DCLM Daily Manna 23 October 2021 — A Little Compromise
DCLM Daily Manna 23 October 2021 Devotional by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi — A Little Compromise
TOPIC: A Little Compromise (DCLM Daily Manna 23 October 2021)
📜 TEXT:2 KINGS 18:13-25📜
13 Now in the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah did Sennacherib king of Assyria come up against all the fenced cities of Judah, and took them.
14 And Hezekiah king of Judah sent to the king of Assyria to Lachish, saying, I have offended; return from me: that which thou puttest on me will I bear. And the king of Assyria appointed unto Hezekiah king of Judah three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold.
15 And Hezekiah gave him all the silver that was found in the house of the Lord, and in the treasures of the king’s house.
16 At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the Lord, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria.
17 And the king of Assyria sent Tartan and Rabsaris and Rabshakeh from Lachish to king Hezekiah with a great host against Jerusalem. And they went up and came to Jerusalem. And when they were come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is in the highway of the fuller’s field.
18 And when they had called to the king, there came out to them Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, which was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and Joah the son of Asaph the recorder.
19 And Rabshakeh said unto them, Speak ye now to Hezekiah, Thus saith the great king, the king of Assyria, What confidence is this wherein thou trustest?
20 Thou sayest, (but they are but vain words,) I have counsel and strength for the war. Now on whom dost thou trust, that thou rebellest against me?
21 Now, behold, thou trustest upon the staff of this bruised reed, even upon Egypt, on which if a man lean, it will go into his hand, and pierce it: so is Pharaoh king of Egypt unto all that trust on him.
22 But if ye say unto me, We trust in the Lord our God: is not that he, whose high places and whose altars Hezekiah hath taken away, and hath said to Judah and Jerusalem, Ye shall worship before this altar in Jerusalem?
23 Now therefore, I pray thee, give pledges to my lord the king of Assyria, and I will deliver thee two thousand horses, if thou be able on thy part to set riders upon them.
24 How then wilt thou turn away the face of one captain of the least of my master’s servants, and put thy trust on Egypt for chariots and for horsemen?
25 Am I now come up without the Lord against this place to destroy it? The Lord said to me, Go up against this land, and destroy it.
MESSAGE:
🔑📖KEY VERSE: “At that time did Hezekiah cut off the gold from the doors of the temple of the LORD, and from the pillars which Hezekiah king of Judah had overlaid, and gave it to the king of Assyria” (2 KINGS 18:16).
Throughout his administration, Abraham Lincoln was a president who knew he was not perfect, but never resolved to compromise his integrity. So strong was this resolve that he once said, “I desire so to conduct the affairs of this administration that if at the end, when I come to lay down the reins of power, I have lost every other friend on earth, I shall at least have one friend left, and that friend shall be down inside me”.
Also Read: Open Heaven 23 October 2021 – Loose And Bring Them!
From the text, Hezekiah tried to placate the king of Assyria who came to invade the fenced cities of Judah. Instead of his usual approach of relying on the Lord, and confronting the enemy, Hezekiah, in fear, settled for negotiation. In a desperate attempt to meet the conditions of peace, he sent to the king of Assyria all the silver found in the house of the Lord and the king’s treasury. Yet, the king of Assyria still came with a large army to invade Jerusalem. The emissaries sent to Judah by the enemy king did not acknowledged whatever was sent by Hezekiah; they instead boasted about the military might of their king and made irreverent remarks about God and His people.
After fourteen years on the throne, Hezekiah forsook his former approach of relying only on God to defend the nation in times of war. He appeared to have accepted a little compromise by negotiating his way out of the predicament. He forgot that the enemy would hunt for the precious soul and would not settle for any gifts.
As believers, we must understand that the devil does not honour agreements. He cannot be trusted to stand by his promises. We must therefore avoid any form of compromise through negotiation with the devil or his cohorts. We must not return to the world or to Egypt for help. There is no agreement between light and darkness, and two parallel lines will never meet. Our God is more than enough to save us.
✍🏽THOUGHT FOR THE DAY: Satan’s agents cannot be trusted to keep promises.
📜THE BIBLE IN ONE YEAR:JEREMIAH 5-6📜
MEDITATION
RIGHTEOUS, TESTED AND FAILED🤷♂️
1. The Righteous King
a. Hezekiah was a religious reformer and a righteous person, vv3-5.
b. In terms of godliness, he was next to none of all the kings that ever reigned in Israel and Judah, apart from David, vv3,5.
c. He was prospered by God and broke off from the dominion, servitude and oppression of Assyria, on3 of the world ruler at that time, v7.
2. The Tested King
a. After about 10 years of victory over Assyria, the king of Assyria struck back and took some cities of Judah, v13.
b. How did God allow this when Hezekiah remained incorruptibly righteous unlike the backlidden kings of Israel?
c. It was nothing but a test or trial of his faith.
d. When, after maintaining your integrity as a righteous person, things that appear evil not meant for the righteous happen to you, then that may be a test of your faith or trial of faith.
e. A test of faith is to test your loyalty and commitment to God regardless of all odds so that you may get greater blessings or promotions, Genesis 22:1, Job.
Question
a. Can you cite examples of saints in the Bible who had trials of faith?
b. Are there untoward things you are passing through which you cannot trace to any sin or disobedience in your life? Cheer up, it may be a test of your faith.A trial of faith is an herald of divine blessings and promotion👌
3. Righteous but failed🤷♂️
a. The test exposed the crack and the imperfection in the faith of the righteous king.
b. 10 years before this time, he witnessed how the Assyrian emperor destroyed Israel because of their sins, vv9-12.
c. Perhaps this created hidden fear in his heart forgetting that Israel was sold to the Assyrians because of their sins, vv9-12.
d. He also was mindless of the precious victory that God gave him over Assyria and others, vv7,8.
e. He resorted to self management and feared the Assyrian king above His God and desecrated His temple, vv14-16🙆♂️
f. In obvious folly and backlidden, he gave in to negotiation with sin and satan, forgetting that the enemy will not stop at anything less than total defeat, vv17-25.
g. Never negotiate with sin, tempters, satan and his cohorts but rather go for complete victory or else you will be deceived and outsmarted 👌
Questions
Are you determined never to fail God in the trials of faith you may be passing through?
Do you look up to God and endure when the goings are getting tough in order to get the crown and blessings of faithfulness?
If thou faint in the day of adversity, thy strength is small, Proverbs 24:10.
PRAYER POINTS
1. Earnestly ask God to forgive you in case you have failed God or compromised under trials of faith🙏
2.Plead with God not to give up over you and ask for power, strength and grace to stand when you are tested🙏
3. Ask for faith, strength and wisdom that is sufficient to handle any of your trials of faith🙏
4. Ask for renewed power, divine upliftment and faith for brethren already crumbling under the load of trials of faith🙏
HYMN
MAY THE LORD DEPEND ON YOU
1. In the warfare that is raging
For the truth and for the right,
When the conflict, fierce, is raging
With the powers of the night,
God needs people brave and true:
May He then depend on you?
Refrain:
May the Lord depend on you?
Loyalty is but His due;
Say, O spirit, brave and true,
That He may depend on you.
2. See, they come on sable pinions,
Come in strong, Satanic might,—
Powers come, and dark dominions,
From the regions of the night;
God requires the brave and true:
May He then depend on you?
Refrain
3. From His throne the Father sees us;
Angels help us to prevail;
And our leader true is Jesus,
And we shall not, cannot fail:
Triumph crowns the brave and true,—
May the Lord depend on you?
Refrain
DCLM Daily Manna was written by Pastor W. F. Kumuyi; is the founder and General Superintendent of the Deeper Life Bible Church situated at KM 42 on the busy Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, Nigeria.
1. Admit that you are a sinner. "For all [humans] have sinned, and comes short of the glory of God....[and] the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord" (Romans 3:23)
2. Repent now. "Repent ye therefore, and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out ...[for] if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness " (Acts 3:19, 1 John 1:9)
3. Believe that God loves you and Jesus died for you. "God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet Sinners, Christ died for us" (Romans 5:8)
4. Invite Jesus into your life through prayer of faith. Jesus says, "Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him, and will sup with him, and he with me" (Revelation 3:20)
