Daily Devotional For Tuesday, July 21, 2026
Good morning Southside! We are well on our way into this hot summer. Thank you for taking the time to read these devotionals and our daily devotional for today comes from parallel passages from the Old Testament. They are 2 Kings 19:1-37, Isaiah 37 and 2 Chronicles 32:9-23. During this time in Judah, King Hezekiah is king. He was a godly king and Assyria under King Sennacherib was planning to attack and level the city. He prayed to the Lord and asked the prophet Isaiah if God had a word for him.
Isaiah said God had told him that God was going to cause another diversion so that Sennacherib would not attack but return home, where he would be assassinated. This seems shocking in light of how Sennacherib had mocked God and God’s leaders in Judah and Jerusalem. He boasted how he was going to bulldoze right over Jerusalem and Judah as he had with other countries and territories. What God has said through Isaiah happened.
We read this in 2 Kings 19:35-37, “That night the angel of the Lord went out to the Assyrian camp and killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. When the surviving Assyrians woke up the next morning, they found corpses everywhere. (36) Then King Sennacherib of Assyria broke camp and returned to his own land. He went home to his capital of Nineveh and stayed there.(37) One day while he (Sennacharib) was worshiping in the temple of his god Nisroch, his sons Adrammelech and Sharezer killed him with their swords. They then escaped to the land of Ararat, and another son, Esarhaddon, became the next king of Assyria” (NLT).
The angel of the Lord killed 185,000 Assyrian soldiers. This had to be a deadly blow to Sennacharib’s ego, military strength and defense. Sennacharib was killed by two of his own sons. Makes you wonder where his personal body guards were or maybe they saw no threat from his own sons being alone with him.
Bad news comes to all of us. Sometimes it is a call in the middle of the day or night about the sudden illness or death of a loved one. Or it comes from an employer who has given you the pink slip. Sennacherib has sent letters by his couriers called Rabshakeh to King Hezekiah to Jerusalem and Judah’s coming destruction by him and his Assyrian army. There would be no survivors, only total destruction and death.
Hezekiah had every reason to believe the threat was real and unstoppable because Sennacherib and his army had already taken the second largest city in Judah – Lachish. Hezekiah knew this. What did Hezekiah do? He laid the letters out before the Lord in prayer, asking the Lord to intervene and help. He also sent letters out asking the nation to pray as well. Hezekiah’s example is a great one to follow.
With the nation in distress, Hezekiah did not do what many people do when they are distressed. He did not isolate himself. He took his distress to the Lord, asked the people of Judah to pray and sent 3 senior priests to the prophet Isaiah. Hezekiah saw this for what it was: spiritual warfare, not military warfare. Why do I say that? Sennacherib has been taunting and condemning Yahweh. Hezekiah knew this was a battle between Yahweh and Assyria. The battle was the Lord’s. Sennacherib got a rumor of trouble back home and returned home to Nineveh. Years later he is killed by two of his sons. Though years apart, God kept His word about Sennacherib’s future death by swords. God protected Judah and Hezekiah.
This story reminds that at times when hope is quickly evaporating, God is the first one we should go to. Then we ask others to pray and leave it with the Lord. Health problems, family problems, social problems , marital problems, career problems—sometimes we doubt whether there is anything that God can do. But God can do whatever he pleases.The Bible says that even the king’s heart is a stream in the hand of the Lord to turn however He desires (Pr. 21:1).
Reflection Assignment: What has you stressed today? Are you following the example of King Hezekiah? If not, why? If you have doubts, maybe you could sing or read the lyrics to the hymn, What A Friend We Have In Jesus. If something has you stressed, take it first to the Lord, get other people praying and involve your pastors in praying as well. Leave it with the Lord and let Him direct that “stream” as He sees best.
Scripture To Meditate On: Psalm 93:4, “But mightier than the violent raging of the seas, mightier than the breakers on the shore — the Lord above is mightier than these!” (NLT).
Prayer To Pray: “Lord, please forgive me when I worry, fret, and get stressed out by concerns. You have promised me You would handle them all IF I give them to You. I am giving everything to You and I will ask others to be prayer warriors with me. I only ask that Your will be done and not my will. I love You Lord. In Jesus’ name, Amen!”
I love you Southside! – Pastor Kelly