Hezekiah's Revival and Salvation

1Hezekiah was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned in Jerusalem twenty-nine years. His mother’s name was Abijah daughter of Zechariah. 2He did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.

3In the first month of the first year of his reign, he opened the doors of the temple of the Lord and repaired them. 4He brought in the priests and the Levites, assembled them in the square on the east side 5and said: “Listen to me, Levites! Consecrate yourselves now and consecrate the temple of the Lord, the God of your ancestors. Remove all defilement from the sanctuary. 6Our parents were unfaithful; they did evil in the eyes of the Lord our God and forsook him. They turned their faces away from the Lord’s dwelling place and turned their backs on him. 7They also shut the doors of the portico and put out the lamps. They did not burn incense or present any burnt offerings at the sanctuary to the God of Israel. 8Therefore, the anger of the Lord has fallen on Judah and Jerusalem; he has made them an object of dread and horror and scorn, as you can see with your own eyes.9This is why our fathers have fallen by the sword and why our sons and daughters and our wives are in captivity. 10Now I intend to make a covenant with the Lord, the God of Israel, so that his fierce anger will turn away from us. 11My sons, do not be negligent now, for the Lord has chosen you to stand before him and serve him, to minister before him and to burn incense.”
1After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done, Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself. 

16Sennacherib’s officers spoke further against the Lord God and against his servant Hezekiah...19They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.

20King Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz cried out in prayer to heaven about this.21And the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king. So he withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword.

22So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. He took care of them^c on every side.  From then on he was highly regarded by all the nations.  

Thoughts: God blesses those who seek to please Him.  Hezekiah gave himself fully to the Lord.  He re-instituted the faith in the Lord, rebuilt the Temple and re- instituted the Passover.   But then the Assyrians invaded.  They were the most powerful, numerous, and brutal army of that day.  The Assyrians had already conquered the northern kingdom of Israel (722), and now they looked to conquer the southern kingdom of Judah which was smaller.  But Hezekiah called out to God (along with plugging up their good water supply), and the soldiers in the Assyrian army died overnight.  This was a great victory for God and for King Hezekiah.  It was a clear answer to prayer.  God is able to save us, even when the odds are not in our favor.  

Prayer: Lord, help me to give myself to you fully.  Bring renewal as you did through Hezekiah.  Help me to love you more, have a sense of your holiness, and a deeper awareness of my sin.