Sermon - Audio2 Kings 18:9-19:37, Psalm 46, 80, & 135 - Audio
2 Kings 18:9-19:37, Psalm 46, 80, & 135 - Reading
Daily Insights - Please Comment
9-12 - This should have been a warning to Judah.
13-16 - Hezekiah had a lapse in faith. He felt that it was wiser to pay off the Assyrian king and become his subject than it was to trust God to defend Judah against this mighty king. He even went as far as stripping the temple.
17 - "Rabshakeh" is not a name, but a title - meaning "field commander" for the Assyrian army.
18-20 - As a prophet, Isaiah did everything he could to discourage Hezekiah and the leaders of Judah from putting their trust in Egypt (Isaiah 19:11-17, 20:1-6, 30:1-7). The Lord wanted Judah to trust Him instead of Egypt.
Hezekiah had decided to trust in man, not God.
21 - the Rabshakeh sees the folly in their alliance. God is using their enemy to rebuke them.
22-25 - the Rabshakeh knew they would say that they trust in the LORD then, but according to him the LORD told Assyria to go up against His people. This may or may not be true, but I'm sure Hezekiah didn't doubt it.
The 2,000 horses was a mockery of their army. He was making fun of them, basically stating that they have no chance in battle.
26-27 - The leaders of Judah ask the Assyrians to not speak in the native tongue, because the people will hear and know what is to come.
28-35 - The Rabshakeh doesn't listen and directly speaks to the people. He calls them to surrender for a better life. He calls them to not trust Hezekiah or the LORD. He tries to destroy any faith, trust, or hope that is left in them.
36-37 - The people stayed silent.
19
1-5 - Hezekiah runs to the LORD.
"The children have come to birth, but there is no strength to bring them forth." - Both the mother and children will die unless God steps in.
6-7 - Notice that Isaiah comes out with a direct word from the LORD. His credibility as a prophet is on the line. If he is wrong, the results are tragic.
Isaiah tells him, "Do not be afraid."
Judgment will be brought upon the Rabshakeh for challenging the LORD.
8-13 - So the Rabshakeh did go back to his land, but sent others to continually send fear into the people of Judah.
14-19 - Hezekiah had a wise and God-pleasing response.
20-21 - Notice it says, "Because you have prayed."
20-37 - Isaiah assures Hezekiah that his prayers have been heard. He also prophesies that for the sake of God’s covenant with David, the Assyrians will be prevented from ever entering Jerusalem and will go back home in defeat (vv. 20–34). Such proves to be the case, as the angel of the Lord strikes down tens of thousands of Assyrian soldiers in a famous rescue story (vv. 35–37). -ESVLB
Psalm 46
A mighty fortress [ Psalm 46 ]. This famous praise psalm falls neatly into three sections. The main theme is articulated three times (vv. 1, 7, 11) and consists of the certainty of God’s presence in troubling times. The central motif is a catalog of God’s acts of protection. The three main movements are as follows: God’s presence amid natural disaster (vv. 1–3); God’s miraculous protection of his holy city and, by metaphoric extension, his protection of his people in all times and places (vv. 4–7); God’s final assertion of his authority over warring nations (vv. 8–11). The imagery is continuously evocative and emotional. The poem instills the very calm that the poet asserts. An eschatological, end-times interpretation of the poem is appropriate, not only because of the terminal imagery in verses 8–9 but also in view of the natural upheaval in verses 2–3, reminiscent of the imagery of cataclysmic disruption of nature in the eschatological visions of the NT. -ESVLB-
God Will Be Exalted Among All Nations. God’s goal for his choosing of Zion is that out of it the word might go forth to the peoples of the whole world, bringing them all to live in godly peace with one another (Isa. 2:1–5). This will be the means by which he makes wars cease (Ps. 46:9). Since the address in v. 10, be still, and know, is plural, readers should imagine God speaking these words to the nations, among whom he will eventually be exalted. This is the meaning of the LORD of hosts being with his people (v. 11; cf. Matt. 28:20): he will indeed see to it that the mission of Gen. 12:1–3 is accomplished.
Psalm 80
Restore us, O God [ Psalm 80 ]. The standard motifs in this communal lament unfold as follows: introductory cry to God (vv. 1–2a); petition (vv. 2b–3); brief definition of the crisis (vv. 4–6); petition (v. 7); expanded portrayal of the crisis (vv. 8–13); petitions for restoration (vv. 14–19). The dominant motif is a wished-for return to a previous state of God’s favor on his chosen nation. The controlling image patterns are those of restoration and the nation as a vine planted by God.
3 - The refrain of the psalm is drawn from the high priestly blessing of Nm 6:22–27. If God’s face shines on the people—if He, their Shepherd (Ps 80:1), is gracious to them—they will be saved.
4-7 = How Long Will You Be Angry with Us? Now the psalm takes up the reason for the cry of distress, namely, God is angry with his people’s prayers (which implies that they have been unfaithful, cf. 74:1) and thus has brought sorrows upon them, especially that they have become an object of contention for their Gentile neighbors (cf. 79:4). As the next stanza will make clear, this is because these Gentiles have ravaged the land and people of Israel. Underlying this is the idea that faithful Israel ought to be the envy of the Gentiles, drawing them to the light by moral purity, social justice, and political stability (as in Psalm 79). Thus the current situation is a reversal of how things should be. -ESVSB-
9-17 - The pastoral imagery shifts to an agricultural metaphor in which Israel is a vine (cf. Isa. 5:1–7; Jer. 2:21; Ezek. 17:1–10), plucked from Egypt and planted in the Promised Land where it took root and flourished. But then God in His anger allowed its protecting wall to be breached, and the vine was destroyed by human and animal forces.
Psalm 135
Praise the Lord, for the Lord is good [ Psalm 135 ]. The standard motifs of praise unfold as follows: an opening call to praise, directed to either priests or worshipers at the temple (vv. 1–3); catalog of God’s praiseworthy acts and attributes in creation, judgment, and salvation (vv. 4–14), including an inserted address directly to God (v. 13); a foil to God’s greatness in the form of a satiric put-down of pagan idols (vv. 15–18); concluding call to praise God (vv. 19–21), giving the poem an envelope structure. -ESVLB-
1 - The psalm begins by calling the worshiping community to praise the LORD
1-7 - Reasons to praise.
8 - The poet skips to the last plague against Egypt, the one that finally convinced Pharaoh to let the Israelites leave.
19-21 - Let Everyone in Israel Bless the Lord! The only fitting response to such a great and lively God is for the various members of the worshiping company (the house of Israel, the house of Aaron, the house of Levi, and those who fear the LORD) to bless the LORD (cf. 115:9–11 and note; 118:2–4). The psalm closes as it began, Praise the LORD! ESVSB
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