Psalm 46 (Ahaz & Hezekiah)

Psalm 46:1-11 ESV

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”

Psalm 46 is one of my favorite Psalms in the Bible

There is so much meat to sink your teeth into this Psalm

There is an appeal to not fear because the Lord is always ready to help when we call on His name

When the world seems to be in complete chaos, we lean on the promise that we can always put our trust in the Lord no matter how devastating the storm may be

Statements like “The Lord of hosts is with us;” gives us confidants to walk through the darkness valleys and not be afraid

We can approach each battle knowing that no matter what we face that God is our fortress

Psalm 46 gives the call to “Be still and know” that our sovereign Lord is still on the throne and will be honored throughout the world

Though this Psalm gives a profound message in the words alone.

I believe digging into the back story will make this Psalm even more meaningful for us today.

In Whom will you trust???

Today I want to take you back around 2,700 years ago to a place called Judah

The King of Judah at this time is a young man named Ahaz

King Ahaz becomes king at age 20 and early in his reign as king,

He was faced with a significant decision that would affect his entire legacy.

King Rzin of Syria and King Pekah of Israel joined forces to attack Judah

They are attacking Judah because Ahaz has not joined them to attack Assyria

What is taking place is the Kings of Syria and Israel are being tormented greatly by the King of Assyria

This is happening because Syria and Israel are located in the perfect trade route for Assyria,

Assyria see’s both Syria and Israel as an inconvenience of their plan to have the most optimal trade route as possible

It is important to understand that the Assyrian at this time in history is a military powerhouse

They are steam rolling nation after nation and have literally skinned their enemies alive

The Assyrians where ruthless as they would perform psychological warfare on their enemies

What they would do is capture and torture one of their enemies to strike tremendous fear on them

Which is why the Assyrian army was known as a symbol of terror

So, with that in mind one understands why King Ahaz does not join Syria and Israel in their fight against Assyria

But the problem is because of Ahaz lack of standing up against the Assyrian rule

both Syria and Israel want to take out Ahaz as king and install their guy as the new King of Judah in order for Judah to join them in attacking Assyria

In the thick of this political turmoil

The Lord sends the Prophet Isaiah to say this to King Ahaz…

Isaiah 7:4b, 5b, 6, & 7 9b ESV (I am going to be covering a lot of ground)

“do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands… they (Syria and Israel) have “devised evil against you, saying, “Let us go up against Judah and terrify it, and let us conquer it for ourselves, and set up the son of Tabeel as king in the midst of it,”

Isaiah finishes in verse 9b with saying

“If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.”

This prophetic word to not fear and stand firm in the faith is crucial for King Ahaz

God knowing the importance of this moment in Ahaz’s reign,

He invides Ahaz into an amazing opportunity…

Isaiah 7:11 ESV

The Prophet Isaiah gives another word and says this to Ahaz..

“Ask a sign of the LORD your God; let it be deep as Sheol or high as heaven.”

God in his mercy gives Ahaz the opportunity to ask for a sign from heaven

Ahaz can ask of any sign he can think in order for him stand stand firm in his faith...

But this is how Ahaz responds

Isaiah 7:12 ESV

But Ahaz said, “I will not ask, and I will not put the LORD to the test.”

Ahaz does know his Bible...

Deuteronomy 6:16 says not to put the Lord to the test

It would seem on the surface that Ahaz is wanting to do what is right

But actually what Ahaz was doing is what many Christians do today

He used the Bible as a means to sound spiritual,

but in reality,

Ahaz was rejecting the Lord’s plan.

You can read the following chapters and see how the Prophet Isaiah rebukes King Ahaz for his attitude

To get the clearest picture of why King Ahaz rejected the Lords plan we must go to 2 Kings 16

2 Kings 16 captures the same time of history as Isaiah 7

2 Kings 16:7-9a

7 So Ahaz sent messengers to Tiglath-pileser king of Assyria, saying, “I am your servant and your son. Come up and rescue me from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who are attacking me.” 8 Ahaz also took the silver and gold that was found in the house of the LORD and in the treasures of the king’s house and sent a present to the king of Assyria. 9 And the king of Assyria listened to him.

King Ahaz trusted in the king of Assyria for deliverance instead of trusting in God for deliverance

In whom will you trust Ahaz?

Ahaz put his trust in a wicked king

See Ahaz already made up his mind in whom he would place his trust.

Geoffrey Grogan writes on this passage stating

“Ahaz made his plans, and they did not include God or his will.”

Ahaz choose to be a servant and son of the Assyrian king rather than a servant and son of Yahweh

Notice that Ahaz is so committed to the King of Assyria that he steals from the house of the Lord to give to the King of Assyria.

Something I want to highlight today is this...

“The very thing that you turn to instead of God, will become a monster, that will come to destroy you”

Right away on the surface it would that Ahaz putting his trust in the Assyrian King was a good move because Syria and Israel do not succeed in removing King Ahaz from the throne

But because of King Ahaz’s decision to follow his new found savior, (the king of Assyria)

King Ahaz leads the people of Judah into tremendous sin.

When Ahaz meets with the King of Assyria to visit,

Ahaz sees an altar to a false god and asked one of his priests to make a replica of it and place it in the Temple of Jerusalem.

Not only does the house of the Lord get robbed, the new alter which is a replica to a false god replaces the alter of the Lord. (2 Kings 16:14)

Ahaz leads the people of Judah into tremendous idolatry which leaves Ahaz’s legacy as the following...

2 Kings 16:2b 3b Describes Ahaz’s legacy stating…

“And he (King Ahaz) did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD his God…”

“He even burned his son as an offering, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the LORD drove out before the people of Israel.

King Ahaz became so corrupted that he even sacrifices his own son.

But what does this all have to do with Psalm 46?

Let’s continue on in the story…

After King Ahaz dies, his son Hezekiah takes his place as the new King.

King Hezekiah was 25 years old when he became king and did things much different from his father King Ahaz

King Ahaz “did not do what was right in the eyes of the LORD”

(2 Kings 16:2)

Whereas King Hezekiah “did what was right in the eyes of the LORD”

(2 Kings 18:3)

When King Hezekiah became king he began to lead a spiritual reformation in Judah.

The Scripture records that he “removed the high places and broke the pillars and cut down the Asherah. And he broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made” (2 Kings 18:4)

All the objects of idolatry that Judah was participating in,where destroyed when Hezekiah became king

Hezekiah’s dad Ahaz led the people into idolatry.

Now Hezekiah is leading the people out of idolatry.

King Hezekiah was so commited to leading the people out of idolatry that he

even destroys the bronze serpent that Moses made which was a historical piece of Jewish history.

Hezekiah destroyed the bronze serpent because what was supposed to be a symbol to remind the people of God’s healing power

became an object idolatry.

King Hezekiah demonstrated such godly leadership that the Bible records this about him.

2 Kings 18:5-7a ESV

“He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him. For he held fast to the LORD. He did not depart from following him, but kept the commandments that the LORD commanded Moses. And the LORD was with him; wherever he went out, he prospered.

While King Hezekiah leads this spiritual revival in the land, he makes an important decision.

Remember King Ahaz became a servant of Assyria?

King Hezekiah realizes that you cannot serve 2 masters.

So what does King Hezekiah do?

2 Kings 18:7b

“He rebelled against the king of Assyria and would not serve him.”

The king of Assyria of course does not like that the people of Judah are trying to break free from him.

See Assyrian is used to receiving tribute money from Judah and have come accustomed to Judah being under their rule and reign.

So in response to Judah rebelling against Assyria,

the king of Assyria sends his army to march against the people of Judah

So how does Hezekiah respond?

Now remember Hezekiah is known to be a man of God…

Hezekiah the one leading a spiritual reformation…

Hezekiah, who the Scripture describes as being one to trust the Lord his God.

The King of Judah who “there was none like him among all the kings before or after him”

He responds to the Assyrian attack by doing something dumb!

In a moment of panic,

Hezekiah see’s the huge Assyrian army coming to attack him.

So, Hezekiah gathers all the silver in the house of the Lord, all treasuries of the king’s house and stripped the gold from the doors and doorposts of the temple to give to the king of Assyria. (2 Kings 18:15-18)

Does this sound familiar?

Hezekiah’s dad king Ahaz did the same thing.

I love how the Scripture does not sanitize people in the Bible.

If it is King David’s affair with Bathsheba and Murder of Uriah

Or Peter’s denial of Jesus

It does not mater the story one usually will spot one of the characters dropping the ball one way or another

You get what you get with the people of the Bible

Here Hezekiah is someone who trusts in the Lord but still makes a mistake when the pressure is on

But the good news is the story is not finished yet…

Hezekiah does give the king of Assyria the silver and gold but here is the problem…

The money is not good enough for the king of Assyria...

He wants the people of Judah to fully understand that he is their master...

Remember what I said earlier...

The very thing that you turn to instead of God will become a monster that will come to destroy you.

Judah is experiencing this right in this moment.

Judah had fed this monster for so long that now it is to the point that the monster is coming to kill, steal, and destroy.

The King of Assyria sends his commander in chief, his field commander, and his chief of staff along with a huge army to Jerusalem. (2 Kings 18:17)

And this their message to the people of Judah

Isaiah 36:4b, 5, 6a, 7, 8, & 10 ESV

“Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours? Do you think that mere words are strategy and power for war? In whom do you now trust, that you have rebelled against me? Behold, you are trusting in Egypt, that broken reed of a staff… But if you say to me, “We trust in the LORD our God,” is it not he whose high places and altars Hezekiah has removed, saying to Judah and to Jerusalem, “You shall worship before this altar”?” Come now, make a wager with my master the king of Assyria: I will give you two thousand horses, if you are able on your part to set riders on them. Moreover, is it without the LORD that I have come up against this land to destroy it? The LORD said to me, “Go up against this land and destroy it.”

The main point of the message is you can’t trust…

You can’t trust Egypt to save you

You can’t trust the Lord to save you because Hezekiah has made the Lord angry by taking down the high places of worship

(Which of course was lie…)

You can’t trust your army because they are weak

And then goes as far to say that the Lord himself sent us to destroy Jerusalem.

(Which of course is also a lie…)

The message is 50% truth and 50% lies....

Egypt and Judah’s army cant save the people is true

Whereas God is angry and God is sending them to destroy his city is a lie

The whole goal of this message is simple though

The Assyrians want to bring fear and division to undermine any remaining confidence that Judah may still have.

What is quite remarkable is the Assyrian military intelligence on Judah.

Especially when it comes to their attack against Hezekiah act of taking down the high places of worship.

The Assyrian’s message to the people of Judah was an attempt to play on the sympathies of the people.

Remember the people of Judah for generations had become accustomed to worshiping at the high places and practicing worship of other gods

Also, remember Hezekiah removed the bronze serpent that Moses had made which had become an object of worship

With this in mind

This message is to bring fear and division in order for the people to rise up against king Hezekiah

The Assyrian army knows that if they can bring division within the walls of Jerusalem,

they will not have to lift their sward in battle because the people will destroy themselves from the inside.

There is an significant detail that the Assyrian army did not know or did not take in count for when they delivered this message of fear and division

When king Hezekiah is in the thick of leading a spiritual reformation in Judah the Bible records an important piece of information that the Assyrian army could not foil

2 Chronicles 30:12b-14; 31: 1b NLT

“God’s hand was on the people in the land of Judah, giving them all one heart to obey the orders of the king and his officials, who were following the word of the LORD. So a huge crowd assembled at Jerusalem in midspring to celebrate the Festival of Unleavened Bread. They set to work and removed the pagan altars from Jerusalem...

they smashed all the sacred pillars, cut down the Asherah poles, and removed the pagan shrines and altars.”

God’s hand moved on the people and they were in complete unity as they had one heart to destroy that which was offensive to God.

So when the message from the Assyrian army is to bring division,

the people of God where united as one body

The message from the enemy continues....

Isaiah 36:16-17 paraphrase

If you surrender to the Assyrian king than everything will be alright

You will be able to eat of you own vine and drink from your own wells

Then I will take you to land to live in peace just like the land you in now

In the thick of battle nothing sounds better than peace

Especially when there seems to be no sign of hope..

It is important to understand that

what Judah would be giving up for the sake of peace

is the land that God had promised them

How often has the church surrendered for the sake of peace?

How often have we surrendered territory to the enemy because we did not want to continue in the battle...

abortion? gay marriage? transgenderism?

Have we gotten to the point that we desire peace and comfort over fighting the good fight?

I think it comes down to this...

Do we trust man to give us peace?

or

God to give us peace?

In whom will you trust???

The message from Assyria finishes with one final point

Isaiah 36:18 ESV

18 Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The LORD will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria?

Than they give examples of how Assyria has destroyed every god that has gotten in their way...

In whom will they trust Judah?

Judah has already surrendered to this evil empire once before...

and Hezekiah has already folded once before under pressure…

So what will be the response?

Isaiah 37:1 ESV

“As soon as King Hezekiah heard it, he tore his clothes and covered himself with sackcloth and went into the house of the LORD.”

Next few verses we see… Isaiah 37:2-4

Hezekiah send a message to the prophet Isaiah.

Explaining how this is day of great distress

Perhaps the Lord heard the enemies mocking and defying the name of the living God.

Isaiah please pray for those who are left.

Isaiah receives the message and gives this prophecy...

Isaiah 37:6b-7

“Thus says the LORD: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the young men of the king of Assyria have reviled me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him, so that he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’ ”

What is interesting is that the prophet Isaiah “told Hezekiah essentially the same message he told his father Ahaz (Smith 611)

Do not be afraid!

Following Isaiah’s prophecy to not fear,

the king of Assyria sends another message but this time directed only to Hezekiah

Isaiah 37:10a-11 ESV

“Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands devoting them to destruction.”

The message continues with the same message from before stating how Assyria had destroyed everyone in their path

and that the gods of the other nations were not able to save them so why do you think it could ever be different now (Isaiah 37:12-13)

Isaiah 37:14

“Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.”

After Hezekiah’s dad Ahaz was given the word of the Lord to “not fear” he surrendered to Assyria for deliverance

King Hezekiah was given the word of of the Lord to “not fear” he surrendered to God for deliverance

Hezekiah literary lays out his problem before the Lord and cries out saying this...

(Isaiah 37:15-20)

And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:

“O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD.”

Sometimes it takes us to get to the most desperate of situations before we can pray with this kind of tenacity

It is the moment of complete desperation we say God I need you to save me!

I need you to deliver me!

After Hezekiah prays, the Prophet Isaiah sends a message from the Lord to Hezekiah

Isaiah 37:21-32 The message from the Lord begins with this phrase…

“Because you have prayed to me....”

Because you turned to me for deliverance I will move on your behave

James 5:16b NIV

“The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective.”

Because Hezekiah cries out to God for help concerning his situation with the king of Assyria this is the word of Lord

Isaiah prophecy states that...

God will answer Hezekiah’s prayer (37:21)

God’s city of Jerusalem will mock the king of Assyria (37:22)

The king of Assyria’s pride has reviled the true living God (37:23–27)

And The king of Assyria will know that God is in control (37:26–27)

Suddenly God begins to move and fulfill his promise

God does what only he can do in this situation

Isaiah 37:36

And the angel of the LORD went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies.

The king of Assyria sent messengers to the people of God,

now God will send his own messenger to deliver a message to the king

The king of Assyria tried to strike fear into the hearts of the people of God,

now God strikes fear into the heart of the king of Assyrian

God is not finished with the arrogant king of Assyria

God showed that he will not be mocked!!!!

These are the events that lead to the writing of Psalm 46

Psalm 46:1-11 ESV

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.”