FROM DREAD TO SPREAD

“Hezekiah took the letter…then he went up to the temple of the Lord, and spreading it out before Him, He prayed in the Lord’s presence.” –2 Kings 19:14

Sennacherib, king of Assyria, trusted in earthly power and particularly in his strong army of 185,000 soldiers (2 Kgs 19:9ff, 35). Hezekiah, king of Judah, trusted in the power and protection of God (2 Kgs 19:14-19). Hezekiah spread out his problems before the Lord and surrendered all to the mercy of God (2 Kgs 19:14ff). Many kings of Judah did not trust God as did Hezekiah. King Hezekiah entered “through the narrow gate,” as Jesus commands in today’s Gospel reading (see Mt 7:13). Then God answered Hezekiah, saying “I have listened” (2 Kgs 19:20). The Lord, acting in mighty power, rescued the people of Jerusalem from destruction (2 Kgs 19:35-36).

Jesus says: “Come to Me” (Mt 11:28). Hezekiah did this, bringing it all to the altar of God and trusting in His providence (2 Kgs 19:14). He prefigured Jesus in the garden, asking for God’s will to be done rather than his own (see Mt 26:39). He withheld nothing from the Lord, and his trust was repaid.

Can you do as did King Hezekiah? Write down your problems on paper. Bring that paper to the Lord and spread it out before Him. Pray to God with Hezekiah and all the holy ones throughout the ages. “Trust in Him at all times” (Ps 62:9).

PRAYER: Father, may I be far more confident in You than in all the forces of this world.
PROMISE: “Great is the Lord and wholly to be praised in the city of our God.” –Ps 48:2
PRAISE: St. Aloysius disliked the royal courts of his youth and preferred to read the lives of the saints. He died at the age of 23 after caring for plague victims in Rome.