2 Kings 18:13-19:37 / Acts 21:1-17 / Psalm 149 / Proverbs 18:8
All of us have had people speak evil of us or threaten us, or just plain old say rude and untrue things. We have several options when this happens. We can get angry and speak evil words back at that person. We can try to reason with them, showing them why they are wrong to speak that way. We can ignore them, knowing that what God says about us is what carries weight.
The story of King Hezekiah, a godly king in 2 Kings, is indicative of attacks we all experience. Just because we are in Christ, just because we belong to the Lord, that does not mean we won’t suffer attacks. Evil still exists and the enemy is always attempting to devise a way to derail our lives with his horrible plans.
I love that Hezekiah stood strong in the face of the king of Assyria and his leaders as they threatened to attack and destroy the city of Judah. They taunted, they mocked Israel’s God, they promised suffering, but in the end, the Lord upheld His own glory and His own Name. And He will also do that for us!
Hezekiah would not respond to the verbal threats, nor would he allow his people to respond. They were told to ignore the words being hurled at them. Then Hezekiah asked the Lord for help, both through the prophet Isaiah and by going himself into the temple of laying the threats before God’s presence. And God answered!
Not only did Hezekiah not have to fight, nor did his people suffer any harm, but the angel of the Lord wiped out 185,000 of the enemy as they slept. All Judah had to do was pray and ask for God’s help, and God answered by defending His people.
This is what God said in 1 Kings 19:34 For my own honor and for the sake of my servant David, I will defend this city and protect it.
Another truth we need to keep in mind is that the Lord guards His own Word and His own honor. We do not have to guard God’s honor; He’s quite capable of that all on His own. I also do not believe we have to guard our honor because God also promises to defend us.
Romans 12:19 NLT states Dear friends, never take revenge. Leave that to the righteous anger of God. For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge. I will pay them back,” says the Lord.
Never take revenge – never. Can you commit to doing that? Several years ago, after being falsely accused and treated horribly, the Lord reminded Jeff and I of this verse and He told us that we were not to respond to those who were persecuting us unjustly. That was hard because we wanted to defend ourselves. But we realized that it was much better to allow God to defend us because He is always just.
So, the next time someone is goading and taunting you, turn away and pray asking God to defend you. Listen to how He wants you to respond, then obey. Then watch to see what He does. It may take awhile for the results of the taunting to fall on those who are persecuting you, but it will be much better for you that you did not engage. You will have peace of mind, and you’ll be able to rejoice when you see the Lord defend you!
