The God Who Hears (cont.)

Powerful song.

Christ alone, cornerstone, weak made strong in the Savior's love.

!

This morning as we look at the passage, a continuation from a couple of weeks ago, from Isaiah chapter

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Chapter 36 and 37, the question that kind of comes to us front and center as a theme throughout

this message is this question.

Who is the Savior in your home?

Who is the Savior in your home?

When troubles come?

When difficulties encounter your family?

Who is the Savior in those moments?

Is it you as a dad who is figuring things out, making things work, finding a solution, looking

for answers, helping your family come to grips with the facts of life and moving them to health?

Or is it the Savior?

The one and only Savior that becomes the source of hope and help for your family?

In the big things and in the little things of life.

This past weekend, my son was helping me put in a garage door in our home.

And there were several moments where he, without my assistance, uttered a prayer out loud and said,

Lord, please help in this moment.

Daddy doesn't know what he's doing.

I'm grateful for those moments.

I'm grateful for those moments because my kids are beginning to understand who the Savior is in our home.

And it's not daddy.

It's not mommy.

It's not a solution that we find in this world.

It's a solution that is otherworldly, that is divine, that is powerful, that is overarching and great.

It's a solution in a God who hears.

A God who answers prayer.

A God who desires to intervene.

If we just welcome Him in.

If we welcome Him to take His place where He belongs.

A place of supremacy.

A place of help because God desires to save.

God desires to help.

He desires to show His power in your life.

If you will allow Him to come and to take part and to provide assistance.

I want to show you a picture.

It's a slide of something that took place this past summer.

Maybe it's something you can see.

Yeah, that's a little better up front.

This picture on the surface is a picture of a family in a tree house.

On the surface, it's a picture of our family this past summer.

But what you don't see is evidence of a God who answers prayer.

At least six ways.

I was thinking just this morning about all the things that this picture represents in terms of God's answer to prayer.

First is that here we are.

This is a picture of us in Aurora, Illinois.

Now, you were gracious enough to give our family several weeks to take a trip out to California and back.

And my wife was praying for years that we would be able to make that journey.

And this is a culmination of those prayers and being able to begin that journey.

This was the first stop along the way.

And then, here we are in Aurora, our former backyard.

And a lot of prayers went into praying for God's next step for our family.

And this was just a reminder of God's faithfulness.

And all of the prayers that were prayed in that home and in that city.

That God would move us to the place that He would have for us.

And He moved us here to Ohio.

And the person taking this picture is a person we had never met before.

It was the person who bought our home.

In years of praying that God would sell that house.

And sure enough, someone bought it and they were kind enough to accept a bunch of strangers knocking on their door.

Asking if they could go in the backyard and go up into that tree house.

And then the tree house itself.

For two years, my kids prayed,

Lord, please let us have some lumber.

So that we can build a tree house.

We want a tree house.

And Dad has said that he's not going to pay for wood to put this together.

So will you show up and will you provide some wood for us?

And every time we would pass a lumber yard, they would say,

Hey, can we go over and ask if they have some lumber that we could have?

And it wasn't until we were helping with a renovation effort at a church that we were attending.

And I was carrying all this wood out to the dumpster.

And I realized, here it is.

All this wood that we are taking to the dumpster.

This is the tree house.

So I brought it home and it took hours to pull all the nails.

And the kids and I had a blast putting together not just a one-decker tree house,

but a double-decker tree house.

It's just a testimony to God's ability to answer prayer above and beyond what we could imagine.

And the lady standing up there next to us and her grandkids in the forefront

is a testimony to God's answer to prayer.

One of our neighbors who was trying to minister to her own grandkids.

And the ministry that took place right there in that community.

Encouraging, helping, supporting, and directing the heart of this woman to the things of the Lord.

And just the fact that after three years of weather,

here we all are standing up in this tree house and it didn't collapse.

That's an answer to prayer just in and of itself.

We serve a God who delights.

Who delights in your prayers.

We serve a God who desires

to intervene in your life and to show up.

To show himself strong.

To demonstrate that he is able.

More than able to do all that you could imagine or think.

He wants to do that for you this morning.

He wants to do that but he will only do that if you come to him in prayer.

So as we turn to Isaiah chapter 36.

Isaiah 36 · chapter mention

All that the prophet Isaiah was trying to communicate to the people of Israel.

Begins to culminate in the life story of this one King Hezekiah.

So that the prophet spends four chapters developing the story,

this narrative of Hezekiah.

The culmination of faith.

The crescendo of faith in his life that comes to bear.

Not only for him but comes to bear as a hallmark,

as a testimony to an entire nation.

Hezekiah who is really on the brink of extinction in terms of becoming a nation.

Not that God would not save for himself a remnant.

But they were on the brink as a nation in total collapse.

And Hezekiah in his faith in God becomes a banner.

Testifying that God is able and desires to answer prayer in big ways.

Let me read for us just the first verse of chapter 36.

Isaiah chapter 36 verse 1.

Isaiah 36:1

And by way of introduction and also in terms of bringing us up to where we are a couple of weeks,

we went through this passage.

But just to catch us up and remind us of those things,

let me read for us this verse and we'll dig into our text this morning.

It says,

In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah,

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them.

Last time we saw that Judah was in a desperate situation.

This desperate situation of this rising empire,

the force of the Assyrian empire that was coming to bear on the unknown world.

And we're introduced in this verse to two main characters.

The first character is the man Hezekiah.

The second is the character Sennacherib, who was the king of Assyria.

And we saw that in Judah's desperate situation,

that there was a legacy of Hezekiah himself.

That Hezekiah was used by God in significant ways.

He was influential in removing the high places,

in helping to restore Israel to the semblance of pure, godly worship,

in helping to remodel the temple and to consecrate it

and to make it in a way that was worthy,

again, for sacrifice, for ritual, for worship.

Of calling the priests and the Levites to sanctifying themselves

so they could be a part of this worship service.

of helping to remove the idols in the Asherah poles

and removing the idolatrous practices of the people

and calling them to the one true God.

That's what he did in Judah.

But he was also influential at this critical moment in Israel's history

to help call a group of individuals,

even from the northern ten tribes,

to celebrate in the Passover.

What's quite phenomenal about Hezekiah

is not only was he useful for the Lord

in helping to write and restore the worship of Judah and Jerusalem,

but at a critical time in Israel's history,

as they were beginning to be conquered by Assyria,

Hezekiah has this brilliant idea.

I'm going to not only reach out to people in Judah,

but I'm going to reach out to the people across all of Israel

and I'm going to invite them to celebrate with us the Passover.

And so a year or two before the northern ten tribes were conquered by Assyria,

Hezekiah invites all of Israel to participate in worship to God.

Most of those who were invited in Ephraim and Manasseh

and the other ten tribes mocked.

But we find that there were some.

There was a remnant who came.

A remnant who worshipped.

A remnant who, even though they were impure of heart,

were able to experience the joy of worship.

The joy of celebrating who God was

and submitting themselves to Him.

So that in 2 Chronicles chapter 30,

2 Chronicles 30 · chapter mention

it says this.

It says,

There was great joy in Jerusalem.

For since the days of Solomon,

son of David,

king of Israel,

there had been nothing like this in Jerusalem.

The priests and the Levites stood to bless the people

and God heard them.

For their prayer reached heaven,

His holy dwelling place.

Hezekiah, a man who was born to a wicked king,

we find rises to a place of prominence in the kingdom

and is used by God to restore a kingdom back

to right and true worship.

But that did not happen in isolation.

It did not happen by accident.

It happened because of the faithful witness,

the faithful training of a faithful mom

and a faithful grandpa.

And so, the influence on Hezekiah's life

not only affected him personally,

but was useful to affect an entire nation

and even the ten nations,

or the ten tribes of Israel.

And a legacy and a witness for the nations to come.

A banner that says God is trustworthy.

All that Isaiah the prophet has spoken,

you can hear and you can embrace it with confidence.

Trust Him in these critical moments.

We also looked at the reputation of Assyria.

We see here in Isaiah chapter 36,

Isaiah 36 · chapter mention

beginning in verse 2,

something about this nation.

It says,

And we find in verses 4 to verse 10,

and Shebna the secretary,

and Joah the son of Asaph,

the recorder.

And we find in verses 4 to verse 10,

all that this Reb Sheikah said

to the king of Israel

and to the people of Jerusalem.

We'll look at that in a moment.

But a couple of weeks ago,

we saw that this rising power,

this military force,

was a force to be reckoned with.

It had advanced technology,

a military group of individuals

who were devoted to service,

who were trained for war,

who had armor and who had iron,

the first to use composite bows,

the first to use multi-tiered siege engines.

And because of the strength of this army,

no one could stand in their way.

We find a taste of that in verses 4 to verse 10.

Let me read this for you

and see how the pride of the Assyrian army

comes to bear now

as they stand before the city of Jerusalem.

It says this,

And the Reb Sheikah said to them,

Say to Hezekiah,

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,

which will pierce the hand of any man

who leans on it.

Such is Pharaoh, king of Egypt,

to all who trust in him.

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 2,000 horses

if you are able,

on your part,

to set riders on them.

How then can you repulse

a single captain

among the least of my master's servants

when you trust in Egypt

for chariots and for horsemen?

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.

God had given

the empire of Assyria

the ability to overtake the nations.

They had already swept through

the known region around Judea.

They had already taken Tyre and Sidon.

They had already taken Damascus.

They had already conquered

the northern ten tribes.

They had already taken Assyria.

They had already taken Philistia.

And Egypt was just a minor annoyance.

We find later in this chapter

ten other countries

that had been taken by

the nation of Assyria.

God had given them strength.

God had enabled them

as He had promised to do.

what must have been a little troubling.

As the people on the wall

were listening to this message.

He's remembering

what Isaiah the prophet

had already told them.

He had already told them

in chapter ten.

We had read this before

that Assyria would be

the rod of God

to discipline

the people of Judah.

He had already promised

that discipline

that discipline

was on its way

through the hand

of Assyria.

And you can imagine

as all of the fortified cities

of Judah

were being conquered

if the people

of Jerusalem wondered

is this the moment

when we fall

as well.

We have seen

what they have done

to all of the nations

surrounding us

and we alone are left.

We find earlier

here in verse two

we find that they had been

at Lachish.

And just in a moment

we'll see that

the second most prominent city

in Judah

Lachish

had been conquered

in just a matter

of a few days.

Because

in the next few verses

we find that

word had come

to the Reb Sheka

that the forces

of Assyria

had left Lachish

and were now moving

a little closer.

They were moving

to Libna

which instead of being

20 miles away

was only 10 miles away.

This prominent city

of Lachish

annihilated

in just a matter

of days.

What possibly

could Jerusalem

offer

in terms of defense

and protection

against such

an incredible

force?

There was crisis

in Jerusalem.

And interestingly

not

a coincidence.

The Reb Sheka

delivers

this message

on the very spot

that Isaiah

had spoken

and given assurance

to King Ahaz

Hezekiah's father.

That wicked king

who

years before

faced a similar

crisis.

Isaiah

the prophet

spoke to him

on the exact

location

and promised

him that in

the future

there would be

deliverance

through Emmanuel.

I can only

imagine

that as

Hezekiah saw

the foreshadowing

of this

he must have

thought to

himself

reminded himself

of the message

that the prophet

Isaiah had given

to Ahaz

on that day.

it was recorded

in Isaiah

Isaiah 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

3

be careful

Isaiah says

be quiet

do

not

fear

and do

not let

your heart

be faint.

Trust

the Lord

Ahaz

and certainly

that message

must have

resounded

in the heart

of Hezekiah

as he was

faced with

this crisis

of his own.

Well

the Reb Sheikah

doesn't give up.

He comes

at this

again

beginning

in

verse 13

and now

not only

does he assail

the character

of the Lord

that Jerusalem

puts their hope in

he assails

the character

of Hezekiah

in many

different

verses

he says

in verse 13

then the Reb Sheikah

stood and called

out in a loud

voice

in the language

of Judah

so that all

the people

could hear.

Hear the words

of the great

king

the king

of Assyria

thus says

the king

do not

let Hezekiah

deceive you

for he will

not be able

to deliver you

do not

let Hezekiah

make you

trust in the

Lord by saying

the Lord

will surely

deliver us

this city

will not

be given

into the hand

of the king

of Assyria

do not

listen to

Hezekiah

for thus

says

the king

of Assyria

make your

peace with

me

come out

to me

then each

one of you

will eat

of his own

vine

and each

one will

eat of

his own

fig tree

and each

one of you

will drink

the water

of his own

cistern

until I come

and take you

away to a

land like

your own

a land of

grain and

wine

a land of

bread and

vineyards

beware

lest Hezekiah

mislead you

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

this message

coming with

force against

the people

calls them

to question

the character

and the

commitment of

Hezekiah

to trust in

the Lord

don't listen

to this one

come with

us

we'll make

you live

in a land

that is just

like your

own

we will

spare you

we'll have

mercy

certainly you'll

be captives

but at least

you'll be able

to survive

you trust

Hezekiah

I can't make

the same

promises

perhaps

reports of

of the

prophecy

of Isaiah

emboldened

Sennacherib

emboldened

the Reb Sheka

this

messenger

of Assyria

to call

into question

the hope

of Jerusalem

in the

one true

God

leadership

was questioned

the people

were intimidated

and now

is the

moment

of decision

the moment

of decision

where the

rubber

meets the

road

where all

the faith

that

Hezekiah

had called

the people

to embrace

now is

a point

of decision

in making

it action

faith

demands

action

in terms

of the

people

so what

is Hezekiah

to do

and now

we turn

to our

next point

Hezekiah's

determined

faith

Hezekiah's

determined

faith

we see

that beginning

in verse

37

as soon

as King

Hezekiah

heard it

he tore

his clothes

and covered

himself with

sackcloth

and went

into the

house of

the Lord

and he sent

Eliakim

who was over

the household

and Shebna

the secretary

and the senior

priests

covered with

sackcloth

to the prophet

Isaiah

the son

of Amos

they said

to him

thus says

Hezekiah

this is a

day of

distress

of rebuke

and of

disgrace

children have

come to the

point of birth

and there is

no strength

to bring

them forth

Hezekiah is

coming to a

place of

having to

stake his

claim in the

confidence

in God

we find

in these

verses

Hezekiah's

confidence

in the Lord

his confidence

in God

to save

and recognizing

what has

gone before

recognizing

as we find

in 2 Kings

and 2 Chronicles

as the account

of this story

unfolds

we find

there that

sure enough

Hezekiah

did

employ the

help

of Egypt

he did

form an

alliance

with this

empire

and asking

them to

help

we also

find that

he paid

tribute

to Assyria

early on

in the hopes

that they

would turn

away

and not

come

and to

ransack

the land

Hezekiah had

turned to

secular means

in those

moments

he had

turned to

his own

ingenuity

he had

looked for

human strength

to overcome

the obstacles

that he

faced

but there

was a

point of

clarity

in his

life

sometime

between

that

moment

and

this

moment

there was

a point

of clarity

in his

life

we find

in 2

2 Chronicles 32 · chapter mention

Chronicles

chapter 32

that he

is speaking

encouragingly

to the

people

he says

to them

all that

had gathered

together

he

gathers

them

in a

square

and he

says

to them

be strong

and courageous

do not

be afraid

or dismayed

before the

king of

Assyria

and all

the horde

that is

with him

for there

are more

with us

than are

with him

with him

is an

arm of

flesh

but with

us

is the

Lord

our

God

to help

us

and to

fight

our

battles

and the

people

took

confidence

in the

words

of

Hezekiah

king

of

Judah

somehow

this

message

along

with the

messages

of

Isaiah

the

prophet

made

their

way

to

Sennacherib

made

their

way

to

the

king

of

Assyria

they

understood

where

their

new

confidence

lay

it

lay

in

the

Lord

their

God

and

Hezekiah

was

the

messenger

of

that

confidence

calling

the

people

to

hope

in

God

the

God

who

is

able

to

save

and in

this

moment

in

Isaiah

Isaiah 37 · chapter mention

chapter

37

in

responding

to the

message

that he

hears

from

Rabshakeh

Hezekiah

turns to

the Lord

in prayer

he comes

to the

Lord

in

repentance

he

recognizes

that his

past

confidences

in

Egypt

in

the

confidence

in

paying

off

Assyria

were

all

futility

and

expresses

his

repentant

heart

his

sorrowful

heart

in

terms

of

brokenness

and

sackcloth

and

mourning

and

the

message

that

is

sent

to

Isaiah

is

a

message

of

repentance

he

comes

this

is

a

day

of

distress

of

rebuke

and

of

disgrace

but

their

hope

doesn't

end

there

it

moves

to

the

next

level

in

verse

4

it

may

be

that

the

Lord

your

God

will

hear

the

words

of

the

Rebsheka

whom

his

master

the

king

of

Assyria

has

sent

to

mock

the

living

God

and

will

rebuke

the

words

that

the

Lord

your

God

has

heard

therefore

lift

up

your

prayer

for

the

remnant

that

is

left

Hezekiah

calls

his

men

to

ask

for

God

to

intervene

ask

that

God

might

might

salvage

his

reputation

that

is

what

is

at

stake

what

is

at

stake

in

this

moment

is

not

the

preservation

of

Israel

not

the

protection

of

Jerusalem

not

the

future

legacy

of

Hezekiah

and

his

people

what

is

at

stake

is

the

reputation

of

God

God

who

has

said

and

committed

himself

to

save

God

who

has

committed

himself

to

deliver

his

people

if

they

pray

it

may

be

he

says

that

the

Lord

your

God

will

hear

he

is

the

one

to

whom

we

pray

he

is

the

one

to

whom

we

look

for

help

and

that

is

our

next

point

a

united

cry

for

help

from

God

a

united

cry

for

help

from

God

is

joined

by

these

two

men

Eliakim

and

Shebna

interestingly

we haven't

had time

to

look in

depth

at the

book of

Isaiah

but if

you look

back to

chapter

22

you see

that

these

two

men

had been

previously

rebuked

by

Isaiah

himself

Shebna

had

decided

that

he

was

going

to

build

for

himself

a

tomb

in

the

rock

there

in

Jerusalem

and

Isaiah

had

to

confront

Shebna

and say

what in

the world

are you

doing

because of

your sin

because of

taking this

step

you're

actually

going to

die

in the

wilderness

you're

going to

be

cut

off

Shebna

a

similar

warning

went

against

Eliakim

Isaiah

calls

him

a

tent

peg

a

tent

peg

that

will

be

severed

will

be

cut

certainly

these

men

in

walking

into

the

presence

of

Isaiah

the

prophet

must

have

wondered

what's

Isaiah

going to

think

how is

he

going

to

respond

he's

already

been

bold

to

rebuke

us

for

past

sin

but

they

come

in

repentance

as

well

they

come

approaching

the

house

of

the

Lord

and

robed

in

sackcloth

and

asking

for

God

to

intervene

and

Isaiah

gives

them

an

answer

they

recognize

that

God

is

the

one

whose

reputation

is

in

full

view

Isaiah

makes

this

the

issue

he

sees

this

as a

taunt

and a

threat

against

the

almighty

one

and

he

makes

God

the

focus

of

his

prayer

the

renown

of

God

is

front

and

center

in

his

mind

not

personal

interests

not

personal

comfort

but

the

reputation

of

God

is

at

stake

and

we

see

God's

decisive

!

answer

in

the

next

few

verses

in

chapter

37

verses

5

to

7

what

is

God's

decisive

answer

it

says

this

beginning

in

verse

5

when

the

servants

of

king

hezekiah

came

to

Isaiah

Isaiah

said

to

them

say

to

your

master

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

rumor

and

return

to

his

own

land

and

I

will

make

him

fall

by

the

sword

in

his

own

land

first

we

see

that

God

will

destroy

the

Assyrian

army

God

will

destroy

the

Assyrian

army

Isaiah

reaffirms

this

message

to

Hezekiah

do

not

be

afraid

Hezekiah

God

will

show

up

for

you

God

will

answer

your

request

God

has

heard

God

will

intervene

up to

this

point

through

the book

of

Isaiah

the theme

has been

to fear

the Lord

in Isaiah

813

the Lord

of hosts

it says

him you

shall

honor

as holy

let him

be

your

fear

and let

him

be

your

dread

but now

from chapter 37

moving to the

end of the

book

we find

that fear

in God

leads us

to not

fear

in the

nations

here we

find

do not

be afraid

Hezekiah

do not

worry

in chapter

40

we find

it says

go to

a high

mountain

O

Zion

herald

the

good

news

lift

up

your

voice

with

strength

O

Jerusalem

herald

of

good

news

lift

it

up

fear

not

fear

not

fear

not

for I

am

with

you

be

not

dismayed

for I

am

your

God

in

41

13

fear

not

I

am

the

one

who

helps

you

in

41

14

fear

not

you

men

of

Israel

I

am

the

one

who

helps

you

your

redeemer

is

the

holy

one

of

Israel

what

most

often

stands

in our

way

of

faith

is a

fear

that

cripples

us

from

asking

God

for

answers

and

waiting

for

him

to

show

up

in

your

life

but

in

this

moment

this

moment

of

crisis

we're

Hezekiah

had

spoken

words

of

faith

into

the

people

of

Israel

now

is

able

to

take

action

go

to

Lord

in

prayer

and

seek

his

face

and

trust

him

with

what

would

otherwise

be

an

impossible

situation

and

God

shows

up

and

gives

this

answer

don't

be

afraid

Hezekiah

don't

be

afraid

he's

going

to

hear

a

rumor

!

He's

going

to

go

away

and

he's

going

to

be

killed

in

Now

those

of

us

who

know

the

rest

of

the

story

might

think

that's

great

news

but

for

Hezekiah

who's

hearing

this

can

you

imagine

but

okay

I

understand

Lord

he's

going

to

hear

a

rumor

eventually

but

what

does

that

mean

about

me

what

does

that

mean

about

Jerusalem

what

does

that

mean

about

our

safety

here

I

get

the

fact

that

you're

going

to

honor

your

prayer

and

you're

going

to

salvage

your

name

and

your

renown

in

the

world

but

what

about

the

here

and

now

and

in

this

moment

there

is

not

an

answer

about

the

here

and

now

there's

not

an

answer

about

the

immediate

although

we

do

begin

to

see

God's

answer

in

the

next

few

verses

in

verse

10

of

chapter

37

we

begin

to

see

how

God

is

working

actually

backing up

to

verse

8

the

Reb

Shekha

returned

and

found

the

king

of

Assyria

fighting

against

Libna

so

he

has

taken

Lachish

the

second

most

prominent

city

of

Judah

and

now

he's