Short Daily Devotions

TUESDAY, AUGUST 9, 2022

TEXT: 2 Kings 18:13-27

13. In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, King Sennacherib of Assyria came and fought against all the strong cities of Judah and took them.

14. Then King Hezekiah of Judah sent word to the king of Assyria at Lachish, saying, “I have done wrong; leave me. I will pay whatever you ask.” So the king of Assyria had Hezekiah king of Judah pay him silver and weighing as much as 300 men, and gold weighing as much as thirty men.

15. Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the store-rooms of the king’s house.

16. Then he cut the gold off the doors of the Lord’s house. He cut the gold from the sides of the door which King Hezekiah of Judah had covered with gold. And he gave it to the king of Assyria.

17. Then the king of Assyria sent Tartan, Rab-saris and Rabshakeh with a large army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. So they went up and came and stood by the ditch of the upper pool, which is on the road to the fuller’s field.

18. When they called to the king, Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah the son of Asaph came out to them. Eliakim was the head of the house. Shebnah was the writer, and Joah wrote down the things of the nation.

19. Rabshakeh said to them, “Say to Hezekiah, ‘This is what the great king of Assyria says. “What is this strength of heart that you have?”

20. You say with empty words, ‘I have wisdom and strength for war.’ On whom do you trust, that you have turned against me?

21. Look, you are trusting now in Egypt. It is a walking stick like a piece of broken river-grass. It will cut into a man’s hand if he rests on it. So is Pharaoh king of Egypt to all who trust in him.

22. You might tell me, ‘we trust in the Lord our God.’ But is it not He Whose high places and altars Hezekiah has taken away? And has he not said to Judah and Jerusalem, ‘You must worship in front of this altar in Jerusalem’?

23. Come, now, make an agreement with my ruler the king of Assyria. And I will give you 2,000 horses, if you are able to put horsemen on them.

24. How can you fight back one captain among the least of my ruler’s servants, when you trust Egypt for war-wagons and horsemen?

25. Have I come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, ‘’Go up against this land and destroy it.’”

26. Then Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, and Shebnah, and Joah, said to Rabshakeh, “Speaks to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it do not speak with us in the language of Judah. The people on the wall might hear it.”

27. But Rabshakeh said to them, “Has my ruler sent me to speak these words to your ruler and to you, and not to the men sitting on the wall? They are sure to suffer with you, eating and drinking their own body waste.”

(New Life Version Holy Bible)

TOPIC: HEZEKIAH’S FAITH IS TESTED

Hezekiah served God throughout his years as king to the extent that he was referred to as a righteous king who surpassed all of those others before and after him. Despite this excellent record, we are told in today’s text that “in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah’s reign, Sennacherib king of Assyria attacked all fortified cities of Judah and captured them” (v. 13).

This must have been devastating to a king who had surrendered everything to serve the Lord. In his attempt to save the country, Hezekiah paid a ransom to this invading king through the payment of gold and silver from the Temple treasurer.

Paying ransom to terrorists has never stopped them from carrying out more attacks. Rather, it only emboldens them. So King Sennacherib employed fear and intimidation against King Hezekiah and the people of Judah.

QUESTION: How does it feel when you are attacked by someone who appears to be bigger and more powerful than you?

PRAYER: Dear Lord Jesus, please give me the courage to stand firm and look up to You rather than give in to fear whenever I am confronted with problems that seem almost impossible to deal with, Amen.