Kept sticking to God

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word.”
Psalm 119:9

“Hezekiah kept sticking to God. He did not turn aside from following him, but continued keeping his commandments that God had commanded Moses.”
2 Kings 18:6

Hezekiah’s story is a profound reminder that you are not bound by your upbringing, your environment, or your age. By all accounts, he did not grow up in a godly home. His father, King Ahaz, was a wicked idolater who even sacrificed at least one of his own sons (Hezekiah’s brother) by burning him alive to a false god (2 Kings 16:3). Hezekiah was raised in a house of compromise and corruption. Yet something in him longed for what was true.

Despite the absence of a righteous example, Hezekiah managed to cleanse his path from idolatry. How? By taking heed to the word of God (2 Chronicles 29:2). He is living proof of Psalm 119:9, that a young man can keep his way pure by anchoring his life in the word of the Lord. Though he had no hero to admire, no mentor to guide him, Hezekiah kept himself by surrendering to the authority of God’s word. He stood against the tide of generational darkness and charted a different course.

As he grew up, Hezekiah witnessed the destructive fruit of his father’s idolatry. Judah was surrounded by enemies. Rezin, king of Syria, and Pekah, king of Israel, besieged Jerusalem (2 Kings 16:5–6). The Edomites and Philistines raided the land and captured Judean cities (2 Chronicles 28:16–19). In all this, Ahaz did not seek Jehovah. Instead, he sought help from the king of Assyria, even looting the temple of its gold and silver to pay for protection (2 Kings 16:6, 8). Yet the peace he pursued never came.

Eventually, Ahaz died, and Hezekiah became king at the age of 25 (2 Chronicles 29:1). Though young, he did not let his youth excuse compromise. He didn’t walk in the shadow of his father—he walked in the light of God’s law. He clung to Jehovah’s commandments, including the instruction specifically given to kings:

“When he takes the throne of his kingdom, he is to write for himself on a scroll a copy of this law… and he is to read it all the days of his life, so that he may learn to fear the Lord his God…”
Deuteronomy 17:18–19

Hezekiah became a man of the Word. In the silence of moral leadership, when compromise was common and courage was rare, he clung to what God had said. Like Job, he treasured the words of God’s mouth more than his necessary food (Job 23:12). His faith was not inherited; it was chosen. His walk was not easy, but it was steadfast. And in a moment of crisis, when faced with death, he could turn to God and pray:

“Remember now, O LORD, how I have walked before thee in truth and with a perfect heart…”
2 Kings 20:3

Let Hezekiah’s life speak:

You can start young. You can stand alone. You can stay faithful.

Your past exposure is not your prison. Your upbringing does not have the final word. Your experiences, however dark or broken, are not an excuse for disobedience.

Faithfulness is not inherited. It is chosen. You can break cycles. You can rise above a bad example. You can walk with God; even if no one around you does. The Bible has lots of men and women that made courageous choices that set them apart from their upbringing or the dominant voices around them.

Josiah was Hezekiah’s great-grandson, but his father Amon and grandfather Manasseh were both extremely wicked. Amon was assassinated due to his evil reign. Josiah became king at 8 years old and began seeking the Lord by age 16 (2 Chronicles 34:3). He restored temple worship, tore down idols, and reinstituted the Passover. His heart was tender toward God even though he had almost no righteous heritage.

Joseph was raised in a deeply dysfunctional family. His father Jacob showed clear favouritism, his brothers were violent, envious, and deceitful, and he was sold into slavery by his own family. Despite betrayal, slavery, and injustice, Joseph remained faithful to God in private and public. In Egypt, far from any godly influence, he refused sexual compromise with Potiphar’s wife and walked in integrity (Genesis 39:9). He became a vessel of divine wisdom in a foreign land and eventually forgave his brothers: something no one in his family had modelled.

Samuel was raised under Eli the priest, whose sons were corrupt and blasphemous. The spiritual environment at the tabernacle was compromised. While Eli’s sons defiled the priesthood, Samuel ministered before the Lord faithfully, even as a child (1 Samuel 2:18). He listened to God when others had grown deaf. He became a prophet who restored honour to the voice of God in Israel, despite his spiritual “mentors” being poor examples.

David’s own father Jesse didn’t consider him fit to be presented when Samuel came to anoint a king. His older brothers looked down on him. Later, his mentor Saul became jealous and sought to kill him. David honoured God privately in the fields as a shepherd, and publicly as a warrior and worshipper. He refused to retaliate against Saul, despite being pursued unjustly. His character and faith set him apart from both his family and the king who mentored him.

Daniel was taken as a youth into Babylon. He was taken into a pagan, idolatrous empire with intense pressure to conform. He was trained in Babylonian wisdom and expected to abandon his Hebrew identity.  Daniel purposed in his heart not to defile himself (Daniel 1:8). He and his friends stood firm, even under threat of death. Despite cultural indoctrination, Daniel walked with unwavering loyalty to God throughout his life.

Our past exposure and experiences are not to blame for how we turn out.
We are not bound by our background.
We are shaped by the choices we make in response to God’s truth.

We can make a change.
We can turn our hearts to the Lord.
We can break free from generational compromise.
We can cleanse our way by taking heed to the word of God.

Let every Hezekiah rise.

Declaration

Father, I thank you that I am not a prisoner of my past.
Where others failed, I will follow You.
Where compromise surrounded me, I choose truth.
I may not have had a righteous example, but I have Your Word.
I cleanse my path by taking heed to it.
I will not walk in fear, I will not bow to idols—
I will stand in my generation, faithful and firm.
Let my life be a testimony, like Hezekiah’s,
That it is possible to seek You early,
To walk with You faithfully,
And to finish strong.

In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Kay Alli