Passage:Isaiah 37:14-20
Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance.
Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance.
14 Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.
15 And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD:
16 "O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth.
17 Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.
18 Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands,
19 and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed.
20 So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD."
Journal: As Sennacherib of Assyria temporarily retreated to deal with new military issues, he sent a threatening letter to King Hezekiah of Judah. His message was that King Hezekiah was deceived if he thought that God or anyone else would save Judah from Assyria's eventual onslaught. That is, Sennacherib believed that there was no power above or below greater than he.
In contrast to this pride was the humility of King Hezekiah, who "went up to the house of the LORD, and spread it [the letter] before the LORD." His prayer is one of adoration ["O LORD of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth"] and petition ["So now, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the LORD"].
There was no messenger sent to Egypt on the swiftest horse to obtain the help of men. Rather, the stable door was closed and the sword set aside. The weapon of choice for King Hezekiah were calloused knees. This is a great reminder to me of how little I look up and how much I look around. There is no circumstance too large or too small for God's intimate involvement. This requires a humble spirit, which leads to a trusting soul.
Heard 'Round the House:
I coach Luke's [age 12] baseball team and we had a game [actually two games] on Saturday. My nephew Drew [age 6] is playing tee ball this year. He walked up to Luke in the dugout between innings and through the fence started talking about how he had a game last night too. Luke asked him what team he was on, to which Drew replied: "The Oreos."
Yummy . . .
