Encourage them with these words
“He appointed military officers over the people and assembled them before him in the square at the city gate and encouraged them with these words: ‘Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him. With him is only the arm of flesh, but with us is the LORD our God to help us and to fight our battles.’ And the people gained confidence from what Hezekiah the king of Judah said” (2 Chronicles 32:6-8).
Someday I got a lot of encouragement when I was reading Job chapters 1 and 2. The first verse that made me to think the most was Job 1:5. I was surprised by the fact that Job rose up early in the morning and offered burnt offerings according to the number of his children; for he said, “Perhaps my sons have sinned and cursed God in their hearts.” How can parents know their children's hearts? How can they know whether their children are sinning against God in their hearts? But I didn’t pray for my children at the Morning Prayer meeting as a father because they might have sinned against God in their hearts. The second thing that caught my attention was the Word of 1:20, which said, “Then Job arose and tore his robe and shaved his head, and he fell to the ground and worshiped.” How could Job have fallen and worshiped God when he lost everything and all his children were dead? Further, I was amazed at the fact that Job 1:22 and 2:10 says that “Through all this Job did not sin nor did he blame God” (1:22) and “In all this Job did not sin with his lips” (2:10). In human thoughts, I think Job had enough reasons to blame on God but he didn’t. Considering how we could comfort Job in this terrible affliction, what Job’s friends said to Job came into my mind: “Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great” (2:13). When I thought about his friends who had been with Job for a week and not having said a word, I could imagine little bit how much Job was suffering.
I remembered once using the phrase "refuse to be comforted" in proclaiming the word of God. We refuse to be comforted when we are in extreme pain. There is a time when we cannot be comforted by anybody, and nothing is comforting. In 2 Chronicles 32:6, King Hezekiah assembled the people before him in the square at the city gate and “encouraged them with these words.” So under the title “Encourage them with these words” I want to meditate on two things:
First, when should we comfort others with our words?
King Hezekiah comforted the people with these words "After all that Hezekiah had so faithfully done” (v. 1). In other words, King Hezekiah comforted the people after he firmly established the reformation in 2 Chronicles chapters 31 and 32, and then when Sennacherib king of Assyria came and invaded Judah (32:1). Why was it this time? Why did this difficult trial come to King Hezekiah after he made the Reformation for God’s glory? May be God was testing whether reformation was firmly established or not through the invasion of King Sennacherib and his army. One thing for sure is that there is a time in our lives when we need the words of comfort. The time will vary, but when we think that something is going right and well, there may be a crisis or trials in our lives and we need comfort. Perhaps the crisis or trials we face is proof that something is going right and well.
Second and last, how should we comfort others with words?
King Hezekiah assembled the people and comforted them with these words, “Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or discouraged because of the king of Assyria and the vast army with him, for there is a greater power with us than with him” (v. 7). How could King Hezekiah comfort the Israelites in the midst of such crisis? I think it was because King Hezekiah himself was greatly encouraged and comforted by the great God who was with him in the midst of a great crisis. Furthermore, I think King Hezekiah showed his people the faith in seeing the great God in the great crisis rather than showing unbelief by worrying and being discouraged as he focused on the great crisis. King Hezekiah, a true man of faith, had a firm conviction. And the conviction was that the Lord God is with him and the people of Judah and He would surely help them and fight on their behalf. How did King Hezekiah have this belief and conviction? When I think about this question the word “faithfully” in 2 Chronicles 32:1 came into my attention. In other words, King Hezekiah had true faith and confidence because he was faithful to God and faithful God gave him faith and conviction. However, this human faithfulness cannot be the object of focus. The reason is that our human faithfulness is incomparable to our Lord's faithfulness. Therefore, we must find the answer in the faithfulness of the Lord. In the end, the true faith of King Hezekiah and the basis of his conviction was the faithfulness of the Lord. The promise words of God such as He will be with us, He will surely help us and He will fight for us actually strengthen our hearts and make us courageous.