FIRST RESPONSE OR LAST RESORT?

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORDand spread it out before the LORD.

2 Kings 19:14

The threatening words Hezekiah read in the letter were as bold and as enormous as the literal threat posed by King Sennacherib and his mighty army.

Was Hezekiah tempted to take the deal, to surrender with the promise of a good life for his people? The prophet Isaiah, after the shouted threats, had delivered God’s own message: “Do not be afraid of what you have heard — those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword” (2 Kings 19:6 - 7).

But this letter …

No, Hezekiah did not hesitate, did not meet with his advisers to analyze his options. He showed his faithfulness to the Lord in everything. Hezekiah hurried to the temple. There was only one response. He “spread [the letter] out before the LORD” and then he spread himself out in prayer: “You alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth” (2 Kings 19:15).

The result? The Assyrians were indeed defeated, as God alone could accomplish.

We face threats of many kinds. Desperate situations, people offering deals and compromises, problems that redefine the word hopeless. What do we do first? Seek human counsel? Construct a chart of pros and cons? Read the latest self-help book? Instead, our first response should be to “spread it out before the LORD” in humble, honest prayer.

As you encounter difficulties or trials during the day, remember Hezekiah, and “spread it out before the LORD.”

PRAYER

God, you know the threats I face. I come to you first, not as a last resort …