February 5, 2022

Passage Read: 2 Kings 16-19
Meditation Verses: 18:3-5

Thought

Hezekiah is the first king who removed the high places, as God had commanded long ago in the Book of the Law. He was obedient and faithful to the Lord to a degree that no one had before him. He actually removed the high places! Every king before him was at best faithful only up to that point, they didn't remove the high places. So Hezekiah hit a new high for Israel. And then was tested with an incredibly difficult test! The king of Assyria came against him with a force he couldn't repel. He agreed to become a vassal state, but eventually broke with the covenant. It seems the king of Assyria wasn't satisfied with the terms of the covenant, even after agreeing to them. So Hezekiah had no recourse but to cast himself completely and only on the Lord. And that's where he found the Lord to be even greater than he previously knew.

Application

So when I start doing things right, and even finally go further in obedience and trust than ever before, than even those around me, then I shouldn't be surprised if I'm tested like never before. I cannot think that I was wrong to become more obedient. I don't want to fall back into that old disobedience. I need to trust and recognize that I'm being tested at a new level. Will I stand firm? Will I truly trust the Lord? Or will I go back to where it was comfortable? The Lord wants to show me things I've never seen before about Himself. He wants me to turn to Him, to cry out to Him for deliverance. Then I will know that the deliverance that comes could only have been done by God.