2 Kings  19:1-19  (CLICK HERE FOR BIBLE VERSES)

Hi GAMErs,

Today’s passage is 2 Kings 19:1-19.  As usual, I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.  See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit’s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.  Let’s go!

2 Kings 19:1-4 (NIV)
1  When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the LORD.
2  He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
3  They told him, “This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the point of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.
4  It may be that the LORD your God will hear all the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that he will rebuke him for the words the LORD your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”

On verses 1-4:   King Hezekiah’s officials deliver Assyria’s intimidating message to Hezekiah.  In response, Hezekiah does two wise things: (1) he pours his heart out to God, spending time in His presence (v1); and (2) he seeks counsel and support from the prophet Isaiah (v2-4).

What can we learn from this?  Whenever you are under great pressure or receive bad news, the two best things you can do is to spend time in God’s presence and seek godly counsel and support.

2 Kings 19:5-13 (NIV)
5  When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah,
6  Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the LORD says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard–those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
7  Listen! I am going to put such a spirit in him that when he hears a certain report, he will return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'”
8  When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
9  Now Sennacherib received a report that Tirhakah, the Cushite king [of Egypt], was marching out to fight against him. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah with this word:
10  “Say to Hezekiah king of Judah: Do not let the god you depend on deceive you when he says, ‘Jerusalem will not be handed over to the king of Assyria.’
11  Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
12  Did the gods of the nations that were destroyed by my forefathers deliver them: the gods of Gozan, Haran, Rezeph and the people of Eden who were in Tel Assar?
13  Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?”

On verses 5-13:  Isaiah gives Hezekiah an encouraging, reassuring message from the Lord, promising that the Lord will cut down Assyria’s king Sennacherib.  Shortly after that, Hezekiah receives a letter from King Sennacherib trying to shake Hezekiah’s confidence in God’s Word and trying to show that Judah is no different from all the other nations that Assyria has laid to waste.

What can we learn from this?  Sometimes you will be faced with two opposing voices and two opposite messages about the same situation.  You need to have the discernment to listen to the Lord’s voice above and beyond any other voices that you may hear.  And when you find that other voice particularly distracting, do what Hezekiah does in verse 14.

2 Kings 19:14-19 (NIV)
14  Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD.
15  And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
16  Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
17  “It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
18  They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s hands.
19  Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.”

On verses 14-19:  After Hezekiah reads Sennacherib’s discouraging letter, he spreads it before the Lord and invites God to hear and intervene.  While not denying that Assyria has been unstoppable against other nations, Hezekiah prays to the Lord and says, “You alone are God over all kingdoms of the earth” (v15).  He asks the Lord to deliver him and his nation (v19).

What can we learn from this?  No matter how great a challenge or crisis you may be facing today, always remember that God is greater, that He alone is God over all the earth.

Father, like Hezekiah, when I am under pressure, may I focus on what You say more than what my enemy or my circumstances say.   May I turn to You and always remember that You are greater than any challenge I face.  Thank You that just as You have faithfully delivered me before, You will faithfully deliver me again.  In Jesus’ name, AMEN!

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