When my second son was about three years old, I brought him along with me to a men's accountability group meeting. At the start of the meeting, I noticed how my son was closely and tightly sitting right next to me. In an unfamiliar place, surrounded in a room full of strange and scary-looking men, he felt frightened and insecure. So he held on tightly to the only familiar object in that room - his father. As long as dad is around, he felt safe.
The book of 2 Kings Chapter 18 describes Hezekiah as a righteous king. He was so upright that the bible describes that he stood out uniquely among all the kings in the history of Judah. He was successful, prosperous, and abundantly wealthy. What’s his secret? 2 Kings 18:6 reveals it to us. It reads: “For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.” King Hezekiah clung to the Lord. I believe herein is the secret in unleashing spiritual power in our lives.
The hebrew word for cling is “dabaq” which means to cleave, keep close, hold fast, join together, and stick together. It’s the same word used in Genesis 2:24 describing the relationship between husband and wife: “Therefore shall a man leave his father and his mother, and shall cleave to his wife and they shall be one flesh.” The word cleave comes also from the same hebrew word. In essence “dabaq” means to stay close together as much as possible, to not separate and be together all the time. Does this describe your relationship with God? Do you cling to Him? Do you hold fast to Him as much as you can?
I observe three demonstrations of how Hezekiah clung to God.
1. He trusted in God fully.
2 Chronicles 29:3-10 chronicles how King Hezekiah started a reform in Judah. His father, Ahaz, was an evil king. Ahaz worshipped in the high places and made different idols and images and worshipped them. He even burned his own sons as a sacrifice to his gods. Hezekiah, however, was different. The moment he became King, he started a reform movement by removing all the high places and every form of idol worship. He ordered that the temple be cleansed of any unclean object and reopened its doors which has been closed for a long time. He repaired the temple and re established the Levites to take care of the temple and ordered them anew to carry out their priestly duties. He consecrated the temple and re instituted the Passover; something that they have not done in many years.
When Sennacherib, King of Assyria was approaching to besiege Jerusalem, these were the words spoken by Hezekiah to his people: "Be strong and courageous, do not fear or be dismayed because of the king of Assyria nor because of all the horde that is with him; for the one with us is greater than the one with him. With him is only an arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles." And the people relied on the words of Hezekiah king of Judah (2 Chronicles 32:7-8). The Assyrian army was a military powerhouse during that time. They were much feared by many nations for at that point, the Assyrians have already conquered Israel, Aram, and all the cities of Judah except Jerusalem. Imagine yourself in Hezekiah’s shoes. How would you feel when the world around you is crumbling right before your eyes? What would be your sentiments toward God when you are loosing your money, business, and relationships? When you’re loosing almost everything, would you still trust Him?
2. He obeyed faithfully.
2 Chronicles 31:20 summarizes the reign of King Hezekiah this way: “Everything Hezekiah did while he was king of Judah, including what he did for the temple in Jerusalem, was right and good. He was a successful king, because he obeyed the LORD God with all his heart.” (CEV) Obedience brings blessing. Notice how his success is directly attributed to his obedience.
3. He prayed emotionally.
When Rabshakeh, commander of the Assyrian army, delivered a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah saying irreverently that the Lord, their God, cannot deliver them from the hands of the Assyrians just as what happened to the other nations who they previously dispossessed; Hezekiah took the letter, spread it before God in the temple and entreated Him saying: “But just look how Sennacherib has insulted you, the living God. It is true, our LORD, that Assyrian kings have turned nations into deserts. They destroyed the idols of wood and stone that the people of those nations had made and worshiped. But you are our LORD and our God! We ask you to keep us safe from the Assyrian king. Then everyone in every kingdom on earth will know that you are the only God” (2 Kings 19:16-19, CEV). That same night, after praying, an angel from the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers and Sennacherib was forced to retreat and go back home to Nineveh. Some time later he was murdered while worshipping his god in a temple.
Years later Hezekiah became ill and the Lord told him, through the prophet Isaiah, to set his house in order for he will not recover from the illness and that his life will soon end. Hezekiah pleaded before God, weeping bitterly, he cried out to God and said: "Remember now, O LORD, I beseech You, how I have walked before You in truth and with a whole heart and have done what is good in Your sight" (2 Kings 20:3). After Hezekiah prayed with such emotional agony, the Lord was moved and said to Isaiah the prophet, "Return and say to Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of your father David, "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; behold, I will heal you.”’” (2 Kings 20:5)
When was the last time you actually cried and sobbed before God? Last September 2009 I lost my job. And probably like Hezekiah when faced with the mighty Assyrian army, I pictured the scenario in my mind to what could possibly happen to me and my family now that I was jobless. I was already financially struggling with a job barely being able to pay my bills. Loosing a job would be a disaster to me financially. Aside from this, a deep feeling of failure encroached upon me. All these emotions welled up inside of me and after a long, long time; I wept and sobbed while praying to God. Afterwards, it felt good. I began to sense a feeling and assurance that everything will be alright.
Clinging to God appears forthright but it’s not as easy as it seems. We have this terrible propensity to be independent. After sitting close to me for about 30 minutes, I noticed how my son was slowly loosening his grip on me. He eventually noticed that the old, scary men were not so scary after all – in fact they were actually friendly. After familiarizing himself with the people and the surroundings, he slowly began to let go of me and soon was confidently walking around and going out of the room by himself. With his fear gone, he was confident and so sure of himself that he didn't need daddy to protect him anymore. Aren’t we like that oftentimes to our Heavenly Father?
When we begin to depend on ourselves and our capabilities, we begin to loosen our grip on God. We find ourselves doing a lot of work and praying less. When this happens, be careful. In Luke 18:7-8, Jesus encourages us to cry out to Him in prayer day and night, an act of total dependence. When we do this, He promises that we will get justice quickly. The secret to unleashing power in our prayers and to living a successful and prosperous life is that we maintain dependence on Him constantly – clinging to Him as if our life depended on it and never letting go.
The New Testament version of the words "cling" and "cleave" is the word "abide". Jesus mentioned this word plenty of times in John 15. I'll share more about abiding in Christ next week.
God bless your week.
