Defeat Seems Imminent 

Have you ever received a letter or message with devastating news? In that moment it seems forces are lining up against you, ready to overpower you. The odds look like they are stacked overwhelming against you. How do you respond?

In the case of Hezekiah, he faced the choice of surrender or the Assyrian army taking Jerusalem by force. Sennacherib king of Assyria had already seized all the fortified cities of Judah and then sent Rabshakeh with a large army to Jerusalem to seize it (Isaiah 36:1-3). Defeat seems imminent.

Rabshakeh taunts the people of Jerusalem, telling them, “Beware that Hezekiah does not mislead you, saying, ‘The LORD will deliver us.’ Has any one of the gods of the nations delivered his land from the hand of the king of Assyria (18) ?” Despite these words, they remain firmly with God. After seeking counsel from Isaiah, the prophet sends a message to Hezekiah: “Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me (37:6).”

When Rabshakeh sent a letter telling Hezekiah to surrender or else, Hezekiah took the letter “to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD (14).” I love that physical act of humbly laying the letter before the Lord. It’s a powerful image of what we should do with our worries, challenges, and trials. When it seems a powerful army is at our doorstep about to break down the door, we should lay the situation before the Lord. Then we should pray to the Lord as Hezekiah did: 

Acknowledge

First he acknowledged who God is: “O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who is enthroned above the cherubim, You are the God, You alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth (16).” 

Open Your Heart

Then he humbly expresses his heartache at how Sennacherib and the Assyrians have blasphemed God (17). 

Express Your Fear

He lays out his fear, acknowledging that the Assyrians have overpowered many other cities (18-19). 

Seek God’s Help

Finally, he seeks salvation from God: “Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone, LORD, are God (20).” He knew only God could save them.

God heard Hezekiah’s prayer and delivered an embarrassing defeat to the Assyrian army (33-38).

The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward – Isaiah 36:31, NASB