Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord God of Israel; ‘Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, I have heard’.
2 Kings 19:20
Having received threats from the king of Assyria, Hezekiah turned to the Lord in prayer. In doing so he spread out the threatening letter before the Lord in the temple and asked God to save them. God heard his prayer and responded through the prophet Isaiah with words of encouragement and action — He killed 185,000 of the Assyrians, causing the Assyrian king to return home just as Isaiah had prophesied.
Do not deceive yourself by thinking that if you do everything right that Satan cannot, or will not attack you. Nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, for the godly, Satan’s attacks are to be expected. The Scripture is full of examples, including here, of godly men who suffered because of their righteousness. The godly are not immune to spiritual attack, but will suffer in all kinds of abuse. The problem with most leaders is that they react to the attack in unspiritual ways trying to defend themselves. They must understand what to do when attacks come, no matter what the their origin.
Hezekiah did the right thing and let God be his defense. He knew he was helpless against a very powerful enemy who had already begun to take the cities of Judah. He knew that without God’s help and wisdom there was nothing he could do. What he did do was to take this threat directly to the Lord by laying out the threatening letter before the Lord in temple and appealing to God who alone rules over all the kingdoms of the earth. A powerful act of complete trust in the Lord.
When you are under attack. When Satan uses men against you, be it government officials, coworkers, neighbors, friends, family, or even your brothers and sister in the Lord you must take it to the throne of God. He did not verbally oppose the treats but immediately went to the Lord. In fact, he never had to say a word to his enemy. The Lord took care of it without any help or need of self defense from Hezekiah. Expect trouble you who walk with Jesus, but do not rise to your own defense.
Take the threats against you to the throne of God and declare his Lordship over all. Then wait for Him to act on your behalf.
