Transcript for Day 185: Hezekiah's Prayer (2022)

Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and you're listening to the Bible in a year podcast where we encounter God's voice and live life through the lens of scripture. The Bible in a year podcast is brought to you by Ascension, using the great adventure Bible timeline will read all the way from Genesis to Revelation, discovering how the story of salvation unfolds and how we fit into that story today. It is day 185. You're amazing. You're your rock star forgetting getting this far and because of that we're gonna read today Second Kings chapter 19. We're gonna read second Chronicles chapter 30 and we're going to pray together Psalm 140 three if you want to know what Bible translation I'm using you probably can fill in the gaps It is the revised standard version second Catholic edition. I am using the great adventure Bible from ascension if you want to download your own Bible in a year reading plan You can visit ascensionpress.com slash Bible in a year and you want to subscribe to this podcast. Well, you can all you have to do is click subscribe Or, don't. Either way, it's good. You're good. We're here. We're a team. We're a fam. They call it fam these days. Yes, fam. Here we are. Community of people Bible in the year. Oh, we are reading on day 185. Second King's 19. Second Chronicles 30 and Psalm 143. The Second Book of Kings, chapter 19, Hezekiah consults Isaiah. When King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. And he sent a lie to him, who was over the household and shoved up the secretary and the senior priests covered with sackcloth to the prophet Isaiah, the son of Amos. They said to him, thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of distress, of rebuk and of disgrace. Children have come to the birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God heard all the words of the rapture, whom His Master, the King of Assyria, has sent to mock the living God, and will review the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. When the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, say to your Master, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the King of Assyria have reviled me. behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land. Senekrib's Makari. The Rapshikah returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libna, for he heard that the king had left Lakshish. And when the King heard concerning Tragha, King of Ethiopia, behold, he has set out to fight against you, he sent messengers again to Hezekiah saying, thus shall you speak to Hezekiah, King of Judah. Do not let your God on whom you rely to see view by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the King of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Asyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. And shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations which my father's destroyed, goes on, Haran, Rezef, and the people of Eden who are in Tel-Assar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Safarayim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivah? Hizakaya's prayer. Hizakaya received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. And Hizakaya went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord, and Hizakaya prayed before the Lord and said, O Lord, the God of Israel, who are enthroned above the Churabim, you are the God, you alone of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear, open your eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear the words of Sinekarib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Of a truth, O Lord, the kings of a Syria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands would and stone, therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord, our God, save us, I beg you from his hand. That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O Lord, are God alone. Then Isaiah, the son of Emmaus, sent to Hezekiah, saying, thus says the Lord, the God of Israel. Your prayer to me about Sinekarib, King of Assyria, I have heard. This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him. She despises you, she scorned you, the virgin daughter of Zion. She weds her head behind you, the daughter of Jerusalem. Whom have you mocked and reviled, against whom have you raised your voice, and hardly lifted your eyes, against the holy one of Israel. And by your messengers, you have mocked the Lord, and you have said, with my many chariots, I have gone up the heights of the mountains, to the far recesses of Lebanon. I filled its tallest seaters, its choicest cypresses. I entered its farthest retreat, its densest forest. I dug wells, and drank foreign waters, and I dried up with the soul of my foot all the streams of Egypt. Have you not heard that I'd determined it long ago? I planned, from days of old, what now I bring to pass? That you should turn fortified cities into heaps of ruins, while their inhabitants, shone of strength, are dismayed and confounded, and have become like plants of the field and like tender grass, like grass on the house tops, blighted before it is grown. But I know you're sitting down, and you're going out, and coming in, and you're raging against me. Because you have raged against me, and your arrogance 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, you shall eat a rose of itself. And in the second year, what springs of the same, then in the third year, so, 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 forth 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, says the Lord, for I will defend this city to save it. For my sake, and for the sake of my servant, David. Senakarib's defeat and death. In that night, the angel of the Lord went forth and slew a hundred and eighty-five thousand in the camp of the Assyrians, and when men arose early in the morning behold, these were all dead bodies. Then Senakarib, King of Assyria, departed, and went home and dwelt that Ninevah. and as he was worshipping in the house of Nysfrock, his god, a drama-lec, and Shareezer, his sons slew him with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Asarhadan, his son, reigned in his stead. The 2nd Book of Chronicles, chapter 30, keeping the feast of the Passover. His Akaya sent to all Israel and Judah, and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasa that they should come to the house of the Lord at Jerusalem to keep the Passover to the Lord, the God of Israel. For the King and his princes and all the assembly in Jerusalem had taken counsel to keep the Passover in the second month. For they could not keep it in its time because the priests had not sanctified themselves in sufficient number, nor had the people assembled in Jerusalem. And the plan seemed right to the king and all the assembly. So they decreed it to make a proclamation throughout all Israel from Beershiba to Dan that the people should come and keep the Passover to the Lord the God of Israel at Jerusalem. for they had not kept it in great numbers as prescribed. So couriers went throughout all Israel and Judah, with letters from the King and his princes as the king had commanded, saying, O people of Israel, return to the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, that he may turn again to the remnant of you who have escaped from the hand of the kings of Assyria. Do not be like your fathers and your brethren who were faithless to the Lord God of their fathers, so that he made them a desolation as you see. do not now be sift-necked as your fathers were, but yield yourselves to the Lord and come to His sanctuary which He has sanctified forever and serve the Lord your God that His fierce anger may turn away from you. For if you return to the Lord, your brethren and your children will find compassion with their captors and return to this land. For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful. and will not turn away his face from you if you return to him." So the couriers went from city to city throughout the country of Ephraim and Manasa and as far as Zebulin, but they laughed them to scorn and mocked them. Only a few men of Asher of Manasa and of Zebulin humbled themselves and came to Jerusalem. The hand of God was also upon Judah to give them one heart to do with the king and the princes commanded by the word of the Lord. And many people came together in Jerusalem to keep the feast of 11 bread in the second month, a very great assembly. They set to work and removed the alters that were in Jerusalem, and all the alters for burning incense, they took away and threw into the Kidron Valley. And they killed the Passover Lamb on the 14th day of the Second Month, and the priests and the Levites were put to shame so that they sanctify themselves and brought burnt offerings into the house of the Lord. They took their accustomed posts according to the law of Moses, the man of God, the priests sprinkled the blood which they received from the hand of the Levites. For there were many in the assembly who had not sanctified themselves. Therefore, the Levites had to kill the Passover Lamb for everyone who was not clean to make it holy to the Lord. For a multitude of the people, many of them from Ephraim, Manasa, is a car in Zebulin, had not cleans themselves yet, they ate the Passover otherwise then as prescribed. for Hezekiah had prayed for them, saying, the good Lord pardon everyone who sets his heart to seek God the Lord the God of his fathers, even though not according to the sanctuaries rules of cleanness. And the Lord heard Hezekiah and healed the people. And the sons of Israel that were present at Jerusalem kept the feast of 11 bread seven days with great gladness and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might to the Lord. and has a Kaya spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So the people ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord the God of their fathers. Then, the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days, so they kept it for another seven days with gladness. For Hezekiah, King of Judah, gave the assembly a thousand bulls and seven thousand sheep for offerings. And the princes gave the assembly a thousand bulls in 10,000 sheep. And the priests sanctified themselves in great numbers. The whole assembly of Judah and the priests and the Levites and the whole assembly that came out of Israel and the soldiers who came out of the land of Israel and the soldiers who dwelt in Judah rejoiced. So there was great joy in Jerusalem. For since the time of Solomon the son of David King of Israel there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem. Then the priests and the Levites arose and blessed the people and their voice was heard and their prayer came to his holy habitation in heaven. Psalm 143, prayer for deliverance from enemies, a Psalm of David. Hear my prayer, O Lord, give ear to my supplications, and your faithfulness, answer me in your righteousness. Enter not into judgment with your servant for no man living is righteous before you. For the enemy has pursued me, he has crushed my life to the ground. He has made me sit in darkness like those long dead. Therefore, my spirit faints within me, by heart within me is appalled. I remember the days of old, and meditate on all that you have done. I'm used on what your hands have wrought. I stretch out my hands to you, my soul thirsts for you like a parched land. Make haste to answer me, O Lord, my spirit fails. Hide not your face from me, less I be like those who go down to the pit. Let me hear in the morning of your merciful love, for in you I put my trust. Teach me the way I should go for to you I lift up my soul. Deliver me a Lord from my enemies, I have fled to you for refuge. Teach me to do your will for you are my God, but your good spirit lead me on a level path. For your name's sake, O Lord, preserve my life in your righteousness, bring me out of trouble. And in your steadfast love, cut off my enemies, and destroy all my adversaries. For I am your servant. Father in heaven, we thank you and give you praise. Just like David here is praying for deliverance from enemies. We've been praying these last days for deliverance from persecution from evil and from obstacles from enemies. Because why? Because we know we know that you are a God, you are the God, who hears our prayers. And so there's no obstacle, there's no enemy, there's no difficulty, there's no persecutor or persecution. That is bigger than you. It's stronger than you. You are the Lord God of all. And so we trust in you this day and every day. We trust you with our hopes. We trust you with our dreams. We trust you with our fears. We trust you with those that we love, Lord God. We place them into your hands. With all the things we love. We place them into your hands. But the very selves, we place ourselves into your hands. Please receive us as your children this day and every day into eternity. In Jesus' name we pray, amen to the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit. Amen. Wow, I just second King's 19. Here is Hezekiah and I mentioned right. His Father, it has not a good King, one of the worst. Here is Hezekiah, one of the best. And we just see this on display in second King XIX and his second Chronicles chapter 30, both of these chapters, just highlight the fact that here is Hezekiah. He's not perfect. And we're gonna know that we're gonna see this right. He's not perfect. But I love this. In fact, gosh, I was I was praying with this this morning. Here is Snackerib. Snackerib just like yesterday, we read about this. How Snackerib says, Yoke, listen, I've destroyed all of these nations. Why do you think that you are going to withstand? Like, all those nations, they also prayed that they're gods. Why do you think that you having the Lord God, he's going to save you at all? Other gods have never done anything to stop me. In fact, they gave me, and those gods gave me power. In fact, God here, and just so good, the Lord God, through Isaiah, Son of Amos, sent to Hezekiah, saying, yeah, that Hezekiah. This, this, oh gosh, here's what it is. God is saying to Sinak rib. Yeah, I delivered those nations into your hands. You bet totally did that. And now it's done. Yeah, I delivered all those nations into your hands. And now it's done. And I just think that it's something remarkable about this. But this comes on the heels of what? Here's the thing I just want to highlight. After Sinakrim, Mox, Hezekiah's trust in the Lord. He has his letter sent to Hezekiah. Hezekiah takes that letter. This is beginning in 2nd King's 19 verse 14. Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers. He read it. And Hezekiah went to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. In response, he knew. Right, Sinakir, but you're right. The Assyrians, they destroyed Samaria. They destroyed all these other nations. They're going to destroy the small nation of Judah. Completely. Are you kidding? There's no hope other than in God himself. And so has Akaya brings this letter. This letter that symbolizes the impossible task in front of him, the impossible battle in front of him, and he spreads it out in front of the Lord in his presence. And says, OK, God, you're the only one. You're the only one who can save us. And I loved this. In fact, I did this this morning as I was preparing for reading this. It just struck me. Like, wow, Lord God, I'm facing something as big and there's just one of those big tasks that just I think God's calling me to. And I just was at I'm out of my depth right is one of those situations where it's like, oh my gosh, this is way bigger than me. This is way bigger than anything I've ever attempted before. And it was on my phone in prayer. put that was that iteration of Jesus in the Eucharist and I just placed that phone down and like he's a kia saying okay god if you want this to happen you're gonna be the one to make it happen because I can't do this and just one of those like yes this is what holy approach god when we are dealing with some of those those incredible battles to recognize I can only this will only happen if you want it to happen Lord is only come to pass if you will it to come to pass and so if you don't will it to come to pass then let that got that will be done and if you do then it's all for you it's all your glory it's all your honor and that's why Hezekiah is such an incredible model. You know, in the second chronicles, chapter 29, a 30 of me today, is remarkable that here's Hezekiah, who says, okay, we're reinstituting Passover. We've not worship God, like he has asked to be worshiped, and we're gonna do it. And I love how Hezekiah sends word to the remnant tribes, not due to in Benjamin. Of course, they were all invited, but those other remnant tribes that were still in the north, and here is Hezekiah saying, come back, come back to the temple, come back to Jerusalem, And because this is your pedigree, right? This is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Israel. This is the God of our fathers. We're not meant to be two nations separated. Two nations divided kingdom were meant to be one nation. One great kingdom that the Lord God blesses and that blesses the Lord God. And many of them mocked them, but some people came down from those other nations, or came up from those other nations to Jerusalem and worshiped. And it's just incredible. And I love the fact that they kept the feast for seven days. And it was so good that they were like, let's do it another seven days. And that's just such a generosity of heart, right? Because I think sometimes we might get to the place where we're saying, okay, Lord God, I've given you my hour. Okay, we're done. I'm going home as opposed to saying, you know what, I've been here for an hour. Why not just stay? Why not just stay in the Lord's presence? Why not just continue to give him glory? No, we don't do that all the time and people of Israel didn't do it all the time. When there are some moments that just call for extended celebration and this was one where King Hezekiah had re-instituted finally after man so many years. the feast of Passover that they just continued to worship God to sing praises to His name and to give Him glory and the worship that He is do. So this is amazing and I just think how what are the areas in my life and in our lives and this community as we're going through this Bible in a year on the second half now we're in the back stretch coming around that corner or home stretch I mean to say of this Bible in a year here we are on the downhill just the top of the downhill of course But what are the ways in which the Lord is calling me to give him my whole heart to get to worship him like he has asked to worship him and to eliminate the idols in my life my life our lives and to just yeah give him what he's asked for to give him our hearts to love him with everything we are and everything that we have which is a big deal and yet it's crazy that God even wants that is what it would even matter if I was an omnipotent being what I care if this finite small creature I like me or like us. We're to give me worship. It's just because God loves you so much. That's why he cares. Just because he loves you that much, which is incredible gift. So what a high call, what an incredible honor and privilege. So let's keep praying for each other. Keep praying for each other because we're not done. We have so much left. We have so much more of God's story to hear, so much of God's story to allow to shape us and to allow to form us and mold our hearts. So, we pray for each other. I'm praying for you. Please pray for me. My name's Father Mike. I cannot wait to see you tomorrow. God bless.