Lifting up Prayers

15 APRIL

It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left. Isaiah 37:4

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: Mattthew 6: 9-13

Hezekiah sends messengers to Isaiah, asking him to lift up prayer for the remnant of Judah. In this we learn that the duty of a prophet is not only to comfort the afflicted with the Word of the Lord but also to offer prayers for their salvation.

Pastors and ministers of the Word, therefore, should not think they have fully discharged their duty when they have exhorted and taught, if they do not also pray. This also is what all of us ought to do. Yet Hezekiah asks Isaiah to pray in a particular manner so that he might lead the way to others by his example. "To lift up prayer" is nothing more than "to pray," yet the mode of expression deserves attention, for it shows how feelings should be regulated when we pray. 

Much of Scripture tells us to lift up our hearts to heaven (Lam. 3:41), for if we do not, we will have no fear of God. Moreover, we are so dull that we may be immediately seized by gross imaginations of God. If he did not bid us look to heaven, we would choose rather to seek Him at our feet. "To lift up prayer," therefore, is to pray in such a manner that our hearts do not grovel on the earth or think anything earthly or gross about God but rather ascribe to Him what is suitable to His majesty. Then our warm and earnest affections may take lofty flight. It is thus said in Psalm 141: "Let my prayer be set forth before Thee as incense;... as the evening sacrifice."

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: How often do we lift up prayers to heaven? When do they seem to stay on the ground? What does that do to our spirit, and how is our impression of God affected?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke

Standing Firm Against Slander

13 APRIL

And am I now come up without the LORD against this land to destroy it? the LORD said unto me, God up against this land, and destroy it. Isaiah 36:10.

SUGGESTED FURTHER READING: 2 Samuel 16:5-14

Rabshakeh, the field commander of the Assyrians, boasts of the greatness and power of his king in order to terrify Hezekiah. Such is the manner in which wicked men act toward us. They attack us with threatening words and try our patience with various terrors. Satan is at work in such labors, for we plainly see him speaking through the mouth of a person like Rabshakeh.

We ought, therefore, to distinguish between God's words and the words of those who falsely assume His name, for Satan resorts to various artifices to make himself appear to be like God. Rabshakeh unjustly brings many reproaches against Hezekiah, but the good king does not place his hope in his own strength and does not want to vaunt himself through reliance on the Egyptians. Godly men, even when they do well, must be exposed to evil reports. By these strategies Satan attacks our faith and unjustly slanders us among men.

The temptation to be terrified by such reports is highly dangerous, for we want our integrity to be well known. When we are well disposed, we take it ill if other men put a different interpretation on our conduct. Satan tries by slander to overturn all that we have done out of good conscience. Or he accuses us of something that we are not at all guilty of. Or he loads us with unfounded slanders or contrives what never came into our minds. An upright conscience ought to be like a brazen wall to us so that we might follow the example of Hezekiah to stand unshaken against the accusations and slanders of wicked men.

John Calvin

FOR MEDITATION: 

When have you been unjustly accused of doing wrong? Did you stand unshaken in your integrity before God, or did you cower and fall before slanderous reports? How can we be more like Hezekiah when others question our character, reputation, or actions when we are sincerely following God's will?

365 Days With Calvin

Selected and Edited by Joel R. Beeke