Context No. 3824 of 4322 · 2 Chronicles

2 Chronicles 32:16-20: in context

16His servants spoke yet more against the LORD God and against his servant Hezekiah. 17He also wrote letters insulting the LORD, the God of Israel, and speaking against him, saying, “As the gods of the nations of the lands, which have not delivered their people out of my hand, so shall the God of Hezekiah not deliver his people out of my hand.” 18They called out with a loud voice in the Jews’ language to the people of Jerusalem who were on the wall, to frighten them and to trouble them, that they might take the city. 19They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men’s hands. 20Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven.

The Assyrians press their attack not only with armies but with words, mocking the LORD, writing letters that insult the God of Israel, lumping him together with the helpless gods of the nations they had conquered, and shouting threats at the people on the wall to terrify them. It was a calculated assault on the people's faith.

And how do Hezekiah and Isaiah respond to this flood of blasphemy and intimidation? They pray. Because of this, the king Hezekiah and the prophet Isaiah prayed and cried out to heaven. They do not answer taunt with taunt or scheme with scheme; they take the whole matter, the insults against God and the threat against the city, straight to God in prayer. There is a model here for meeting mockery and fear. When God is blasphemed and his people are threatened, the surest response is not argument or panic but united, earnest prayer, crying out to heaven. Hezekiah and Isaiah brought the enemy's very words before God and left the outcome to him, and God answered.

When God is mocked and I am pressed by fear, do I turn, like Hezekiah and Isaiah, to earnest prayer, crying out to heaven and leaving the outcome to God, rather than answering with panic or my own schemes?

Sources

2 Chronicles 32:17: "He also wrote letters insulting the LORD, the God of Israel, and speaking against him."
2 Chronicles 32:19: "They spoke of the God of Jerusalem as of the gods of the peoples of the earth, which are the work of men's hands."
2 Chronicles 32:20: "Hezekiah the king and Isaiah the prophet, the son of Amoz, prayed because of this, and cried to heaven."