1. The road to self-deception and disaster (18:1-3).
2. Living on yesterday’s faith— a feigned prayer for guidance (18:4-17).
3. Behind the curtain— the unseen spiritual realities behind our everyday experiences (18:18-27).
4. The providential outcome— Jehoshaphat’s unlikely deliverance & Ahab’s “unlucky” death (18:28-19:1).
5. God’s rebuke: “Should you help the wicked and love those who hate the Lord?” (19:2-3).
6. Failure need never be final—the merciful opportunity for repentance and return (19:4-11).
APPLICATION:
1. The precariousness of success: the dangers of pride and misplaced reliance.
2. This susceptibility to misplaced confidence increases as we grow older.
“But Hezekiah did not make return according to the benefit done to him, for his heart [became] proud.”
“…And Hezekiah had very great riches & honor… for God had given him very great possessions.”
“And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon…God left him to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.”—2 Chronicles 32:25-31
3. Our defense: The centrality of the Word in our daily lives.
4. Our second defense: the Gospel.