Holding Fast To The Lord
Holding Fast To The Lord
2 Kings 18:1-8 (NASB)
1 Now it came about in the third year of Hoshea, the son of Elah king of Israel, that Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah became king.
2 He was twenty-five years old when he became king, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem; and his mother's name was Abi the daughter of Zechariah.
3 He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
6 For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
1. Following A Pattern Of Faith In Your Heavenly Father
2 Kings 18:3 (NASB)
3 He did right in the sight of the LORD, according to all that his father David had done.
2 Kings 16:2-4 (NASB)
2 Ahaz was twenty years old when he became king, and he reigned sixteen years in Jerusalem; and he did not do what was right in the sight of the LORD his God, as his father David had done.
3 But he walked in the way of the kings of Israel, and even made his son pass through the fire, according to the abominations of the nations whom the LORD had driven out from before the sons of Israel.
4 He sacrificed and burned incense on the high places and on the hills and under every green tree.
2. Repenting & Removing Every Trace Of Idolatry
2 Kings 18:4 (NASB)
4 He removed the high places and broke down the sacred pillars and cut down the Asherah. He also broke in pieces the bronze serpent that Moses had made, for until those days the sons of Israel burned incense to it; and it was called Nehushtan.
Numbers 21:4-9 (NASB)
4 Then they set out from Mount Hor by the way of the Red Sea, to go around the land of Edom; and the people became impatient because of the journey.
5 The people spoke against God and Moses, "Why have you brought us up out of Egypt to die in the wilderness? For there is no food and no water, and we loathe this miserable food."
6 The LORD sent fiery serpents among the people and they bit the people, so that many people of Israel died.
7 So the people came to Moses and said, "We have sinned, because we have spoken against the LORD and you; intercede with the LORD, that He may remove the serpents from us." And Moses interceded for the people.
8 Then the LORD said to Moses, "Make a fiery serpent, and set it on a standard; and it shall come about, that everyone who is bitten, when he looks at it, he will live."
9 And Moses made a bronze serpent and set it on the standard; and it came about, that if a serpent bit any man, when he looked to the bronze serpent, he lived.
3. Worshiping The Lord In Trusting Obedience
2 Kings 18:5-6 (NASB)
5 He trusted in the LORD, the God of Israel; so that after him there was none like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who were before him.
6 For he clung to the LORD; he did not depart from following Him, but kept His commandments, which the LORD had commanded Moses.
2 Chronicles 29:3-6 (NASB)
3 In the first year of his reign, in the first month, he opened the doors of the house of the LORD and repaired them.
4 He brought in the priests and the Levites and gathered them into the square on the east.
5 Then he said to them, "Listen to me, O Levites. Consecrate yourselves now, and consecrate the house of the LORD, the God of your fathers, and carry the uncleanness out from the holy place.
6 "For our fathers have been unfaithful and have done evil in the sight of the LORD our God, and have forsaken Him and turned their faces away from the dwelling place of the LORD, and have turned their backs.
2 Chronicles 29:18-19 (NASB)
18 Then they went in to King Hezekiah and said, "We have cleansed the whole house of the LORD, the altar of burnt offering with all of its utensils, and the table of showbread with all of its utensils.
19 "Moreover, all the utensils which King Ahaz had discarded during his reign in his unfaithfulness, we have prepared and consecrated; and behold, they are before the altar of the LORD."
2 Chronicles 30:1 (NASB)
1 Now Hezekiah sent to all Israel and Judah and wrote letters also to Ephraim and Manasseh, that they should come to the house of the LORD at Jerusalem to celebrate the Passover to the LORD God of Israel.
4. Prospering By The Presence Of God
2 Kings 18:7-8 (NASB)
7 And the LORD was with him; wherever he went he prospered. And he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
8 He defeated the Philistines as far as Gaza and its territory, from watchtower to fortified city.
2 Chronicles 31:20-21 (NASB)
20 Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah; and he did what was good, right and true before the LORD his God.
21 Every work which he began in the service of the house of God in law and in commandment, seeking his God, he did with all his heart and prospered.