Hezekiah had been miraculously healed, and Judah miraculously delivered from the king of Assyria. God allowed Hezekiah to be tested by means of the visit of officials from Babylon in order to show what was in his heart. The facts of his miraculous healing and the great deliverance of the people from their enemies had spread abroad. Would Hezekiah humbly give glory to God for all this, or would he exalt himself in the eyes of men?

We read that, unfortunately, “there was nothing in his house or in all his dominion that Hezekiah did not show” to the Babylonian visitors (2 Ki. 20:13). God had blessed Hezekiah greatly, even miraculously. But sadly Hezekiah used it to exalt himself. He “did not repay according to the favor shown him, for his heart was lifted up.”

What an important lesson for us is found in this event of Hezekiah’s reign. When we talk about the good things God allows in our lives, is it really to give glory to God or to draw attention to ourselves? “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jer. 17:9). Let us be careful not to lift ourselves up by the very things God has graciously given us.

Our Lord Jesus always sought to give glory to God and did not seek the glory of men. He said, “I honor My Father,” and also, “I do not seek My own glory” (Jn. 8:49–50). All His life the Lord glorified the Father perfectly. He said, “I have glorified You on the earth” (Jn. 17:4).

So, if we speak of God’s doings with us, let us also seek to give glory to our Lord Jesus alone, and not draw attention to ourselves, just as Paul wrote, “I will not dare to speak of any of those things which Christ has not accomplished through me” (Rom. 15:18).