2 KINGS 19
Read 2 Kings 19:1-37
The situation looked bad for King Hezekiah and what was left of his kingdom now that the Assyrians had occupied most of his country, Judah. He had heard the taunts and threats of the enemies and things looked hopeless so he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and ashes, traditional symbols of mourning and, indeed, repentance. But amongst all this, Hezekiah put his finger on an important point. The Assyrians had ridiculed God (v4) and we know that God does not take this lightly. We can look back at Jeroboam setting up his own religion in opposition to God (1 Kings 12) or that strange little story of the prophet Elisha being threatened (2 Kings 2:24). In both these cases God acted in judgement against those who ridiculed him or his servants.
Hezekiah received the letter containing all these threats and suchlike and did the right thing. He prayed to the Lord. And what a great prayer it was. He started off by praising God for who he is – God over all the kingdoms of the earth, creator of heaven and earth. Then he asked that these oppressors come to know the real God not their false gods of wood and stone.
And the Lord responded, as he often did in Old Testament times, through his prophet. Isaiah sent the king a twofold message. First of all, he told Hezekiah that God had heard his prayer and then sent a message for the enemy to say that he would forcibly send them back to where they came from (v28) with the rather ominous phrase, ‘I know where you live’ (v27). There is no hiding place from God’s judgement.
But there was also a message of encouragement for King Hezekiah in verses 29 to 34. Despite the great threat from the enemy and the feeling of hopelessness that Hezekiah and his people had, God promised that their crops would grow and be harvested over the next few years, that God’s people would remain (for the time being at least) rooted in the land that God gave them and that the Assyrians would not set foot in the holy city of Jerusalem. And God made the promise that he personally would defend Jerusalem and save it – and that this would be for the sake of that great king, David.
The final few verses describe God’s judgement on the enemy. 185,000 of their troops died; we don’t know how, other than it was at the hand of the angel of the Lord; and the King of the Assyrians came to a sticky end at the hand of his sons.
Hezekiah loved and trusted God. He was faithful to his God and when in trouble he turned to God as his saviour. We, too, have a wonderful saviour in the Lord Jesus Christ, God the Son who become a man to serve us on the cross, but who came also to intercede with God the Father on our behalf. We should follow the example of Hezekiah and be faithful in prayer remember God as creator and saviour and to give him the praise that is due to him.