Laying it All Out Before God

2 Kings 19:14-19 (ESV)

Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD and spread it before the LORD. [15] And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. [16] 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 mock the living God. [17] Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands [18] and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. [19] So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

 

At this point of time, Jerusalem and King Hezekiah were being threatened by the King of Assyria. No country or any “god” had stood before Assyria under this king. This king of Assyria was sending messengers to outside of the wall of Jerusalem to discourage the people: “Don’t believe your king when he says your God will rescue Jerusalem out our hands – no god of any we have conquered has delivered the people out of our hands.”

We too face this in our lives at times. Sometimes it seems there is no stopping the evil around us. When we try to do what is right, we get mocked, because there seems no stopping the powerful in this world. It seems at times it is just useless to try to live a righteous life.

We need to follow Hezekiah’s example from today’s passage. Just lay it out all before God. Yes, God knows what’s going on, but if we take the time to lay it all out before Him we are releasing it to Him. We are acknowledging His power, we are worshiping Him, and we are trusting in Him. By giving it all up to God we are saying, “There is none other that can handle this situation, because You are God – not me.”