Isaiah 37 - 39, Psalm 76 (25th July) - Ivy

Isaiah 37

Verse12-13 “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? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, or of Hena or Ivvah?"

What a statement of faith! It’s a statement spoken with such boldness and confidence!

After Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, Isaiah brought God’s message against Sennacherib king of Assyria go Hezekiah. The Lord ended His message with ‘I will defend this city (Israel) and save it, for my sake and for the sake of David my servant!’

Don’t you think we have such a faithful God? Aren’t our God a promise-keeper?

Verse 36-37 ‘Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there.’

Can you imagine how king of Assyria felt when he woke and his man just died? Just verse just affirmed the fact that our God fight for His faithful ones. Note that Jonah went to Ninevah later.

Isaiah 38

From this chapter, we can see that Hezekiah had a close relationship with God. Hezekiah is also a man of faith. He refuse to accept Isaiah’s prophesy over him that he will not recover. Instead, he went faced the wall (mian bi si guo?) and pray to God. What a man of faith! God probably saw his faith and granted him another 15 years! What a beautiful song of praise Hezekiah sang to God!

Isaiah 39

After Hezekiah’s recovery, Merodach-Baladan son of Baladan king of Babylon went to see Hezekiah with gifts and well wishes. Why did Hezekiah showed EVERYTHING to him?? Why did Hezekiah showed him the all the treasures including what his fore fathers left for him? I felt that probably pride got into the way!

After Isaiah reaveled God’s word to him, Hezekiah said "The word of the LORD you have spoken is good," Hezekiah replied. For he thought, "There will be peace and security in my lifetime." Hezekiah may have gotten conceited and thinks that God is always on his side. Yes, God is always with us and always faithful. However if we sin against Him, there are consequences to face. The consequence of showing the treasures of his fore fathers to the foreigners is destruction to Hezekiah’s kingdom.


Psalm 76
Can anyone enlighten me why suddenly jump to Psalms?

The only thing I can relate is this verse 5

‘Valiant men lie plundered, they sleep their last sleep; not one of the warriors can lift his hands.’

Just like what happened in Isaiah37: 36-37 ‘Then the angel of the LORD went out and put to death a hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp. When the people got up the next morning—there were all the dead bodies!’

The Psalmist is so right!

Conclusion:
The rulers of the earth ought to fear the Lord. If all the rulers of the earth feared God, then we probably won’t need weapons. Why? If all we need to do is pray and God will afflict our enemies, that meant we don’t even need to fight physically?

Let’s not return evil with evil. Would you trust the Lord to fight for you today?