How should God’s people react when they face a crisis? The world would expect us to act in terms of that crisis. And with a worldly mindset, too often we oblige. So if there is a financial crisis, we think about money. If there is a health crisis, we think about medical care. If there is a relational crisis, we think about ways to resolve conflict. There is nothing wrong with any of this, of course—except that we easily overlook a more important first step. Hezekiah’s initial response to a major crisis was remarkably different. Rest assured, in 2 Chronicles 29, it is no ordinary crisis faced by the new king of Judah. The writer takes it for granted that his readers know about the political situation confronting Hezekiah, so he doesn’t spell it out. But when Ahaz, his idolatrous father, “sent to the king of Assyria for help” (28:16), it was a foolish act of desperation. Ahaz was in trouble, harassed on every side by other kings of the region. But to appeal over their heads to this world super-power was to play with fire. Assyria was not interested in peace or justice. They were one of the most brutal and ruthless war-machines in history, universally hated and feared. They had recently conquered the northern kingdom of Israel, and by this time, they were at the frontier of Judah. Ahaz was not strengthened by the king of Assyria, but only further afflicted (28:20). So what will Hezekiah do? If he had responded to a military threat in a military way, as the world does, army would have marched against army, and Judah would have been quickly annihilated. But unlike his father, Hezekiah does not look to the threat itself, nor does he look to those who are threatened. Rather, he looks upward, to the God who sovereignly rules over both the threat and the threatened. Of the twelve kings of Judah since the kingdom split, only of Hezekiah is it said that “he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done” (v 1-2). Like the man after God’s own heart, Hezekiah’s highest concern was for God Himself. In the very first month of his reign, he establishes as top priority the restoration of true worship in God’s house (v 3). The doors of the temple had long been closed, even desecrated. So Hezekiah addresses Judah’s religious leaders, helping them see that their troubles are a result of sin and the only solution is to re-consecrate themselves to the LORD’s service (v 4-11). The Levites respond by literally cleaning out the temple—a repentance both thorough and practical (v 12-19). Then sacrifices are offered to God (v 20-24), joyful praise is once again heard in His courts (v 25-30), and the whole assembly joins in the festive worship celebration (v 31-36). For further meditation: