“Be strong and courageous, be not afraid nor dismayed … for there be more with us than with him:” (2 Chronicles 32:7) I like those words. So spoke Hezekiah, king of Judah, in the day that the Assyrian army entered his land and began conquering the outlying towns and villages. Hezekiah worked desperately to prepare his people against the most powerful army on the face of the earth. But, what could he do? Now, let me tell you a little about Hezekiah.

Hezekiah was one of Judah’s most righteous kings. He not only kept the commandments of God more faithfully than any king before or after him, but he persuaded his people to do the same. To an apostate Jewish nation he brought faith, joy, and prosperity once more. But now everything was threatened by Assyria.

Sennacherib, the Assyrian king, even sent messengers to Jerusalem, who stood upon the wall before the people and said to them, “Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his [my] hand: Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord…” (2 Kings 18:29-30) “Hearken not to Hezekiah.” (2 Kings 18:31)

Well, the Assyrian army then moved up, and almost 200,000 men surrounded Jerusalem.

Now even though Isaiah, the great prophet, had assured Hezekiah that the city would not fall, still, consider this situation. The odds are incalculable – Hezekiah’s pitiful band of farmers, women, and children armed with darts and shields against the mightiest army on earth surrounding them on every side. Hezekiah has on one hand the simple promise of deliverance by God’s prophet stacked against 200,000 men, and the open and avowed hostility of the mightiest nation on earth. Do you see the test?

What God has promised looks absolutely impossible in the face of the opposition. Is it any wonder that Hezekiah humbles himself, bows before the Lord, and enters the temple to pray saying, “…O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the Earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.” (Isaiah 37:20)

In response to this humble and sweet prayer, the Lord sends Isaiah, the prophet, with this assurance, “…[Sennacherib] shall not come into this city, nor [even] shoot an arrow there…By the way that he came, by the same shall he return…saith the Lord.” (2 Kings 19:32-33)

That night, as Judah prayed and Assyria slept, the angel of the Lord entered the Assyrian camp, and the next morning 185,000 Assyrian soldiers lay dead upon the ground around Jerusalem. Those still alive ran for home. The Lord’s promises were fulfilled in every detail.

My friends, the faithful – the faithful will always be tested. Why? How else can they lay down in deeds done the intents of their hearts? It’s not enough to want to be good. We must prove ourselves good. How can the faithful ever know their strength or the Lord’s strength unless they are given the opportunity under stress to discover both?

Further, when the opposition and the obstacles make the promises of the Lord seem impossible, remember, “Be strong…be not afraid…for there be more with us than with him:” (2 Chronicles 32:7)