“The Lord Our God Helps Us”
2 Chronicles 32:14-18 (32:1-3, 6-8, 10-14, 17-22) – July 29, 2018 – from Dave Ivaska’s book Be Not Afraid
Making comparisons can be devastating. It’s so human, isn’t it, for me to compare me and my stuff with someone else’s. In the magazine Psychology Today, I saw an online article on comparisons many people make. I know, from this article, that many of these comparisons are not about life-or-death matters. However, especially in the case of young people, mental comparisons can be extremely damaging, both psychologically and emotionally.
“You know those people who have more than you—money, acclaim, looks, whatever? The spike of envy they trigger is natural, and social media is primed to amp it up. But in a world where followers and likes can seem like rock-solid proof of a person’s worth, you don’t have to take the bait.” [1] How true, isn’t it, for us to make mental comparisons between us and them, whoever “they” are?
This isn’t just a 21st century type of problem. Comparisons have been going on for centuries, even millenia. Take our scripture reading today, where the army and people of Judah were comparing themselves with the army of Assyria. One really big problem: the Assyrian army had conquered many of the surrounding tribes and countries around Israel. The Assyrians not only said they were the biggest, baddest military power in the Middle East in this time period, but they had the battles and victories to prove it.
The country and army of Assyria felt confident they were on top. Listen again to 2 Chronicles 32:1 – “Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah. He laid siege to the fortified cities, thinking to conquer them for himself.” The Chronicler is not telling us the complete story here. He does not include what we learn from 2 Kings 18:13-16. King Hezekiah unwisely and unsuccessfully tried to satisfy the Assyrian king Sennacherib with gold and treasures from the temple. That blatant bribery didn’t work. [2]
From what it sounds like, the Assyrian king was strutting his stuff, surrounding and besieging the fortified cities of Judah, and even Jerusalem itself. The Assyrian army had been successful and victorious in many battles over the past one hundred years. King Sennacherib had every reason to believe they would continue to be victorious. So much so that he began to get too big for his britches. He started to boast, and even trash talk to the nation of Judah.
Let’s sample some of that ridicule and boasting, from the modern translation The Message. “You poor people—do you think you’re safe in that so-called fortress of Jerusalem? You’re sitting ducks. Do you think Hezekiah will save you? Don’t be stupid—Hezekiah has fed you a pack of lies. When he says, ‘God will save us from the power of the king of Assyria,’ he’s lying—you’re all going to end up dead.”
As if that wasn’t bad enough, the Assyrian king trash talks some more: “Do you have any idea what I and my ancestors have done to all the countries around here? Has there been a single god anywhere strong enough to stand up against me? Can you name one god among all the nations that either I or my ancestors have ravaged that so much as lifted a finger against me? So what makes you think you’ll make out any better with your god? Don’t let Hezekiah fool you; don’t let him get by with his barefaced lies; don’t trust him.”
Any confidence the officers and the army of Judah had had would have been completely undermined. They must have been feeling really small and dispirited after all of this. I mean, the Assyrian army was the biggest, baddest army in the whole known world, and they were besieging Jerusalem! So much so that the Assyrians were playing tremendous psychological mind games with the people of Judah
This unhealthy practice might be similar to comparing so much we feel a constant sense of inadequacy and helplessness. The author of this magazine article from Psychology Today has a sense of inadequacy that “flares especially when she compares herself to friends, colleagues, and people from her past—many of whom linger in her awareness because of social media. There’s the college buddy who achieved her dream of becoming a performer and lives in a gorgeous home in a tony suburb. There’s the junior high rival, now a globetrotting public health specialist. “He’ll post, ‘Leaving today for Liberia to help with the Ebola crisis,’ and get dozens of comments like ‘You’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met!'” [3]
Sure, the king of Judah had been previously unwise in trying to bribe the Assyrians, and he hoped they would just pack up and go home if the nation of Judah gave them a big enough payment or tribute. King Hezekiah’s army and officers are down in the dumps and really anxious and fearful about the Assyrian army outside the fortified walls of Jerusalem. What would you do in a similar situation, with intense anxiety and fear freezing your heart and mind?
The people and army of Judah fell into this trap so easily. And, frankly, I would agree with them. According to all reports, the Assyrian armies sure looked like the biggest, baddest army around. Listen: “18 Then they called out in Hebrew to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to terrify them and make them afraid in order to capture the city. 19 They spoke about the God of Jerusalem as they did about the gods of the other peoples of the world—the work of human hands.” I really would half-expect to hear the Assyrians at a rally chanting “We’re number one! We’re number one!”
But, God says, “NO!” Here in this example of Hezekiah saying “Be Not Afraid!” in 2 Chronicles 32, we can surely find a prescription for the comparison trap. Here’s what King Hezekiah did. He held a rally of his own with all the army officers and government officials. He said, 7 “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. 8 With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the Lord our God to help us and to fight our battles.” And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said.”
But, that is not all. God steps in, and sovereignly takes over. After Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah cry out to heaven on behalf of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, “21 the Lord sent an angel, who annihilated all the fighting men and the commanders and officers in the camp of the Assyrian king.” God’s angel kills everyone in the enemy camp! The Assyrian king is so cowed and dispirited himself that he slinks off to Assyria, his tail between his legs. Listen to our bible reading: “the king withdrew to his own land in disgrace. And when he went into the temple of his god, some of his sons, his own flesh and blood, cut him down with the sword. 22 So the Lord saved Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem from the hand of Sennacherib king of Assyria and from the hand of all others. God took care of them on every side.”
This special kind of situation doesn’t happen a lot, where God’s angel kills all the enemy army, but it’s recorded here to show that God took care of the people! God will always be with us, even when we are walking through the bad guys, or in the middle of the dark valley, or during a raging storm. We are told to Be Not Afraid! God will be with us, even to the end of the age. Alleluia, amen!
[1] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201711/the-comparison-trap By Rebecca Webber, published November 7, 2017
[2] https://www.blueletterbible.org/comm/guzik_david/studyguide2017-2ch/2ch-32.cfm David Guzik :: Study Guide for 2 Chronicles 32
[3] https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/articles/201711/the-comparison-trap By Rebecca Webber, published November 7, 2017
(Suggestion: visit me at my regular blog for 2018: matterofprayer: A Year of Everyday Prayers. #PursuePEACE – and my other blog, A Year of Being Kind . Thanks!)
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