Day 209 (2 Kings 19, Psalm 46, 80, 135) - Year 4
05:56 Share

Hey, Bible readers, I'm Tara Lee Cobble, and I'm your host for The Bible Recap. Today we revisited part of the story we first read on day 206, including Hezekiah's response to King Sennacherib's threats. We're reminded of how humbly he responded when troubles came his way.

And since we've read this story before, you probably recall that after this, when he's been blessed and has stockpiled fortunes and he gets to live an extra 15 years, his heart arcs away from God. He becomes prideful, doubts God's words, and lives somewhat carelessly. One of the things we didn't touch on when we first read this story a few days ago was the part where God puts a spirit in Sennacherib that will cause him to hear a lie.

There are a few noteworthy things about that. First, God is in charge of evil spirits. They're on a leash and they have to do what he says and go where he commands. That's comforting. Second, God himself didn't mislead Sennacherib. Scripture tells us repeatedly that God cannot lie.

Hebrews 16.8 says he's incapable of it. It would be contrary to his character because according to John 14, one of his names is the truth. He is the truth. But God certainly does use evil for his own purposes. When Romans 8.28 says he works all things together for the good of those who love him, evil is included in that list of all things, the good, the bad, and the ugly, the truth he speaks and the rumors others speak.

So he allows Sennacherib to be misled. If you think that might be an unjust response, try to zoom out and remember how Sennacherib has openly mocked Yahweh and his leaders tell the people of Judah that they shouldn't let Yahweh trick them into trusting him. This is a merciful response based on what Sennacherib actually deserves from God.

Isaiah also tells Hezekiah that they will win this war without even putting gas in their horses. And he's right. Before Assyria can fire off an arrow toward Jerusalem, God's army, an army of one, shows up and wins. But it isn't really a balanced fight. The Assyrians are way outnumbered by the angel of the Lord, who kills 185,000 of them in one night. Plus, he has the home field advantage since he owns the whole earth and whatnot.

Then, eventually, King Sennacherib is assassinated, just as God promised.

Next, we jumped back into the Psalms. There were two verses in Psalm 46 that stood out to me in light of what we just read. First, this reference to Jerusalem in verse 5 stood out. It says, God is within her. She shall not be moved. God will help her when morning dawns. This is certainly what played out over the course of the night when the angel of the Lord showed up and won the battle for them while they were sleeping. When morning dawned, they laid eyes on God's victory.

The second verse I loved is the most famous one in this chapter, verse 10. Be still and know that I am God. One of the things we've seen repeated as we've been in Isaiah lately is this idea of quietness and rest and trust. This stillness fits right in with that, doesn't it? In Psalm 80, the corporate cry is for God to save them and restore them. In this song, Israel knows its identity and echoes it back to the God who gave them that identity to begin with.

I love this imagery in verses 8 through 9. It says, you brought a vine out of Egypt. That vine is a reference to Israel, the people, the ones he rescued from Egypt. Then it continues saying, you drove out the nations and planted it. You cleared the ground for it. This is a reference to Israel, the place. God drove out the Canaanites and planted them there. And now they've been burned up, cut down, plucked up, and they ask God to restore them and promise to praise him for it.

Psalm 135 is where my God shot showed up today. I really love this psalm. I went through it and circled all the action verbs where God is the subject, and here's everything God does in this chapter. He chose Jacob and Israel. He does whatever he pleases. He makes the clouds rise. He makes lightning. He brings forth the wind. He struck down the Egyptians. He

He sent signs and wonders. He struck down many nations. He killed mighty kings, then gave their land to Israel. He will vindicate his people. He will have compassion on his servants. He dwells in Jerusalem. God does a lot of things here. And as we look back on all of them, we see his hand to bless his people, to restore and redeem the very ones who have repeatedly gone astray from him. And he doesn't do it begrudgingly. He doesn't do it reluctantly.

He does it willingly, joyfully. You know how we know that? Because verse 6 says he does whatever he pleases. It pleases God to adopt sinners into his family and call them sons and daughters. It demonstrates his great heart for redemption. He will vindicate his people. He will have compassion on his servants. It pleases him. Wow. He's where the joy is.

Each month we send out special bonus content to those of you who are in our Patreon family. For the month of July, we've got a bonus episode about the 10 questions I ask before reading the Bible.

We'll send this to patrons who've joined at the bonus content tier or higher. If that's you, just log into your Patreon account to get your perks, or if you've selected to have them emailed to you, you can look for it there. If you're part of our Patreon at a different tier and you want access to this perk, just log into your Patreon account and adjust your membership accordingly. And if you're not yet part of our Patreon family, this is the best time to join. Check out today's show notes for a link or click the Patreon link on our website, thebiblerecap.com.