Isaiah 37:8-20, It Is ALWAYS for God’s Glory!

·       2 Ki. 19:10-13: Sennacherib’s letter to Hezekiah.

There were two prophecies declared by Isaiah.  The first, that the king of Assyria would return to his own land, came true immediately (19:36).  The second, that the king would fall by the sword in his own land, happened sometime after he arrived at home (19:37).  The king returned to Assyria, but before he left there was another “disaster” from the LORD (2 Ki. 19:35).

Before leaving Jerusalem, the king wrote a letter to make sure Hezekiah knew that he was not off the hook.  Sennacherib did not play the card, “oh, the LORD has sent me to judge you,” as had been said earlier (18:25).  Instead, the king boldly ridiculed Hezekiah’s God, declaring Him to be no more of a “God” than any other “god” that faced the Assyrians and were defeated. 

Suffice it to say, we need to understand the events of our lives, all of them, in terms of how they exalt or demean the Lord.  It is not always as clear as it was in the words of Sennacherib.  When an unexpected financial or relationship or health event takes place, we need to seek to understand how God’s honor is at stake, and pray accordingly.  Our God tells us to “be anxious for nothing” (Phil. 4:5), to fear Him and no one else (Matt. 10:28), and to please Him in all things (Col. 1:10).  “Nothing, no one and all” are terms that tell us God’s glory is ALWAYS at stake.

·       2 Ki. 19:14-19: Hezekiah’s prayer.

Aren’t you encouraged by Hezekiah’s every move?  Upon receiving the letter, he went to the house of the LORD, letter in hand.  And he spread it out before the LORD.  The entire matter, all that Sennacherib said, was being brought to the LORD.

The prayer itself is “classic” and powerful.  When we say “classic,” we mean it is the way we are supposed to pray: he addresses God in a way that fits the situation.  Hezekiah is at the temple, the house of the LORD, which is His resting or dwelling place on earth.  The exact place of God’s dwelling was over the mercy seat of the Ark of the Covenant, between the golden cherubim that were one piece of gold with the mercy seat (Ex. 25:19-22).

He also addressed God as the only God of all the kingdoms of the earth.  Every nation had their “god.”  But only Israel’s God was truly God.  Specifically, He was the God who made heaven and earth. 

Isa. 40:25-26: “To whom then will you liken Me, or to whom shall I be equal?” says the Holy One.  Lift up your eyes on high, and see who has created these things, who brings out their host by number; He calls them all by name, by the greatness of His might and the strength of His power; not one is missing.  40:28: Have you not known? Have you not heard? The everlasting God, the LORD, the Creator of the ends of the earth, neither faints nor is weary.  His understanding is unsearchable.

Isa. 45:18: For thus says the LORD, who created the heavens, who is God, who formed the earth and made it, who has established it, who did not create it in vain, who formed it to be inhabited: ‘I am the LORD, and there is no other.’

When you come to the Lord with your burdens, do you pause to think what it is about your God that makes Him the exact One that you need to cry out to in your need?  That is how the men of God did it.  They meditated on God, they knew God, and out of this they addressed Him accordingly.