Talking Ground: 6 Facing Intimidating Circumstances While Trusting God
2 Kings 19:14-16 (NIV)
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the
Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel,
enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made
heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words
Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
Title: Sennacherib and Hezekiah
Can you identify your “King Sennachrib”?
● Self-doubt
● Physical/mental illness
● Family circumstances
● Financial
● Future dreams
● Relationships
4 Spiritual Principles about facing intimidating circumstances while trusting God.
1. Ignore the Enemy’s Voice
2 Kings 19:36 (MSG) The people were silent. No one spoke a word; for the king had ordered, “Don’t anyone say a word - not one word!”
Do not listen/engage/respond to the voice of your enemy! Not always an “enemy”.
John 10:27 (NIV) My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me.
2 Corinthians 10:5 (ESV) 5 We destroy arguments and every lofty opinion raised against the knowledge of God, and take every thought captive to obey Christ
2 Timothy 1:7 (CSB) 7 For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but one of power, love, and sound judgment.
2. Repent and Seek God
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 1-3 When Hezekiah heard it all, he too ripped his robes apart and dressed himself in rough burlap. Thenhe went into The Temple of God. Hezekiah sent a message to the Prophet Isaiah: “‘Maybe God, your God, has been listening to the blasphemous speech of the Rabshakeh who was sent by the king of Assyria, his master, to humiliate the living God; maybe God, your God, won’t let him get by with such talk; and you, maybe you will lift up prayers for what’s left of these people.’”
Psalm 139:23-24 (NIV) Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
2 Chronicles 30:9 (CSB) “...For the Lord your God is gracious and merciful; he will not turn his face away from you if you return to him.”
God Answers Hezekiah:
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 6-7 Isaiah answered them, “Tell your master, ‘God’s word: Don’t be at all concerned about what you’ve heard from the king of Assyria’s bootlicking errand boys—these outrageous blasphemies. Here’s what I’m going to do: Afflict him with self-doubt. He’s going to hear a rumor and, frightened for his life, retreat to his own country. Once there, I’ll see to it that he gets killed.’”
The enemy comes back and tries again:
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 8-13 The Rabshakeh left and found that the king of Assyria had pulled up stakes from Lachish and was now fighting against Libnah. Then Sennacherib heard that Tirhakah king of Cush was on his way to fight against him. So he sent another envoy with orders to deliver this message to Hezekiah king of Judah: “Don’t let that god that you think so much of keep stringing you along with the line, ‘Jerusalem will never fall to the king of Assyria.’ That’s a barefaced lie. You know the track record of the kings of Assyria—country after country laid waste, devastated. And what makes you think you’ll be an exception?
3.Take Your Problem To God
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 14-15 Hezekiah took the letter from the envoy and read it. He went to The Temple of God and spread it out before God. And Hezekiah prayed—oh, how he prayed! “God, God of Israel, seated in majesty on the cherubim-throne. You are the one and only God, sovereign over all kingdoms on earth, Maker of heaven, maker of earth.16 Open your ears, God, and listen, open your eyes and look. Look at this letter Sennacherib has sent, a brazen insult to the living God! The facts are true, O God: The kings of Assyria have laid waste countries and kingdoms. Huge bonfires they made of their gods, their no-gods hand-made from wood and stone. 19 But now O God, our God, save us from raw Assyrian power; Make all the kingdoms on earth know that you are God, the one and only God.”
1 Peter 5:7 (CSB) casting all your cares on him, because he cares about you.
Psalm 46:1 (CSB) God is our refuge and strength, a helper who is always found in times of trouble.
Ephesians 3:20 (NIRV) God is able to do far more than we could ever ask for or imagine. He does everything by his power that is working in us.
God Answers Again:
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 32v To sum up, this is what God says regarding the king of Assyria: He won’t enter this city, nor shoot so much as a single arrow there; Won’t brandish a shield, won’t even begin to set siege; He’ll go home by the same road he came; he won’t enter this city. God’s word! 34 I’ll shield this city, I’ll save this city, for my sake and for David’s sake.
4.Trust and Obey God’s Word
2 Kings 19 (MSG) 35 And it so happened that that very night an angel of God came and massacred 185,000 Assyrians. When the people of Jerusalem got up next morning, there it was—a whole camp of corpses! Sennacherib king of Assyria got out of there fast, headed straight home for Nineveh, and stayed put. One day when he was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer murdered him and then escaped to the land of Ararat. His son Esarhaddon became the next king.
Psalm 20:7 (NIRV) Some trust in chariots. Some trust in horses. But we trust in the Lord our God.
Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIRV) Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Do not depend on your own understanding. 6 In all your ways obey him. Then he will make your paths smooth and straight.
Exodus 14:14 (NIV) The Lord will fight for you; you need only to be still.”