3.f. On what are you trusting?

2 Chronicles 32:9  After this, Sennacherib king of Assyria, who was besieging Lachish with all his forces, sent his servants to Jerusalem to Hezekiah king of Judah and to all the people of Judah who were in Jerusalem, saying, “Thus says Sennacherib king of Assyria, ‘On what are you trusting, that you endure the siege in Jerusalem? Is not Hezekiah misleading you, that he may give you over to die by famine and by thirst, when he tells you, “The Lord our God will deliver us from the hand of the king of Assyria”? Has not this same Hezekiah taken away his high places and his altars and commanded Judah and Jerusalem, “Before one altar you shall worship, and on it you shall burn your sacrifices”? Do you not know what I and my fathers have done to all the peoples of other lands? Were the gods of the nations of those lands at all able to deliver their lands out of my hand? Who among all the gods of those nations that my fathers devoted to destruction was able to deliver his people from my hand, that your God should be able to deliver you from my hand? Now, therefore, do not let Hezekiah deceive you or mislead you in this fashion, and do not believe him, for no god of any nation or kingdom has been able to deliver his people from my hand or from the hand of my fathers. How much less will your God deliver you out of my hand!’”

And his servants said still more against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah. And he wrote letters to cast contempt on the Lord, the God of Israel, and to speak against him, saying, “Like the gods of the nations of the lands who have not delivered their people from my hands, so the God of Hezekiah will not deliver his people from my hand.” And they shouted it with a loud voice in the language of Judah to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten and terrify them, in order that they might take the city. And they spoke of the God of Jerusalem as they spoke of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands.

Then Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this and cried to heaven. And the Lord sent an angel, who cut off all the mighty warriors and commanders and officers in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he came into the house of his god, some of his own sons struck him down there with the sword. So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all his enemies, and he provided for them on every side. And many brought gifts to the Lord to Jerusalem and precious things to Hezekiah king of Judah, so that he was exalted in the sight of all nations from that time onward.

Contempt for God.  Disregard for God. Speaking against God. Disrespect toward God.  These are the actions of Sennacherib, king of Assyria.  Mocking God and His followers come from deep in a heart that has chosen to reject God and the testimonies of His creation.  Having power, influence, money, success, and a means to take what you want will occupy an empty and void heart.  Pride, greed, and arrogance will capture the mind, harden the heart, and deafen the ears to a point where eternity in Hell is your permanent future destination.  There is no redemption from Hell.  The choice of where we spend eternity is made while we live in these earthly bodies.  We don’t get a second chance once we are dead.  Our fate is determined by our heart, mind, and soul choice to either yield humbly before and to God, serving, following, honoring, obeying, and trusting Him, or by a choice to harden our heart, deafen our ears, and blind our eyes to Him and His worthiness of honor, glory, praise, worship, obedience, and trust.

Hezekiah and Isaiah, the prophet, were living day after day with the taunts from Sennacherib.  They heard and saw the effects this had on the people of Jerusalem.  The doubts, worry, anxiousness, and faint-hearted effects were all evident from this constant reproach from the king of Assyria and his army.  The people of Jerusalem had to have heard of all of the victories of this king, and it certainly did not help to have it repeated day after day by that very king.  They prayed and cried out to God because of this merciless, boastful, and arrogant king.  And like that, an angel of the Lord destroyed 185,000 warriors.  Overnight they were dead at the hand fo God.  Overnight judgment was made, the verdict declared, and the sentence carried out on this king and his mighty men.  Overnight the great distress, worry, and fear were taken away and replaced with joy, peace, and rest.  Such things are possible for God.  There is no limit to what He can do.  We will do well to live in humble service honoring, glorifying, worshiping, following, trusting, obeying, and relying on Jesus Christ.

187. O LORD, you have searched me and known me!

2 Kings 19:27  “But I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me. Because you have raged against me and your complacency has come into my ears, I will put my hook in your nose and my bit in your mouth, and I will turn you back on the way by which you came. “And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this.

“Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.”

And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place.

Psalms 139:1-11    O LORD, you have searched me and known me!  You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.  You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways.  Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O LORD, you know it altogether.  You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me.  Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it.  Where shall I go from your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from your presence?  If I ascend to heaven, you are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!  If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,  even there your hand shall lead me, and your right hand shall hold me.  If I say, “Surely the darkness shall cover me, and the light about me be night,”

Jeremiah 23:23-24    “Am I a God at hand, declares the LORD, and not a God far away?  Can a man hide himself in secret places so that I cannot see him? declares the LORD. Do I not fill heaven and earth? declares the LORD.

The King of Assyria was full of pride.  He brought to Hezekiah’s attention that all of the other lands he had conquered and that these kingdoms and their gods could do nothing to stop them.  We read God responding to Hezekiah’s prayer and Assyrian King Sennacherib pride.  God’s response; “I know your sitting down and your going out and coming in, and your raging against me”  Nothing is hidden from God and though the Assyrian King thought himself to be something God made it clear that He would put a hook in his nose and a bit in his mouth and lead him right back the same way he came.  Can you imagine being the King of Assyria and waking the next morning and 185,000 of your army is dead?  Sennacherib gave no thought to the one and only true God.  To him, the gods were all the same and have no power.

David knows God is everywhere and sees everything.  He proclaims God knows our thoughts from a long way off and that a word does not form on our tongue but what God does not know it already.  Knowing God this way builds our faith, trust, and reliance.  Knowing God is always present gives us hope, peace, joy, love, and courage to face whatever comes our way.  We have confidence that our God is in control and that “all things work together for the Good of those called by Him.

God is ever-present, all powerful, all knowing, and steadfast in His love for those who choose to humbly serve, honor, and obey.