King Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became Judah’s 11th
king and reigned for 29 years. 2 Chronicles
29:2 says that, “he did what was right in the eyes of the Lord”,
and 2
Kings 18:5 says, “there was none like him among all the kings of
Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.” It appears that Hezekiah had plenty of
reasons to be proud. Two of Hezekiah’s
greatest successes/accomplishments were, 1.) rebuilding and restoring proper
worship in the Temple in Jerusalem (2 Chron. 29:3-36) and 2.) defeating the
Assyrian King Sennacherib (2 Chron. 32:1-21). Probably
Hezekiah’s greatest accomplishment was at the end of his life when he overcame
the sin of pride . . .
READ: 2 Chronicles 32:22-26
No matter what God accomplishes
through us, He expects us to remain HUMBLE! As great as Hezekiah was and everything He
accomplished, he was still imperfect, he was prideful. Whether his pride showed on the outside or
not, God knew that in his heart he had thoughts like, “look what I have done!” What do we learn
about humility from king Hezekiah?
1. Humility
means RECOGNIZING who gets the credit for our accomplishments (vs 22) – It’s pretty clear WHO deserved the credit
for king Hezekiah’s accomplishments. Verse 22 says,
“the LORD
saved Hezekiah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib.” 2 Kings 19:35 says that God sent an
angel and killed 185,000 men in Sennacherib’s army causing him to retreat from
Jerusalem. Although Hezekiah was king,
it was God who caused him and Israel to be victorious. No matter what we accomplish in life, God is
the one who provides the talents, abilities, gifts, and/or circumstances to
bring it about. We must always be aware
of God’s activity in our lives and ready to give Him the credit He
deserves.
2. Humility
means RETURNING to God the praise and acknowledgement we receive for our
accomplishments (vs 23, 25) – After
Israel’s victory over king Sennacherib they brought “gifts to the Lord” and “precious
things” to Hezekiah. Hezekiah’s
victory over Sennacherib also made him a lifetime VIP on the world stage. It’s easy to see how the praise and
acknowledgement Hezekiah received went straight to his head. Keeping public praise for our accomplishments
points to our pride. Instead, when we
receive public praise and acknowledgement we must use it as a platform to bring
glory to God. When the spotlight shines
on us, we must be the ones who humbly redirect the attention to the One who
truly deserves it!
3. Humility
means REPENTING when we have become PRIDEFUL (vss
25-26) – As great of a king as Hezekiah was, God still brought wrath and
punishment upon him and Judah and Jerusalem because of his pride. As a result of Hezekiah identifying his pride
and humbling himself and turning from his sin, God extended his life 15
years. No matter how good we are or how
much God accomplishes through us, there are consequences for stealing God’s
glory and keeping it for ourselves.
Beware of pride and be quick to repent so that God can continue to use
us in His service!
CONCLUSION
Jesus Christ is a King who humbly gives glory to His Father!
In John 17:1, 4 Jesus says, “Father, the
hour has come; glorify your Son that the Son may glorify you . . . I glorified
you on earth, having accomplished the work that you gave me to do (cf.
Jn. 8:54).” At the moment that
God would accomplish something amazing through His life, Jesus was ready to
give the glory to His Father. When God
accomplishes the work He gives us to do, we must humbly give Him all the honor
and the glory!
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