Scripture Daily

Context No. 3996 of 4322 · 2 Kings

Context · Reflection

2 Kings 19:14-19: in context

14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to the LORD’s house, and spread it before the LORD. 15Hezekiah prayed before the LORD, and said, “LORD, the God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 16Incline your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and see. Hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to defy the living God. 17Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, 18and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they have destroyed them. 19Now therefore, LORD our God, save us, I beg you, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God alone.”

Threatened by the Assyrian king Sennacherib, Hezekiah receives a letter full of intimidation and blasphemy against God, and his response is a model of faith. He takes the letter up to the house of the LORD and literally spreads it out before God, and prays: LORD, the God of Israel, you alone are God of all the kingdoms of the earth; hear the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God.

Two things stand out. Hezekiah brings his very trouble directly to God. He does not hide the threatening letter or wring his hands over it; he spreads it out before the LORD, laying the whole problem, in its exact words, before God. There is something worth imitating in that simple act of taking our troubles, whatever form they come in, and spreading them out before God in prayer. And notice what Hezekiah asks: not merely to be saved, but that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you, LORD, are God alone. His chief concern was God's honor.

When I face a threat or trouble, do I bring the whole matter directly to God as Hezekiah did, spreading it before him in prayer, and asking above all that he would be glorified through it?

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