TUESDAY
As I mentioned yesterday, this event is documented in 2 Kings and Isaiah, as well. So for the next two days, let’s look at parts of those passages to fill in the story a little bit for us.
Hezekiah was one of the few kings who “did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, just as his father David had done.” (2 Ki. 18:3) He destroyed the altars and objects of worship to the foreign gods that were still in the land. The Assyrian representative viewed this as an insult to the gods of Israel, but this was an act of obedience to God (1 Ch. 32:12).
2 Kings 18:5–7 (NIV) 5 Hezekiah trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel. There was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, either before him or after him. 6 He held fast to the Lord and did not stop following him; he kept the commands the Lord had given Moses. 7 And the Lord was with him; he was successful in whatever he undertook. He rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him.
In the time of Hezekiah the kingdom of Israel was divided. Hezekiah was the king of the southern kingdom of Judah. The northern kingdom, sometimes called Samaria, was captured by Assyria early in Hezekiah’s reign. God had called the Assyrian king to do this as judgment on Israel. About 10 years later a subsequent Assyrian king proceeded to the southern kingdom and attempted to take it as well. In this endeavor he fails as God fights for his people.
2 Kings 19:14–19 (NIV)
Hezekiah’s Prayer
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord. 15 And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16 Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God.
17 “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. 18 They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. 19 Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.”
In the 2 Chronicles passage we read yesterday, we learned that Hezekiah blocked off the streams, repaired the walls, and built weapons. These are basic battle strategies. He blocked off the stream to redirect them into the city so the people would have water. In fact, Hezekiah’s tunnel (Siloam Tunnel) still exists as an archeological site in Jerusalem today. But as we saw yesterday, his trust was not in these but in God who fights for them.
He brings the offensive letter before the Lord in the temple and presents it to him. In his prayer he says that the Lord is “enthroned between the cherubim.” This is referring to the seat above the ark of the covenant where God’s presence dwelt most powerfully. But Hezekiah knows that God is not confined to the temple or the mercy seat (Ex. 25:22). He alone is “God over all the kingdoms of the earth.” This, of course, included King Sennacherib and Assyria. God is the maker of heaven and earth. Yahweh is the “living God” (v. 16). The other gods of the nations that Assyria has defeated were not real. They were made of wood and stone.
Hezekiah’s prayer admits the reality of Assyria’s power, along with the confession that God is more powerful. In this prayer, Hezekiah is not reminding God of who he is—God knows who he is. In this prayer Hezekiah is reminding himself who God is in order to strengthen his own faith.
The question is not whether or not God can deliver Jerusalem from the Assyrian invasion. The only question is whether or not God will “hear” and “see” the insults of Sennacherib, and presumably, respond. This is a poetic way of asking God to intervene. The only question is whether or not it is God’s will to deliver them in this moment.
Note in verse 19 the reason Hezekiah is praying for God’s deliverance. He prays for deliverance so that all will know that Yahweh is God. God is primarily concerned with his own glory, as we should be as well. There is nothing greater than for humanity to know Yahweh is God. May his fame and glory spread throughout the earth. May our hearts be primarily devoted to the glory of the Lord. May our prayers be like the prayers of Hezekiah when we pray for deliverance.
Reflection
When we go to God in prayer, asking for deliverance from an insurmountable obstacle, we should make this prayer a paradigm. We need to remind ourselves who God is. We need to vocalize who God is in worship to him (as Jesus teaches us to pray in the Lord’s prayer). We need to submit to his will, petitioning him to hear and see. The reason for our deliverance is the glory of the Lord on display.