March 22, 2022 - 2 Kings 18-20

Hezekiah began to reign in Jerusalem and, eventually, found himself in a very bad predicament, with the city of Jerusalem surrounded by the Assyrians and in danger of falling. He had tried his own schemes to rescue the city, or at least to enable it to withstand a long siege. He had strengthened the defensive walls of the city and had improved the water system so that the city could better withstand a long siege. Hezekiah figured, in his own strength, he had everything worked out. But things began to look hopeless.

When Sennacherib’s messengers, with mocking words, assured the people of Jerusalem they would be defeated, the prophet Isaiah told the king, “Thus says the Lord: Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have reviled me” (19:6). And, then, he prayed. And the Lord delivered: “And that night the angel of the Lord went out and struck down 185,000 in the camp of the Assyrians” (19:35). And so it was, also, with Hezekiah’s illness. More very real, historical situations with application to us. Like Hezekiah, we should pray. We should ask from the Lord what we need. Prayer should be our first response to any challenge or danger.

O sometimes the shadows are deep,

And rough seems the path to the goal,

And sorrows, sometimes how they sweep

Like tempests down over the soul!

O then to the Rock let me fly,

To the Rock that is higher than I;

O then to the Rock let me fly,

To the Rock that is higher than I! -- Erastus Johnson (1871)