8.27.2026 - Nate Triemstra

Thursday, August 27, 2026

II Kings 20:15-18

The prophet asked, “What did they see in your palace?”

“They saw everything in my palace,” Hezekiah said. “There is nothing among my treasures that I did not show them.”

Then Isaiah said to Hezekiah, “Hear the word of the Lord: The time will surely come when everything in your palace, and all that your fathers have stored up until this day, will be carried off to Babylon. Nothing will be left, says the Lord. And some of your descendants, your own flesh and blood, that will be born to you, will be taken away, and they will become eunuchs in the palace of the king of Babylon.”

If you have time, read II Kings 18-20.

This week, we have focused on the reality that our inability to give God control (due to anger, greed, a desire for power, etc.) leads to us losing our self-control. In today’s passage, we can add something else to the list: pride.

Hezekiah, generally speaking, is among the good kings of Israel and Judah. He is one that “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord,” avoiding the much more common refrain of doing “evil in the eyes of the Lord,” which defined most kings of Israel and Judah. He showed great faith in God as Judah faced annihilation from Assyria (chapters 18 and 19). Every indication was that Judah would be destroyed because they lacked the power to defend themselves. Hezekiah, while certainly despairing in the moment, did not waver in his trust that God would deliver Judah. His prayer for deliverance ends: “Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from [King Sennacherib’s] hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O Lord, are God.” In the face of overwhelming odds, Hezekiah gives all glory to God and places complete trust in him. And God rescues Judah, sending the angel of the Lord to decimate the Assyrian army.

Hezekiah also nearly died of an illness (chapter 20). As he is on the brink of death, he once again goes to God in prayer, and God restores his health. Hezekiah has known God’s deep and abiding love, and he has shown a habit of giving control of even seemingly impossible situations over to God. And yet, even Hezekiah shows how easy it is to fall prey to the temptation of seizing control in II Kings 20:12-21.

Envoys come from Babylon, and Hezekiah experiences a moment of great pride. He feels the need to show off a bit. He “showed [the messengers] all that was in his storehouses– the silver, the gold, the spices and the fine oil– his armory and everything found among his treasures.” There is no indication in the text that Hezekiah did this in order to give the glory to God. There is no indication that he sought to show the Babylonians the great faithfulness God had shown him. Instead, it seems that Hezekiah pridefully showed off all the riches he had accumulated. In this moment, he felt the need to claim control, to show what he had done. In doing so, he lost the self-control that allowed for humility. He lost the self-control that had inspired him to go before the Lord in prayer in the midst of the key moments of his life. By claiming control from God, he lost self-control, and the consequences were devastating. All of those riches, and many of his descendants, would be carried into exile by Babylon after his death.

As we’ve seen throughout this week, flying in the face of all logic, we must give up control of our lives to God to gain the self-control that he gives us. We must establish the habit of seeking his will before our own, and we must consistently stay in this mindset in order to possess the self-control to turn our lives over to him. Give up control of your life daily- God’s self-control will follow.