Lessons Learned from a King

I’ve been reading through 1 & 2 Kings and king after king you see “He did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD, he continued making sacrifices and offerings on the high places”, etc. Just utter disobedience and idolatry from the kings of Israel and Judah. So much so that Israel is exiled because of idolatry in 2 Kings 17.

Then, FINALLY Hezekiah enters the scene and sets Israel back on the right track. He destroys the high places, trusts the LORD, and keeps his commandments. Finally! A king who does right in the eyes of the LORD! Here are some lessons learned from 2 Kings 18 & 19 . . .

Obey
God blesses obedience.
“And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. He removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah . . . He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel . . . For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered. (2 Kings 18:3-7)

Be discerning.
The lies of the enemy sound almost like the promises of God. Do not be lured away by greed, lust, materialism, etc. The enemy will do anything he can to keep you from trusting in the LORD.
“Do not listen to Hezekiah, for thus says the king of Assyria: 'Make your peace with me . . . and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards, a land of olive trees and honey, that you may live, and not die. And do not listen to Hezekiah when he misleads you by saying, The LORD will deliver us. (2 Kings 18:28-35)

Pray
Enter His courts with praise, pray according to His will. Pray for the remnant, that God would preserve and protect His people, and lead them to repentance.
“And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: "O LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, 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 Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God . . . 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." (2 Kings 19:15-19)

Obey. Be Discerning. Pray