Psalm 5:11-12 But let all who take refuge in you be glad; let them ever sing for joy. Spread your protection over them that those who love your name may rejoice in you. For surely, O LORD, you bless the righteous; you surround them with your favor as with a shield.




As the armies of nations came against Jerusalem and are still threatening her, I stand mighty and strong to deliver! I declare that I will deliver her! I am faithful to the covenant I have made with Israel. I will also be faithful to you and your descendants. You do not have nations assaulting you, but you have demonic and soulish forces pressing in on you. I say to you that I will be strong and mighty on your behalf. Cry out to me as Isaiah and King Hezekiah did so many years ago. I will send my angels to have charge over you. You will come forth victorious!

I Chronicles 16:15
He remembers his covenant forever, the word he commanded, for a thousand generations.

I was struggling this week with attitudes of my heart that were not pleasing to me or to my Father. I began by confessing known and unknown sin. Holy Spirit is able to search my heart and reveal what is known and what is hidden from me. I found great solace in His Presence and His word. I love searching the Old Testament for real life situations that tell of a surrendered heart and a willing God. I found such as that this week. I studied the life of Moses, but who really caught my attention was King Hezekiah! I would like to share out of 2 Chronicles Chapters 29-32.

King Ahaz was Hezekiah’s father and preceded him as King of Judah. Ahaz did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD. He was an idolater and engaged in many evil practices during his reign. Ahaz did away with the furnishings of the Temple and shut it’s doors.

Hezekiah became King of Judah, after the death of Ahaz his father. Hezekiah did what was right in the eyes of the LORD. The scripture tells us that in the first month of his reign, King Hezekiah reopened the temple doors and repaired them. It is always interesting to see what our President does the first few days of his presidency. I believe it says a lot about his morals, his character, and his agenda that has been mostly hidden through out his campaign. King Hezekiah did not waste any time. This was priority to him! He had lots of wisdom for a man of twenty-five. I believe he had to have had a godly mother who taught him how his father David loved and served the God of Israel.

Hezekiah knows of the many regulations of getting the temple reopened. He calls for the priests and the Levites to consecrate themselves. He gives orders to refurnish the temple.

2 Chronicles 29:10-11
Now I intend to make a covenant with the LORD, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. My sons do not be negligent now, for the LORD has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.

He knows how to get in right standing with God. He desires peace in his kingdom. He has lived in chaos and oppression for too long. His father openly welcomed spiritual darkness by his evil practices. He states I am going to make a covenant with God. He knows God’s character is good and just. He wants his favor! He is beseeching the priests, and the Levites to do their jobs.

The priests and the Levites were obedient to the King’s requests. They did everything according to the Law. They slaughtered goats and presented the blood as atonement for the sins of Israel. The Levites sang and worshipped the LORD. This was part of consecrating themselves, and then it was time to bring thank offerings to the LORD.

2 Chronicles 29:35-36
So the service of the temple of the LORD was reestablished. Hezekiah and all the people rejoiced at what God had brought about for his people, because it was done so quickly.

Look at this beautiful picture of redemption. Let’s bring this into New Covenant for a better understanding. We come before the LORD soiled with sin; we apply the blood of our Savior Jesus Christ. We are forgiven. We worship Him because he is so worthy to be loved and praised. He inhabits our praises and we experience more release of our bondage. We are overflowing with gratitude because of his mercy and sweet deliverance. This is readily available to all of us who call on his Name!

The LORD spoke this to me in my quiet time before him:
Quiet yourself with love. Love covers a multitude of sin. Love covers.

2 Chronicles 31:20-21
This is what Hezekiah did throughout Judah, doing what was good and right and faithful before the LORD his God. In everything that he undertook in the service of God’s temple and in obedience to the law and the commands, he sought his God and worked wholeheartedly. And so he prospered.

This hit me hard as I read Hezekiah’s story this week. He did everything he knew to do that pleased God. The word says, “and so he prospered.”

2 Chronicles 32:1
After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah.

Wow! What on earth could this mean? God saw Hezekiah’s faithfulness and his wholehearted worship. He prospered him. He allowed the King of Assyria to invade Judah. That doesn’t seem to fit in the flow of this sentence. Yet, it is there in 2 Chronicles as big as you please. This is such an amazing testimony of how Hezekiah was definitely tested and how he did not waver. I believe with all my heart that God is more concerned about perfecting our faith than making life easy for us.

I Peter 1:6-7
In this you greatly rejoice, though now for a little while you may have had to suffer grief in all kinds of trials. These have come so that your faith- of which perishes even though refined by fire- may be proved genuine and may result in praise, glory and honor when Jesus Christ is revealed.

Can we all agree with this scripture? Well, it’s not always easy when you are suffering grief in all kinds of trials. I believe it’s hard to say thank you LORD for perfecting my faith during the process, but oh how sweet when we come out on the other side. I can honestly say thank you for all that I have been through. I would not be the woman I am today apart from the hardships, trials, sorrows, and disappointments of my life.

Let’s get back to Hezekiah’s story for just a bit longer.

2 Chronicles 32:7-8
Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of the flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles. And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.

This is such a proclamation of faith! He encouraged or imparted courage to his people. He stated so profoundly, the king of Assyria was coming against them with the arm of the flesh but the nation of Israel had the LORD God to help them.

I John 4:4
You dear children are from God and have overcome them, because the one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.

The king of Assyria taunted them by saying, “How then can your god deliver you from my hand?” “Just as the gods of the peoples of the other lands did not rescue their people from my hand, so the god of Hezekiah will not rescue his people from my hand.”

The enemy is ruthless and he will taunt you the same way as the king of Assyria taunted the children of Israel. It happens in our mind. He comes against us with fear foremost but also with doubt and unbelief. We have to stand our ground as Hezekiah and Isaiah do.

2 Chronicles 32:20-21
King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this. And the LORD sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the leaders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons cut him down with the sword.

This is exactly what we are to do. We need to cry out to the LORD! He will send his angels with a charge to fulfill His own desires concerning us. The LORD wants us to step out in faith, trusting him to save us. He will in turn send forth help. What a sweet victory this was for Hezekiah, Isaiah and the Israelites! What a sweet victory it is for us also! The enemy will be cut down by the power of the Holy Spirit in us and through the sword of the spirit, which is the word of God!

Hezekiah’s story is told also in Isaiah chapters 37 and 38. I enjoyed reading it in both 2 Chronicles and Isaiah. I discovered both of these books were being written about the same time in Israel’s history. Some of my favorite scriptures are found in Isaiah chapters 40 and 41. It makes more sense to me now that I have studied Hezekiah’s story in Chronicles. These chapters in Isaiah are proclaiming God’s strength and our victory in relying steadfastly on Him!