Where's Hezekiah?

You may be wondering who Hezekiah is.  We'll get to that in a minute.

But before we talk about Hezekiah, let's have a little chat about our country and about the presidential election to be held later this year.  We have been inundated for several months now with political ads.  There have been debates.  There has been almost incessant chatter across all social media concerning the elections and particular candidates.  You may already have grown weary of it all.

Even so, this is an important election, as all elections are.  This is a pivotal time in our country's history.  Will we continue our downward spiral, or is there any hope?

Many will say that if we only had a different President, everything would be OK.  Others will say that the solution to the challenges facing our country is not to be found in the White House.  On some level, there is probably truth in both those statements.

I'm not here to argue that point.  Nor am I here to convince you of the merits of any particular candidate, or to ask if you are Republican or Democrat or Libertarian or Independent.

I'm not even here to ask if you have decided which of the many candidates you support.  If you have already made that decision, I would ask you what is the basis of that decision and why you have chosen that particular candidate.

My primary purpose today is to ask you to pray.  And that's where Hezekiah comes into the conversation.

If you are not familiar with King Hezekiah, get your Bible and turn to the Old Testament book of 2 Kings.  You'll find Hezekiah in chapters 18 and 19.

Before we get to Hezekiah specifically, let's do a quick review of history.  The first three kings of Israel were Saul, David, and Solomon, in that order.  Following the death of King Solomon, the kingdom was divided into two kingdoms, each with its own king.  All the kings in the Northern Kingdom (Israel) were bad kings.  In the Southern Kingdom (Judah), there was a mix of good kings and bad kings.  You can read all about that in the Bible.

Prior to Hezekiah, Ahaz was the ruler of Judah.  The Bible has this to say about Ahaz: "He reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of God." (2 Kings 16:2 NASB)

Following the death of Ahaz, Hezekiah became king.  The Bible has this to say about Hezekiah:  "He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.  He trusted in the LORD......he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments."  (2 Kings 18:3,5a,6 NASB)

When Hezekiah's nation was in trouble, he turned to the Lord.  You can read his prayer in 2 Kings 19:14-19.  "O LORD, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth........O LORD our God, I pray, deliver us."  (2 Kings 19:15, 19a NASB)

No matter your political persuasion, can we agree that our country is in serious trouble on many levels?  We may not agree on a particular solution, but I think we can agree that we have some real problems to deal with.

It is my opinion that the root cause of much of our trouble lies in the fact that we have turned away from God.  And that brings me to the purpose of this post and why I have written today about Hezekiah.

I'm asking you to join me in prayer. Prayer that God will heal our land.  Prayer for the coming presidential election.  Prayer that God will raise up a Hezekiah among us. 

Will you join me?


"If My people who are called by My name humble themselves and pray and seek M face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, will forgive their sin and will heal their land."  (2 Chronicles 7:14 NASB)