perfect.

Nobody is. There are issues where he'll fail. God provides all of that and maybe all we do tonight is wet your appetite for you to go back and look this man up. We're going to touch down on just a few issues of his life in our study today. Let's begin at 2 Kings 18. We read, Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah, king of Israel, that Hezekiah, the son of Ahaz, king of Judah, became king. He was 25 years old when he became king, verse 2 tells us, and he reigned 29 years. Now notice 2 Kings 18 verse 3, and he did right in the sight of the Lord.

By the way, that's surprising news. Frankly, you would think that a 25-year-old who finds himself at the top of the food chain, or let's just bring it into our culture, at the top of a Fortune 500 company, who takes his father's place. He's watched his wicked father deny himself absolutely no pleasure. He has lived for himself. You would think now that his son, it would sort of be like father, like son. So when you read here that Hezekiah did right in the sight of the Lord, that's surprising news, but it's wonderful news. And that news, by the way, will spread throughout the kingdom to all of the people. You notice here how he destroys all of the false religious practices within his kingdom, and that means no matter how much money, no matter how much tradition, no matter how many buildings, no matter how many occupations involved, he destroys them. So you can rest assured then, early on in his biography, that he doesn't have any or at least many court officials, religious leaders, or maybe even family members that are cheering him on. So at the outset, let me draw an observation here as this biography begins to open up.

And it's this observation. The absence of a godly father does not eliminate the possibility of a godly son. Hezekiah never saw his father make a tough decision for the sake of doing what was right. He never saw that. He never had the privilege of hearing his father comment on the glory of the temple worship and how glorious it was. He never heard him mention anything of the prophet's sermon. And by the way, Isaiah was the prophet preaching during the days of his father.

Imagine that. The only thing Hezekiah probably ever heard his dad say about Isaiah would have been something disparaging or critical or negative or worse. So when you read here that Hezekiah did right in the sight of God, he was standing alone in many ways. Now he isn't going to just let people know he's in sympathy with the God of Israel. In verse 4, he orders a demolition team to break down all the false temples and the sacred places, these ungodly groves where all sorts of religious practice and immorality took place. He's getting rid of all of this.

And I want you to get this. He does something that no other king, no other king did before him. The middle part of verse 4. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made centuries earlier, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it.

You've got to be kidding. This goes all the way back to Numbers chapter 21. You remember the story? In that chapter, it's the story of Israel's unfaithfulness to God. God sends a plague, which is effectively fiery serpents into their midst. Moses cries out on their behalf and God instructs him to craft a serpent of bronze on a stick, a pole, and to raise it high and every Israelite that would look to that would be healed and live. Centuries later, Jesus Christ will reveal that that event in the Old Testament was a foreshadowing of the lifting up of his own body on the cross where he becomes the cure by becoming the disease. And everyone who looks to him is saved. That's in John chapter 3 and verse 14. Well, here we're told effectively that for 700 years, the people of Israel have kept this bronze serpent and by the time of the kings there was some sort of shrine to the serpent. People are burning incense to it. They have religious ceremonies, no doubt, pilgrimages, bowing and groveling and candles.

And I love this. Hezekiah effectively destroys 700 years of silly superstition because it is the nature of man to bow before something he can see, right? To grovel at the tangible and ignore the spiritual. Hezekiah is destroying a sacred cow.

He's just making barbecue out of it. Keep in mind this isn't going to make many friends, especially all the incense manufacturers and all those religious leaders parading around in their little, you know, robes probably with embroidered little serpents on the sleeves of their robes and all the little shrine builders and candle makers. Here is this 25-year-old king, the son of a wicked man who'd grown up surrounded by immorality and religious superstition. And when he takes the throne, what he does is he begins to bring the people back to God. I mean, just notice some of his personal testimony. In verse 5, we read that he trusted in the Lord.

I love that. That Hebrew word means that he leaned his entire weight on God. One author commented on this phrase by writing, he knew so little about God compared to what we know about God, but he leaned entirely on him even though he knew so little. Do we lean so little when we know so much?

Great challenge, isn't it? I happen to believe that there was little else in his court upon whom he could lean, so he leans with everything he has. On God, notice verse 6, it tells us at the outset of that verse that he clung to the Lord.

That's a word for a vine clinging to the trunk of a tree as it grows. He's hanging on like a man who's been tossed out of a boat, hanging on to a life preserver. And he doesn't just plan on surviving, right? He's determined to lead a reformation. Now, if you take your Bibles and turn forward to the book of 2 Chronicles, 2 Chronicles, just unstick those pages between chapter 29 and 31. I'll point out something in chapter 31, but I think for the sake of time, let me just quickly survey what starts here in chapter 29. What happens in 29, and you scan it if you'd like, but he reopens the doors of the temple.

That's highly significant. His father had closed the doors. He basically fires all the priests, ends the sacrificial system in Israel. Now, Hezekiah will open the doors. In the same chapter, he leads the Levites and the priests back into the city, sanctifies them, begins their ministry. Beginning over at verse 20 in chapter 29, he reinstitutes the prescribed worship. He reinstitutes as chapter 29 comes to an end, the sin offering. As chapter 30 opens, he reinstitutes, celebrates the national Passover feast. In fact, he will send out letters to the divided tribes representing Israel and Judah, and he invites all of them to set aside their warring hearts and celebrate again the feast of Passover in Jerusalem. As chapter 31 ends, Hezekiah is doing nothing less than restoring the people to the law of Moses and the worship of God. Now, I want you to drop down at verse 20 of chapter 31.

Notice this. Thus, Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, did everything I just quickly surveyed, and he did what was good, right, and true before the Lord is God. Isn't that a great testimony?

Would that be said of us? Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and he prospered. What a wonderful reformer king. So what in the world is God going to do to bless the sandals off this guy?

I mean, it's been years. The temple is humming. The worshippers are returning. I mean, how will God treat such a faithful and godly, wonderful king like Hezekiah? Well, let me show you how.

The very next verse, chapter 32 and verse 1, after these acts of faithfulness, Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came and invaded Judah and besieged the fortified cities. Wait. Maybe I'm missing something. Let me read that again.

You ought to underline that. After these acts of faithfulness, this pagan king comes and surrounds his city. He's going to surround the city. He plans to kill many of them and take the rest into bondage.

He demands unconditional surrender. Now, before we look briefly at his nation erupt in panic, sheer terror, which is understandable, let me make another observation from this man's biography. Maybe you've discovered the same thing is true in your own life.

Here it is. Trusting God in times of trouble does not eliminate the possibility of experiencing more trouble. In fact, greater trouble. Isn't that a wonderful truth?

Don't you just want to put that on your refrigerator? You could say it another way. Walking with God doesn't make your walk with God easier.

It may make it more difficult. Now, things haven't been easy for Hezekiah. Everything we talked about made him a list of enemies. No doubt there would have been threats on this man's life. His family wasn't happy with him. All of the industries he put out of business.

He finally cleans it up. Everything's humming along, and now God responds by allowing this Assyrian, this butcher of a king named Sennacherib to surround his city. In fact, Sennacherib is going to boast openly in a public letter that he wants the people to read. Look over at verse 10 of 2 Chronicles chapter 32.

Look there. Thus says Sennacherib, king of Assyria. In other words, this is what the letter says. On what are you trusting that you are remaining in Jerusalem under siege? In other words, why aren't you surrendering? Is not Hezekiah misleading you to give yourselves over to die by hunger and by thirst?

In other words, I'm going to starve you out. Is he saying to you, the Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria? Has not the same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and said to Judah and Jerusalem, you shall worship before one altar and on it you shall burn incense? Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of the lands? Were the gods of the nations of the lands able at all to deliver their land from my hand? Verse 15, now therefore do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you like this and do not believe him for no god of any nation or kingdom was able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less shall your God deliver you from my hand? This reminds you of David and Goliath, doesn't it? Here this man is with his massive army with all the strength and power on his side physically.

He comes in and he delivers this boast. The people are terrified. If you explore this scene, the city officials are going to beg Hezekiah to surrender. Look, king, there's no way we're going to get out of this alive.

Let's open the city gates, go into bondage, at least we'll be alive. Let's do what seems logical and here Hezekiah is stuck in the middle. He's stuck in the middle between doing what's right and trusting God and doing what seems logical and all around him is sheer panic but he does do something. In fact if you look at verse 20 the implication is that he turns to praying and only two men are interested in praying, the prophet Isaiah and the king Hezekiah. Before I point out a thing or two here, I have to tell you if I could travel back to certain scenes in the Old Testament this would be one of them. The record of 2 Kings tells us that he takes the letter and he's going to take it into the temple.

In fact, go back to 2 Kings and we'll stay there for the remainder of these three hours. 2 Kings 19, we're told he goes alone at this point here. Isaiah has prayed with him.

He goes now here alone into the temple. He takes this letter from the Assyrian king. Look at verse 14. He takes the letter. The Hebrew word by the way is plural. It indicates there are several leather or papyrus scrolls we're not told and he goes into the temple and notice he spreads all of it out before the Lord.

I love that expression. He spread it out before the Lord. He lays it all out there as if to say look Lord I want to make sure you can see each page. Isn't it true that we most often lay the pages of our panic before other people? Isn't it true we so often take the scroll of our suffering and lay it before our friends and family?

Nothing wrong with that but watch him here. He's desperately alone. He's spreading this out before his living Lord as if to say Lord you got to see this for yourself. You've got to read these blasphemies against your holy name.

You want to know how to pray when you're alone? Verse 15. He says oh Lord the God of Israel who are enthroned above the cherubim you are the God you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth incline your ear oh Lord and hear.

Open your eyes oh Lord and see. Listen to the words of Sennacherib which he has sent to reproach the living God. Verse 19. Now oh Lord our God I pray deliver us from his hand so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone oh Lord our God.

It's a great prayer. The next few verses tell us that Isaiah shows up and effectively tells Hezekiah that God heard his prayer. God can read.

He read the letters. As the chapter ends notice verse 35 we're told that the angel of the Lord goes out and kills 185,000 Assyrian soldiers in the night without waking anybody up. Hezekiah might have felt like he was stuck in the middle but in reality he was really in the middle of the miraculous. God was at work. God would intervene according to his purposes and they would be miraculously spared.

If I could draw two more observations from his biography it would be these. Our motive in praying is as important to God as our need. You know as Hezekiah's prayer is echoing around the temple courtyard his motive is abundantly clear. Go back to 2 Kings chapter 19 verse 19 again. Now oh Lord our God I pray you see that verse 19 follow along carefully. Deliver us from his hand so that I will have a kingdom to rule. So that my life will settle back down so that we can get back to life as we once knew it.

Awake. Deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone oh Lord are God. Why do we pray? To God the motive is as important as the need.

It's kind of convicting isn't it? I don't know about you but that just kind of clears the fog on motive. What are we really wanting from God? Lord I want you to answer my prayer so everything can settle back down. Take me back to life when it was comfortable when everything was humming along. Nobody threatening.

Nobody out of line. The principle is that God is not nearly as interested in delivering us as he is in developing us. And when you are desperately alone and your world is surrounded the character of God is going to be developed by means of that crisis. Doesn't make it easy but it gives it purpose.

In fact the deeper the crisis the more development will take place. The second observation I want to make from this man's crisis of faith and trust. Not only is our motive in praying as important as our prayer requests. Secondly prayer is not a quick transaction.

It is close interaction. For most of us and most of the time we view prayer as a transaction between us and God. We go to him with our needs. He responds by delivering the answer. The trouble comes when the transaction doesn't work from his end of the bargain.

We've delivered the details and nothing is delivered. George McDonald wrote this a generation or two ago. What if the main object in God's idea of prayer is a supplying of our great and endless need of himself?

Hunger may drive the runaway child home and he may or may not be fed at once but he needs his parents more than his dinner. Communion with God is the one need of the soul beyond all other needs and prayer is the beginning of that communion. The biography of Hezekiah might be more like yours than you might at first imagine. Faithfulness to God is not inherited. It's a blessing if you have it.

It's not required. Every so often as we've observed in this biography when God demonstrates his power, his provision, we rediscover at times. You've seen it happen in your own life. You're stuck in the middle and then God does do something.

He does respond in a way that you can't miss it. Those aren't everyday occurrences but when they do you pause. You're reminded that you are actually stuck in the middle of the miraculous. God was at work. We just miss it.

We miss it. So when everyone around you panics, you pray, lay it out before the Lord, he's already at work, and that response or answer will arrive when he wants it to and more than likely in the meantime there are catfish involved somewhere. But as we trust him, as we demonstrate faith in him, as we make the right decision in spite of people around us, in some way, maybe big, more than likely small, the kingdoms of our world around us see in us the truth, the fact, the reality. They come to know that he alone is God. May it be.

That was Steven Davey and this is Wisdom for the Heart. Hezekiah's story reminds you to pray even when everything seems hopeless. God is at work in ways you can't see and sometimes you're right in the middle of the miraculous without even realizing it. Today's message is called In the Middle of the Miraculous and it comes from Steven's series Forgotten Lives Remembered Truths.

There's one more message to go in this series and that'll be next time. Did you know you could receive updates and encouragement from Steven right into your phone or inbox? It's easy to sign up. Just visit wisdomonline.org forward slash email and choose how you'd like to stay connected. Sign up today and join us here next time. Hey, it's Steven. Hey, it's Steven.