Resting in the Word of the King
After these things, and the establishment thereof, Sennacherib king of Assyria came, and entered into Judah, and encamped against the fenced cities, and thought to win them for himself. And when Hezekiah saw that Sennacherib was come, and that he was purposed to fight against Jerusalem, He took counsel with his princes and his mighty men to stop the waters of the fountains which were without the city: and they did help him. So there was gathered much people together, who stopped all the fountains, and the brook that ran through the midst of the land, saying, Why should the kings of Assyria come, and find much water? Also he strengthened himself, and built up all the wall that was broken, and raised it up to the towers, and another wall without, and repaired Millo in the city of David, and made darts and shields in abundance. And he set captains of war over the people, and gathered them together to him in the street of the gate of the city, and spake comfortably to them, saying, Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed for the king of Assyria, nor for all the multitude that is with him: for there be more with us than with him: 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 rested themselves upon the words of Hezekiah king of Judah. - II Chronicles 32:1-8
The situation was dire. Resistance seemed futile. Hope was hanging by a thread. Yet, in the midst of what appeared to be complete destruction, the people rested themselves in the words of the king. On the eve of battle, Hezekiah gave a compelling speech, reminding the people who was fighting with them and for them. Sure, Sennacherib had a big army and a bully attitude, but Judah had God on their side. And with that reassurance, the people stopped shaking in their boots and found peace in the situation.
Why don’t we do the same? After all, we have the same God now as they had then. He’s no less powerful, no less faithful. If He fought their battles back then (and we know He did), surely, He’ll fight ours now. So, why aren’t we resting in the words of the King? He’s promised He’ll never leave us or forsake us. He’s assured us that He loves us and has our best interests at heart. We have His Word on it. We can and should rest in that; in doing so, we can find peace in any situation.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering what happened with Hezekiah and Sennacherib, here’s the rest of the story:
And the Lord sent an angel, which cut off all the mighty men of valour, and the leaders and captains in the camp of the king of Assyria. So he returned with shame of face to his own land. And when he was come into the house of his god, they that came forth of his own bowels slew him there with the sword. Thus the Lord saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib the king of Assyria, and from the hand of all other, and guided them on every side. - II Chronicles 32:21-22
That sounds like a victory to me, and the best part is Judah didn’t even have to raise a sword. They only needed to lift their voices in prayer and have faith in the One who promised to have their backs. May we take this lesson to heart and follow their example.