What It Takes to Trust In The Lord
2 Kings 18,19
February 16,
2014 AM
Pastor Craig
Ledbetter
Bible Baptist
Church, Ballincollig, Cork, Ireland
I.
Introduction (Proverbs 3:5)
A.
What does it mean to “trust in the Lord”?
1.
It is more than just having
faith in God – everyone thinks they believe God. Very few know how to TRUST in
God!
2.
Trust is faith in action!!!
3.
If you believe God will take
care of you, then you will trust THE WAY He takes care of you! Ponder that for a
minute!
4.
Notice how much we are to
trust Him! With all our heart!
5.
Does that mean we will
understand what God is doing? NO!
6.
Does it mean that everything
that God does will make sense? NO!
B.
But trust means that we start taking our faith OUT of the
closet, out of our church’s four walls, out from the Bible, and start resting in
it as we do whatever God asks of us!
C.
One final question? How will you know that you are actually,
fully trusting God?
When you are resting in the WAY that He is working everything out for good!
D.
You will understand what I mean as we learn the Bible this
morning!
II.
Background (2Kings 18:1-8)
A.
Who is this Hezekiah guy?
1.
A 25 year old king of Judah,
who lived around 700 years before birth of Jesus Christ
2.
It was a hard time
economically for Judah in those days
3.
Loads of enemies surrounding
their small nation – kind of boxed in
4.
He is an unusual king – not
wicked like most of the rest – his daddy was wicked king
Ahaz
B.
He did RIGHT in God’s sight! No matter what anybody else
thought!
1.
God rid of all the false
religion in his country
2.
Destroyed the idols that had
spread all over the cities and countryside
3.
Even destroyed priceless
religious relics (Moses’ brazen serpent), because it was an offense to God – no
matter how popular it was – because it had become an idol
C.
He had one GREAT testimony – “He trusted in the Lord God of
Israel” (18:5)
1.
THIS is the most important
part of Hezekiah’s life
2.
He had great accomplishments
in his lifetime
a.
Repaired the Temple in
Jerusalem
b.
Restored proper worship - He
had one of the largest gatherings for worship at the time
c.
He had an aqueduct dug
underground for water that ran 1700 feet to bring fresh water into Jerusalem
d.
And he also had a 7 m (21
foot) thick wall built to protect the inner city of Jerusalem
e.
Those are pretty great
accomplishments
3.
And he had some great failures
in his life
a.
He got very proud of his
accomplishments, and the worship he helped re-establish
b.
Showed off everything to the
visiting dignitaries from a far away country called Babylon
c.
Failed with training his son
Manasseh, who became one of the most wicked kings ever
d.
Not worried about God’s coming
judgment on Judah
e.
Those are some pretty BIG
failures
4.
But he was noticed by God, not
for any of the above, but because he trusted in God!
a.
It means he CLAVE, clung to
the Lord – afraid to let go – afraid to backslide
b.
KEPT clinging – he wasn’t on
and off in his trust
c.
Obeyed God’s commands as
written in the Bible – not adjusting them and disregarding the ones he didn’t
like
d.
Believed that God was in
control, and would work all things out for good
D.
The Lord Blessed Hezekiah simply because of that trust!
1.
Prospered him – financially
and more
2.
Frees him from the empire of
the day – Assyria
3.
Gave him victory against the
Philistines
4.
Now, that did not mean that
God kept him from being tested and experiencing troubles, but it does mean that
GOD was blessing him, and not the devil, like in most other kingdoms
E.
What we want to look at and
learn from this morning is HOW did Hezekiah trust God? Why did he have such a
good testimony? And how can all of us have the same testimony!
III.
Message
A.
The Trial of Hezekiah’s Faith (2Kings 18:9-13; 1Peter 1:7)
1.
Everyone says they have faith
– but you never really know what you have, until it is tested!
And believe me, the devil will make sure
that it is tested!!!
2.
The king of Assyria
(Sennacherib) attacks Judah’s neighbouring kingdom -
Samaria (18:9-12) – just to the north
a.
Sennacherib was the evil
Emperor of that day – king of Assyria, and therefore, king of the world (at
least the then known world)
b.
He brings his armies from the
north against Samaria, and wipes it off the map! Mows them down like a tractor!
c.
Why would God allow that to
happen? The Bible tells us!
1)
Not because of a poor army, or
because of bad generals
2)
But because of SIN, and
disobedience, and PRIDE in the people of Samaria
3)
By the way, the same pride is
in every one of us – especially those of you who believe you have NONE! Don’t
think about anyone else in this room! Think of your OWN pride!
4)
The Samarians, all of Northern
Israel, were too proud to listen to and heed the warnings of God’s prophet Hosea
who told them this was coming!
d.
Samaria had stood between the
Assyrian empire and Judah
e.
And now Samaria was GONE!
3.
Sennacherib begins to attack
the cities of Judah (18:13,17)
a.
3 of Assyria’s best generals
were leading the war against Judah
b.
They had a massive army
(almost 200,000 soldiers)
c.
Surrounding Jerusalem, the
capital, like an iron grip
d.
And they were totally
confident they would win. Attitude is 80% of any battle!
e.
Hezekiah and all of Jerusalem
thought they were ruined!
f.
Sennacherib’s Attack – Subtle
at first – not a frontal all-out assault (18:18-35). Sennacherib first tries to
get the city to give up without a fight – by trying to demoralise, discourage
God’s people. It works with everyone else
1)
He first questions (18:18-24)
a)
Who are you all TRUSTING to
get you out of this problem?
Good question!
1.
Probably great wisdom and wise
counsel and strong soldiers – mockingly
b)
But REALLY! WHO are your
TRUSTING (there is that word again)
1.
Egypt? He laughs. They are a
third world country at that time
2.
The Lord Jehovah? He laughs
again, YOUR PUNY GOD?
3.
Just look at all the
destruction of the statues and relics would have incurred the wrath of your God
2)
He then confuses (18:25)
a)
Your God even told me to come
and take you all away
b)
Even HE is on our side and not
yours
3)
He then boasts (18:29,30)
a)
“No one can deliver you out of my hand”
(wow, where have we heard this before?)
b)
Do not trust Hezekiah – truer
words were never spoken!
1.
Jer 17:5
Thus saith the LORD; Cursed be the man that trusteth in man, and maketh
flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth from the LORD.
2.
Psa 118:8
It is better to trust in the LORD than to put confidence in man.
c)
You are only wasting your time
trusting in “Jehovah”
d)
No god has ever stood up
against me and won!
e)
Where are those gods now
(18:33-35)?
1.
Broken, cast down, smashed, in
the dust!
2.
That’s where they all are!
4)
He set out to demoralise the
people – get them to give up without a fight!
ALL ARMIES ATTEMPT TO DO THIS STILL TO TODAY!
5)
Our battles are often more
with our moral, our faith, our TRUST than with our enemy!
4.
Whatever Hezekiah and
the people believed, had now been thoroughly attacked and tested to see if it
was for real. Now we will see.
B.
The Reaction of Faith (18:36-19:4)
1.
How are YOU going to
react?...
a.
When the battle is bigger than
you can handle – most are!
b.
When the enemy is smarter,
better prepared to win, than you are?
2.
They could NOT fight
Rabshakeh and his army head-to-head (in the flesh)
a.
No contest!
b.
Completely outnumbered,
outgunned
c.
So their fight was going to
HAVE to be DIFFERENT!
3.
They Held Back – They
held their peace (18:36)
a.
From arguing with Rabshakeh
b.
They instead ignored him – put
him off
1)
He was constantly talking,
accusing, mocking, blaming, discouraging
2)
Just like the devil does!
c.
From panicking – believe me, I
am sure they wanted to panic, but they didn’t!
d.
From disobeying the king –
they stayed under their God-ordained authority – as imperfect as he was!
e.
Exod 14:12
Is not this the word that we did
tell thee in Egypt, saying, Let us alone, that we may serve the Egyptians? For
it had been better for us to serve the Egyptians, than that we should die in the
wilderness.
f.
Exod 14:13
And Moses said unto the people,
Fear ye not, stand still, and see the salvation of the LORD, which he will shew
to you to day: for the Egyptians whom ye have seen to day, ye shall see them
again no more for ever.
g.
Exod 14:14
The LORD shall fight for you, and
ye shall hold your peace.
4.
They Humbled themselves
– this is very important (18:37)!
a.
Visibly humbled themselves
b.
Even the king did!
c.
The slightest Pride will STOP
any help from God (1Peter 5:5)!
5.
They Prayed. Really
prayed (19:1 -4)
a.
They decided to PRAY!
b.
Our battle with OUR enemy is
fought…
1)
More in prayer than in person
2)
More on our knees than by our
school degrees
3)
More in desperation than in
perspiration
4)
More in trust than in weapons
5)
More by surrender than by
victory
c.
Don’t neglect to bring every
burden, all your problems, fears, struggles to God in prayer, asking Him for
wisdom for what to do, and for help to get through!
d.
They even got other godly
people (Elijah) to pray for them (19:2; Mt 18:19)
e.
They were Honest with
themselves and with God - “we have no
strength” NO strength!
1)
No faking it – no façade to
wear in church
2)
The sooner you admit that, the
sooner God’s grace will supply all the strength that you need
3)
NOT that we all go around
looking run over by a JCB – depressed and defeated
4)
But that we know full well, we
are unable for every day!
6.
Lastly, they let God
decide the outcome (19:4) - REST
a.
When you pray, quit deciding
how everything HAS to end up
b.
Trust means leaving the
results in the hands of God
c.
You have faith that God can do
anything… well, then let Him do whatever He thinks right!
d.
Because we KNOW that He only
does right
e.
Because we know that He is
working everything in our lives out for GOOD
7.
THAT IS TRUSTING IN GOD
a.
Holding our peace
b.
Humbling ourselves
c.
Praying
d.
And Resting in God’s perfect
care!
C.
The Absolute Confidence of Faith (19:14-19) – this is what
trust looks like!
Hezekiah
develops absolute trust now. He
thought he trusted God, but he has
been tested and put into a situation where GOD is all he has, and so he now acts
with trust!
Confidence
does NOT mean you don’t feel worry, or desperation – but that you just KNOW what
to do!
1.
He went to God in
prayer again – you will go to prayer again and
again and again – it is not a once off event!
2.
He laid out the problem
before God – I LIKE THIS!
a.
Surrounded by an undefeatable
army
b.
No way through this
c.
The general Rabshakeh
continues to mock God and their trust in Him (19:10-13) – doesn’t let up!
3.
He reminded God of who
He is – loads of people did that throughout
history (reminding himself really)
4.
He asked God to just
notice what's going on – God only notices when
there is FAITH in action
5.
He accepted that
Samaria deserved defeat – accepted that Judah
had their own sins to worry about (remember all the idols and false worship that
Hezekiah had had to deal with?)
6.
He asked for a miracle
7.
And asked for the right
reason (James 4:3)
a.
That the whole world would
know that Jehovah is the only true God, and is almighty, even against the mighty
Assyrian army!
b.
THAT’S
WHY we battle, why we fight the GOOD fight, why we PRAY, and trust
in the Lord like Hezekiah!!!
D.
God’s Answer to Faith (19:20-22,32-37)
1.
God answers
a.
Who do you think you Assyrians
have challenged???
1)
Not some stone statue.
2)
Not some false god.
3)
But almighty God who made
heaven and earth!
b.
“I” (God says) will defend Jerusalem from
you (2Peter 2:9) – “I” am all they need!
c.
I will save them – what a
promise
d.
And I will do it for MY sake
1)
Not because I don’t like you
2)
Not because they are so worthy
3)
But because MY testimony is at
stake
2.
God acts
a.
So God sends out ONE angel –
only ONE
b.
And 185,000 Assyrian soldiers
died, without a fight by that one angel of God
3.
And what about
Sennacherib, the undefeatable emperor? Well,
he was assassinated by his own two sons!
4.
Hey, don’t mess with
the God of Israel – that goes for today as
well!
IV.
Application and Conclusion
A.
Is there a difference in just believing in God, and actually
TRUSTING Him?
You better believe it!
1.
Anybody can believe IN God
2.
Not many TRUST in Him!
B.
Is it worth it TRUSTING in God?
1.
Abraham proves it
2.
Sarah proves it
3.
Shadrach Meshach and Abednego
proved it
4.
The Apostle Paul proves it
5.
Moses proved it
6.
Hezekiah proves it!
C.
Your and my faith will be tested and tried – sometimes even
by fire!
1.
What we believe will be found
out if we really believe it or not
2.
Because we only act on what we
really believe!
D.
Hezekiah faced an unwinnable situation. And he faced it by
faith! And he taught us this morning how to trust in the Lord with all our
heart, didn’t he?
E.
To trust in the Lord with all your heart means to act on what
you believe:
1.
Not panic
2.
Not quit on God
3.
Not push your own way
4.
You won’t do any of that if
you really believe that God is in control!
5.
But when you “trust” you will…
a.
Humble yourself – because you
know it is the only way to access victory
b.
Stop talking, and complaining,
and giving out about your problem
c.
And you will start praying –
like never before – and KEEP praying
d.
And you will rest in God’s
care!
F.
That is how we need to face every unwinnable situation
G.
NOT believing that everything will turn out like WE want, but
that God will always do right
H.
And sometimes, He does amazing things!
I.
But whatever He does, He does it for HIS sake!
J.
He will save you for HIS sake too! If you will let Him! Trust
Him! Now!