Consider for a moment the stories that get the most attention in our local, national, and international news outlets or social media.
How often are the headlines positive versus negative?
Why do you think this is the case?
Do you know who’s really in charge, regardless of the story garnering the headlines of our day?
Now consider how your family or friends talk about the situations they are experiencing in their personal lives.
How do they portray their situations? Positively? Negatively?
What helps you know whether they are aware of who’s really in charge of their situation?
Who’s Really in Charge?
A Study of 2 Kings 19:20-37 | Study Questions
Up against both psychological warfare and the threat of physical warfare with Sennacherib, the king of Assyria, Hezekiah, the king of Judah, asked for prayers from Isaiah, the Lord’s prophet, and humbled himself before God, seeking a response from God.
Summarize Hezekiah’s prayer in 2 Kings 19:14-19.
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “Thus says the Lord, the God of Israel: Your prayer to me about Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard. 21 This is the word that the Lord has spoken concerning him:
“She despises you, she scorns you—
the virgin daughter of Zion;
she wags her head behind you—
the daughter of Jerusalem.
22 “Whom have you mocked and reviled?
Against whom have you raised your voice
and lifted your eyes to the heights?
Against the Holy One of Israel! [1]
How does the Lord affirm Hezekiah’s prayer with verses 21-22?
23 By your messengers you have mocked the Lord,
and you have said, ‘With my many chariots
I have gone up the heights of the mountains,
to the far recesses of Lebanon;
I felled its tallest cedars,
its choicest cypresses;
I entered its farthest lodging place,
its most fruitful forest.
24 I dug wells
and drank foreign waters,
and I dried up with the sole of my foot
all the streams of Egypt.’ [2]
What does the Lord know about Sennacherib?
How would this encourage Hezekiah?
25 “Have you not heard
that I determined it long ago?
I planned from days of old
what now I bring to pass,
that you should turn fortified cities
into heaps of ruins,
26 while their inhabitants, shorn of strength,
are dismayed and confounded,
and have become like plants of the field
and like tender grass,
like grass on the housetops,
blighted before it is grown. [3]
Explain what God is claiming in verses 25-26.
27 “But I know your sitting down
and your going out and coming in,
and your raging against me.
28 Because you have raged against me
and your complacency has come into my ears,
I will put my hook in your nose
and my bit in your mouth,
and I will turn you back on the way
by which you came.[4]
What reason does the Lord give for his plans against Sennacherib?
29 “And this shall be the sign for you: this year eat what grows of itself, and in the second year what springs of the same. Then in the third year sow and reap and plant vineyards, and eat their fruit. 30 And the surviving remnant of the house of Judah shall again take root downward and bear fruit upward. 31 For out of Jerusalem shall go a remnant, and out of Mount Zion a band of survivors. The zeal of the Lord will do this. [5]
What is the purpose of this sign for Jerusalem?
32 “Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria: He shall not come into this city or shoot an arrow there, or come before it with a shield or cast up a siege mound against it. 33 By the way that he came, by the same he shall return, and he shall not come into this city, declares the Lord. 34 For I will defend this city to save it, for my own sake and for the sake of my servant David.” [6]
Why is the Lord protecting the city of Jerusalem?
35 And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians. And when people arose early in the morning, behold, these were all dead bodies. 36 Then Sennacherib king of Assyria departed and went home and lived at Nineveh. 37 And as he was worshiping in the house of Nisroch his god, Adrammelech and Sharezer, his sons, struck him down with the sword and escaped into the land of Ararat. And Esarhaddon his son reigned in his place. [7]
How does this reveal who’s really in charge?
Who’s Really in Charge?
A Study of 2 Kings 19:20-37 | Personal Application
This post started with thinking about news headlines, but now take some time to turn your attention to your own day-to-day life.
Describe a time you either faced a situation that involved someone’s arrogance and disregard for God or you exhibited this behavior yourself.
What steps did you take to navigate the situation you just described?
How have you seen God intervene in the situation over time?
What did you learn in this study of 2 Kings 19:20-37 that can help you when dealing with someone’s arrogance and disregard for God? Your own?
Again, based on this study of 2 Kings 19:20-37, who’s really in charge of the affairs of this world, whether personal, local, national or international?
How does this encourage you in the face of difficulties?
Consider the following from 1 Peter 5:6-11.
6 Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, 7 casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. 8 Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. 9 Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. 10 And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to his eternal glory in Christ, will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. 11 To him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.[8]
Who do you need to send some encouragement to today?
Share your own prayer of thanks to the Lord for his faithfulness to those who humble themselves before him and trust him as the one who’s really in charge of everything in the comments below.
Warmly,
Barbara Lynn
[1] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:20–22.
[2] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:23–24.
[3] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:25–26.
[4] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:27–28.
[5] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:29–31.
[6] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:32–34.
[7] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 2 Ki 19:35–37.
[8] The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2025), 1 Pe 5:6–11.