A life of humility brings the Lord glory, while a life of pride attempts to rob the Lord of glory...

This week we are looking at the life of a King of the Jewish people named Hezekiah. Wednesday, we looked on as King Hezekiah, as he was attempting to put together a coalition to stand up to the Assyrian Empire and its pending invasion, King Hezekiah became so sick that his life was in danger. And as King Hezekiah suffered in sickness, the Lord sent Isaiah the prophet to the king with a very discouraging message: 'Set your house in order, for you shall die and not live.'" We looked on as King Hezekiah prayed that the Lord would remember and heal him.

We looked on as the Lord responded to King Hezekiah’s prayer by immediately healing King Hezekiah. The Lord also promised King Hezekiah that He would add fifteen years to his life. In addition, the Lord promised King Hezekiah that He would deliver the Southern Kingdom from the Assyrian Empires invasion, which we just looked at on Wednesday.

The Lord responded to King Hezekiah’s humble dependence upon the Lord by blessing him physically, financially, and spiritually. In contrast, the Lord responded to the King of Assyria’s arrogance by removing any glory and replacing the glory with judgment. And if King Hezekiah’s story had ended there, King Hezekiah’s story would have been the perfect story.

However, King Hezekiah’s story did not end there. Instead, King Hezekiah’s story took a turn that would impact the Jewish people in a profound and powerful way. We see King Hezekiah’s story turn in 1 Kings 20:12. Let’s look at it together:

 At that time Berodach-baladan a son of Baladan, king of Babylon, sent letters and a present to Hezekiah, for he heard that Hezekiah had been sick. Hezekiah listened to them, and showed them all his treasure house, the silver and the gold and the spices and the precious oil and the house of his armor and all that was found in his treasuries. There was nothing in his house nor in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show them. Then Isaiah the prophet came to King Hezekiah and said to him, "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you?" And Hezekiah said, "They have come from a far country, from Babylon." He said, "What have they seen in your house?" So Hezekiah answered, "They have seen all that is in my house; there is nothing among my treasuries that I have not shown them."

Shortly after being miraculously healed by the Lord, as King Hezekiah continued his attempts to put together a coalition to stand up to the Assyrian Empire and its pending invasion, King Hezekiah received a visit from some political envoys from the nation of Babylon. King Hezekiah responded to the Babylonian envoys presence and presents by not only sharing the story of God’s intervention in his life.

In addition, King Hezekiah also proudly showed off all of his riches and the nations riches. The Lord responded to King Hezekiah’s arrogance by sending the prophet Isaiah with a question: "What did these men say, and from where have they come to you? What have they seen in your house?"

Now King Hezekiah’s response, if communicated in the language we use in our culture today, would have sounded something like this: They came from a far country as I was hoping that they would come help me against the Assyrians. And I showed them all of my stuff. I showed them all that was in my bank accounts, my retirement account, my royal estate; I even showed them how much money we had as a nation and our military defense. I showed them everything I have; I left nothing out”. We see the prophet’s response to King Hezekiah in verse 16:

 Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, "Hear the word of the LORD. 'Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and all that your fathers have laid up in store to this day will be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,' says the LORD. 'Some of your sons who shall issue from you, whom you will beget, will be taken away; and they will become officials in the palace of the king of Babylon.'"  Then Hezekiah said to Isaiah, "The word of the LORD which you have spoken is good." For he thought, "Is it not so, if there will be peace and truth in my days?"

The prophet Isaiah confronts King Hezekiah with the reality that as a result of his arrogance and prideful act of showing off all that the Lord had blessed the Jewish people with, there would be a day in the future when the Jewish people would lose all that they had been blessed with. You see, now this new and up and coming Babylonian Empire knew exactly where to go to find an abundance of wealth. This new and up and coming Babylonian Empire knew exactly what military defenses the Jewish people had.

And as a result of King Hezekiah’s attempts to absorb the glory that belonged to the Lord, once the Babylonian Empire defeated the Assyrian Empire, the southern kingdom of the Jewish people would become their next target. But did you notice King Hezekiah’s response when confronted by Isaiah the prophet?

Instead of confessing his sin, King Hezekiah’s pride was satisfied with having peace in his time. Instead of grieving over the consequences that his arrogant pride would have on future generations of the Jewish people at the hands of the Babylonian Empire, King Hezekiah’s pride was satisfied with the fact that the Lord would fulfill the promises that he had earlier made to him concerning the Assyrian Empire.

And it is in this event from history from the life of King Hezekiah that we discover a timeless truth that has the potential to powerfully impact how we live our lives today. And that timeless truth is this: A life of humility brings the Lord glory, while a life of pride attempts to rob the Lord of glory. You see, just like King Hezekiah, when we place our confident trust in and followed the Lord in a way that pleases the Lord we bring glory to the Lord.

Just like King Hezekiah, when we keep in close connection with the Lord so as to follow the Lord we bring glory to the Lord. Just like King Hezekiah, when we live in humble dependence upon the Lord in a way that deflects all the glory to the Lord, we bring glory to the Lord. However, just like King Hezekiah, we attempt to rob the Lord of glory when we arrogantly attempt to take credit for the Lord’s activity in our lives. And just like King Hezekiah, we attempt to rob the Lord of glory when we attempt to absorb the glory of the Lord instead of deflecting the glory to the Lord.

So here is a question to consider: How are you responding to the evidence of the Lord’s activity in your life? Are you responding to the Lord’s activity in your life by attempting to absorb that glory for yourself? Are you a glory hog?

Or are you living a life of humble dependence upon the Lord that brings the Lord glory? Are you trusting and following the Lord in a way that is closely connected to the Lord and pleases the Lord so as to bring Him glory? Are you responding to the evidence of the Lord’s activity in your life by deflecting all of the glory to the Lord?

Because a life of humility brings the Lord glory, while a life of pride attempts to rob the Lord of glory.