2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13, Romans 15:23-16:7, Psalms 25:1-15, Proverbs 20:16-18

Today is August 2^nd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we fully settle into this brand-new month and move ourselves into the back half of the week. So, we’ve come to take the next step forward in the Scriptures and we’ll do that by picking up where we left off of course. That will lead us back into the New English Translation and 2 Chronicles chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in second Chronicles today we encountered this story of Assyria’s invasion of Israel. And, you know, if we just take it at face value, we can just read it as a story, a piece of ancient history, but when look closer into the story and we begin to realize that how, man, this is kind of my story, like this is the story that I have lived. And it gives us pretty powerful counsel on how to navigate. So, when Hezekiah realized that Assyria was invading, right, and was actually conquering walled cities in Israel but not in Jerusalem, he acted pretty wisely. He did what he could to prepare himself and the Army for the coming attack. He cut off the water supply so that they wouldn’t have access to fresh water when they surrounded the city. He fortified and repaired Jerusalem’s defensive walls while he could get supplies. He even built towers and more defenses. And he outfitted his soldiers with the weaponry that they’d need and then he encouraged them. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged because the king of the king of Assyria, right? He bolstered their morale. So, he did everything that he could and he acknowledged the Lord in all of it and he was ready. And we could say, there, there’s the lesson. He prepared. And we could stop and reflect. Are we in any way prepared for the unexpected? But as the story goes on, Hezekiah was a ready for battle, but the first attack against him in Jerusalem wasn’t made out of wood and metal. Like all of the preparations had certainly made them ready for violent conflict, but not for this first attack that came against them. And what was the first attack? Assyria’s king, Sennacherib, sent his envoys to the wall of Jerusalem to demoralize and intimidate them, right? What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege? You know, like, what other nation and any god of any other nation has survived my onslaughts? We should think about this because we can make our best laid plans. We can even follow God in the preparation, but a lot of times the first thing that comes against us is that taunting voice, this is not going to work, right? You’re not going to survive this. You don’t have what it takes to navigate this. All of those taunting voices that demoralize us into surrender. Then it doesn’t matter anymore, how prepared we are, right? We can be completely prepared and walking into a destiny and the voices that taunt us can make us surrender before we ever really get started. And in Hezekiah’s story all of those threats were true. The Assyrian Empire had leveled many kingdoms. So, it wasn’t like they were making this up. It was true, and it was really intimidating. Rather than accepting defeat and negotiating surrender, Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah cried out to God. So, the city was prepared for battle, but they simply would not survive in their own strength and God came and fought the battle for them. So, what we see in this story is like vigilance and preparedness and awareness and that was coupled with the complete understanding that only the strength of God can make them victorious. And this is a fantastic reminder for us today as we face our own battles.

Prayer:

Father as we do every day, we invite you into that. We ask your Holy Spirit to come into that, that we might prepare, and we might be led, and we might follow you. But then those taunting, demoralizing voices appear in our lives and we surrender before anything even happens. Come Holy Spirit. Make us more and more aware that our strength is in you alone. You are our only hope. And we put all of our hope in you. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

Visit the Prayer Wall and pray for your brothers and sisters. You can also visit the Prayer Wall if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app. Check out the Daily Audio Bible resources that are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That can be done on the website or with the app.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we have as a community to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and make it available to anyone who will listen to it. If that has brought life into your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage, at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi. Good morning. This is Alan from Sydney Australia. I just wanted to request prayer for my wife and me. We’ve been trying to conceive a child for about three years now both naturally and with the assistance of medical aid and have just had heart ache after heart ache and not been successful. Last year was especially difficult. We had a lot of depression and anxiety. And it just basically seems like that’s creeping back in. Our faith seems to be shattered and we feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to ask for prayer from the Daily Audio Bible community just…just to help…just for God’s help, for our faith to be strengthened, and for there to be a breakthrough. Yeah. Thank you. God bless.

Hello. This is Candace from Oregon joining you around the campfire. So many of us are grieving the loss of people really close to us who have passed on to be with the Lord. And Lee, from New Jersey, when you mentioned how beautiful it was, the passing of your mom, it inspired me to share how beautiful it had been for my husband. As you know, he passed away on March 11, 2017 and he had not been…two weeks before that he was as healthy as any 60-year-old you might meet up with. I mean very…very healthy actually. But he…when he passed away he didn’t know that was about to happen. None of us knew that. The surgeons…the surgeons probably did know that he had a very slim chance but that things were happening so rapidly they really couldn’t explain. But he was outside of the room before having open heart surgery and they said he was laying in the sunlight…this was about 5 PM. Sunlight was streaming on him and he was just so peaceful. I mean his last couple years he was just on a constant long walk with Jesus. He was so in love with the Lord more than he’d ever been ever before. His last words to all of us, me our three children were, well guys it’s not like we’re saying goodbye because we…we were really loving on him. So, he did not have a clue what was coming and I know that was part of God’s mercy and grace toward him. And I am grateful for that. I miss him terribly. Thanks for letting me share.

Hey, what’s up everybody? It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. It’s only about nine and half months ago that Santa Rosa was affected by such a devastating fire. Many, many, many homes were lost and there’s still so much healing to happen. And watched our own churches pastor walk through it. And today I am aware of many…many wild fires throughout the state of California that are affecting so many people. I see the fire in Reading, the car fire that is affecting that city and it has burned a neighborhood there. Just north of where I live there’s the river and ranch fires that are threatening people that I work with in their home. There’s a lot going on. There’s another fire that’s actually by my home town, by Yosemite, that’s affecting people that I used to work with. So, I’m asking the community to pray for California. I see God stirring, calling people back to him. This is a state that has heard the word, has heard the gospel, but has turned a hard heart towards it. I’m asking the Lord to soften the soil, to plant new seeds, for old seeds to be watered, for there to be growth, for there to be fruit. God I’m believing You for greater things. Pray with me community. Thanks. Bye.

Hi DAB family. This is PG from NC. First time caller. Actually, new to the family. Only started listening about two months ago. My wife Susie Q turned me onto it. She started about three months ago. We hate that we have missed the last 14 years but we’re really happy to be grafted in today. I’ve been so moved to listen to my family, my new family, praying and…but today I was moved to pray myself in a call. And, so, I wanted to encourage Laura in Houston and Becky from Orlando. Both of you are trying to figure out what God has for you and where He wants you and I just wanted to pray for the two of you as well as I also wanted to pray for Deb from Texas for her son. I know what it is to hope that your child finds his way. So, let me pray. Father, I just thank you for Lauren and Becky. And God I just pray that you give them insight, clarity, that they would know exactly what your plan and your will is for them. Lord I pray this next assignment that you have for them would lead them to those Ephesians 2:10 type moments. God those works that you’ve prepared in advance for them to do. God I pray that their paths would be clear and they would know Lord what you want them to do. Lord, I pray for Deb and her son. God again, I just pray that you would work mightily in his life. Lord, I pray for all of those who would be listening today, who that their kids are still trying to find their way back to you. And Lord I pray that you would pursue them relentlessly. God we pray that you…

2 Chronicles 32:1-33:13, Romans 15:23-16:7, Psalms 25:1-15, Proverbs 20:16-18

Today is August 2^nd. Welcome to the Daily Audio Bible. I am Brian. It’s great to be here with you today as we fully settle into this brand-new month and move ourselves into the back half of the week. So, we’ve come to take the next step forward in the Scriptures and we’ll do that by picking up where we left off of course. That will lead us back into the New English Translation and 2 Chronicles chapter 32 verse 1 through 33 verse 13 today.

Commentary:

Okay. So, in second Chronicles today we encountered this story of Assyria’s invasion of Israel. And, you know, if we just take it at face value, we can just read it as a story, a piece of ancient history, but when look closer into the story and we begin to realize that how, man, this is kind of my story, like this is the story that I have lived. And it gives us pretty powerful counsel on how to navigate. So, when Hezekiah realized that Assyria was invading, right, and was actually conquering walled cities in Israel but not in Jerusalem, he acted pretty wisely. He did what he could to prepare himself and the Army for the coming attack. He cut off the water supply so that they wouldn’t have access to fresh water when they surrounded the city. He fortified and repaired Jerusalem’s defensive walls while he could get supplies. He even built towers and more defenses. And he outfitted his soldiers with the weaponry that they’d need and then he encouraged them. Be strong and courageous. Don’t be afraid or discouraged because the king of the king of Assyria, right? He bolstered their morale. So, he did everything that he could and he acknowledged the Lord in all of it and he was ready. And we could say, there, there’s the lesson. He prepared. And we could stop and reflect. Are we in any way prepared for the unexpected? But as the story goes on, Hezekiah was a ready for battle, but the first attack against him in Jerusalem wasn’t made out of wood and metal. Like all of the preparations had certainly made them ready for violent conflict, but not for this first attack that came against them. And what was the first attack? Assyria’s king, Sennacherib, sent his envoys to the wall of Jerusalem to demoralize and intimidate them, right? What are you trusting in that makes you think you can survive my siege? You know, like, what other nation and any god of any other nation has survived my onslaughts? We should think about this because we can make our best laid plans. We can even follow God in the preparation, but a lot of times the first thing that comes against us is that taunting voice, this is not going to work, right? You’re not going to survive this. You don’t have what it takes to navigate this. All of those taunting voices that demoralize us into surrender. Then it doesn’t matter anymore, how prepared we are, right? We can be completely prepared and walking into a destiny and the voices that taunt us can make us surrender before we ever really get started. And in Hezekiah’s story all of those threats were true. The Assyrian Empire had leveled many kingdoms. So, it wasn’t like they were making this up. It was true, and it was really intimidating. Rather than accepting defeat and negotiating surrender, Hezekiah the prophet Isaiah cried out to God. So, the city was prepared for battle, but they simply would not survive in their own strength and God came and fought the battle for them. So, what we see in this story is like vigilance and preparedness and awareness and that was coupled with the complete understanding that only the strength of God can make them victorious. And this is a fantastic reminder for us today as we face our own battles.

Prayer:

Father as we do every day, we invite you into that. We ask your Holy Spirit to come into that, that we might prepare, and we might be led, and we might follow you. But then those taunting, demoralizing voices appear in our lives and we surrender before anything even happens. Come Holy Spirit. Make us more and more aware that our strength is in you alone. You are our only hope. And we put all of our hope in you. Come Holy Spirit we pray. In Jesus’ name we ask. Amen.

Announcements:

dailyaudiobible.com is the website, its home base, it’s where you find out what’s going on around here. So, be sure to check it out.

Visit the Prayer Wall and pray for your brothers and sisters. You can also visit the Prayer Wall if you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app. Check out the Daily Audio Bible resources that are in the Daily Audio Bible Shop. That can be done on the website or with the app.

And if you want to partner with the Daily Audio Bible in the mission that we have as a community to bring God’s spoken word read fresh every day and make it available to anyone who will listen to it. If that has brought life into your life, then thank you for your partnership. There is a link on the homepage, at dailyaudiobible.com. If you’re using the Daily Audio Bible app, you can press the Give button in the upper right-hand corner or, if you prefer, the mailing address is PO Box 1996 Spring Hill Tennessee 37174.

And, as always, if you have a prayer request or comment, 877-942-4253 is the number to dial.

And that’s it for today. I’m Brian I love you and I’ll be waiting for you here tomorrow.

Community Prayer and Praise:

Hi. Good morning. This is Alan from Sydney Australia. I just wanted to request prayer for my wife and me. We’ve been trying to conceive a child for about three years now both naturally and with the assistance of medical aid and have just had heart ache after heart ache and not been successful. Last year was especially difficult. We had a lot of depression and anxiety. And it just basically seems like that’s creeping back in. Our faith seems to be shattered and we feel like there’s no light at the end of the tunnel. I just want to ask for prayer from the Daily Audio Bible community just…just to help…just for God’s help, for our faith to be strengthened, and for there to be a breakthrough. Yeah. Thank you. God bless.

Hello. This is Candace from Oregon joining you around the campfire. So many of us are grieving the loss of people really close to us who have passed on to be with the Lord. And Lee, from New Jersey, when you mentioned how beautiful it was, the passing of your mom, it inspired me to share how beautiful it had been for my husband. As you know, he passed away on March 11, 2017 and he had not been…two weeks before that he was as healthy as any 60-year-old you might meet up with. I mean very…very healthy actually. But he…when he passed away he didn’t know that was about to happen. None of us knew that. The surgeons…the surgeons probably did know that he had a very slim chance but that things were happening so rapidly they really couldn’t explain. But he was outside of the room before having open heart surgery and they said he was laying in the sunlight…this was about 5 PM. Sunlight was streaming on him and he was just so peaceful. I mean his last couple years he was just on a constant long walk with Jesus. He was so in love with the Lord more than he’d ever been ever before. His last words to all of us, me our three children were, well guys it’s not like we’re saying goodbye because we…we were really loving on him. So, he did not have a clue what was coming and I know that was part of God’s mercy and grace toward him. And I am grateful for that. I miss him terribly. Thanks for letting me share.

Hey, what’s up everybody? It’s Miguel from Santa Rosa. It’s only about nine and half months ago that Santa Rosa was affected by such a devastating fire. Many, many, many homes were lost and there’s still so much healing to happen. And watched our own churches pastor walk through it. And today I am aware of many…many wild fires throughout the state of California that are affecting so many people. I see the fire in Reading, the car fire that is affecting that city and it has burned a neighborhood there. Just north of where I live there’s the river and ranch fires that are threatening people that I work with in their home. There’s a lot going on. There’s another fire that’s actually by my home town, by Yosemite, that’s affecting people that I used to work with. So, I’m asking the community to pray for California. I see God stirring, calling people back to him. This is a state that has heard the word, has heard the gospel, but has turned a hard heart towards it. I’m asking the Lord to soften the soil, to plant new seeds, for old seeds to be watered, for there to be growth, for there to be fruit. God I’m believing You for greater things. Pray with me community. Thanks. Bye.

Hi DAB family. This is PG from NC. First time caller. Actually, new to the family. Only started listening about two months ago. My wife Susie Q turned me onto it. She started about three months ago. We hate that we have missed the last 14 years but we’re really happy to be grafted in today. I’ve been so moved to listen to my family, my new family, praying and…but today I was moved to pray myself in a call. And, so, I wanted to encourage Laura in Houston and Becky from Orlando. Both of you are trying to figure out what God has for you and where He wants you and I just wanted to pray for the two of you as well as I also wanted to pray for Deb from Texas for her son. I know what it is to hope that your child finds his way. So, let me pray. Father, I just thank you for Lauren and Becky. And God I just pray that you give them insight, clarity, that they would know exactly what your plan and your will is for them. Lord I pray this next assignment that you have for them would lead them to those Ephesians 2:10 type moments. God those works that you’ve prepared in advance for them to do. God I pray that their paths would be clear and they would know Lord what you want them to do. Lord, I pray for Deb and her son. God again, I just pray that you would work mightily in his life. Lord, I pray for all of those who would be listening today, who that their kids are still trying to find their way back to you. And Lord I pray that you would pursue them relentlessly. God we pray that you…