Isaiah 37:21-25: a reflection

21Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah, saying, “The LORD, the God of Israel says, ‘Because you have prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria, 22this is the word which the LORD has spoken concerning him: The virgin daughter of Zion has despised you and ridiculed you. The daughter of Jerusalem has shaken her head at you. 23Whom have you defied and blasphemed? Against whom have you exalted your voice and lifted up your eyes on high? Against the Holy One of Israel. 24By your servants, you have defied the Lord, and have said, “With the multitude of my chariots I have come up to the height of the mountains, to the innermost parts of Lebanon. I will cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypress trees. I will enter into its farthest height, the forest of its fruitful field. 25I have dug and drunk water, and with the sole of my feet I will dry up all the rivers of Egypt.”

When the Assyrian king Sennacherib blasphemes God and boasts of his conquests, God answers through Isaiah, exposing the king's arrogance. Sennacherib had boasted, in effect, of all he had done: With my many chariots I have gone up to the heights; I have cut down the tall cedars; I have dug wells and drunk water; with the sole of my foot I have dried up rivers. I, I, I, he boasts, taking credit for all his conquests. But God's answer exposes the truth: this proud king, boasting of his own achievements, had actually only done what God permitted; his defiance was against the Holy One of Israel.

Notice the shape of Sennacherib's pride: he boasted of his own achievements, forgetting God. I have done this, I have conquered that, he says, as though his success were purely his own doing, forgetting that he was, in fact, only an instrument God had allowed to rise. His pride took credit for everything and gave God nothing; worse, it defied the very God who had permitted his rise. The arrogance of self-boasting had made him forget God entirely.

That is a warning about the pride that boasts and forgets God. When we succeed, the temptation is to boast, in our hearts if not our words, of all we have done, I built this, I achieved that, taking full credit and forgetting that our very abilities and opportunities are God's gifts. Sennacherib's arrogant I, I, I is a warning: the pride that boasts of its own achievements and forgets God is heading for a fall. When you succeed, do not boast as though it were all your own doing, forgetting God. Remember that every ability and opportunity is his gift, give him the credit, and guard against the self-boasting pride that forgets the God who gave you everything.

Lord, Sennacherib boasted of all he had done, I have conquered, I have cut down, I have dried up, taking full credit and forgetting that he was only an instrument you had permitted; his arrogant boasting even defied you. Guard me from that pride. When I succeed, I am tempted to boast, in my heart if not my words, of all I have done, taking full credit and forgetting that my very abilities and opportunities are your gifts. Keep me from the self-boasting that forgets you. Remind me that everything I have and have accomplished is your gift, and help me give you the credit rather than exalting myself. Let me not boast as though my success were all my own doing. Keep me humble and grateful, remembering the God who gave me everything, lest my pride, like Sennacherib's, head for a fall.