They are distressed because the field commander said some things that were true. He pointed out to them that no city anywhere had so far been able to hold out against his army. He pointed out that none of the gods any of the nations trusted in had defended them against his army. But he said some things that were not true. He lied and claimed that the Lord Himself had commanded him to come and lay siege to Jerusalem because the Lord was angry with the people. He compared the Lord to the gods of the other nations, as if He is impotent to help those who trust in Him, and thus he blasphemed the holy name of God.
When Hezekiah's men tell him what the field commander said, he displays the anguish these words stir up in his own heart. "When King Hezekiah heard this, he tore his clothes and put on sackcloth and went into the temple of the Lord." (Isaiah 37:1) Hezekiah is troubled but he is not hopeless. No child of God ever has to feel hopeless! He tears his robes in distress but then puts on sackcloth (which symbolizes humility and repentance) and he goes to the house of the Lord. He takes his troubles to the One who can solve his problems.
We studied this event in 2 Kings 19 but we are studying it again because it took place during the lifetime of the prophet Isaiah. After going up to the house of the Lord to pray and seek the help of the Lord, Hezekiah sends some of the chief officials of Jerusalem to the house of Isaiah to tell him what the field commander said.
"He sent Eliakim the palace administrator, Shebna the secretary, and the leading priests, all wearing sackcloth, to the prophet Isaiah son of Amoz. They told him, 'This is what Hezekiah says: This day is a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace, as when children come to the moment of birth and there is no strength to deliver them.'" (Isaiah 37:2-3) These words reveal Hezekiah's feelings of utter helplessness. As a woman whose labor has been so long that she lacks the strength to push the child into the world, Hezekiah feels completely unequal to the situation confronting him. He knows that neither he nor all of the people of Jerusalem put together can repel the Assyrian army.
The men continue repeating the king's words to the prophet. "It may be that the Lord your God will hear the words of the field commander, whom his master, the king of Assyria, has sent to ridicule the living God, and that He will rebuke him for the words the Lord your God has heard. Therefore pray for the remnant that still survives." (Isaiah 37:4) The Assyrians have already attacked and destroyed a number of cities and small towns throughout the nation of Judah; therefore, the king refers to the citizens of the capitol city of Jerusalem as "the remnant". Many people of the outlying areas of the nation have been captured by the Assyrian army and many others have been killed when attempting to defend themselves from the enemy. Hezekiah asks Isaiah to pray to the Lord to protect the people of Jerusalem from Assyria.
Hezekiah doesn't ask this on behalf of his own righteousness or on the behalf of the righteousness of the people. Although there has been a revival in the nation since the death of Hezekiah's father, due to Hezekiah's love for the Lord and the many religious reforms he instituted, he isn't saying anything like, "I have served the Lord faithfully and am asking that He protect me and the people of my city from the enemy." Instead he's saying something like, "The field commander and his master have blasphemed the holy name of Almighty God. They have compared Him to idols. They have lied about Him and impugned His character. Please pray that the Lord will defend His honor and the glory of His name by striking back against these men and their army."
I believe this shows a great deal of humility. Hezekiah loves the Lord but he is not a perfect man. No one in the city of Jerusalem is perfect, no matter how much they may love the Lord. Hezekiah is aware of his spiritual weaknesses and the spiritual weaknesses of his subjects. Rather than pointing to his own instances of obedience to the Lord and to the many reforms he made in the nation by tearing down the abominable idols of his father and his other predecessors, Hezekiah points to the perfect character of the Lord and to the Lord's right to defend His own honor.
Isaiah, in contrast to all these other men, is not in distress. We find him calmly receiving the messengers and comforting them with the prophecy the Lord has given him concerning how things are going to go. "When King Hezekiah's officials came to Isaiah, Isaiah said to them, 'Tell your master, 'This is what the Lord says: Do not be afraid of what you have heard---those words with which the underlings of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Listen! When he hears a certain report, I will make him want to return to his own country, and there I will have him cut down with the sword.'" (Isaiah 37:5-7)
Having the king return to his own country where he will be cut down with the sword is not all the Lord intends to do to the enemy. But we will stop here for today and think about how often the Lord solves our problems for us without us even having to lift a finger. Sometimes we are confronted with bad news or with worrisome circumstances. Sometimes we dread an upcoming event that we don't want to deal with. But many times the Lord takes care of the problem in such a way that we never have to deal with it at all! It's a normal human response to react with alarm when confronted with a troubling circumstance but Hezekiah sets a wonderful example for us about what to do next. In our alarm we must not allow ourselves to become hopeless. We mustn't throw up our hands and exclaim, "There's nothing that can be done!" There is something we can do. In a spirit of humility and in a spirit of hope we can go to our heavenly Father and lay our troubles before Him.
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