Isaiah 37:1: “And so it was, when King Hezekiah heard it, that he tore his clothes, covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.”

August 31st, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

Rabshakeh, the leader of the Assyrian army came to Jerusalem and threatened to destroy them. King Hezekiah responded by tearing his clothes, a sign of repentance, and then going straight into the house of the Lord. He knew that was the place to go when things go sideways. Down through the ages, this has always been the correct place for believers to go. Going into the house of the Lord doesn’t mean going to a certain kind of church building, but rather going into the presence of the Lord, along with God’s people. When we are under attack from the evil one, we often find that we lose our desire to be with other believers. Excuses of why we can’t or shouldn’t be with them pile up in our minds: “I don’t feel like it.” “I don’t have anything to wear.” “I don’t want to see that person.” The list goes on and on. When troubles come our way, the enemy will throw up every possible roadblock to keep us from coming to the house of the Lord. But King Hezekiah knew exactly where he needed to go and that was to God’s house, where he could cry out in prayer to the Lord for help.

There is a story of a gifted neurosurgeon who was asked to travel to a Middle Eastern nation to perform a difficult operation on an ageing monarch. The operation was a success and the physician flew home. But later, when it came time to bill for his services, he was unsure of how much to charge. He had been told it was a serious cultural insult to bill a monarch for more or less than the real value of the service rendered. So he had his accounting department send a blank bill to the monarch, with “The king cannot do wrong,” written across it. He was surprised and pleased when he received back a check for many times over what he would normally bill for the procedure. When we are unsure of how to pray, it is always best to leave it to our Eternal King to answer our prayer in the way He thinks best.

“LORD, remind us to come to You, even when difficult times push against us and make us want to stay home and feel sorry for ourselves.”