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701 B.C.

"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. And Hezekiah prayed before the LORD and said: “O LORD, the 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. Incline your ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O LORD our God, save us, please, from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”
(2 Kings 19:14-19 ESV)

Hezekiah had been following the Lord...and the LORD was with him . Yet here, we read in the fourteenth year of his reign, "after these things and these acts of faithfulness,” Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah.

God often strengthens us through adversity. Romans 5:3 talks about how suffering produces endurance and endurance produces character. I believe that the Lord used the king of Assyria to refine and strengthen Hezekiah’s faith. We can find encouragement and guidance during difficult times in our life when we also are threatened with difficulties that rock our world.

Let us reflect on Hezekiah’s response to this great horde that besieged his city and threatened his very existence:

1. Hezekiah went up to the house of the LORD: He did not seek help from others. He did not send messengers to Isaiah, asking the prophet to pray, but rather he went to God.

2. Hezekiah spread the letter before the LORD: He took his problem and literally spread it before the LORD.

3. Hezekiah acknowledged that God is God alone: He is not to be confused with the gods of the nations. The Assyrians claimed their great success was due to their gods, who are in fact mere cult images, made of wood and overlaid with metal and precious stones.

4. Hezekiah prayed for the glory of God: Hezekiah asked that Jerusalem be delivered for the glory of God himself: “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, O LORD, are God alone.”

When we are being attacked and our world seems to be crumbling before our very eyes; when our tormentors come against us and pick us apart piece by piece, let us strive to go to the LORD just as Hezekiah did! Let us lay our needs before him, acknowledge that He is God alone, and pray that we be delivered for the glory of His Name!