Giving God The Glory

King Hezekiah of Judah receives a visitor from the king of Assyria in chapter 36 of the book of Isaiah. This field commander from Assyria does his best to put fear in the hearts of the people in Judah, even choosing to speak in their native language so that the common man will hear. While reading this story, one wonders just how King Hezekiah will react to the threat. Will he cave to the pressure, like so many of his predecessors had done? Not in this instance. See how Hezekiah reacts.

Hezekiah received the letter from the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the temple of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. And Hezekiah prayed to the LORD: “O LORD Almighty, God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O LORD, and hear; open your eyes, O LORD, and see; listen to all the words Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O LORD, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste all these peoples and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O LORD, are God.” — Isaiah 37:14-20

Unlike so many of the Israelite and Judean kings who had ruled before, Hezekiah remains faithful and brings the problem to the Lord, with confidence in His ability to defeat the enemy. I admire Hezekiah’s attitude in this prayer – he prayed not strictly for his nation’s salvation, but wanted God’s name to be raised up before others. “So that all kingdoms on earth may know…” is an admirable prayer.