Who is Hezekiah?
Isaiah 36-37 (read Isaiah 37:14-20)
January 7, 2024
I told you a few weeks ago that you can really
Divide the book of Isaiah up into two main parts.
• Chapters 1-35, which deal with the Assyrian Invasion.
• Chapters 40-66, which look to the future and the Babylonian Invasion.
Between those two parts we get two historical narrative stories.
Ch. 36-39 give us two stories about events in the life of King Hezekiah.
• Both stories give a depiction of faith.
• Both stories give a depiction of salvation and deliverance.
• But while one story brings a promise of victory the other brings a promise of exile.
One is positive and one is negative.
The first story revolves around Hezekiah and the Assyrian invasion.
• We see Hezekiah’s faith.
• We see God’s deliverance.
• We see the great victory that God orchestrates for His own glory.
The second story revolves around Hezekiah and his sickness.
• We see Hezekiah’s faith.
• We see God’s deliverance.
• But this time Hezekiah in pride seizes the glory and it brings a punishment from God.
The stories are actually told out of chronological order.
The sickness happened first, and then the invasion.
But Isaiah uses them in the order that works best for his work.
This narrative serves as a bridge.
The first story looks backward to the Assyrian invasion
And reveals the necessity of faith.
The second story looks forward to the Babylonian invasion
And reveals the danger of pride.
But both stories serve to teach us some very important truths.
The necessity of faith
The description of faith
The purpose of faith
What Isaiah has been teaching us through his preaching,
He will NOW ILLUSTRATE in the life of Hezekiah.
In order to begin this 4 chapter study I think it will be helpful to do a little historical and biographical study on the man Hezekiah.
It may help you in this story
• If you know who he is, and what he faced, and how he responded.
• As you seek to identify moments of faith in your life.
So let’s do a biographical and historical walk through the life of Hezekiah.
You may remember when we studied Hezekiah back in 2 Kings
We called him, “The King Who Trusted God”
This is really the only distinction that you can give him for:
2 Kings 18:5 “He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.”
It doesn’t mean that he wasn’t without his hiccups,
But this was a great King.
SO LET’S TAKE A LOOK AT HIS LIFE.
• Hezekiah is born in 740BC
• His father is the wicked King Ahaz.
It is important to remind you of his father’s blunders
As you will see how they played an impact in Hezekiah’s life.
• Ahaz was the king when Isaiah’s began his ministry.
(Remember Isaiah received his calling in the year Uzziah died)
The threat in the days of Ahaz
Was the alliance between Israel and Syria
Who wanted to come down into Judah and overthrow Ahaz.
You may remember when Isaiah went out to meet Ahaz
To assure him that this would not happen.
Isaiah 7:3-9 “Then the LORD said to Isaiah, “Go out now to meet Ahaz, you and your son Shear-jashub, at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field, and say to him, ‘Take care and be calm, have no fear and do not be fainthearted because of these two stubs of smoldering firebrands, on account of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and the son of Remaliah. ‘Because Aram, with Ephraim and the son of Remaliah, has planned evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrorize it, and make for ourselves a breach in its walls and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,” thus says the Lord GOD: “It shall not stand nor shall it come to pass. “For the head of Aram is Damascus and the head of Damascus is Rezin (now within another 65 years Ephraim will be shattered, so that it is no longer a people), and the head of Ephraim is Samaria and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you will not believe, you surely shall not last.”’”
• I hope you remember that God then told Ahaz to ask for a sign, but Ahaz refused.
But take note that Isaiah met him “at the end of the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the fuller’s field”
That is significant because we read here in Isaiah 36
(2) “And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a large army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool on the highway of the fuller’s field.”
You’re going to see Hezekiah get a chance to succeed
In the exact location where his father failed.
Ahaz wouldn’t trust God,
Instead Ahaz reached out to the King of Assyria and asked him for help.
2 Kings 16:5-9 “Then Rezin king of Aram and Pekah son of Remaliah, king of Israel, came up to Jerusalem to wage war; and they besieged Ahaz, but could not overcome him. At that time Rezin king of Aram recovered Elath for Aram, and cleared the Judeans out of Elath entirely; and the Arameans came to Elath and have lived there to this day. So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son; come up and deliver me from the hand of the king of Aram and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are rising up against me.” Ahaz took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasuries of the king’s house, and sent a present to the king of Assyria. So the king of Assyria listened to him; and the king of Assyria went up against Damascus and captured it, and carried the people of it away into exile to Kir, and put Rezin to death.”
So take special note again there.
When the threat became really big,
The plan of Ahaz was to pay the King of Assyria.
Now for Ahaz the plan initially worked
Tiglath-pileser did go up and overthrow Syria.
• Ahaz then went to meet Tiglath-pileser.
• He saw his altar and his gods.
• Ahaz gave orders to replace God’s altar with an altar to Assyria’s gods.
• Ahaz led the people away from the Lord.
Ahaz was a wicked King.
He was an apostate King.
And Hezekiah is watching all of that.
Hezekiah would follow
One of the most wicked Kings to ever reign.
Now, if you read about Hezekiah in the Kings
It can be a little confusing regarding THE TIMING OF HIS REIGN.
2 Kings 18:1-2 “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 twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother’s name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.”
That of course makes it sound like that at the age of 25 he became king
And then reigned 29 years. And that is not wrong.
The confusing part comes a little later in 2 Kings when we read:
2 Kings 18:9-10 “Now in the fourth year of King Hezekiah, which was the seventh year of Hoshea son of Elah king of Israel, Shalmaneser king of Assyria came up against Samaria and besieged it. At the end of three years they captured it; in the sixth year of Hezekiah, which was the ninth year of Hoshea king of Israel, Samaria was captured.”
• That says it was Hezekiah’s 4th year that Assyria invaded Israel
• And Hezekiah’s 6th year that Assyria deported Israel.
And so our normal thought process is that Hezekiah must have been 29 when the invasion occurred and 31 when it was over.
But that is NOT what happened.
When scripture says he became King at the age of 25
• It means at age 25 he became the sole monarch in Judah.
• And from that point he reigned 29 more years
• Even though the last 11 was as a co-regent with his son Manassah.
Hezekiah actually started to reign as a coregent with Ahaz
At the age of 10 and he reigned with Ahaz for 14 years.
• Hezekiah was 13 years old when he saw Israel come under attack.
• Hezekiah was 16 years old when he saw them deported by Assyria.
And during that time he saw his father abandon the Lord
And place all his hope in Assyria as well.
It would leave a mark on Hezekiah.
• He would rightly attribute the fall of Israel to their abandonment of the Lord
• And he would rightly see Assyria as an enemy not to be trusted.
In short, he was in stark disagreement with the policies of his father.
And when Hezekiah is 25 years old, his dad Ahaz dies
And he becomes the sole reigning king in Judah.
• And his heart for the Lord becomes immediately apparent.
• It will be 14 years before Assyria invades Judah.
• And for Hezekiah that is 14 years of genuine reform for the nation.
Hezekiah had the heart of a reformer
Before we ever even conceived of the reformation.
TURN TO: 2 CHRONICLES 29
You get 3 chapters here just chalked full of the reform which Hezekiah brought to the Judah his father had nearly turned fully pagan.
Let me just give you the highlights of his reign here.
It is impressive.
I want to show you 7 realities about Hezekiah.
• It’s really just biographical about him, but I think it will help us as we get into the narrative that Isaiah has preserved for us.
#1 HE IS A REFORMING KING
1 Chronicles 29:1-36
We’re going to kind of skip through some of this because it is quite lengthy,
But start just with the overall commendation of his life.
Just as we read a moment ago in 2 Kings,
Hezekiah is regarded in Scripture as a good King.
(29:2-4) “He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done. In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them. He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.”
Ahaz had done everything he could to close down the temple,
Hezekiah’s first act in the first month of his sole reign
Was to open the temple back up.
He is going to turn this nation
Back to the worship of Yahweh.
He is determined to clean out all of the pagan filth that his father brought into the temple area.
(29:5) “Then he said to them, “Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place.”
So all of that pagan paraphernalia that Ahaz introduced,
Hezekiah has it all cleaned out.
Hezekiah saw that as a direct reason for God’s wrath
Upon the nation of Israel and Judah and he set out to correct it.
(29:10) “Now it is in my heart to make a covenant with the LORD God of Israel, that His burning anger may turn away from us.”
That tells you a great deal about the driving passion of this king.
HE SET OUT TO APPEASE GOD.
By the end of chapter 29 you see that
• Hezekiah has reinstated the sin offering (24)
• And the burnt offering (27)
• And he has reinstituted the order of worship according to the Psalms.
(29:30) “Moreover, King Hezekiah and the officials ordered the Levites to sing praises to the LORD with the words of David and Asaph the seer. So they sang praises with joy, and bowed down and worshiped.”
So Hezekiah has been reading Leviticus and the Psalms
And he is doing everything he can
To reform the nation back to its biblical roots.
That’s reformation stuff if you’ve ever heard it.
God is using Hezekiah to bring about a reformation in Judah.
(29:36) “Then Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced over what God had prepared for the people, because the thing came about suddenly.”
No one can criticize him for jumping in and moving quickly to reform the nation.
BUT HEZEKIAH IS NOT CONTENT with only the nation of Judah worshiping God.
• When he was 16 (9 years ago) he watched as the northern kingdom was totally deported for failing to worship God.
He also believed that despite the Assyrian rule,
• That northern kingdom was still part of God’s promised land
• And the refugees who had managed to escape exile and remain there were still God’s chosen people.
Hezekiah believed that those northern refugees also needed to return to the Lord so he reaches out to them.
And we learn A SECOND THING about him.
A Reforming King
#2 HE IS A GOSPEL EVANGELIST
1 Chronicles 30:1-12
(30:1) “Now Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.”
That’s devotion.
• It’s not just about getting his own house in order,
• Hezekiah demonstrates missionary zeal for all the land of Israel.
He knows that the Passover is for all of God’s people
And it is in his heart to see it reinstated
Even with his brothers from the northern kingdom.
And just look at THE LETTER he wrote, it’s great!
(30:6-9) “The couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah with the letters from the hand of the king and his princes, even according to the command of the king, saying, “O sons of Israel, return to the LORD God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, that He may return to those of you who escaped and are left from the hand of the kings of Assyria. “Do not be like your fathers and your brothers, who were unfaithful to the LORD God of their fathers, so that He made them a horror, as you see. “Now do not stiffen your neck like your fathers, but yield to the LORD and enter His sanctuary which He has consecrated forever, and serve the LORD your God, that His burning anger may turn away from you. “For if you return to the LORD, your brothers and your sons will find compassion before those who led them captive and will return to this land. For the LORD your God is gracious and compassionate, and will not turn His face away from you if you return to Him.”
That isn’t just political, that’s prophetic.
He has all but filled the pulpit here
• Calling the survivors to learn from the judgment of God
• To repent of their sin
• To seek the mercy and favor of God
• Which Hezekiah says God will surely give you.
He’s not just a steady king, he’s a full-blown gospel preacher.
Hezekiah is leading his own reformation right there in Jerusalem.
A Reforming King, A Gospel Evangelist
#3 HE IS A FAITHFUL INTERCESSOR
2 Chronicles 30:13-20
When you read the chapter you find that
They weren’t able to pull off the Passover by the first month
As it was prescribed in Exodus to do.
They also weren’t able
To purify themselves according to the customs of Moses.
And the chronicler reveals in verse 15 that the “the priests and the Levits were ashamed.”
It was clear that they felt that Hezekiah
Had issued a hasty Passover which was being celebrated at the wrong time and by people who were not fit to partake.
IN FACT, the Scripture indicates (just as we read in 1 Corinthians) that because they had done it wrong God had inflicted the people will illness.
But notice what Hezekiah does:
(30:18-20) “For a multitude of the people, even many from Ephraim and Manasseh, Issachar and Zebulun, had not purified themselves, yet they ate the Passover otherwise than prescribed. For Hezekiah prayed for them, saying, “May the good LORD pardon everyone who prepares his heart to seek God, the LORD God of his fathers, though not according to the purification rules of the sanctuary.” So the LORD heard Hezekiah and healed the people.”
Hezekiah goes before God on behalf of the people.
• He sees their illness,
• He understands the guilt,
• And he goes to God on their behalf.
He is interceding for them in their guilt
And God answers his prayer and heals the people.
Hezekiah emphasized the heart over the ritual
• And prayed that God would heal everyone who prepared their heart,
• Even if their body wasn’t ceremonial clean and God honored that.
This is the kind of King you want on the throne.
A Reforming King, A Gospel Evangelist, A Faithful Intercessor
#4 HE IS AN ENCOURAGING SHEPHERD
2 Chronicles 30:21-22
Hezekiah then addressed those priests and Levites
Who were ashamed of the Passover they were conducting.
They were disillusioned and probably a little upset
That it was being done the way it was.
But look at what Hezekiah does.
(30:22) “Then Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good insight in the things of the LORD. So they ate for the appointed seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the LORD God of their fathers.”
Hezekiah goes to those priests
Who had been asked to operate outside of their comfort zone
He is able to encourage them in regard to their conviction,
But also in regard to their willingness to serve.
Now he’s not operating as a king or an evangelist or a priest,
There is operating in A PASTORAL ROLE.
He’s encouraging, he’s building up, he’s promoting the unity of the body.
A Reforming King, A Gospel Evangelist, A Faithful Intercessor, An Encouraging Shepherd
#5 HE IS A DEVOTED WORSHIPER
2 Chronicles 30:23-27
Once Hezekiah has everyone gratefully participating in the Passover with humble hearts, Hezekiah joins the worship.
(30:24) “For Hezekiah king of Judah had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 7,000 sheep, and the princes had contributed to the assembly 1,000 bulls and 10,000 sheep; and a large number of priests consecrated themselves.”
Now we add “Devoted Worshiper” to his resume.
• He’s not exploiting the people…
• He’s not just sitting back and giving orders…
• Hezekiah is right in the middle of the worship of Yahweh
• And he is giving of himself and inspiring others to do the same.
HEZEKIAH IS LEADING A TRUE REFORMATION.
And look at the effect it has on the nation.
(30:26) “So there was great joy in Jerusalem, because there was nothing like this in Jerusalem since the days of Solomon the son of David, king of Israel.”
They hadn’t had a time of Passover and worship like this
Since Solomon was on the throne. (215 years if you’re curious)
Could you imagine if we got a president in office here who turned back the spiritual dial and convictions of our nation back 215 years?
• If all of a sudden we returned to the spiritual convictions of our forefathers from
1819.
• James Monroe was president in 1819, the last of the founding fathers.
• This is a remarkable reformation that is occurring.
The Reformation is Evident
(31:1) “Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah, broke the pillars in pieces, cut down the Asherim and pulled down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, as well as in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the sons of Israel returned to their cities, each to his possession.”
They didn’t just pull down the idols in Judah,
They went up into the northern kingdom and destroyed those idols too.
This is reformation!
This is revival!
When you get further into chapter 31
• You find that Hezekiah starts allocating provisions for the ongoing of the burnt offering from his own private means
• And he reinstitutes the tithe among all of Judah for the compensation of the priests in their duties.
The people bring so much in that it has to be pilled up in heaps outside
Until Hezekiah commands them to build store rooms to hold it all.
(31:11-12) “Then Hezekiah commanded them to prepare rooms in the house of the LORD, and they prepared them. They faithfully brought in the contributions and the tithes and the consecrated things; and Conaniah the Levite was the officer in charge of them and his brother Shimei was second.”
(Now just put an asterisk by this act, it’s going to be of importance later)
But the point here is that Hezekiah is working to turn Judah into a functioning state of worship towards God.
(31:20-21) “Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God. 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 prospered.”
You just can’t say enough about all the reforms he has brought about
In a nation that his father nearly turned completely pagan.
• It was 14 years of great reform.
• It was 14 years of revival.
• It was 14 years of turning Judah and Israel back to its spiritual roots.
You just can’t question his heart or his devotion to God.
He is out to satisfy God
And to turn His wrath away from the people of Judah.
And then the biggest year of his life occurs.
701 BC
#6 HE IS A SINFUL HUMAN
Isaiah 38-39
Hezekiah is 39 years old and he faces the crisis of his life.
(I told you the narrative is not in chronological order)
FIRST, he gets a sickness and God tells him to put his house in order because he is going to die.
• It may even be that God is going to spare him from witnessing the Assyrian invasion.
• But he prays and God heals him.
GOD THEN TESTS HIM
• By sending Merodach-baladan from Babylon to him
• And Hezekiah commits a great blunder (as you will see),
• He boasts of all his great treasures and storehouses.
2 Chronicles 32:31
“Even in the matter of the envoys of the rulers of Babylon, who sent to him to inquire of the wonder that had happened in the land, God left him alone only to test him, that He might know all that was in his heart.”
That’s why I told you to put an asterisk by that event where he built storehouses.
It is apparent that Hezekiah was proud of himself
And all that he accomplished in Jerusalem
And he determined to show out a little.
His act of pride displeased God
• It brought about a promise from God that his reforms would not last,
• But that his own sons would rebel against his work
• And lead Judah into exile in Babylon…which they did.
But as you’ll see Hezekiah isn’t too bothered.
Isaiah 39:8 “Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, “The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good.” For he thought, “For there will be peace and truth in my days.”
That didn’t turn out to as Hezekiah had envisioned at all.
He’s about to face the Assyrian invasion.
So we have a blunder from Hezekiah.
• He started out well in tremendous faith and devotion but he has allowed pride
to slip into his heart.
• He has become a man who has started to take credit for what was clearly a
work of God in the nation of Judah.
FOLLOWING THAT EVENT (I’m telling you it’s a big year)
Sennacherib invades Judah and starts sacking villages.
But as we saw as we studied Isaiah,
It was not Hezekiah’s immediate response to seek God.
He has fallen into pride and he’s pretty confident
That he can handle this on his own.
So Hezekiah begins MAKING PLANS for handling the Assyrian invasion.
(READ 32:1-8)
You see all the tactical plans Hezekiah makes.
• He deals with the water supply,
• He rebuilds the wall,
• He stockpiles weapons.
• He is ready for a fight.
And he encourages the people not to worry because God is with us!
It is really a great statement (7-8) “Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. “With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah.”
From the chronicler it really sounds like all is really good in Judah,
BUT THAT IS NOT EXACTLY THE CASE.
What becomes clear is that
God is bent on testing those words of Hezekiah
To find out if he really believes them or not.
Hezekiah has grown accustomed to relying on God to honor his plans,
But God is about to find out
If Hezekiah is viewing God as an end or as a means.
That is to say, Is Hezekiah only out to defend the glory of God or is he out to use God as a means to secure his own glory?
We were once convinced it was only God’s glory,
But that little visit from Babylon has caused some doubt.
NOT ONLY THAT,
• But even though the chronicler says the people listened to Hezekiah,
• Isaiah revealed that they weren’t all that devoted to what he said.
We actually read about this in Isaiah.
Isaiah 22:7-14 “Then your choicest valleys were full of chariots, And the horsemen took up fixed positions at the gate. And He removed the defense of Judah. In that day you depended on the weapons of the house of the forest, And you saw that the breaches In the wall of the city of David were many; And you collected the waters of the lower pool. Then you counted the houses of Jerusalem And tore down houses to fortify the wall. And you made a reservoir between the two walls For the waters of the old pool. But you did not depend on Him who made it, Nor did you take into consideration Him who planned it long ago. Therefore in that day the Lord GOD of hosts called you to weeping, to wailing, To shaving the head and to wearing sackcloth. Instead, there is gaiety and gladness, Killing of cattle and slaughtering of sheep, Eating of meat and drinking of wine: “Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we may die.” But the LORD of hosts revealed Himself to me, “Surely this iniquity shall not be forgiven you Until you die,” says the Lord GOD of hosts.”
Isaiah says that while they did what Hezekiah told them to do
In regard to all the fortifications they never trusted God.
God called them to repentance, and the people refused.
So you can see that the reform of Hezekiah,
Even the faith of Hezekiah is being put to the test.
He started well, but we’re about to find out if he’ll finish well.
And with that we come to ISAIAH’S FIRST NARRATIVE
Where we’ll learn one more thing about him.
#7 HE IS A GENUINE MAN OF FAITH
Isaiah 36-37
It is Isaiah 36-37
We’re going to see Hezekiah respond in great faith and we’ll learn:
• The necessity
• And the power
• And the purpose of faith.
• We’ll also see the kind of faith that God responds to.
Now we don’t have the time to get into that narrative this morning,
WE’LL START IT TONIGHT.
BUT THIS MORNING let’s draw a little encouragement from the life of Hezekiah.
We see Hezekiah clearly as a man who overcome a terrible fatherly influence.
• Maybe you had bad parents, but that is no excuse for you not trusting God.
We see Hezekiah clearly as a man who was devoted to the full ministry of God in his life.
• He was a King
• But he served as a reformer, and evangelist, an intercessor, a pastor, and a worshiper.
What is your title or occupation in life?
How can you fulfill those other roles in your life?
We see Hezekiah clearly as a man who fell to temptation and made some mistakes which brought consequences into his life.
Perhaps you can identify and have been reminded that
Even though we trust God, it is not our faith,
But rather it is His grace that has secured our victory.
Maybe you need to be reminded that
While salvation is through faith alone, it has always been by grace alone
And there is no room for boasting in any Christian life.
We also see (or will see) Hezekiah as a man who even though he had stumbled rose up and started trusting God again and it paid off.
So may you also be encouraged to know that
Even if you’ve had hiccups in your life, faith is still the answer.
You know how this story is going to end.
• You know how Hezekiah will once again turn to God
• How God will intervene and send Assyria away and ultimately annihilate their army and even kill Sennacherib himself.
• We’ve talked a lot about 185,000 dead Assyrians.
• You know how this story is going to end.
And so we are encouraged that
Even if our faith is lest than perfect, God still honors it.
How many times did our Lord reprimand the disciples as “ye of little faith”?
Certainly He longed to see their faith increase.
But did that mean that God refused to honor a little faith?
No, not at all.
Matthew 17:19-20 “Then the disciples came to Jesus privately and said, “Why could we not drive it out?” And He said to them, “Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.”
• That was after the disciples couldn’t cast out a demon.
• Jesus said it was because their faith was too small.
• All they needed was faith the size of a mustard seed.
In other words, it’s not so much the size of your faith
As it is the genuineness of it. They didn’t really believe.
God is looking for people who trust Him fully
• Even when they don’t feel like they have much to give
• And even if they may have failed Him in the past.
Maybe you had times where you did really well and trusted God greatly, but then you had a hiccup in your life.
Maybe pride toppled you like it toppled Hezekiah
And you wonder if you’ve blown it beyond repair.
• Well clearly that answer is “No”.
• Just start today and trust God again.
• Trust Him fully even if all you have is little faith.
Was that not true for Peter?
• Peter did well for a while and then he would have a hiccup.
• Ultimately he denied the Lord 3 times and yet Christ still reinstated him.
THE ENCOURAGEMENT IS CLEAR.
• Even if you’ve had a bad season of failing to trust God.
• Even if pride has caused you some miserable mistakes.
• Even if you have brought discipline into your life.
Start trusting God today for God responds to the faith of His people.
It is certainly true for Hezekiah.
So let me just encourage you this morning
TO DETERMINE TO TRUST GOD WHEREVER YOU ARE.
That starts with your soul.
• Will you hand it to Him?
• Will you entrust your eternity to Christ?
• Will you place it all on His work and ability?
If you are a believer then faith is the currency of your life.
• Trust Him with your finances.
• Trust Him with your health.
• Trust Him with your safety.
• Trust Him with your marriage.
• Trust Him with your kids.
His objective is to glorify Himself in your life
And this occurs as you obey Him through faith.
So this morning just take the simple encouragement to trust God
Tonight we’ll start looking at how that paid off for Hezekiah.
