Passage:
Isaiah 37:1-4
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help.
1 As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.
2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and the senior priests, covered with sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah the son of Amoz.
3 They said to him, "Thus says Hezekiah, 'This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace; children have come to the point of birth, and there is no strength to bring them forth.
4 It may be that the LORD your God will hear the words of the Rabshakeh, whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God, and will rebuke the words that the LORD your God has heard; therefore lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left.'"
Journal:
King Hezekiah tearing his royal clothes and exchanging them for sackcloth is a sign of humility. This is a proper response to outside arrogance [Isaiah 37:4 -- ". . . whom his master the king of Assyria has sent to mock the living God . . ."], and yet our greatest battle is our own arrogance from within. I have recently been involved with ministry where the Gospel at times and by some is met with arrogance. My own sinful tendency is to respond inside, in my thoughts, with arrogance of my own. It is the humility of Christ that I must duplicate internally so that I might better minister externally. We must all be willing to don sackcloth on our souls. Our ability to minister to others begins with our willingness to repent of our own sin.
Not only did King Hezekiah humble himself, but he also prayed earnestly. [Isaiah 37:1 -- "As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD."] The prayer is not a demand for an explanation of the circumstance, for the "why" is often not ours to know. Rather, the prayer is for an ability to glorify God within the circumstance, for the "what" and the "how" reflects the purpose of God as He reveals Himself in the midst of humble prayer. [Deuteronomy 29:29 -- "The secret things belong to the LORD our God, but the things that are revealed belong to us and to our children forever, that we may do all the words of this law."] The circumstances of life come in waves and are an unknown. The law of God has come through His revelation, and is known for all eternity. We must pray for the ability to cling to the calm of the known in the midst of the waves of the unknown. It is this faithful response that portrays Christ to a world that is drowning in the swells of the unknown.
Heard 'Round the House:
Last night, Vera [age 9, down syndrome] created a new approach in her never ending quest to sleep on a pallet in mommy and daddy's room rather than in the scary confines of her own bed. She became "Baby Vera" [her description] and requested that Jill feed her dessert as one would a baby. In the midst of this "feeding," she developed a forlorn look, looked out in the distance past mommy's face, and in a fake, quivering and baby like voice said, "Pallet for Baby Vera?"
