Solomon said in Proverbs 25:26
(NKJV),
“A righteous man who falters before the wicked is like a
murky spring and a
polluted well.” To falter is to hesitate, waver or fall in
action, intent or endurance.
Murky means dark, gloomy and cheerless, obscure or thick, as with a
mist. Polluted
is to make foul, contaminated or tainted.
These definitions are perfectly all right depending on
what they are describing. However, they should never be used to
describe
children of God! The righteous faltering before the wicked today is
just as contemptible!
How can a murky or gloomy, cheerless Christian have the Word of God
dwelling in
him richly? If our lives, through a lack of faith, have become polluted
or tainted,
we have fallen down and compromised our spiritual integrity before the
wicked
who are all around us!
Hezekiah, king of Judah,
learned the lesson of
standing with conviction before the wicked in one of the hardest ways
during
his reign. Second Kings chapters 18 and 19 give us the account of the
circumstances of this sad event. His loyalty and steadfastness to God
was
commendable until the pressures of his commitment to God were brought
to bear.
Second
Kings 18:1-6 tells of Hezekiah’s ascent to the
throne of Judah.
He did what was right in the sight of the Lord, held fast to the Lord,
did not
depart from following Him, but kept His commandments. Verse 7 says,
“The Lord
was with him; he prospered wherever he went. And he rebelled against
the king
of Assyria and did
not serve him.” Hezekiah’s
bold decision to rebel against the tyranny of this enemy was the
beginning of
his trouble.
The king of Assyria had come up against the king of Israel in Samaria,
besieged and took it, and carried Israel
away to his own land. First
Kings 18:12 states why this had happened. “Because they did
not obey the voice
of the Lord their God, but transgressed His covenant and all that Moses
the
servant of the Lord had commanded; and they would neither hear nor do
them.”
Fourteen years into Hezekiah’s reign, the king of
Assyria came up against all the fortified cites of Judah
and took them. Note the
faltering of King Hezekiah before this wicked man. Second Kings 18:14
says,
“Then Hezekiah king of Judah
sent to the king of Assyria at Lachish,
saying, ‘I have done wrong; turn away from me; whatever you
impose on me I will
pay.’ And the king of Assyria assessed Hezekiah king of Judah
three hundred talents of
silver and thirty talents of gold.” How much blood money was
that?
Hezekiah was so afraid of this man verses 15 and 16
tell us that he gave the king of Assyria,
“all
the silver that was found in the house of the Lord and in the
treasuries of the
king’s house. At that time Hezekiah stripped the gold from
the doors of the
temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and
gave it to the king of Assyria.”
Since when does the attempt to pay off an enemy
get them out of your life?
In 2 Kings 19:5-6, the servants of Hezekiah came to
Isaiah, and he had said to them, “Thus you shall say to your
master, ‘Thus says
the Lord: “Do not be afraid of the words which you have
heard, with which the
servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me.
Surely I will send a spirit upon him, and he shall hear a rumor and
return to
his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own
land.”’” Hezekiah
did not believe what God said; he continued to falter and remained
afraid! David
said in Psalm 56:3-4, “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in
You. In God I will
praise His word, in God I have put my trust; I will not fear. What can
flesh do
to me?” This eternal promise from God had no power in
Hezekiah’s life at this
point because of his unbelief! This whole, agonizing experience was all
so
unnecessary!
The king of Assyria
pounced on Hezekiah’s fear. People are sometimes just like a
mad dog; when they
“smell” fear, their attack is vicious! The words
and actions of this man were brutal
in his aggression! He had sent his high ranking official to inform
Hezekiah, “Thus
says the great king, the king of Assyria:
‘What confidence is this in which you trust? You speak of
having plans and
power for war; but they are mere words. And in whom do you trust that
you rebel
against me?” (2 Kings 18:19-20). His mocking, insulting,
defying and blaspheming
of God continued. The king of Assyria’s official further
informed the people in
verses 29-30, “Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he shall
not be able to
deliver you from his hand; nor let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord,
saying,
‘The Lord will surely deliver us; this city shall not be
given into the hand of
the king of Assyria.’” His taunts continued to Judah
as he told them, “But do not
listen to Hezekiah, lest he persuade you saying, ‘The LORD
will deliver us’” (2
Kings 18:32b).
At
this point in the drama, there was one bright spot;
Hezekiah’s wisdom was excellent. Second Kings 18:36 says,
“But the people held
their peace and answered him not a word; for the king’s
commandment was, ‘Do
not answer him.’” Psalm 39:1 says, “I
will guard my ways, lest I sin with my
tongue; I will restrain my mouth with a muzzle, while the wicked are
before
me.”
Several of the king’s high ranking officials had gone
to the prophet Isaiah and said, “Thus says Hezekiah:
‘This day is a day of
trouble, and rebuke, and blasphemy; for the children have come to
birth, but
there is no strength to bring them forth’” (2 Kings
19:3). What had happened to
this anointed leader of God’s people? Why was he faltering in
his faith before
this wicked pagan?
Finally, Hezekiah came to his senses and did what he
should have done in the first place. He prayed to God about this
horrible
situation! What took Hezekiah so long to do this? Before we make a move
right
or left, the first thing we need to do in any and all circumstances is
to call
down the power of God through prayer! Hezekiah prayed and said,
“Truly, LORD,
the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and
have cast
their gods into the fire; for they were not gods, but the works of
men’s hands…Now
therefore, O LORD our God, I pray, save us from his hand, that all the
kingdoms
of the earth may know that You are the LORD God, You alone”
(2 Kings 19:17-19).
His faith was renewed and made stronger once again as he recognized
God’s power
and gave Him the glory! Hallelujah!
God’s response in verse 20 through the prophet Isaiah was
rich beyond measure! “Because you
have
prayed to Me
against Sennacherib
king of Assyria, I
have heard.” It does
not get any better than God hearing and answering our prayers! Second
Kings 19:35
says; “And it came to pass on a certain night that the angel
of the LORD went
out, and killed in the camp of the Assyrians one hundred and
eighty-five
thousand; and when people arose early in the morning, there were the
corpses—all dead.”
Just as God had said, in verse 36, the king of Assyria
was worshipping in the temple of his god, and his
sons struck him down with the sword. He paid with his life, confirming
the
eternal truth of Galatians 6:7,
“Do not be deceived, God is not mocked; for whatever a man
sows, that he will
also reap.”
Most
of us are very familiar with Peter’s faltering
before the wicked after Jesus was arrested. Three times he was asked
about his
relationship with our Lord, and three times Peter faltered before the
wicked by
denying he even knew Christ! Jesus tells us when we confess Him before
others, He
will confess us before His Father; but when we deny Him before others,
He will
deny us before His Father (Matthew 10:32-33).
As
Peter sat outside in the courtyard, a certain
servant girl looking at him intently said, “‘This
man was also with Him.’ But
he denied Him, saying, ‘Woman, I do not know Him.’
And after a little while
another saw him and said, ‘You also are of them.’
But Peter said, ‘Man, I am
not!’ Then after about an hour had passed, another
confidently affirmed,
saying, ‘Surely this fellow also was with Him, for he is a
Galilean.’ But Peter
said, ‘Man, I do not know what you are saying!’
(Luke 22:56-60a). Matthew
26:74 records, “Then he began to
curse and
swear, saying, ‘I do not know the Man!’” Luke 22:61-62 says,
“And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. Then
Peter remembered the word of the Lord, how He had said to him,
‘Before the
rooster crows, you will deny Me
three times.’ So Peter went out and wept bitterly.”
Without a doubt, this had
to have been one of the darkest moments in Peter’s life!
These
two accounts of godly, spiritual giants should
cause us as Christians to examine ourselves daily to see if we are in
the
faith! Are we steadfast or are we faltering? Where are we on a scale of
1-10,
10 being the best, in having convicting faith that is evident? Do
people in our
neighborhoods, in our communities, in our schools, on our jobs, and yes
— even
in the church — know that we are Christians in every aspect
of our lives?! If
they don’t, why don’t they?
Let’s
face it; there will be times when our faith,
love, devotion and integrity to God grow weak. However, our faith,
trust,
reliance and confidence in Him must be such that we do as Paul did; pray that He will help us to open our
mouths boldly, “to make known the mystery of the
gospel” and “to speak boldly
as we ought to speak” (Ephesians 6:18-20).
Proverbs 28:1
states, “The wicked flee when no one pursues, but the
righteous are bold as a
lion.” David said in Psalm 138:3; “In the day when
I cried out, You answered
me, and made me bold with strength in my soul.”
