Today’s Daily Lesson comes from Isaiah chapter 37 verses 8 through 20:
8 The Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria fighting against Libnah; for he had heard that the king had left Lachish. 9 Now the king[a] heard concerning King Tirhakah of Ethiopia,[b] “He has set out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10 “Thus shall you speak to King Hezekiah of Judah: Do not let your God on whom you rely deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. 11 See, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them, the nations that my predecessors destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the people of Eden who were in Telassar? 13 Where is the king of Hamath, the king of Arpad, the king of the city of Sepharvaim, the king of Hena, or the king of Ivvah?”
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it; then Hezekiah went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord, saying: 16 “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who are enthroned above the cherubim, you are God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. 17 Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. 18 Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, 19 and have hurled their gods into the fire, though they were no gods, but the work of human hands—wood and stone—and so they were destroyed. 20 So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
Back in the 1950s two of the great white pastors of the City of Austin, Texas — Carlyle Marney and Blake Smith — were advocating for justice and equality, including equality in the Church house. When Blake Smith opened the doors of University Baptist Church to black membership, he received a letter notifying the Church’s dismissal from the local Baptist a association. So, Blake and Marney, did exactly what King Hezekiah did in today’s Lesson; they took that letter, laid it on the steps of Church, and prayed over it and over the City in which they pastored — calling, like Hezekiah, upon the LORD to alter the future of Austin just as had been done in Jerusalem.
Do you have your letter — something that if it isn’t changed will bring calamity and/or judgment on the community? Is it an email from a superior? Is it a City Policy? Is it a Law? Is it a Presidential Order?
Print it. And take it to the steps of the LORD’s House in the LORD’s city. Print it and pray over it. And say what Hezekiah said:
“O Lord our God, save us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.”
NOTE: We are reading the Bible through this year. What a year. Tomorrow’s Lesson comes from Isaiah chapters 40-43.
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