(Disclaimer: This transcript is auto-generated and may contain mistakes.)

We are up to Isaiah 37. I had mentioned to you last week that Isaiah 36, 37, 38, 39, this is probably the easiest chapters of the book of Isaiah because it's just a historical retelling, very similar to events that we will see play out in the books of Kings, the book of Chronicles. Obviously we're used to those books being very historical. So when we're just reading about this happened, that happened, this king reigned, that king reigned, that's kind of easier to follow. But of course when Isaiah is preaching great prophecies and that cryptic language and you're trying to figure things out, sometimes it's not very clear, that can be quite challenging to work through. So these are, like I said, still we're on the easiest or easier chapters of the book of Isaiah. And if you just look at verse number four there, in Isaiah 37 verse number four, it says it may be that the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rapture Key, whom the king of Assyria his master have sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God have heard. Wherefore lift up thy prayer. That's where I want to take the sermon title from. Lift up your prayer. Lift up your prayer is the title for the sermon tonight. And in this chapter we have King Hezekiah going before God or at least desiring for prayers to be made to God twice in this chapter. Because you may recall, if you just want to go back to chapter 36, Isaiah 36, you may recall that the king of Assyria, the army of Assyria was causing great havoc, threatening a great siege on the city of Jerusalem. And, you know, King Hezekiah is sending his best men, his ambassadors, if you will, to try to make an agreement with the army of Assyria. But they're making it very public, they're making it very clear that, you know, very prideful that they're going to come and take over the city. And it ends in verse number 22 in that chapter, Isaiah 36, 22. It says, Then came Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, that was over the household, and Shebna, the scribe, and Joah, the son of Asaph, the recorder, to Hezekiah, with their close rent, and told him the words of Rabshiqui, Rabshiqui being the general of the Assyrian army there. And so, we have these three loyal ambassadors, if you will, of King Hezekiah. They come and their clothes are ripped, and we know that in this time, they will do that as a sign of distress and sorrow and woes and burdens. And so they come to King Hezekiah going, man, look, you know, the king of Assyria, he's just, he's got one mind, he wants to wipe us out. They're feeding us with a siege, this is going to be very difficult. And so we pick up the story there, continuing there, in Isaiah 37, verse number 1, which says, And it came to pass, when King Hezekiah heard it, that's from his three, you know, ambassadors, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. So he does the same thing, he rips his clothes, he puts on sackcloth, like the idea that sackcloth and ashes in the Old Testament times, sorrow, mourning, weeping. And what I love most about verse number 1, is that even though he's of great distress, where does he go? The house of the Lord, he goes to church, all right? Now, of course, that's the temple in the Old Testament days, but the house of the Lord in the New Testament is your local church. And I don't know about you, but, you know, life throws all kinds of curve balls at you. And sometimes when you're very distressed, and you're very disheartened, sad, burdened, stressed, you know, it's probably the last place you kind of want to go sometimes is to church. I don't know about you, I like, you know, it's like, oh, man, I just, I don't know, you just feel cast down, you just don't have the energy to pick yourself up and go to the house of the Lord necessarily, but what I want to encourage you, brethren, is that the best place to be when you're downcast is church. It's the best place to be. It's the best place to be when you're excited, and you're on fire, and zealous for God, but it's also the best place to be when you're downcast, and you just don't want to be there. Part of you doesn't want to be there. King Hezekiah, he sets a really good example. He realizes there's nowhere else that I can really go, like, where else am I going to be uplifted? Where else can I, you know, express my sadness and, you know, get this off my chest? He says the best place for me to go is to the house of the Lord. So, you know, come to church even when you're feeling miserable. Come to church even when you don't feel like it, because, you know, that is where God would want you to be. And many times, God's answers are going to be found in the house of the Lord. You might be praying to God. Say, God, I need an answer to this situation. I need you to come through, and I need your counsel. I need your advice, and, you know, you're downcast, and you're like, ah, I just can't make it to church, but you don't know. Maybe the Lord God's put upon the heart of the preacher to address your questions, to give you direction, and then you're like, ah, I just can't make it to church, and then you miss out on the answer that you've been praying for. Many times, you know, that is the way God answers our questions, I should say, sorry, is by putting upon the heart of the preacher to give you a response. And there in verse number two it says, And he sent a lycim who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amos. So he goes, you know what, not only do I want to be at church, we need to hear from the man of God, he says. Can you go get Isaiah? We want to hear what Isaiah has to say. And so he sends Shebna and Eliakim and the elders of the priests, he sends other men to go and fetch Isaiah. Can you come and talk to us, come to the house of God? We need to hear what God has to say. And again, that's not a bad response. Like I said, let's go and listen to the preacher. Let's go to the house of the Lord to hear the preacher and the sermon. That might be the answer that we need. But you need to remember in the days of this is, when they're seeking the prophet, it's not that they're just seeking preaching. They don't have a completed Bible like we do, right? The prophets of old were being moved by the Holy Ghost. We have, I mean, this very book, the book of Isaiah, was not available to Hezekiah in his day. In order for him to hear the words of God, he'd need to get the prophet of God, Isaiah, right? Verbally to hear from Isaiah, what we can read in the scriptures. And so, of course, another answer to your prayers is going straight to the scriptures, going straight to the Word of God. You don't need to get Isaiah. You say, oh man, it would be nice to have Isaiah, a great prophet in those days, to ask him questions. It's all here. Not just Isaiah, but you've got Jeremiah, and you've got Ezekiel, and you've got Jonah's writings, and you've got even the New Testament, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John, and, you know, you've got Paul's epistles, and you've got Peter's writings. You've got all the answers that God has ever needed to give to people over history. And you've got it all readily available to you in your hands. So when you're distressed here, come to church, but when you're distressed, pick up the Bible. Read the Bible. See if God will speak to you through His Word. And verse number three says, And they said unto him, that's unto Isaiah, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy. For the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth. That illustration, the children are come to the birth, and there's no strength to bring forth. That's the idea of a mother giving birth, and she's so exhausted, right? Maybe she's gone through labor, like, for so long, and her body just can't do it anymore, and she just can't push that baby out of the womb. In that kind of scenario, what would play out? The death of the baby and the death of the mother. And so they're kind of illustrating, man, this is just a day of death. We're all going to die. Like, you know, the king of Assyria has threatened us, and man, we're done for. Like, we're done for Isaiah, okay? And then it says here in verse number four, It may be that the Lord thy God will hear the words of Rapture Key. So they're saying, maybe God heard what Rapture Key, remember, he's like the general of the army, of the Assyrian army. Maybe God's heard what he had to say, whom the king of Assyria, his master, hath set to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the Lord thy God hath heard. Wherefore, lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. At the same time, Isaiah, can you please pray for us, Isaiah? We know you're a man of God. We know you're a prophet of God. We know that God speaks for you. Can you pray for us? Can you pray for the remnant that remains in Jerusalem? I like how they asked that question. It may be that the Lord has, will hear the words of Rapture Key. Maybe he's heard those blasphemies. Do you think God's heard them? Of course he's heard them. Of course he has. You know, I'm going to, I don't know, I might offend, I always offend someone. But anyway, someone comes up to me, Pastor, did you hear what happened? You know, whatever. At the Paris opening ceremony, for example, right? That's the most recent thing, right? Pastor, have you heard what this false prophet said? Have you heard that blasphemy? Have you heard those lies? Sometimes, but I don't really care. I tell you why, because God's heard them. God knows. And we get fired up. We get fired up when we hear blasphemy. And I understand where you're coming from. And they're asking this question, maybe God's heard it. And maybe by God hearing what they have to say, he's going to respond. And I'm just telling you straight out that God hears every word ever spoken. He knows every word you've ever spoken. He knows every word that the enemies of God have ever said that's come out of their mouth. And, you know, they're kind of asking this question. Maybe God will hear it. And we're going to keep going. We're going to answer that more completely as we continue in this chapter. Let's keep going there. Verse number six. Actually, before I keep reading verse number six, this is a good principle by King Hezekiah. You know, it's not a bad thing to go to another man and say, can you pray for me? You know? And I've shared this before, right? You know, if you've got a burden, you've got a concern, there's nothing wrong with you going before the church and saying, church, can you please pray for my situation? There's nothing wrong with you ringing me up and saying, pastor, can you please pray? Again, I don't need to know every detail. If it's sin, if it's something that you've done that's contrary to God's will, I don't need to know. I'm not a Catholic priest. You don't need to confess your sins. Like, God knows your sins. God knows what it is. But if you just need me to pray for you, for you to be strengthened and to know the will of God and to walk in His ways, I'll pray for you. I'll lift you up in prayer. Again, I don't need to know every detail. But I'm not the only one that needs to pray for you. We can pray for one another, can't we? We can pray for one another. And of course, King Hezekiah here is like, just out of desperation, can you just get Isaiah to pray for us? And so let's continue there in verse number six. And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall you say unto your master, so this is how you respond back to King Hezekiah, Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast said, or heard, sorry, that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me. Did God hear the blasphemy and the scene, the blasphemy of God during the Paris Olympic opening ceremony? God says, what He says? Don't be afraid of the words. God says, don't worry about it. God's heard it, right? Don't be concerned about the blasphemies. Verse number seven, this is how he responds, Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and return to his own land, and I will cause him to fall by the sword of his own land. So this is a prophecy that God gives Isaiah that the king of Assyria is going to die by a sword in his own land. He's not going to die in battle against you guys. He's going to go and die back in his own land, back in Nineveh. Now before I keep reading, we're in the 37th chapter of Isaiah. So what is the 37th book of the Bible? Does anyone want to, or does anyone know? Or have a guess? Haggai, thank you brother. Haggai, if you can. Keep your finger there in Isaiah. Let's go to Haggai. Come with me to Haggai chapter two. Come with me to Haggai chapter two. Now this language that God uses isn't even that common in the Bible. It doesn't appear a few times, maybe eight times, I looked it up, as best as I looked it up, maybe eight times, when he said, Behold, I will send him a blast upon him. A blast is kind of the idea of a strong wind, you know? God's going to... But that strong wind in this context seems to be a rumor. Something's going to distract the king of Assyria with rumors and he's going to appease you. He's going to give you some space for a period of time so you're not like so worried, right? But you know that term, you know, God sending a blast, it also appears in the book of Haggai. Haggai chapter two and verse number 17. Haggai chapter two and verse number 17. God says, I smote you. This is he speaking to the king of Judah. I smote you with blasting. So there it is again, that blast. And we've milled you and we've hailed in the labors of your hands. Yet you turned not to me, sayeth the Lord. So this is the southern king of Judah. This is... They've gone, you know, in their wicked ways. They've turned against the Lord. This is, you know, in future events beyond the stories of Isaiah that we're going through at the moment. And once again, God is in that language that he's blasting them. But he uses illustration of like weather, like milled you, hail, you know, the labors of your hands. So, you know, that hail is essentially going to destroy all the crops of the field. And keep your finger in Haggai because I want to show you some other interesting parallels with Isaiah 37. So just keep your finger there as well. We are going to come back to Haggai. But let's go back to Isaiah 37 and verse number 8. So Rabcheki returned. So Rabcheki, kind of like that general of the army, returned and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah. For he had heard that he was departed from Lakish. Alright, that might just go over your head, but the king of Assyria had set up with the army in Lakish, in a town in Judah, as they were making threats toward Jerusalem that we're going to wipe you out. Okay? God and Rabcheki, he's the one that went to Jerusalem to blaspheme against God. And so as he's returning back to Lakish, he realizes the king of Assyria, he's not even here. The king of Assyria has gone to make war to another town there in Libnah. Okay, so I guess some of the people of that area rose up, they rebelled against their new, you know, masters, and so there's a new war. And this seems to be the rumor that God said he's going to send them. Right? This seems to be the context. It's not the weather necessarily, but rather these rumors, you know, there are people in Libnah raising up. We need to go and subdue them before we take over Jerusalem. It's kind of like God is giving Hezekiah time. Just, you know, a breather, a breather, like, you know, your friend has actually been distracted to another war front elsewhere. Let's continue there in verse number nine. It says, and he heard concerning Tehachah, king of Ethiopia, he has come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messages to Hezekiah, a saint. So another thing he's heard is that the king of Ethiopia's come in and raised himself up to make war against you, king of Assyria. So all of a sudden, like, you know, his focus is on Jerusalem. Now he's going, man, we've got to go back to Libnah to take over that town again. And then he's like, oh, now the king of Ethiopia's out to get you, right? And God said, you know, this is what he's sending them, like this rumor, like these concerns, and now he's kind of distracted. He's not focused on Jerusalem anymore. But before the king of Jerusalem leaves, like before the king of Assyria leaves, he leaves this message to king Hezekiah. There at the end of verse number nine it says, and when he heard it, he sent messages to Hezekiah, saying, Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. So it's like the king of Assyria realizes that it's God doing this. So it tells king Hezekiah, don't think for a moment that God's delivering you at the moment, like we are distracted, like we have lost focus on Jerusalem for a time period, but don't let God deceive you. We're coming back, you know, we're going to take over Jerusalem. And so it's really interesting because the king of Assyria is actually recognizing that it's God doing something here, right? He just sees the hand of God here, but he doesn't want Hezekiah to be encouraged by what God is doing, rather he's trying to keep him down. Don't worry, I'm going to wipe them out. We'll deal with this, but we're coming back to deal with you soon, king Hezekiah. Let's continue there, verse number 10. Thus shall you speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God in whom thou trustest. Did I read that already? Yeah, sorry, verse number 11. Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly, and shalt thou be delivered? You know, is God really going to deliver you? You've seen we've conquered all these people, all these lands, all these towns. You really think God's going to deliver you. Verse number 12. Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezaph, and the tomb of Eden, which are in Telesah? Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvayim? Hina, and Ivah, and Hezekiah received a letter. So that's how the message was sent by letter. And Hezekiah received a letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it. So he's like, again, the king of Assyria is trying to make Hezekiah unsettled. I mean, God is already answering the prayers. You see that? He's already answering the prayers that they've asked Isaiah to pray, but the enemy doesn't want Hezekiah to be encouraged by that. And so again, Hezekiah's concern, it says here in verse 14, and Hezekiah, what's he doing? Went up into the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord, and Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying. So again, the concern's come. But now he's got all those blasphemies. Instead of the blasphemies, you know, he's like the king of Assyria saying, you know, your God's not going to deliver you. You know, don't trust. God's deceiving you. We've defeated all the other gods. Like we defeated all the other gods, we're going to defeat your God as well. But instead of it being now verbal, now it's documented, right? So King Hezekiah has this wonderful idea. Well, I've got all these blasphemies documented. I'm going to go to the house of God. I'm going to spread it before the Lord. So God, can you see the letter? I'm going to show you what the letter is. I don't know if it's a scroll. I'm going to show you all the contents. God, I'm going to show you all the blasphemies here, and I'm going to go and pray before you in the house of the Lord. Again, another great response from Hezekiah, right? I feel that he is getting encouraged by the Lord, but he still is a little weak. He says, I still need to go to church. I still need to be there. And instead of asking Isaiah to pray, he says, now I'll pray. Okay? And I want you to also keep that in mind because I do get regular requests, Pastor, can you pray for me? Okay? But you also need to pray yourself. Okay? Yes, I'll pray for you. Yes, that's my responsibility as a pastor. But I also, and anytime someone asks me, I say, but you've got to pray. Like, it's not like I'm special, or God can hear me better than he can hear you. No, we're all, we've all been made priests and kings, according to the Bible. Like, you know, I do have the office of a pastor in the church, but in reality, at the end of the day, we're all brothers and sisters in the Lord. We're all under the Lord God. You know, I'm not of a greater value to God than what you are. You know, you need to also have the time where you go before God and bring your concerns before him. You know, for Hezekiah, it's this blasphemy, these threats, these concerns that are worrying him. And brethren, we need to do the same. Like, you know, whatever is that's burdening your heart tonight and whatever is that's, you know, taking up your mind, your fears and your concerns, you need to take them before you, like it is, and just bring it before God and say, God, have a look at all these issues that bother me. Let me show you exactly what it is. Sometimes I have people call me because they need to vent, and I understand the need to vent. But, like, I can't really solve it for you, though. You know what I mean? Like, God can, though. You know, I say just vent to God. Vent to God. Because I'm not a very good listener. Like, I hear you, but I don't really listen. It's just one of my, you know, it's maybe all the same, though. I think men wear kind of like this. Sometimes people talk, and it kind of goes over my head a little bit. I can hear the venting, I can see the frustration, but I don't really know the solution. I don't know necessarily how to give you good advice, but I know God can. Like, I know God can. You know, I know he hears it. He knows your problems. He knows your fears. He knows the blasphemies. He knows what happened at the Paris Olympics ceremony. And every other time people blaspheme the Lord God. God knows it all. And we need to be able to just bring it before him and say, God, you see it all. What really stood out to me in this chapter, it's something that I don't pray this way. I started to realize, I mean, I've seen this in the Bible, but I just never really paid attention to it until like tonight, really, is how Hezekiah prays. Because if this was me, I'd pray like this. God, I'm worried. You know, we're concerned about, you know, the Assyrian army. Man, they wiped out the northern kingdom. I mean, they're wiping out all these villages and towns and our vineyards. They're taking, you know, our crops away. They're taking the best into their land, Lord, and I'm worried. You know, I'm the king, and people are looking up to me for encouragement and strength, but God, I didn't even have strength myself. And I can kind of envision me praying a prayer like that and say, God, can you strengthen me? We're going to read how Hezekiah prays and the way he packages. And of course he's feeling all those things and he expresses those things, but the way he packages that prayer is different. And I want you to notice how it is. Let's continue then, verse number 16. This is the prayer that Hezekiah makes to God. He says, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, thou art the God, even thou alone. Of all the kingdoms of the earth, thou hast made heaven and earth. So he starts just by glorifying God, right? Lifts up God for who He is. Then he says, Incline thine, verse number 17, Incline thine ear, O Lord, in ear. Open thine eyes, O Lord, and see, and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which have sent to reproach the living God. It's quite interesting. That's where I started to pick up, hold on, the way he says this is interesting. Instead of saying, you know, these words are upsetting me, God. These words are giving me fears. He says, these words of Sennacherib are reproach to you. Lord, it's an offense to you, God. And I don't really pray like that, you know? I'll just be honest. It's often how it affects me or how it affects my family or how it affects my brethren at church, but I don't often pray and tell God how this affects Him. And that's what King Hezekiah is doing here. He continues in verse number 18. Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their countries. So, look, what they're threatening, what they've done is actually true. They are powerful. Okay? They have overcome all these other lands. Verse number 19. And have cast their gods into the fire, for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone, wherefore they have destroyed them. Now, therefore, O Lord, our God, save us from His hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only. Amen. What a prayer. Praise God. So, look, yeah, he does express, can you save us, Lord? But he says, but I want them to know that you're the only true God. You're not like these idols that are the work of man's hands. You're not like these false gods that the king of Assyria keeps, you know, boasting that he defeated. You know, you are the true God. And so, it's quite interesting the way, if you can, keep your finger there and come with me to Exodus 32. Come with me to Exodus 32. This prayer reminds me of another prayer that we're going to look at in Exodus 32. But what, the way Hezekiah is packaging this prayer is he's telling God, look, they've reproached you. They've offended you. Look, they're making you out to be in a bad light, God. They're bringing you down to the level of false gods and idols. But they need to know who you really are. And I thought, wow, what a prayer. Like, that's a different way of praying. Like, could you honestly say that's how I pray, Pastor? It's probably not. Like, if we're facing persecution, maybe you're being hated for the name of Christ's sake. You know, I often say, well, Lord, just protect me, defend me, you know, take vengeance on my enemy. Nothing wrong with any of that. But how often do I say, by God, you know, by their lies and by their persecution and by their false accusations, Lord, it actually puts a stain on your name, Lord. And so, Lord, can you solve this issue so your name can no longer be stained by these... Like, I'm just thinking, do I pray like that? No, I don't. Maybe I should. And I want to show you another reference here in Exodus 32, please, Exodus 32. And this is, of course, the story of Moses when he goes up to Mount Sinai. He's gone for 40 days. And he comes back and what have the Israelites done? They've built a golden calf, a false god, an idol, and they're dancing around and, you know, and they've turned their backs against God. Such a shame. And it says in Exodus 32, verse number 10, God says this. Now, therefore, let me alone, God's telling Moses, look, like, leave me alone, okay, that my wrath may wax hot against them and that I may consume them and I will make of thee a great nation. God says, Moses, step aside. I don't want you to get hurt here. Move away. I'm so angry I'm going to wipe out these Israelites. He's just delivered them out of Egypt. I heard a pastor once say, oh, God was just making an empty threat. You know, he was just testing how Moses would react to that. I don't believe that. I don't believe God lies. He's saying, that's what he says. That's what he wants. He's so angry at these people. And look how Moses responds in verse number 11. And Moses besought the Lord his God and said, Lord, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the land of Egypt with great power and with a mighty hand? Wherefore should the Egyptians speak and say, for mischief did he bring them out to slay them in the mountains and to consume them from the face of the earth. Turn from thy fierce wrath and repent of this evil against thy people. Remember Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, thy servants, to whom thou swearest by thine own self and said unto them, I will multiply your seed as the stars of heaven and all this land that I have spoken of will I give unto your seed and they shall inherit forever. And the Lord repented of the evil which he thought to do unto his people. Moses again packages that prayer in a very strange, not strange, an interesting way. Lord, if you do this, what are the Egyptians going to say about you? That you took them out of Egypt and then you killed them in the wilderness? Like, what kind of testimony, Lord, is that going to leave your name? We don't want our enemies to burst against you in that way, Lord. And of course, God repents from doing that action. And realize, man, God really comes through. When you're able to point God and say, God, actually, you're not just me and my concerns and me, me, me and my needs, but also, Lord, the way it looks for you. You know, the way it looks for our church, maybe. You know, the way it looks for us as believers and Christians and, Lord, we want to shine as lights, Lord, we can't have our testimony destroyed by these lies and accusations and blasphemies that come, Lord, our way. And so the kind of prayer that like if that Paris thing, opening ceremony thing that bothers you, I wish I didn't even know about it, to be honest with you, but anyway, because God knows, right? But if that bothers you, it's like, God, can you take out these wicked people for your name's sake? Maybe it shouldn't bother me, Lord, as much as it does because I know you know about it, I'll just leave it in your hands, Lord, but they've blasphemed you, they've blasphemed Christ. Lord, we can't allow that to be, you know, promoted here in the world. Lord, can you sort it out? Like praying that kind of prayer instead of, Lord, this bothers me and I don't know, I don't know. I'm just trying to see, wow, the way these men sort of package a prayer and they try to express to God how that causes God to be viewed in a strange light if we just allow these words and these actions to continue. And these, every time that this comes up like that, God answers that prayer in a very powerful way. So I don't know. Again, it's not really something I really thought about much, how I pray. It's often me, me, me, and others, others, others, and me, me, me, my family, my church, my brethren, but how often am I actually praying kind of on behalf of God? Like for your sake, Lord, can you do this because it'll be better for you overall and our work of the kingdom that we're doing here on the earth. I don't know. Does that challenge you how you pray a little bit? You know, a title for the sermon, lift up your prayer, lift up your prayer. Maybe our prayers should be a little bit more thoughtful about or toward God rather than just our needs, our personal needs all the time. Let's continue there in verse number 21. Verse number 21. So Hezekiah's finished his prayer and then God responds through Isaiah once again in verse number 21. Then Isaiah, the son of Amos, sent unto Hezekiah saying, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, whereas thou has prayed to me against Sennacherib, king of Assyria. This is the word which the Lord has spoken concerning him. So this is what God has to say about the king of Sennacherib. And I don't know, this is like, we get a different view of God sometimes here. He said, this is what God says, the virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee and laughed thee to scorn. The daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee. So the king of Assyria, he's putting on this big show, we're going to wipe you guys out, we're going to lay siege of Jerusalem, just surrender, you know, we've defeated all these other people. God's response is, the virgins, the young ladies of the city are laughing at you. You know, king of Assyria. The girls, the little girls are laughing at you. Like this is how God, this is how God sees it. And again, this must be true. There must be faithful young ladies, young virgins in the city that are hearing the threats of the king of Assyria and they're going, ha, what an idiot. We've got God on our side. And they're just, they're just laughing at the most powerful king on the earth at that time, mocking him. That's how God responds. The girls are laughing at you. King Sennacherib. And again, that's kind of like a bit of a rebuke toward Hezekiah because Hezekiah and all the men were worried, right? The young girls, they don't believe that's ever going to happen. They think it's a, you're a joke to them. I mean, what a response from God. Like that's, that's a very classy response, right, just scorning and mocking King Sennacherib. You know, the young ladies are not taking him seriously. Verse 123. Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? And against whom hast thou exalted thy voice and lifted up thine eyes on I, even against the Holy One of Israel? God's saying, yeah, you have. You've blasphemed me, the Holy One of Israel. By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord and hast said, now God's going to repeat everything that the king of Assyria has said, and hast said, by the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon, and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof, and I will enter into the heights of his border and the forests of his karmel. God is repeating the words of King Sennacherib. I have digged and drunk water. This is, again, King Sennacherib. See these words. God's responding. I've heard those words. And with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places. King Sennacherib has said that, if I want to drink water I'll take water where I want and I'll dry up whatever rivers I want. Just boasting of his strength, boasting of his power. Verse number 26. Has thou not heard long ago how I have done it, and of ancient times that I have formed it? Now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldst be to lay waste defence cities into ruinous heaps. Therefore, their inhabitants were of a small power. They were dismayed and confounded. They were as the grass and as the green herb as the grass on the house tops and as corn blasted before it be grown up. God is showing here that he has heard every boasting threat of King Sennacherib. Everything. God retells it word for word. And I don't know if these are all words contained in the letter. I don't know if these were all words that were said vocally or maybe these were even words that King Sennacherib said within himself within his own heart. But God says I've heard it all. I've seen it all. And I just read to you quickly from Matthew 12.36. These are the words of Jesus. But I say unto you that every idle word that men shall speak they shall give account thereof in the day of judgement. You say does that include us, pastor? No. It can't be every word because many of our words have been sinful words. And our sins have already been paid for by Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ here in the context of speaking about those that have rejected him as the Messiah says every word every time you spoke against me you know every time you denied me as the Messiah every time you mocked my works and every time you mocked God you're going to have to give an account to God for every idle word. Idle word. The idle is when you're not really doing anything. It's kind of like you're just going about your day you're just sitting on the couch and you're just saying stupid things. God says all those words have to be accounted for. Wow. Can you imagine? Like people that just blaspheme God openly you know that use his name almost like a cuss word instead of you know instead of using profanity they use the name of God as you know as a cuss word. You know God says you're going to have to answer for that. You know God's going to assume in similar to what he's doing with King Sennacherib he's going to tell you exactly all the words you've said. Man could you imagine how you're going to stand before you know an unsaved person standing before that great white throne judgment of God having all of your sins you know on display I don't know how he's going to display that. The Bible says that he's opened the books and you're going to be judged by your works not just judged by your works but judged by your words. Man who is able to stand before God in such a way? So I pass it, did you hear this? Did you see that? Do I need to know brother? Because God knows it all and they're going to have to be standing before the judgment seat of Christ anyway not just me, the great white throne judgment one day and they're going to have to give an account for every idle word anyway. It's all being recorded by God. It's all written in his books. I don't need to really know about every single blasphemy and every single issue that people say. I don't even need to even hear what people say about me. If someone criticizes me or attacks me or attacks blessed or new life of the church, did you hear about it? Who cares? As long as we're right before God, we're serving him, we have a clear conscience, we're doing the best we can with what God has given us, we're serving him faithfully. If people criticize us, who cares? And if you're bothered that much, you don't need to come to me, just take it to God like King Hezekiah did. Lay it all out before God and say, God, for your name's sake can you deal with this problem? I'm encouraged by that myself. That's why I like, I don't know, I think, sometimes I think I'm a bit of a strange person but I don't let things bother me that much. Like honestly, even when people attack me directly, God knows. I don't need to always defend myself. I don't need to always respond because I can't be bothered when I know that I'm just doing the best I can with what I've got, with what God has given me. And I'm trying to faithfully serve him and honor him and do the best I can to preach you God's word. At the end of the day, someone criticizes me, it's like, well, okay, maybe I deserve criticism because I'm just a man. By the end of the day, the Lord knows. The Lord knows if I'm faithfully serving him. The Lord knows if your criticism is legit or not but I'm not going to waste my time on it. I will leave it with God. God hears every blasphemy. God hears every attack. God hears every accusation that has ever been thrown toward you for being a believer, thrown toward me, thrown toward this church or New Life Baptist Church. God sees it all. He hears it all and he's going to respond in his due time how he wants. I don't know about you. Again, it just gives me so much peace. It gives me peace to sort of battle everything, having to jump on Facebook and respond to everything that comes up and, you know, jump on every chat group and, oh, this guy is a false prophet and I respond, got to respond, I need everyone to hear what I have to say. God's heard it. God's going to deal with it. God will send a blast in his time how he needs to. I mean, he's the greatest judge of all. And if it bothers you, take it to God. Go off into God. All right? King Hezekiah's done that and then God's speaking and responding through the words of Isaiah here. So, um, well, let's keep going there. Verse number 28. I also love these words from God. I love the words that he said, you know, even the young girls laugh at you. Laugh at you. They mock you. They don't take you seriously. I love that. But I also love what he says here. Verse number 28. God says to the king of Assyria, but I know thy abode. You know how we would say that today? I know where you live. Have you ever had someone ever say that to you that didn't like you? I know where you live. Like, it's a fret. I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in. It's like he's got a drone or a spy drone that follows this terrorist, right? I know your house. I know your family. I know when you get out and you go somewhere and when you come back. I know where you've gone and I know where you've been. What a fret, back to King Zachary, right? I know thy abode and thy going out and thy coming in and thy rage against me. He goes, I even know how angry you are against me. Boy, just leave it with God. He's got it under control, doesn't he? Verse number 29. Verse number 29. Because thy rage, because thy rage against me and thy torment is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose and my bridle in thy lips. He goes, I'm going to shut you up and close your mouth. I'm going to put a hook, kind of like, you know, a fish in the hook in the fish's mouth. He says, I'm going to put it in your nose and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest. It's like you're going to have no control. I've got you. I'm going to shut you up and I'm going to take you exactly back where you came from. That's a powerful response from God. You know, if I was king I'd be like, yeah, go God right now. We're good now. It's all going to be good now, you know, moving forward. Verse number 30 now. Isaiah is now, so that's how God felt toward King Sennacherib, the words for him. And now, verse number 30, our words to King Hezekiah. And this shall be a sign unto thee. So King Hezekiah, this is the sign you're going to get. Ye shall eat this year such as groweth of itself, and the second year that which springeth of the same, and in the third year sow ye and reap and plant vineyards and eat the fruit thereof. So, because you know, the threat is siege. And in a siege causes famine. You can't get food in, right? You can't get water in. God's saying, look, once the king of Assyria is gone, you're going to have enough food, and there's going to be enough food for everybody, which is already on the land. Like, even though they, the Assyrians, they harvested, they took the best of the crops, there's still enough leftovers that they're going to be able to live on, okay? That's in that year that they're in currently. And then next year, even what was left, there's still going to be more that brings forth, that springs forth. There's still seeds that are budding, right? And you're going to be able to eat of that. You guys are going to be fine. You're not going to go hungry. It's not going to cause a famine on the land. And this is by the third year, you'll be able to just get back to regular farming, sowing, and you're back to your regular routine of life, okay? By year three, it's all going to be settled. It's going to be like the king of Assyria was never here, all right? So there's a great promise that King Hezekiah receives there. It's all going back to regular routine by the third year. Verse 31. And the remnants that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take roots downward and bear fruit upward. So there are people that have ran away, that escaped when the king of Assyria came. God is saying that remnants is also going to return back and they're going to start planting their vineyards and their farms, okay? Verse number 32. For out of Jerusalem shall go forth for remnants and they that escaped out of Mount Zion, the zeal of the Lord of hosts shall do this. So God is again telling them, look, everyone that ran away, everyone that fled out of fear, they're all going to come back to their houses, back to their lands, back to their farms and they're going to start all growing crops once again. All right, keep your finger there. Come back with me to Haggai chapter 1, please. Haggai chapter 1 and verse number 14. Haggai chapter 1, verse number 14. It says here And the Lord stirred up the spirit of Zerubbabel, the son of Sheltiel, governor of Judah, and the spirit of Joshua, the son of Josedek, the high priest, and the spirit of all the remnants of the people. And they came and did the work in the house of the Lord of hosts, their God. This is telling us by the time where, I'm showing you a similar language here, where God's speaking of the remnant. There's a remnant that fled, okay, but this context is when the, again, future events is about 100 years later after the events we're reading about now, when, well, 100 years they were taken into captivity by Babylon. Then 70 years later, that remnant that remained were brought back into the land, okay. And so it's using that same language as they're coming back to the land, but instead of coming back to the land just to grow crops and farming, they're coming back to the land to rebuild the house of the Lord, to rebuild the temple because don't forget the king of Babylon, king Nebuchadnezzar, ended up destroying the, setting on fire the house of the Lord and so they were coming back as a remnant, coming back to rebuild the house of the Lord. Back to Isaiah, please. Isaiah 37, verse number 33. Isaiah 37, verse number 33. Thank you for your patience. I know it's quite a long chapter. There's a lot of information here. But verse number 33 says, Therefore, thus saith the Lord concerning the king of Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against it. So God is promising Hezekiah, they're not going to even come into the city. They're not even going to be able to shoot an arrow. They're not even going to be close enough where they can cause damage even by an arrow. Verse number 34. By the way he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the Lord. For I will defend this city and save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David's sake. Do you see that response? Verse number 35. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake. It's like that answer to prayer where King Hezekiah says, Look, this is not good. They're blaspheming you. God says, Well, I'll answer the prayer for my sake. Wow, I just think, man, that's so interesting. Because again, it's like, I'm kind of having this sort of, I'm kind of learning as I'm teaching you yourselves. I often pray for my sake, or again, my family's sake, or my church's sake, or my brethren's sake. I don't often think about for God's sake. Again, that same concept that if we just allow, these attacks continue, then it's going to look bad on Christianity. It's going to look bad on Baptists. It's going to look bad on blessed hope. It's going to look bad on your name, Lord. Can you help us? Can you save us? Can you deliver us? And God says, Hey, for my sake, I will. Wow, I think that's a really powerful prayer to make. It's like you're praying on behalf of God. Like, you know, when you guys ask me to pray for you, I'm praying on your behalf. It's almost like King Hezekiah and Moses at times is praying on God's behalf. Like, they're looking out for God's best. It's like, well, I guess we don't think about it because we don't really need to. We don't feel like we need to because, I mean, God is all powerful. But I think what we see there is the heart of a man who loves the Lord that just doesn't want God's name to be, you know, destroyed or God's name to be blasphemed, to be murdered. Say, Lord, for your sake, can you answer these prayers? It reminds me a lot of Christ, right? When he says, not my will be done, but thy will be done. It's that same concept. Your will, Lord. Your sake, your will. And we know that if we ask, according to God's will, those prayers will be answered. A hundred percent, if it's according to God's will. Verse number 36. And this is the miracle that takes place. Man, if I was writing the Bible, I would make verse number 36 like a whole chapter. Like, if this was a Hollywood production, Hollywood movie, you know, the action scene would take up like a third, the last third of the movie, you know, and that's the one that everyone's going to be talking about. Like, it was a slow start. We were introduced to the characters. We got to know the enemies and we got to see how, you know, the problems they were causing and then we get to the battle and that battle's going to last for like half an hour and that's like the action scene and, you know, all the computer graphics, you know, all the budget of the Hollywood movie is going to go toward the action scene but God just takes one verse of the whole chapter to tell us about the action scene. And verse number 36. And the angel of the Lord went forth and smote in the camp of the Assyrians and fourscore and five thousand. A score is 20 so fourscore's 80. This is 185,000. And when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses. And that's it. Like that one verse. 185,000 dead Assyrian soldiers. God says one of his angels into the camp at night and he just starts, man, that's the action scene. Like that's like, that's why you got to watch that movie, right, for the action scene. It's like, I'll give you one verse. I think it just shows us like, God's just showing us like it's in his hands. It's under control. Don't worry about it. It's going to happen. The prayer's going to be answered. Like he doesn't have to elaborate exactly how he's going to do it. He just does it. Okay, and in this sense it's a miracle. Just a miracle, right? A spiritual being comes and just wipes out 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. Verse number 37. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed. And, because remember he was distracted by all the other battles that he thought was going on. So he wasn't actually in that location. I assume if he was at that location he probably would have died amongst all those other soldiers. So Sennacherib, king of Assyria, departed and went and returned and dwelt at Nineveh. Again, Nineveh's the city of Assyria. And, I know you've got a finger there. If you can, come with me to Haggai chapter 2 verse number 22 if you can. Haggai chapter 2 verse number 22. Haggai 2.22 reads And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms These are the words of God. And I will overthrow the throne of kingdoms And I will destroy the strength of the kingdoms of the heathen And I will overthrow the chariots and those that ride in them And the horses and their riders shall come down everyone by the sword of his brother. We know there were horses cause remember the last chapter they were offering to send them, I think it was 2000 horses for them to come and surrender to the king of Assyria. You know, what God has shown us here in the book of Haggai is that he can wipe out the most powerful armies on the planet. I mean, man, you blaspheme against God, you raise yourself up prideful. I mean, God may very well allow that nation, that army to briefly do that. But for his name's sake, when they blaspheme against him or they're full of pride, God's going to wipe them out. You know. And look, we read these stories and the world hasn't really changed. There's nothing new under the sun. There's going to be constant wars, there's going to be constant men that rise up full of pride and they're going to think they're gods themselves. This is just the nature of sinful, wicked man. You know. And we know that the ultimately, the pinnacle of all this is going to be the antichrist who's going to claim to be God, to be a resurrected God, to be the saviour of the world. And even that very moment when he finally defeats that mystery Babylon, Jesus Christ comes down and wipes him out. Like these wicked nations, these wicked kings, they never rule really in peace. They never achieve their personal goals. God always brings them down. You know. And this is just something, until Christ returns, this is something that's just going to continue to play out for history over and over again. But back to Isaiah 37, verse number 38. And it came to pass, as he, that's the king of Assyria, was worshiping in the house of Nisrosh, Nisroth, his god, that Adrammelech and Shariza, his sons, smote him with the sword. And they escaped into the land of Aramea. And Isa had on, his son reigned in his stead. So even though the king of Assyria seemingly got away, once he returned back, which was a promise that he'll die by sword in his land, not only did he die, not only was that prophecy fulfilled, but he died by the hands of his own children. That's crazy. Like that's why I went, wow. Like what a judgment of God to fall upon this king. And then another one of his son's rules in his stead. Anyway, the title for the sermon tonight was, thank you for your patience, a long one there, Lift Up Your Prayer was the title for the sermon tonight. And brethren, whatever it is that is on your heart, whatever it is that's burdening you, whether it's an enemy causing you distress, false accusations, lies towards you, you know, attacks, just all the burdens, maybe sicknesses, maybe financial woes, maybe relationship issues, whatever it is that's burdening your heart, why don't you take it to God? My King Hezekiah did. And feel free to ask your brethren to pray on your behalf. Feel free to contact me in your time if you want, some private time to contact me, say, pastor, can you pray for me? Even if you don't have time to call me, send me a text message. Pastor, I'm going through some hardships at the moment, could you lift my name up in prayer? And I will, I will pray for you. I used to, in the past, when I first became a pastor, yep, I'll get to it later in the day and then I forget. My practice now is, as soon as someone messages me or contacts me in the past, can you pray for me? I just stop everything I'm doing. Before I forget, right? Before life gets busy, I'm like, Lord, you know, brother so and so or sister so and so has these concerns. Can you please answer? Can you please help them? Can you please guide them in this time of difficulty? Our Lord God answers prayers. And you know what? When you take that prayer to God, just leave it. He knows. Every word that's been said against you, every word that's been said against him, he knows every Facebook post that's ever been posted against him. The Lord knows it all. We don't need to get worried and concerned and always share it around. Billy, can you believe this? Can you believe that? There's so many false prophets or so many lies, so many accusations. I don't want to fill my head with all this gossip and nonsense and blasphemies. I can't contain it all. God can contain it all. I'd just rather, you know, think on peaceful things. I'd rather think about the things of God and how we can continue to serve him and his kingdom and what blessed help Baptist Church can do in the future to further his work and walk in his ways. I want to give my focus and attention on those things rather than every little issue that pops up in this world. Alright, lift up your prayers entitled for the sermon tonight. Let's pray.