{"id":35769,"date":"2025-05-09T22:00:47","date_gmt":"2025-05-10T05:00:47","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/?p=35769"},"modified":"2025-04-29T16:12:07","modified_gmt":"2025-04-29T23:12:07","slug":"2-kings-19_1-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/2-kings-19_1-19\/","title":{"rendered":"2 Things to Do When You\u2019re Under Pressure"},"content":{"rendered":"

2 Kings\u00a0 19:1-19\u00a0 (CLICK HERE FOR\u00a0BIBLE VERSES)<\/a><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 19:1-19.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!<\/p>\n

2 Kings 19:1-4 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n1\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the\u00a0LORD.
\n2\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
\n3\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They 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.
\n4\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0It may be that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your 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\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses\u00a01-4:\u00a0 \u00a0King Hezekiah\u2019s officials deliver Assyria\u2019s intimidating message to Hezekiah.\u00a0 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).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Whenever you are under great pressure or receive bad news, the two best things you can do is to spend time in God\u2019s presence and seek godly counsel and support.<\/strong><\/p>\n

2 Kings 19:5-13 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n5\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When King Hezekiah’s officials came to Isaiah,
\n6\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Isaiah said to them, “Tell your master, ‘This is what the\u00a0LORD\u00a0says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard–those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
\n7\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Listen! 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.'”
\n8\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0When the field commander heard that the king of Assyria had left Lachish, he withdrew and found the king fighting against Libnah.
\n9\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now 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:
\n10\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“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.’
\n11\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Surely you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all the countries, destroying them completely. And will you be delivered?
\n12\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Did 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?
\n13\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?”
\n<\/em>
\nOn verses 5-13:\u00a0 Isaiah gives Hezekiah an encouraging, reassuring message from the Lord, promising that the Lord will cut down Assyria\u2019s king Sennacherib.\u00a0 Shortly after that, Hezekiah receives a letter from King Sennacherib trying to shake Hezekiah\u2019s confidence in God\u2019s Word and trying to show that Judah is no different from all the other nations that Assyria has laid to waste.<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0Sometimes you will be faced with two opposing voices and two opposite messages about the same situation.\u00a0 You need to have the discernment to listen to the Lord\u2019s voice above and beyond any other voices that you may hear.<\/strong>\u00a0 And when you find that other voice particularly distracting, do what Hezekiah does in verse 14.<\/p>\n

2 Kings 19:14-19 (NIV)<\/strong>
\n14\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the\u00a0LORD\u00a0and spread it out before the\u00a0LORD.
\n15\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0And Hezekiah prayed to the\u00a0LORD: “O\u00a0LORD, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth.
\n16\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Give ear, O\u00a0LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O\u00a0LORD, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God.
\n17\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0“It is true, O\u00a0LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands.
\n18\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0They 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.
\n19\u00a0<\/sup>\u00a0Now, O\u00a0LORD\u00a0our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O\u00a0LORD, are God.”<\/em><\/p>\n

On verses 14-19:\u00a0 After Hezekiah reads Sennacherib\u2019s discouraging letter, he spreads it before the Lord and invites God to hear and intervene.\u00a0 While not denying that Assyria has been unstoppable against other nations, Hezekiah prays to the Lord and says, \u201cYou alone are God over all kingdoms of the earth\u201d (v15).\u00a0 He asks the Lord to deliver him and his nation (v19).<\/p>\n

What can we learn from this?\u00a0\u00a0No 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.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Father, like Hezekiah, when I am under pressure, may I focus on what You say more than what my enemy or my circumstances say.\u00a0\u00a0 May I turn to You and always remember that You are greater than any challenge I face.\u00a0 Thank You that just as You have faithfully delivered me before, You will faithfully deliver me again.\u00a0 In Jesus\u2019 name, AMEN!<\/em><\/p>\n

copyright \u00a9 2022 Justin Lim. All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<\/div><\/section><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Hi GAMErs,<\/p>\n

Today\u2019s passage is 2 Kings 19:1-19.\u00a0 As usual,\u00a0I encourage you to open your Bible and read the passage yourself first.\u00a0 See what you can glean with the Holy Spirit\u2019s help. Then read the GAME sharing below.\u00a0 Let’s go!\u00a0<\/p>\n

2 Kings 19:1-4 (NIV)
\n1\u00a0\u00a0When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the\u00a0LORD.
\n2\u00a0\u00a0He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz.
\n3\u00a0\u00a0They 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.
\n4\u00a0\u00a0It may be that the\u00a0LORD\u00a0your 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\u00a0LORD\u00a0your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives.”
\n\u00a0
\nOn verses\u00a01-4:\u00a0 \u00a0King Hezekiah\u2019s officials deliver Assyria\u2019s intimidating message to Hezekiah.\u00a0 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).\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35771,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-gametime-sharing"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35769"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35769\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35772,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35769\/revisions\/35772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35771"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ocbf.ca\/2019\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}