TELL, DON'T SHOW (2 Chronicles 32)

I write my nibbles from the standpoint of a writer, thinking how I would write the stories instead of the way they're written. No respect to the inspired word of God; but it makes me sit up, listen, take note of the way things are written, and think about why.

As an editor, I definitely would have sent back today's passage for rewriting. It breaks the cardinal rule of all writers: Show, Don't Tell.

Some time later Hezekiah became deathly sick. He prayed to God and was given a reassuring sign. But the sign, instead of making Hezekiah grateful made him arrogant. This made God angry, and his anger spilled over on Judah and Jerusalem. But then Hezekiah, and Jerusalem with him, repented of his arrogance, and God withdrew his anger while Hezekiah lived. (2 Chronicles 32:24-26, MSG)

Wow, if I were writing a book about this incident, I would spend at least a chapter describing the illness, Hezekiah's arrogance, God's anger unleashed, and his repentance and restoration. Even the writer of 2 Kings spent most of chapter 20 describing the event.

But not here.

Let's look at 1 Kings 20 for the answers:

• Hezekiah was "deathly" ill. Isaiah the prophet came for a visit, warning Hezekiah that he would die.
• Hezekiah pleaded that God would spare his life, because he had lived for God. (By the way, here again we see the principle of God allowing, perhaps even planning, trials to beleager believers. Hezekiah joins a long line including Job and Joseph.)
• God gave Hezekiah a sign of his choice: the sun dial went back ten degrees.
• Hezekiah was healed. 
• A some point after that, Hezekiah showed an emissary from Babylon all of Judah's riches. 
• Isaiah warned him that Babylon would conquer Judah.
• The record in 2 Kings doesn't reflect Hezekiah's repentance, but relief that the punishment wouldn't happen during his lifetime.

Why did the writer leave out such an exciting story? It can't be because it reflects poorly on Hezekiah. God doesn't shy away from showing us Bible heroes' weak spots.  

Perhaps precisely because we would focus on the story, and not on the moral of the story. 

The lesson God wants us to take away: When God gives me a sign, do I respond with arrogance or with gratitude?

Every time recently when I have severely whether or not I should continue writing (my continued poor health raises a lot of questions), God has responded with what I call "neon writing in the sky" kinds of affirmations.  

This week, after a troubling phone call from my son, I wondered if all the sacrifices I have made along the road to becoming a writer were worth the price I paid. It was a painful feeling, especially coming on top of bed rest.

God  knew I needed encouragement. I received word that I would get another 3-book contract; and an editor requested a proposal from me based on a 100-word blurb that I submitted to her.

Also, I've had four books released in May-June. I've done a lot of interviews about the new books, and all kinds of people are saying "Oh, I love this author! Can't wait to get this book!" 

And have heard from fellow authors that I am an inspiration to them. 

I face the same choice that Hezekiah did: do I thank God for His continued hand of blessing? Or do I become arrogant and claim it's all my own talent?

If God wrote the account of my life using the tell, don't show, method, how would the description read? Well done, thou good and faithful servant or "I know her not"? 

ELEMENTS OF WORSHIP

Hezekiah organized the groups of priests and Levites for their respective tasks, handing out job descriptions for conducting the services of worship: making the various offerings, and making sure that thanks and praise took place wherever and whenever God was worshiped. (2 Chronicles 31:2)

All my life, worship services have held some variation of the same elements: music, whether hymns or praise songs, congregation, solo, choir or orchestra. Prayer. Sermons. Announcements. Offering. Lord's Supper. Baptism.

2 Chronicles 30-31 describe a Passover celebration under King Hezekiah.  They feasted (two weeks of celebration).  They repented of their sins and smashed idols. They participated in the sacrament of Passover. I expect that priests taught about the Passover, the law, about God. Prayer, confession, repentance. Oh, the slaughter of the animals in the offerings.

Worship services today have become a lot cleaner, you could say.

I read the verses above, liking the idea of "job descriptions" for the Levites.  (Good old Hezekiah must have had a gift for administration along the way,)

But what really tickled my fancy was the instruction, "making sure thanks and praise take place wherever and whenever God was worshipped."

Aren't thanks and praise, thanking God for what He has done, and praising Him for who He is, at the heart of worship?

I asked my FB friends for non-dictionary definitions of worship.  This is what they said:

• love
• praise
• our expression of his worth
• adoration
• service
• entering God's presence
• responding to the worthiness of God
• all of you responding to all God is
• centering all your being on God
• expressions of a God focused heart

I love the definitions, their depth and breadth. Several fall under the "praise and thanks" category. Others fall into worship being the guiding rule of our lives: Loving God with all our hearts, strength, souls, minds. It's our living sacrifice. 

Perhaps the takeaway is that worship should be an attitude, a habit of our lives. It's not confined to certain places or times. 

And looking to God with thanks and praise is always a good place to start. 

Pride's Fall*

Hezekiah was like David in more ways than one. Both of them, late in their reigns, made a mistake that smacked of pride and led to disastrous results for Judah.

We spent some time discussing David's decision to have Joab number the army.  Hezekiah's mistake was more subtle. The king of Babylon sent his son to wish Hezekiah well after his recent illness. And Hezekiah showed off, giving him "a guided tour of all his prized possessions."

God sent Hezekiah a message through Isaiah (yes, the same Isaiah who wrote the book of the Bible). Babylon would take everything Hezekiah prized so highly, and his sons' progeny (grandsons? greatgrandsons?) would become eunuchs in the palace of Babylon.

Looking at everything other kings had done, Hezekiah's error seems so small. He didn't worship idols. Or perhaps he did. Perhaps he valued his things over God. Instead of bragging on his God to the envoy, he bragged on his things. After all, God had healed him from a deathly illness and given him fifteen additional years of life. Yet instead of talking about that, he showed off his palace.

I played piano in churches for many years, and felt uncomfortable when people praised my playing. For a long time, I would say something like "praise the Lord." But that felt like I was rejecting the gift God had given to me. God's gift, returned to Him. So I would simply say "thank you." In music, I have seen God clearly use in ways beyond my limited abilities.

In some ways, writing is one of the most solitary professions. But I have, with delight and pride, watched my resume grow from one page--to five.  My first book has multiplied, to where I need more than one drawer to hold a single copy of each volume.  When I invite people to look, am I indulging in the same pride that caused Hezekiah's fall?

Where does a healthy self-esteem and joy in my God-given gifts end and pride begin?

I challenge you to ask yourself the same question.


*Pride's Fall is the title of my historical romance set in Mesa Verde, Colorado, in 1900

BETTER THAN DAVID!

In the twelfth year of Ahaz king of Judah, Hoshea son of Elah became king of Israel. He ruled in Samaria for nine years. As far as God was concerned, he lived a bad life, but not nearly as bad as the kings who had preceded him. (2 Kings 17:1-2, MSG)

Hezekiah put his whole trust in the God of Israel. there was no king quite like him, either before or after. He held fast to God--never loosened his grip--and obeyed to the letter everything God had commanded Moses. And God, for his part, held fast to him through all his adventures. (2 Kings 18:5-6, MSG)

The two kings I've quoted above are unusual in all the records of the kings of Israel and Judah. Can you guess what it is?

Hmm. Hoshea had the misfortune of ruling Israel at the time her sins came home and she was taken into exile in Assyria. I say "misfortune." This record suggests Hoshea wasn't bad, as far as Israel's kings went. He is one of the few (the only one?) who wasn't compared to Jeroboam I, the king who set Israel on the path to sin. If God graded on a curve, instead of pass/fail, Hoshea might have managed a C.

On the other side, Hezekiah was compared to David favorably. The author goes so far as to say, "There was NO KING quite like him."  Not even David! Hezekiah also took the final step that the earlier "good" kings had failed to do: he smashed the altars to Baal and the Asherah poles.

Of David and Hezekiah, I think Hezekiah had the harder job at following God's laws. Imagine Americans trying to go back to 1776 and living by the laws and cultural mores of the times.

Of course, he might have relied on the wisdom of the priests to understand what the laws looked like in his time, much as we have the Supreme Court to help us interpret the Constitution.

Still--he was a traditionalist bucking the trend. I'm sure people opposed his reforms.

I'm a person who will rarely rate anything a 10 (or a 1).  I'm not comfortable with extremes.  But look at the extremes used to describe Hezekiah:

• He put his WHOLE trust in the Lord. 
• He NEVER loosened his grip on God.
• He obeyed EVERYTHING God commanded Moses

(By the way, I doubt he was that perfect, but he would have received an A+ on a curve.)

Instead of bemoaning the state of the nation in his day, Hezekiah set about changing it. Of course, he was king. He wielded influence we can only imagine. 

But . . . we can't let the daunting task before us keep us from attempting the impossibly difficult. Like Hezekiah, we have the same responses available to us. We can trust God, we can hold on to God, and we can do His will. 

And the rest, as they say, is history.