Daily Bible thoughts 705: Tuesday 16th September 2014: Isaiah 37: 14-20

‘’Take it to the Lord in prayer.’’

It is wonderful to read about Hezekiah spreading out the letter, with all its malicious content, before the Lord. This action was a form of prayer in itself (14)

‘’Probably he literally handed in the letter to God, opening it and laying it down in the Holy Place, as though the responsibility of dealing with its contents no longer devolved upon himself…Let us more habitually hand over our anxieties and cares to God. God calls us to enter into his rest, i.e., to place Himself and his care between us and all that would hurt or annoy.’’ F.B.Meyer: Great verses through the Bible, p.283.

Hezekiah knew he prayed to a BIG God (16). His God was far bigger than Sennacherib and his Assyrian kingdom. It was David and Goliath all over again, but this ‘David’ saw his ‘Goliath’ in the light of God, and not as compared to himself. Assyria was one kingdom in the world, but the Lord is over them ‘’all’’ (16).Hezekiah recognised that Sennacherib had abused the Lord with his words (17). It wasn’t just the king of Judah and the people who were insulted. There was something deeper and more serious going on.

Faith faces facts (18). It is realistic. It does not bury its head in the sand. Faith is not denial. Hezekiah acknowledged what was correct in what Sennacherib said. But he went on to point out that the reason the gods of these devastated nations couldn’t save them was because they weren’t gods at all. They were dead things with no rescuing power (19). ‘’As in the Psalms, the situation clarified as he prayed (19), and his motive was raised to the highest level (20).’’ Derek Kidner: The ‘New Bible Commentary’, p. 654. ‘’It’s quite true, O GOD, that the kings of Assyria have devastated all the nations and their lands. They’ve thrown their gods into the trash and burned them – no great achievement since they were no-gods anyway, gods made in workshops, carved from wood and chiselled from rock. An end to the no-gods!’’ The Message. There is a huge difference between the Maker of heaven and earth (16) and man-made gods (19).

Hezekiah’s prayer closed with ‘’Hallowed be your name’’ (20). The highest motive in prayer is to see God glorified. True believers can’t stand it when God’s Name is blasphemed (17, 4). May our heart be in all our prayers, and may our heart always be for the honour of the Lord!

Prayer: Thank you Lord that you, the living God, are our shield. We do not look for help from gods our hands have made.