May 12, 2021 – Isaiah 36-39

“In the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and took them” (36:1) and the days looked dark, indeed, as the Assyrians surrounded Jerusalem. Now, King Hezekiah had planned well for such a situation. He had strengthened Jerusalem’s defenses and had improved its water supply from under the city so it could withstand a long siege. That is, he was depending upon his own strength and craftiness. Isaiah continued to call the king to trust in the Lord and his deliverance.

Finally, when the shadows were deep and hopeless seemed the days, Hezekiah got it. He began to call out to God and asked, “So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are God” (27:20). Furthermore, after God’s deliverance of the city from Sennacherib, Hezekiah fell sick. Only when Hezekiah cried out to the Lord was he healed. Two important stories that remind us about our great reliance upon our God; also, that God hears the prayers of his people and delights to respond.

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