Isaiah 39:6

Hezekiah has just sung his song of praise to God for keeping him alive for another 15 years. Now, straight after, the Babylonian king sends him letters and a present to ‘congratulate him’. Now, that is fair enough, except that probably he was doing it for his own ends rather than out of sympathy or compassion. But how does Hezekiah respond? He doesn’t give God the glory. He doesn’t tell the king of Babylon how marvelous God is. In fact, instead, he shows the king all the treasures he has! He is boasting in himself! Now, this could have been a ploy to gain Babylon’s trust and hence form an alliance against Assyria. However, this is more sin than the first! Remember Isaiah’s constant previous judgments against seeking to ally with Egypt, because they were trusting in man more than God. So Hezekiah sins by diverting all glory of God’s miracle to himself. Unknowingly, he is only serving Babylon’s purpose. For not too far in the future, they are the world powers, and come to capture Jerusalem. And already, they have knowledge of the lay of the land, the possessions, the buildings, all manner of things useful in war.

‘Behold, the days are coming when all that is in your house, and what your fathers have accumulated until this day, shall be carried to Babylon; nothing shall be left,’ says the LORD’ (Isaiah 39:6)

Let us not sin by failing to give God the glory for all things in life. When we succeed, it is by God’s grace that we do so, and so instead of ‘showing everyone our talents’, should we not simply give glory to God, who gave us those? For if we don’t give God the glory, we are only helping the enemy. We are inviting the enemy to control us, to capture us as the Babylonians did.