A KING’S PRAYER
Isaiah 37:15-20. And Hezekiah prayed, &c.
I. Hezekiah prayed to Jehovah as the God of his nation. “O Lord God of Israel.”
1. The nation bore the name of one of its progenitors, who “as a prince had prevailed with God.” The name Israel had been more generally applied to the northern kingdom, which had already been overthrown, but Hezekiah claims it for the remnant that was left. When he uttered that name, did he wish to remind himself of Jacob’s power in prayer, or of God’s special interest in His nation? Perhaps both. God had chosen, defended, saved it. Names which recall Divine deliverance may encourage us in prayer.
2. His nation was Jehovah’s peculiar dwelling-place: “Which dwelleth between the cherubim.” The Shekinah, symbol of the Divine presence, shone forth from between those weird figures on either side of the mercy-seat. Hezekiah’s reference to this peculiar Divine manifestation was intended to suggest that God would protect His own dwelling-place. This is true. God’s dwelling-place is always safe, whether it be a nation—a man—a church (H. E. I. 1246–1251).
II. In his prayer Hezekiah recognises the sole supremacy of Jehovah. “Thou art the God,” &c., “and have cast their gods into the fire,” &c. Polytheism prevailed in the nations surrounding Judæa. Sennacherib had spoken of Jehovah as if He were the God merely of the Jews, and in his ignorance supposed that Hezekiah had offended Him by removing the “high places.” Hezekiah asserted—
1. That Jehovah was the only true God.
2. That He exercised supreme control over all the kingdoms of the earth.
III. He appealed to Jehovah as the Maker of heaven and earth. In the sublime acknowledgment these truths are involved:—
1. That He is eternal (H. E. I. 2253; P. D. 1492, 1518).
2. That He is separate from, all His works. He is immanent in them, but independent of them (P. D. 1519).
3. That He is omnipotent. He who made the universe must be almighty (H. E. I. 2270; P. D. 1509).
4. That He has all things under His control (H. E. I. 4023). This conception of God afforded solid ground for Hezekiah’s faith. Before the greatness of Jehovah the might of His enemies sank into nothingness. Large conceptions of God will ever give large expectations in prayer. The more we widen our views of God, the more confidence we shall have in Him in trouble.
IV. Hezekiah prayed with great earnestness. “Lord, bow down Thine ear,” &c. “Now, therefore, O Lord, our God, I beseech Thee.” Fervent desires lead invariably to ardent expressions. Cold prayers are no prayers. Earnestness is needed, not to lead God to observe our condition, nor to create in Him a disposition to help us, but—
1. That the strength of our desires may be revealed.
2. That we may be raised from the low condition of formal devotion.
3. That we may have all the spiritual culture which the outcries of real need may impart.
4. That we may be prepared to receive deliverances thankfully (H. E. I. 3831–3838, 3893).
V. Hezekiah recognised the greatness of the deliverance which he sought. “Of a truth, Lord,” &c. Other kingdoms had fallen; why not his? Only that his hope was in God. No human ingenuity or might could deliver him. Men must be brought to see that their need of deliverance is great. Sometimes they are brought to see this by temporal emergencies. Such crises teach us more of God than years of ordinary living (H. E. I. 117–121). Spiritual deliverances must come from God alone. The soul is a besieged city. The forces of Diabolus are around Mansoul. Its Sennacherib is mighty. The deliverance which it needs is great. To recognise the greatness of the deliverance we need will—
1. Deepen our sense of our own helplessness.
2. Stimulate the exercise of great faith.
3. Prepare us for the manifestation of God’s great delivering hand.
VI. Hezekiah associated the glory of Jehovah with the deliverance which he sought. The reproaches that had been cast upon him had been cast upon God. The deliverance of Jerusalem would manifest God’s sole supremacy in the earth—“that all the kingdoms,” &c. No prayers are so powerful as those which seek God’s glory, for that is the real and ultimate good of humanity. Many prayers will not bear this test; they are earthly, narrow, selfish (P. D. 2842).
Hezekiah’s prayer prevailed. The besieging army was destroyed; whether, as Kingsley suggests, “by a stream of poisonous vapours such as often comes forth out of the ground during earthquakes and eruptions of burning mountains, and kills all men and animals that breathe it,” or by a pestilence, or by the simoom, we cannot tell. But it was God’s delivering hand put forth in answer to Hezekiah’s faith and prayer—
1. That His people might learn to put their trust in Him; and
2. That all the earth might know that none can defy His power and prosper.—W. Osborne Lilley: The Homiletic Quarterly, vol. i. pp. 521–524.