Sirach 48:17-25: a reflection

17Hezekiah fortified his city, and brought water into its midst. He tunneled through rock with iron, and built cisterns for water. 18In his days Sennacherib invaded, and sent Rabshakeh, and departed. He lifted up his hand against Zion, and boasted great things in his arrogance. 19Then their hearts and their hands were shaken, and they were in pain, as women in labor. 20But they called upon the Lord who is merciful, spreading out their hands to him. The Holy One quickly heard them out of Heaven, and delivered them by the hand of Isaiah. 21He struck the camp of the Assyrians, and his angel utterly destroyed them. 22For Hezekiah did that which was pleasing to the Lord, and was strong in the ways of his ancestor David, which Isaiah the prophet commanded, who was great and faithful in his vision. 23In his days the sun went backward. He prolonged the life of the king. 24He saw by an excellent spirit what would come to pass in the future; and he comforted those who mourned in Zion. 25He showed the things that would happen through the end of time, and the hidden things before they came.

Sirach praises King Hezekiah, who fortified his city and, more importantly, did what was pleasing to the Lord. When the Assyrian army invaded and its commander boasted arrogantly against Zion, the people's hearts were shaken with fear, trembling like a woman in labor. But they did the one thing that mattered: they called upon the Lord who is merciful, spreading out their hands to him. And God heard them quickly from heaven and delivered them through the prophet Isaiah.

The pattern is instructive. Faced with an overwhelming threat and boastful enemies, the people did not simply despair or rely on their fortifications; they cried out to God. And the passage says the Holy One quickly heard them and sent deliverance. Their strength was not finally in their walls or their weapons but in the God to whom they lifted their hands. Hezekiah's faithfulness and the people's prayer, joined to God's mercy, turned back an enemy they could not have defeated on their own.

When you face something that overwhelms you, an enemy too strong, a threat that makes your heart tremble, this account points you to the one thing that matters most: call upon the Lord who is merciful. Do not rely only on your own defenses; spread out your hands to God as Hezekiah's people did. The God who quickly heard them and sent deliverance is the same God today. Cry out to him in your crisis, and trust that he hears the prayer of those who lift their hands to him.

Lord, when a boastful enemy threatened Hezekiah's people and their hearts trembled, they called upon you, and you quickly heard and delivered them. When I face something that overwhelms me and makes my heart tremble, teach me to do the same. Keep me from relying only on my own defenses. I spread out my hands to you, the merciful God who hears. Deliver me, and let my trust rest in you. Amen.