xxxvii. 14. And Hezekiah received the letter, &c.
The armies of Assyria had overthrown the cities of Phœnicia and Philistia. Samaria had fallen. Many of the strongholds of Judah had been destroyed. Hezekiah attempted to turn aside the tide of war by sending a tribute to the conqueror. Like all compromises of unbelief, this act of submission resulted in increased trial. Sennacherib did not desire to make peace with Hezekiah. To have left Jerusalem unsubdued as he advanced towards Egypt would have been impolitic and unsafe. So he determined to destroy it, and sent a letter full of boastful arrogance, threats, blasphemy, false insinuations, and insults to the king.
I. Hezekiah’s trouble.
1. Kings cannot escape trouble. Storms howl on mountain-tops when sunshine gilds the plains (H. E. I. 47; P. D. 2142, 2143). 2. Neither does piety prevent trouble. If it were an absolute evil, the righteous would escape it; but it is often an angel in disguise stooping to serve them. The best need discipline. The pious are often more benefited by trouble than by joy (H. E. I. 116–142). 3. Trouble may arise, not from our own wrong-doings, but from the wrong-doing of others. Sennacherib’s lawless ambition then troubled the whole earth. God uses evil even to discipline His saints. He knew what Hezekiah needed, and used Sennacherib to discipline him (H. E. I. 85). 4. Great troubles may be conveyed to us by insignificant means. A letter only was received; but who can tell what trouble a letter may convey? 5. Hezekiah’s trouble was great. It included—(1.) The threatened loss of his kingdom. He saw before him the loss of all his greatness and honour. (2.) Threatened captivity or death. (3.) Possible demolition of the royal city. Jerusalem was dear to every Jew. Especially so to Hezekiah, who had fortified and beautified it. (4.) The ruin and exile of his people. (5.) The dishonour of Jehovah. Sennacherib had insulted God. If Jerusalem were taken, His holy and beautiful house would be profaned, His glory tarnished, and His worship, which had been lately restored, obliterated from the earth.
II. Hezekiah’s refuge.
All men have not a Divine refuge in trouble. The irreligious cannot rush into the sheltering arms of God. Hezekiah had done all that a wise monarch could do to defend his city (2 Chron. xxxii. 1–8), and after this he committed his way to God. Fanaticism despises means, but true faith uses them, and then soars above them to rest in Omnipotence. 1. Hezekiah sought God, his refuge, in the Temple. For the spiritual training of a people who were to be God’s witnesses to the end of time, God’s presence was more especially revealed there. Special promises were given to those who prayed there. Moreover, it was Hezekiah’s accustomed place of prayer. Helpful memories often crowd around us in places where we have prayed, and bear us up, as upon eagles’ wings, into the Divine presence. 2. He would set a good example to the nation. He would lead his people to seek God in that day of trouble. 3. He would publicly manifest his confidence in God’s power to protect and save. His faith found expression in an act which honoured God and quickened His people’s confidence in Him. He spread the letter before the Lord. A most significant act—a prayer in action. Probably done in solemn silence, words afterward rising to his lips. He would not answer this letter, but would leave it with God to answer it. Many letters might better be left with God than answered. If enemies threaten us, let us make God our refuge, and our deliverance also will be sure (P. D. 779).
Learn—1. So to live as to have those troubles only which come to us by Divine appointment. 2. In the greatest of these troubles never to despair of Divine help, but to expect it. 3. To be pious in prosperity, that when adversity comes we may have God for our refuge (H. E. I. 3877–3879).—W. Osborne Lilley: The Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. pp. 389–391.
The conduct of Hezekiah recited here teaches us our first duty and best resource in any emergency. Sennacherib had captured all the defended cities of Judah, and at length, determining to capture Jerusalem, he sent a taunting, boastful, threatening letter to Hezekiah, reminding him of the Assyrian conquests, and warning him against a vain confidence in the help of his God. This letter Hezekiah spread before the Lord in earnest prayer. The sequel shows how wisely he acted, and a consolatory message was sent by Isaiah to Hezekiah. Sennacherib was not allowed to shoot an arrow against Jerusalem; his army was destroyed, and he was compelled to return ignominiously to his own land, where he shortly afterwards perished. Here we have an example that should be followed by any one harassed, irritated, alarmed.
1. Sorrowful ones, take note of it. In this world there is much to trouble, harass, annoy us, but we should be more proof against such things if we were more accustomed to have recourse to the Divine helps graciously offered us. You know what a source of comfort it is to lay open your grief to a sympathising friend. This source of help and consolation may fail you, but there is no imaginable state in which you may not spread your sorrow before the Lord. Nor can any friend so fully enter into it, compassionate it, relieve it. What a privilege it is to have such a Comforter always at hand! How completely are they enemies to their own happiness who neglect to avail themselves of such an advantage (H. E. I. 3739–3741, 199, 2311, 2322; P. D. 96, 2820).
2. Connected with Hezekiah’s sorrow there was fear. The more reason for spreading his case before the Lord, of all friends the most willing and able to remove the cause of apprehension. Daniel in the den of lions, Shadrach and his brethren in the furnace, Paul and Silas in prison, might be quoted in proof of God’s readiness to deliver His people from fear and danger. Whatever may be the nature or the source of your fear, spread it before the Lord (H. E. I. 4058).