Hezekiah was a faithful and great king. When Sennacherib, King of Assyria, was crusading throughout the land Hezekiah he remained faithful to the Lord. He used his wisdom to engineer strong defenses and a fresh supply of water for the eventual siege of
But even great men stumble. Hezekiah grew proud. In those days Hezekiah became ill and was at the point of death. He prayed to the LORD, who answered him and gave him a miraculous sign. But Hezekiah's heart was proud and he did not respond to the kindness shown him; therefore the LORD's wrath was on him and on
But that’s not the end of the account, my heart warmed when I read verse 26, Then Hezekiah repented of the pride of his heart, as did the people of
Hezekiah repented! A great man by all earthly standards repented. He humbled himself before the Lord and repented!
That is a powerful word to me today. Hezekiah tripped up. We all stumble and fall in our faithfulness to God but it is what we do after we fall that matters. Hezekiah repented. He turned back to the Lord. So many of the kings before him let pride get in the way of their walk with God and lived out their final days estranged from God. Not Hezekiah.
The word that comes to my mind is resilience. Hezekiah’s faith was resilient. When he fell he didn’t stay down and he didn’t turn from God, he turned TO God… that is faithful resilience. And that is a word I need to hear…
O, God, I pray for faith-filled resilience. I will fall, I know it but Lord, when I fall pick me up and forgive my sins and bring me back to You. Like Hezekiah I long for faith-filled resilience… to keep walking with You, no matter what. To keep walking with You when enemies attack… and to return to You through repentance when I stumble and fall into sin. To live for Jesus, this is what I long in life … Amen.
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