Beware lest Hezekiah misleads you by saying, The Lord will deliver us. Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?
– Isaiah 36:18–20
This is Old Testament trash talk. This is the Assyrians saying to the people of Jerusalem, as they surround the city… About to over the city, at least they think. And are taunting the people of God saying, there is no God who can deliver people from our hands. The Lord cannot deliver Jerusalem out of our hands. No God in any nation can deliver his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isaiah 36:18–20 reminds us that God is worthy of our trust.
Now, I won’t go into all the details of what happens after this. But suffice it to say, this Old Testament trash talk gets turned on its head. God strikes down the Assyrians who taunted him and his people in this way, who thought that they were sovereign over the nations, when God alone, the Lord alone, is sovereign over the nations. But the encouragement I want to give you from this passage is the encouragement we see all throughout the book of Isaiah and all throughout the Bible.
God is worthy. He is absolutely unequivocally, undoubtedly, unquestionably, unconditionally, worthy of your trust. And you may be tempted, much like the people in Jerusalem hearing these taunts, were tempted to think, can God deliver us? You may be tempted to think, is God sovereign? Is God all-powerful? Is God loving? Can God deliver me out of this? Can God do this or that?
And my life, as I’m facing challenges, and I want to encourage you, God is worthy. Unequivocally, unquestionably, undoubtedly, unconditionally, he is worthy of your trust. Today, you will not, you will never regret trusting in the Lord. So, hear that word today and respond in faith, not in fear of anything you’re facing, but in trust of God, faith in the Lord that delivers you from fear in this world.
Isaiah 36:18–20 reminds us God is working for our ultimate good.
Oh God, I pray this over every single person listening to this right now who knows you, that they would indeed, today, with whatever is going on in their lives, trust in you. They would trust in your power working for them. They would trust in your love that is pursuing them, that promises to provide for them and promises to ultimately deliver them, to bring them through. God, we pray for faith, especially for those who are struggling in faith or for whom faith is hard to come by because the challenges are so large, strong, and heavy.
God, I just pray that you would help all of us today to see you and trust in you, and to be free from fear of anything in this world. To know Lord Jesus, that you have conquered sin and death and the grave, and we have full reason to trust in you now and full reason to trust in you for all of eternity. You are our rock. God, you are our strength. You are our Lord, the Lord who is with us and for us, and ever-present help for us in trouble, and you promise to bring us through.
This verse reminds us to encourage others to trust in God.
So, we say today, based on your word in Isaiah 36, we trust in you and we praise you as the Lord who is absolutely worthy of all our trust.
And God, we pray you to help us to encourage others to trust in you today. Other brothers and sisters in Christ who are walking through hard times, help us to encourage them to trust in you. And God, we pray for people who don’t know you, who are not trusting in you for salvation. We pray you help us to lead people to Jesus around us today and people to Jesus around the world.
Prayer for the Mandinka People
God, we pray for the Mandinka people of Gambia, please of God, cause them to be reached with the good news of the God who is worthy of their trust, their salvation. Oh God, we pray all these things to you, the Lord who is worthy of all our trust, today and tomorrow, and every single day for all of eternity. In Jesus name, amen.
David Platt serves as a Lead Pastor for McLean Bible Church. He is also the Founder of Radical, an organization that makes Jesus known among the nations.
David received his B.A. from the University of Georgia and M.Div., Th.M., and Ph.D. from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. Some of his published works include Radical, Radical Together, Follow Me, Counter Culture, Something Needs to Change, Don’t Hold Back, and How to Read the Bible.
He lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area with his wife and children.
