Second Kings 19. We'll begin two verses before at the end of chapter 18 to help us remember that chapter. But the people held their peace and answered him not a word. For the king's command was, do not answer him. Then Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came to Hezekiah with their clothes torn and told him the words of the Rabshakeh. And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD. Then he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, Shepnid the scribe, and the elders of the priests, covered with sackcloth, to Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz. And they said to him, Thus says Hezekiah, this day is a day of trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy. For the children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth. It may be that the Lord your God will hear all the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord your God has heard. Therefore, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. So the servants of King Hezekiah came to Isaiah, and Isaiah said to them, Thus you shall say to your master, Thus says the Lord, Do not be afraid of the words which you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and 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. So the Rabshakeh returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libna, for he heard that he had departed from Lakish. And the king heard concerning Terhaka king of Ethiopia, look, he has come out to make war with you. So he again sent messengers to Hezekiah saying, thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah saying, do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Look, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by utterly destroying them, and shall you be delivered? Have the gods of the nations delivered those whom my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the people of Eden who are in Telassar? Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hina, and Iva?" And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. Then Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said, O LORD, God of Israel, who dwells between the cherubim, you are 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 Sennacherib, which he has sent to reproach the living God. Truly, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations in their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wooden stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Lord our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the Lord God, you alone. Then Isaiah, the son of Amoz, sent to Hezekiah, saying, Thus says the Lord God of Israel, that which you have prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, I have heard. Thus far, the reading of God's word. Let's pray. Lord God of hosts, who dwells between the cherubim, you alone are God. You have made heaven and earth. You have recorded the story of Hezekiah's prayer to you for our instruction. Instruct us with it. Feed us with it. Feed our souls. Draw us into Your presence. That we might learn the power of You, the God who hears prayers. Free us from distraction, Father. Be with my mouth and help me to speak boldly and powerfully those things which are revealed here regarding You. Teach us to pray. For we do not know how to pray as we ought, but Your Spirit helps us in our weakness. Father, we pray these things in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. And all God's people said, Amen. We left off last week in the middle of the story. Judah was threatened by a giant Assyrian army. somewhere at least 185,000 strong, much larger than that, presumably, was camped outside the gates. And this chief cupbearer, the Rab Shekeh, is his title in Assyrian, issued this threatening message, gave three different arguments as to why the people should stop trusting in God. Here's why God won't save you. Of course, the scriptural word for that is blasphemy. That's how God describes it to Hezekiah and to Isaiah. So we looked at the Rabshakeh's blasphemy last week, and this week we see Hezekiah's response to it. What did he do? What were his resources during a trial, and how did God answer his prayer? Ultimately what the passage shows us about our God is that He loves to listen to us. He is available to us and He hears our prayers. We knew that in this passage's review. We're reminded once again how much God wants to hear our prayers and how He listens and answers them. So Hezekiah, verse 1, heard that the Rabshakeh had come and said, nothing can save you. We will destroy you. Resistance is futile. What did he do? He began to mourn. He tore his clothes, expressing sorrow. He put on sackcloth, expressing more sorrow, to say, I want everyone who sees me to see my physical discomfort and know that I'm in mental anguish. Of course, to this day, Middle Eastern cultures take mourning more seriously than we do. As Americans, mourning is something we want to get over with and hide. Don't let anyone know you're mourning. We're embarrassed even to be seen crying at our parents' funeral. Not so in the Middle East. There they hire professional mourners to stand outside funerals and wail. There they want people to see them mourning. Hezekiah does this, he mourns in the face of temptation, of this test, and we looked at that last week. It is perfectly appropriate to mourn in the face of trial. But in addition, what did he do? He went into the temple of God. What's a temple for? Well, it's a place for the distressed. Someone who says, my entire city, my entire kingdom, everything I've lived for, my life and my livelihood is threatened and on the brink of extinction. Where did he go? Not to the bowling alley, not to his favorite wife, but to the temple. There he spread the letter before God and prayed. They say Pope Francis' favorite metaphor for the church is a field hospital. And regardless of the man's other failings, that's certainly true enough. In Hezekiah's mind, the temple, the place where God was, was a field hospital, a place for his soul to be renewed, for his spirit to be strengthened, for his wounds to be healed. That's where Hezekiah went at this moment of trial. When existence was questionable, when whether he would survive another day or two was unknown, Hezekiah said, I need to go into the temple. I need to be in the presence of God. Is this what church is to you, brothers and sisters? When you're suffering, do you say, oh, I need to withdraw, take a break, stay away from church? Or do you say, wow, now is the time to double down on church. I need to stand in the presence of God more than ever at this moment of crisis in my life. Ultimately, a temple is for everyone who has problems. A church is for people with problems. We're not here because we're perfect. We're here because we need a perfect God. Hezekiah goes into the temple. And he sends this message to Isaiah that sounds kind of depressed. Verse four, maybe, maybe the Lord your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh and reprove them. But of course, what does maybe mean? The same thing as maybe not. Maybe God will hear. Maybe God won't hear. But Hezekiah appears to be determined to trust him And that brings up the question for us. Is it enough for you that God can help even if he doesn't? The three associates, the three friends of Daniel told Nebuchadnezzar, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us, but even if not, we won't worship your golden image. It's enough for us that God can help. That in itself is enough reason in my mind to keep trusting Him no matter what. So says Hezekiah. His attitude, of course, at times, shames us all. This wasn't his attitude all the time, as we saw in the previous chapter. But the question for us remains, when God tests you, Well, the fact that He can help you be enough. Because ultimately, that's all we have. God can deliver me from this, and even if He chooses not to, He's still good, He's still God, He still is a Savior. Even if He doesn't save from this particular calamity. Hezekiah shares this prayer request with Isaiah. Lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left." Now, why did he do that? You know, it's easy to look at this and say, well, yeah, they had Isaiah praying for them. Wow. That man could pray. But me? I don't have a mighty prophet on call. I don't have such an incredible person who saw more of the glory of Christ than anyone else, perhaps, before Christ actually came. I can't just go to Isaiah and say, hey, pray for me, my life is terrible. So should we take it that way? God won't listen unless a mighty prophet prays? I don't think so. I think we need to flip it around and say, God loves our prayers so much that he provides a mighty prophet to pray for us. God loves to hear us so much that he's given his son as a great prophet and His Spirit to intercede for us. You're not alone in your trials. You have someone greater than Isaiah praying for you. So again, the message, lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left. Christ lives to make intercession for us. And how does God answer His answer basically takes two forms. Number one, fear not. Thus shall you say to your master, verse six, thus says the Lord, do not be afraid of the words which you have heard. This is God's most common command in the Bible, fear not. What a radically unrealistic command. I've got an army with as many people in it as there are citizens in my city, or more, camped right outside and threatening to destroy us, to wipe us off the map whenever they feel like it. And God's advice is not increase defense spending, build thicker walls. God's advice is Don't be afraid. Don't fear. And that's still his command to us. Alexa and I have a no fear policy. If we think a decision we're making is motivated by fear, we have to stop and say, no, we're not going to decide that. Fear almost always drives you to do the wrong thing when you let it be your motive. So God tells us not to fear because he calls us to love, to joy, and to peace. And fear is the opposite of all three of those things. Perfect love casts out fear. A fearful person is not a peaceful person. A fearful person is not a joyful person. But God says, don't be afraid. Live in love, live in joy, live in peace. Why did Adam hide from God? Because he was afraid. Why have you not told anyone about that secret sin? Because you're afraid. Why did Hezekiah attempt to bribe Sennacherib in the previous chapter? Because he was afraid. In fact, this fear and its self-reinforcing consequences has a name in international relations. They call it the security dilemma. A nation is afraid of being attacked, so it increases defense spending, invests heavily in armaments, hires a big army, and makes itself a bigger threat so that more nations want to gang up on it and attack it. The more power you have in a military context, the more of a threat you are, and thus the more enemies you have who want to take you down. Security dilemma. And of course, if you don't have the army, then people can take you down more easily, and you're trapped. God's answer is what? Don't live by fear. Don't make your decisions based on fear. Don't be motivated by fear. Why? Because God will handle the problem. Don't be afraid of Assyria, God says. And we say, God, don't you know what Assyria is likely to do? God says, of course I do. But I want you to live by trusting me not by trying to compensate for your fears. God describes how he's going to handle the problem. He'll send a rumor, a spirit, and Sennacherib will go back to his own land and be struck down, which of course is exactly what happens at the end of chapter 19. God will handle the problem. That's why we don't have to fear. It's not stoic counsel. Not arbitrary counsel. Shut out reality. Pretend everything is okay. Don't be afraid. No. Rather, God will handle these problems. Now, that's not a reason for us to sit back and relax and not do anything. Obviously, Hezekiah is doing something. Obviously, God has called us to do what we can. But when problems too big, when temptations too big, when powers too big come into your life, take it to the Lord in prayer. He loves to hear your requests. And he answers as he did here. Well the chapter moves on, there's a temporary reprieve. The Rabshakeh leaves, verse 8. He finds the king of Assyria warring against Libna, for he had heard that he had departed from Lakish. So the Rabshakeh goes away. Is that good news? I don't know. In geographical terms here in the United States, that would be like saying the Rabshakeh left Washington, D.C. He went to New York. He found that New York had already fallen to invading forces. So he went on and found his boss making war against Boston. Well, it's farther from Washington, D.C., but is it really any better that he's conquered New York and moved on to Boston? Probably not. So the Rav Sheka is there, and Sennacherib hears this rumor that the Ethiopians are coming out to fight him. So what does he do? He's afraid. So he sends a letter to Hezekiah and tries to inspire more fear in him. And what does he do? He blasphemes some more. I'm Assyria. I'm big. I'm powerful. I'm thumping my chest so you know to be afraid of me. Let me list again for you some of the places I've destroyed in case you've forgotten. Now what does Hezekiah do with this? Again, he goes back to the temple, spreads it before the Lord, and he uses these three arguments in prayer. He takes this experience to God, this threat to God, and he says, first of all, Lord, you are absolutely unique. You are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. But notice how he describes God. God is both universal and particular. The God of Israel who is the God of all the kingdoms of the earth. God rules everything and yet he is our God in particular in a special way. So Hezekiah uses this argument on God. You are unique. He doesn't start with his problems, God, they're about to kill us, help. No, he starts with praise. How do your prayers begin? Do you take the time to refocus, to praise God, to ascribe to him universal glory and particular local importance? God, you are my God. God, you are the God of the whole earth. You are the one who created heaven and earth. Hezekiah takes this universal perspective and this particular perspective and he mentions that God dwells between the cherubim. What is that a reference to? It's a reference to the Ark of the Covenant that was there in that same temple. And on top of the Ark of the Covenant was the atonement cover, the mercy seat. On that mercy seat were two cherubim carved in solid gold. And Hezekiah describes God as sitting between those cherubim as a reminder that God has made it His business or had in those days to sit there on the Ark of the Covenant. That was his permanent place. God sits in the mercy seat, if you want to put it that way, that this atonement cover on which the blood of the sacrifice from the Day of Atonement was sprinkled annually is right there in front of God all the time. So the message really is the message that God is the Redeemer. We have God as creator. You have made heaven and earth. We have God as Redeemer, the one who dwells between the cherubim and therefore receives the atoning sacrifices of his people. Ultimately, the one who will receive the atoning blood of Christ, who is called the true mercy seat in the New Testament. Do you call on God like this? Do you ascribe to Him these two things, creation and redemption, and in light of that, then make your requests? See, Hezekiah is saying, God, you've given me absolutely everything that I have. First of all, you created me and everything that I encounter, and you saved me, you redeemed me through the Levitical system, in those days, dwelling between the cherubim, and in our time we have the fulfillment of that Levitical system in Christ. Now imagine if you would that you have a ridiculously generous grandma who gives you a new car every Christmas and you're at her house one day and you say grandma could I have some orange juice? What is she gonna say? No I already gave you a car you don't need any orange juice. No, you know how generous she is. You know how much she loves to give. Someone who's giving you, you know, a brand new Corvette every year is not going to begrudge you a glass of orange juice. And that's how Hezekiah is making this petition. Lord, you have given me so much already. I know you want to give me what I'm asking for now. Do you argue with God like this in your prayers? Do you recount to him what he's done? Lord, you've made all these things from the giant squid right up to the Andromeda galaxy. And you've put them all in this world for me to see and enjoy. You've given me dominion over them. Is there any way you could give me a house? A car? A spouse? a book to read. What do you need? Bring it to the Lord. Hezekiah needed deliverance from evil. So he asked God for that deliverance. He argues with God based on God's zeal for his own glory. God, Sennacherib, is reproaching you. Now normally, of course, this scenario in verse 16 is something we disapprove of. You don't want Josh to go to Bob and to say, did you know, Bob, that Earl has been saying bad things about you? We call that gossip. We call that stirring up trouble. We call that evil. So why is Hezekiah going to God and saying, God, did you know what Sennacherib is saying about you? Why is prayer not gossip? Prayer requests are often gossip, but prayer is never gossip because gossip means telling information to someone who is not part of the problem or part of the solution. God is always part of the solution. What's the solution to Sennacherib's blasphemy? Well, when you have the most powerful man on earth Who's going to be able to tame him? Not another man, but the living God. So Hezekiah comes and says, Lord, solve this problem. Your name is being blasphemed. Hezekiah is king of Judah. If he heard some guy walking down the street in Jerusalem blaspheming God, it would not have been Hezekiah's job to go to the temple and say, Lord, please stop that man. It would have been Hezekiah's job to send his royal guards to grab that man and throw him in a dungeon in Jerusalem. But Hezekiah, of course, doesn't have jurisdiction over Sennacherib. So he appeals over Sennacherib's head and says, Lord, you love your own glory. You don't want people reproaching you. You're zealous for your name. You're zealous for your character. You want your name to look good in the sight of the nations. This is the first petition in the Lord's Prayer. Make your name holy. Show yourself to be separate, to be above the mudslinging of petty earthly tyrants. Do you argue this way in prayer with God? Do you approach Him based on your knowledge that He wants His name to be hallowed? And do you make your requests in light of that? You say, Lord, please do this for me. Help me with this. Glorify yourself in this because your name is holy and these people are not recognizing that. That was Hezekiah's second argument. God loves to vindicate himself. And then Hezekiah's final argument God maintain your reputation among the nations. The kings of Assyria have managed to destroy many different gods because those gods are not gods at all. But you save us. Why? Hezekiah calls on God's missionary heart. Verse 19. So that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh God, you alone. Hezekiah wanted the good news of God's character not to remain stuck in Israel, to go out to all the nations of the earth. There's a foreshadowing of our text this morning about Christ breaking down the middle wall of partition, bringing Jews and Gentiles in together into the kingdom on an equal footing. Do you ask God this? This is praying, your kingdom come. and hallowed be your name. Hallow your name to everyone. Bring your kingdom to everyone. That was Hezekiah's petition. He phrased it in terms of deliver us from evil. Notice what he doesn't say. There's no please make him go away, please kill him, Please open the earth up and swallow his army. Please send a meteorite. Please send me something that will allow me to dig a tunnel and get out of here. No, he doesn't really give God any policy prescriptions. He just says, Lord, notice and glorify yourself and vindicate your name. Make your kingdom come. And he left the details of what that would happen, what that would look like, he left that up to God. Now is it wrong to pray specific things? Not at all. But I think it's a temptation for us that too often we pray way too many specific things, and we get so focused on our plan for what we would like to happen, Lord do this, and then step two, step three, step four, step five. If you could do these things over the next two weeks on my schedule, I would really appreciate that." Hezekiah didn't pray that way. He said, Lord, here are these things I know you're committed to. I know you're committed to your name. I know you're committed to your kingdom. And I want you, please, please, Lord, vindicate both. Hallow your name. Make your kingdom come. Do your will. And whatever that looks like, I'm okay with that, is of course the implication. Because Hezekiah was invested in God's plan more than he was in Hezekiah's plan. He didn't know what to do. And so he said, God, you take care of it. And of course God had already told him, here's what I'll do. I'll send him home. Hezekiah doesn't even follow up on that and say, yes Lord, please send him home. He just says, please vindicate yourself. Do you have the freedom from fear that will allow you to pray that way? The conviction that God's plan is best. The knowledge that what he does is what you want to happen. More than the idea that what you want is what you really need. That was Hezekiah's prayer, and what was God's answer? Very short, verse 20, I've heard. Hezekiah, I heard you. And that's all, ultimately, that we're asking for. God, hear me. If we really trust him, if we really know him, then we know that all we have to do is tell him and he'll help. Those of us in this room whose parents are still alive know that if we were to call our parents and say, my car is broken down, I'm in a ditch on the side of the road and I left my wallet at home and I just don't have any money to get anyone to come help me, our parents would gladly call the tow truck, send a taxi, do something to rescue us. We don't have to say, please do this, this, this, this, and this, because they already want to help. And that's God's word to us. I've heard. God loves us and hears our prayers no matter what situation you're facing. So do you pray to Him? That's the first question. Do you pray? Or do you always say, well, I'll pray later. Right now I'm too busy. Right now I'm watching my favorite show. Right now I'm doing the laundry. Right now I'm distracted. Is there ever a time when you say, okay, now I'm praying. Just stop and pray. Do you see God in church, in the temple where He lives? Do you live a life free from fear? Do you obey this command, fear not? Because the only way you can obey it is by knowing God well enough to know that you can trust Him. You're never going to be able to say, I won't fear, I won't fear, I won't fear. It's a natural fruit that comes of trust. Fear not. Even in the hardest test, God acts to hear our prayers and to vindicate Himself. He hears prayer, so keep praying. Amen. Let's pray. Our Father, who art in heaven, We thank you that you are a God who hears prayers. We thank you that you heard Hezekiah's prayer. We thank you, Father, that you are God alone, the God of all the kingdoms of the earth, and yet that you are our God, the God of your people right here in Campbell County, Wyoming. Father, we thank you that you sit between the cherubim that you look constantly on the mercy seat and the sprinkled blood there, and that you see that it is the sprinkled blood of Jesus. Thank you, Father, that He intercedes for us, that He is our faithful God. Teach us to pray, we ask in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit's help. And all God's people said, Amen.