“And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “O Lord of hosts, 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 all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
(Isaiah 37:15-20 ESV)
“He set to work resolutely and built up all the wall that was broken down and raised towers upon it, and outside it he built another wall, and he strengthened the Millo in the city of David. He also made weapons and shields in abundance. This same Hezekiah closed the upper outlet of the waters of Gihon and directed them down to the west side of the city of David. And Hezekiah prospered in all his works.”
(2 Chronicles 32:5, 30 ESV)
Look at the dual nature of Hezekiah’s actions in those scriptures. He prayed to the Lord (Is. 37:15) and he set to work resolutely (2 Chron. 32:5). This brilliant combination apparently continued in simultaneous action. Hezekiah sought the Lord and did the wise work before him. This, folks, is the discipline of grace: to pray, fully trusting God; and in that trust to get to work.
Hezekiah was not always so healthy. Earlier in the ongoing crisis engendered by the rapacious Sennacherib of Assyria, Hezekiah waffled. He paid tribute and played politics and was regrettably faithless – much as we sometimes are during the darkest nights of our life crises. Yet, Hezekiah learns through those waffling times. He gets his head together. He relies on God’s word and God’s people (notably the prophet Isaiah). And when the ugliest, scariest moments of Judean history land in his lap, King Hezekiah responds with the discipline of grace.
In the words of this year’s annual theme at the church where I worship, this is what it means to “Rise Up and Walk!” We do what Hezekiah did when he got his head on straight – we trust God and get about His good works by His grace. Surely this dedication to work hard and prayerfully was behind what may have been Hezekiah’s greatest declaration, recorded for us in 2 Chronicles:
6 And he set combat commanders over the people and gathered them together to him in the square at the gate of the city and spoke encouragingly to them, saying, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the horde that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. 8 With him is an arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God, to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people took confidence from the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. (ESV)