July 8, 2025 - Isaiah 36-39

Chapters 36-39 tell the story of one man, Hezekiah, who actually was a good leader.  He certainly was not perfect.  He tended to lean on his own understanding and planning rather than the Lord, but when push came to shove, he proved faithful.  In the face of Assyrian aggression and taunts, when Jerusalem was besieged, he finally listened to Isaiah’s counsel to seek the Lord.  A key word, here, might be “finally;” that is, Hezekiah, like us so often, went through all his own solutions and came face to face with disaster before turning to the Lord.  But he did eventually cry out to God, and when he sought the Lord, he found the Lord to be faithful.  Also, when he was ill, even to death, he wept bitterly and prayed to the Lord, and the Lord healed him.  When you think about it, all this focus on good and wise and just leaders is really a conversation about the God in whom they trust.  That is, the ruler who is wise, a ruler who is just, and a ruler who proves to be truly good is the ruler who walks in the way of the Lord and trusts him.  Oh, for leaders like that!  And, oh, how we ourselves look to the Lord and hope in him!

Rejoice, rejoice, take heart in the night,

though cold the winter and cheerless,

the rising sun shall crown you with light,

be strong and loving and fearless;

Love be our song and love our prayer,

and love, our endless story,

may God fill every day we share,

and bring us at last into glory.   -- Marty Haugen (1986)