2 Kings 19:1

HELP FROM THE SANCTUARY

‘When king Hezekiah heard it … he … went into the house of the Lord.’

2 Kings 19:1

The first thing is that we should accept the Mastery of Jesus. It is to His disciples that He brings peace. Are we disciples?

And the second thing is the resolution to live one day at a time. ‘Be not anxious for the morrow,’ for, after all, it is only to-day that we have to live. We look forward and try and think out how we will act, and to-morrow it is all so different, and meanwhile we have exhausted the nerve and we have used the energy which God intended to give us anew for the fresh day’s work. There was no gathering of the manna for more than one day at a time. The Word of Christ comes back to the disciple, and it is a question whether we will be loyal. It comes echoing down to us from the Eucharist, ‘Lift up your hearts’ from the burden and the heat, from the misery and the uncertainty of trusting in your own selves. Let us have courage to answer: ‘We lift them up unto the Lord.’

I. The reign of Hezekiah falls like a bright beam of light across the darkest path of Jewish history.—Now Hezekiah was a type of Christ. Look, first, at the destruction of the brazen serpent, as told us in this morning’s lesson. Try to realise all that it meant. This serpent had a wonderful history and sacred associations. For many generations it had been one of the objects which most stirred the hearts of the Jews. But it had lost its power completely; it had become an object of superstitious worship, and so Hezekiah broke it in pieces. I wonder what the scribes and Pharisees of that day thought of this act? Hezekiah was a type of Him Who centuries later scandalised the scribes and Pharisees by breaking the Sabbath. When the trial moment comes, when temptation is strong and help seems far away, the question will be, not whether we have learnt to hold the tenets of Christianity as historical facts, but whether they have taught us the power of prayer, and the evil hold dropped, and the call of duty accepted. Whether, in one word, we have learnt to live our faith, so that Christ lives in our hearts and through our lives.

II. Let us turn to another scene in Hezekiah’s life: the revival of the Passover, as narrated in the Second Book of Chronicles. It was not confined to Judah. Again Hezekiah’s greatness is seen. He had grasped the idea of the Passover—that it set forth the unity of the nation. There was nothing political in his aim. There was no thought of the winning back of Judah. His aim was to teach the people that, wherever their lot was cast, they were all one people, and doubtless this, too, scandalised the scribes and Pharisees of the day. And, says the chronicler, many of those that accepted the invitation came without having undergone the purification ordained by the Lord. Now mark Hezekiah on that occasion. He prayed the Lord to pardon every one who had prepared his heart to seek the Lord God of his fathers. One more type of Him Who centuries after welcomed the outcasts. Is there not a lesson here for us? Think of all those well meaning, religious people who cannot see the deeper unity which underlies differences of creed between us. But let us beware of confounding the idea of unity and uniformity. The Divine ideal seems to be not uniformity, but a grand symphony played on a thousand instruments.

III. Let us look at one more scene in Hezekiah’s life—his bearing towards the King of Assyria, as told in the lesson of this morning and this evening. Hezekiah was lying helpless before the power of the King of Assyria, but in him we see no bravado and no fear, only a simple faith and trust in God. He met the insulting messages of Sennacherib in silence; the king’s command was, ‘Answer him not.’ Once more he is a type of Him Who, centuries later, when He was accused of the chief priests and elders, answered nothing, and when He received the blasphemous message was silent. Hezekiah’s first thought was God. He went to the Temple and spread his trouble before the Lord. It is in this instant reference, this turning to God at once, without fear and without hesitation, that Hezekiah is so valuable an example to ourselves. For we, too, like Hezekiah, are besieged with enemies. Which of us has not some sin of temper, it may be, or selfishness, or pride, or lust—some sin which he is tempted to commit frequently, and we have learned its power, and we long to cast it off and be rid of it for ever, but again and again the temptation comes? We fight against it, but we finally yield to it, and we feel as though this sin were poisoning our whole life. Have we said, ‘My help cometh from the Lord’?

Dean Furneaux.

Illustration

‘Here is a good man’s victory in anticipation and advance over his enemies.

I do not think that Hezekiah needed to wait for his assurance of triumph, until

The might of the Gentile, unsmote by the sword,

Had melted like snow in the glance of the Lord.

When he came out of God’s Temple, it was with a look of calmness and confidence on his face. He had shaken off his care and sorrow. He had laid his necessities in God’s mighty hands, and he left them there. If I do really make over my distresses to Him, the poison goes out of them. If I share my tasks with Him, their irksomeness disappears. If I breathe my trouble into His strong and tranquil heart, He gives me the tranquillity and the strength instead. The moment of actual deliverance may not arrive for days or weeks. But it is as if it had arrived. I am persuaded that it is coming. I look forward to it undoubtingly. I wait for it. Nay, it is better than if it had arrived. There is something supernatural, unearthly, Divine, in being sustained, kept in peace, filled with joy, when tribulations abound, and when the Assyrians are still at Libnah.’