“Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah.”
My Notes
What Does 2 Chronicles 32:26 Mean?
"Notwithstanding Hezekiah humbled himself for the pride of his heart, both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, so that the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah." After Hezekiah's illness, recovery, and the visit from Babylonian envoys (where he proudly displayed all his treasures), God's wrath was stirred. But Hezekiah humbled himself — and the judgment was deferred beyond his lifetime.
The phrase "the pride of his heart" (govah libbo — the lifting up of his heart) identifies the specific sin: pride. The king who had been so faithful, who led the greatest revival since Solomon, who trusted God against Sennacherib — this same king's heart was lifted up. Faithfulness doesn't vaccinate against pride. Success can produce the very sin that undermines everything the success built.
The humbling was communal — "both he and the inhabitants of Jerusalem" — the king's repentance included the people. The pride may have been Hezekiah's, but the humbling was collective. The leader's repentance became the community's repentance.
Reflection Questions
- 1.What pride has crept into your heart after a season of spiritual success?
- 2.How does Hezekiah's pride after faithfulness challenge the assumption that maturity prevents pride?
- 3.What does judgment being 'deferred but not cancelled' teach about the consequences of pride?
- 4.What would genuine humbling — not performance but real contrition — look like in your current season?
Devotional
Hezekiah — the revival king, the Passover restorer, the man who trusted God against Assyria — had a pride problem. His heart was 'lifted up.' And the most faithful king of his generation needed to humble himself for a sin he didn't see coming.
The pride emerged after the victories: after the revival, after the miraculous healing, after Sennacherib's army was destroyed. The success that should have deepened Hezekiah's humility instead inflated his pride. When the Babylonian envoys came, he showed them everything (2 Kings 20:13) — every treasure, every weapon, every resource. The tour wasn't hospitality. It was a display of accumulated success.
But the verse also records the remedy: 'Hezekiah humbled himself.' The same king whose heart was lifted up brought that heart back down. The pride was real. The repentance was also real. The humbling wasn't a performance — it was acknowledged sin met with genuine contrition.
The result — 'the wrath of the LORD came not upon them in the days of Hezekiah' — means the judgment was deferred, not cancelled. The consequences would arrive later, under Manasseh. Hezekiah's humbling protected his generation. But the pride had set something in motion that repentance delayed without erasing.
What pride has crept into your heart after seasons of faithfulness? And what would it look like to humble yourself before the consequences arrive?
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
Howbeit, in the business of the ambassadors of the princes of Babylon, who sent unto him to inquire the wonder that was…
Hezekiah humbled himself - Perhaps this is the self-humiliation of which Jeremiah speaks (marginal reference) as…
Humbled himself - Awoke from his sleep, was sorry for his sin, deprecated the wrath of God, and the Divine displeasure…
Here we conclude the story of Hezekiah with an account of three things concerning him: -
I. His sickness and his…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture