Isaiah 37:14-20: a reflection

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 to the LORD, saying, 16“LORD of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17Turn your ear, LORD, and hear. Open your eyes, LORD, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God. 18Truly, LORD, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land, 19and 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. 20Now therefore, LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are the LORD, even you only.”

When a terrifying letter arrives from the Assyrian king, listing all the nations he has already crushed and threatening Jerusalem next, Hezekiah does something worth imitating exactly. He takes the letter up to the temple and spreads it out before the LORD. He literally lays the threat open before God, and prays.

Notice that he does not minimize the danger. He admits it plainly: it is true, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all these nations. He does not pretend the threat is small. But he sets it beside who God is: those other nations' gods were no gods, only wood and stone, the work of human hands, while you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth, you who made heaven and earth. The threat is real, but it is not ultimate.

There is a whole way of praying in this. When something frightens you, do what Hezekiah did: take the actual thing, the letter, the diagnosis, the bill, the message, and spread it out before God. Do not minimize it, and do not let it fill the whole sky either. Lay it open before the God who made heaven and earth, and let his greatness put the threat back in proportion. Then ask him, as Hezekiah did, to act, so that his name is known.

Lord, when a threat frightens me, help me do what Hezekiah did: spread it out before you honestly, neither minimizing it nor letting it fill the sky, and set it beside you, who made heaven and earth. Act for me, that your name may be known.