Isaiah 37:9-14 sits inside this longer paragraph.
8So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah, for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish. 9He heard news concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, “He has come out to fight against you.” When he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying, 10“Thus you shall speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, ‘Don’t let your God in whom you trust deceive you, saying, “Jerusalem won’t be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” 11Behold, you have heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly. Shall you be delivered? 12Have the gods of the nations delivered them, which my fathers have destroyed, Gozan, Haran, Rezeph, and the children of Eden who were in Telassar? 13Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arpad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivvah?’ ”
14Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then Hezekiah went up to Yahweh’s house, and spread it before Yahweh. 15Hezekiah prayed to Yahweh, saying, 16“Yahweh of Armies, the God of Israel, who is enthroned among the cherubim, you are the God, even you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. 17Turn your ear, Yahweh, and hear. Open your eyes, Yahweh, and behold. Hear all of the words of Sennacherib, who has sent to defy the living God. 18Truly, Yahweh, the kings of Assyria have destroyed all the countries and their land, 19and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. 20Now therefore, Yahweh our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you are Yahweh, even you only.”
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv10, 12 Thus God would have him to utter a most…
Thus God would have him to utter a most horrible blasphemy before his destruction: as to call the author of all truth, a deceiver: some gather hereby that Shebna had disclosed unto Sennacherib the answer that Isaiah sent to the king.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv9–14 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah,…
Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying,.... This was the direction, and these the instructions he gave to his messengers, in which he gives Hezekiah the title of king, and owns him to be king of Judah; which was more than Rabshakeh his servant would do:
let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee; than which, nothing could be more devilish and satanical, to represent the God of truth, that cannot lie, as a liar and deceiver: in this the king of Assyria outdid Rabshakeh himself; he had represented Hezekiah as an impostor and a deceiver of the people, and warns them against him as such; and here Sennacherib represents God himself as a deceiver, and cautions Hezekiah against trusting in him: nothing is more opposite to Satan and his instruments, than faith in God, and therefore they labour with all their might and main to weaken it; however, this testimony Hezekiah had from his enemy, that he was one that trusted in the Lord; and a greater character a man cannot well have:
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saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria; and so the Lord had said it; see Isa 38:6 and by some means or another Sennacherib had heard of it; and there was nothing he dreaded more than that Hezekiah should believe it, which would encourage him, he feared, to hold out the siege.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 14 Verse 9. He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of…
Verse 9. He heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia] When he heard that Tirhakah king of Ethiopia had come out against him, then he sent that blasphemous manifesto which is contained in Isa 37:10-13, to terrify Hezekiah into submission. How much was this like, in words and spirit, to the manifesto sent to the Parisians by the late Duke of Brunswick, from the plains of Champaigne, in 1792, which was the forerunner of the mighty torrents of human blood which was shed in the French revolution! And what a blast of God fell upon him and his army - nearly like that which fell on the army of Sennacherib!
He sent messengers - "He sent messengers again"] The word וישמע vaiyishma, "and he heard," which occurs the second time in this verse, is repeated by mistake from the beginning of the verse. It is omitted in an ancient MS. It is a mere tautology, and embarrasses the sense. The true reading instead of it is, וישב veyesheb, "and he returned," which the Septuagint read in this place, απεστρεψε, and which is preserved in the other copy, 2Kg 19:9: "He returned and sent," that is, according to the Hebrew idiom, "he sent again."
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv9–14 And he heard say - The report or rumour…
And he heard say - The report or rumour referred to in Isa 37:7. In what way he heard this is not intimated. It is probable that the preparations which Tirhakah had made, were well known to the surrounding regions, and that he was already on his march against Sennacherib.
Tirhakah - This king, who, by Eusebius and by most ancient writers, is called Ταρακὸς Tarakos, was a celebrated conqueror, and had subdued Egypt to himself. He reigned over Egypt eighteen years. When Sennacherib marched into Egypt, Sevechus or Sethon was on the throne. Sennacherib having laid siege to Pelusium, Tirhakah came to the aid of the city, and, in consequence of his aid, Sennacherib was compelled to raise the siege and returned to Palestine, and laid siege to Lachish. Tirhakah succeeded Sevechus in Egypt, and was the third and last of the Ethiopian kings that reigned over that country. He probably took advantage of the distracted state that succeeded the death of Sevechus, and secured the crown for himself. This was, however, after the death of Sennacherib. The capital which he occupied was Thebes (see Prideaux’s “Connection,” vol. i. pp. 141, 145, 149. Ed. 1815). As he was celebrated as a conqueror, and as he had driven Sennacherib from Pelusium and from Egypt, we may see the cause of the alarm of Sennacherib when it was rumoured that he was about to follow him into Palestine, and to make war on him there.
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He is come forth - He has made preparations, and is on his way.
He sent messengers ... - With letters or despatches Isa 37:14. Hezekiah was probably ignorant of the approach of Tirhakah, or at all events Sennacherib would suppose that he was ignorant of it; and as Sennacherib knew that there would be no hope that Hezekiah would yield if he knew that Tirhakah was approaching to make war on him, he seems to have resolved to anticipate the intelligence, and to see if it were possible to induce him to surrender. He, therefore, sent substantially the same message as before, and summoned him to capitulate.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures 1864 · Public Domain On v14 14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of…
4. HEZEKIAH’S INTERCESSION
Isa_37:14-20
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14And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15, 16And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that 14dwellest between the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, 15of all the kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth. 17Incline thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach 16the living God. 18Of a truth Lord, the 19kings of Assyria have laid waste all the 17Nations, and their countries, And have 18cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: 19therefore they have destroyed them. 20Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that 20thou art the Lord, even thou only.
TEXTUAL AND GRAMMATICAL
Isa_37:14. ספרים, properly scripta, stands, like the Latin litcrae, for one writing (comp. 1Ki_21:8; 2Ki_10:1, where verse 2 ספר interchanges with ספרים; 2Ki_20:12, comp. Isa_39:1). The singular suffix following refers to the singular notion ספר, scriptum.
Isa_37:15. The contents of this verse forms in 2 Kings 19 the beginning of Isa_37:15, and instead of לאמר אל־יהוה, which is the more usual form of speech, it reads in 2 Kings לפני י׳ ויאמר.
Isa_37:16. אתה הוא האלהים. Grammatically it is, of course, not impossible to take חוא as predicate and האלהים as in apposition with it. But then הוא is in effect a formal, rhetorical emphasis of the predicate. But if הוא is construed in apposition with the subject, then it is materially significant. For then it acquires meaning “talis,” and refers emphatically to the being of God as the inward ground of His works. This emphatic sense (= talis) הוא has in reference to men Jer_49:12.
Isa_37:17. עינך, according to the punctuation and according to 2Ki_19:16, עֵינֶיךָ, is to be construed as plural. פקח is used only of opening the eyes and the ears Isa_42:20, comp. Dan_9:18.
Isa_37:18. Instead of את־כל־הארצות we read in 2Ki_19:17 את־הגוים. If the reading in Isaiah be correct, then the following ואת־ארצם can only mean that the Assyrians have destroyed their own land, and that “by depopulation in consequence of constant War” [comp. Isa_14:20.—Tr.]. But אמנם introduces a concession of the truth of what the Assyrian says, who boasts only of what they have done to other nations. It must then be admitted that 2 Kings has the more correct reading. There appears to be an alteration in Isaiah, probably occasioned by the החריבו less used of nations than of lands, and possibly also by the לכל־הארצות Isa_37:11.—החריב, which reminds of החרים Isa_37:11, means properly “to make withered,” then generally “to waste, desolate,” In its radical meaning and primarily it is used of lands, then also of nations (Isa_49:17; Isa_60:12; Jer_50:27). [ארצות is used here in the sense of nations, as the singular seems sometimes to denote the inhabitants of the earth or land. This would at the same time account for the masculine suffix in ארצם.—J. A. Alex. The Author’s hypothesis to account for the variation in Isaiah’s text is noticed by J. A. Alex., as urged by Gesenius, as is the case with much beside that the Author has to present on the same subject. In reference to the present instance J. A. Alex. says: “Besides its fanciful and arbitrary character as a mere make-shift, and its gratuitous assumption of the grossest stupidity and ignorance as well as inattention in the writer, it is sufficiently refuted by the emphatic combination of the same verb and noun Isa_60:12,—(which) proves that such a writer could not have been so shocked at the expression as to make nonsense of a sentence merely for the purpose of avoiding it. The reader will do well to observe, moreover, that the same imaginary copyist is supposed, in different emergencies, to have been wholly unacquainted with the idioms of his mother tongue [comp. Dr. Naegelsbach above at Isa_36:21 on החרישׁו, and at Isa_37:9 on וישמע], and yet extremely sensitive to any supposed violation of usage. Such scruples and such ignorance are not often found in combination. A transcriber unable to distinguish sense from nonsense would not be apt to take offence at mere irregularities or eccentricities in the phraseology or diction of his author.” The wisdom of this remark will no doubt in most minds outweigh the considerations that the Author offers, in the progress of his commentary on the present section, in proof of our text being second hand.—Tr.].
Isa_37:19. ויאבדום describes, according to the succession of verbs החריבו—ונתן, the concluding result.
Isa_37:20. אתה יהוה. In 2Ki_19:19 the reading is יהוה אלהים, and according to the accents these words belong together, whether construed as predicate or apposition with the subject אתה. Moreover the author of the Isaiah text seem to have combined them, and for this reason to have treated אלהים as superfluous. But it is certainly the most natural to separate the two words and take אלהים as predicate so that we obtain the sense: “that thou Jehovah alone art God.” Then the Isaiah text must be so understood, and יהוה be taken as in apposition with the subject אתה, while the notion God is supplied from the context: “that thou Jehovah, alone art (it, viz. God).”
EXEGETICAL AND CRITICAL
1. And Hezekiah—saying.
Isa_37:14-15. We learn here for the first that the messengers were to deliver a written message, for Isa_37:9-10 spoke only of an oral commission. The spreading out of the letter was a symbolic transaction. It verified on the one hand, the reality of the present necessity, on the other, it would, as it were, itself cry to heaven, the blasphemy of it should itself call down the divine vengeance. It recalls all the passages where mention is made of impiety that cried to heaven: comp. e.g., Gen_4:10; Job_16:18; Job_24:12; Job_31:33; Hab_3:11.
2. O LORD—thou only.
Isa_37:16-20. That the Cherubim are only symbolic and not personal angel forms, as Lange would have it (Gen_3:24) is hard to believe. What Ezekiel saw (Isa_1:4 sqq.; Isa_9:3; Isa_10:2 sqq.), were not mere symbols, for symbols are likenesses, in which from a known greatness one infers the unknown. That partially agrees with the Ezekiel visions. For the rest these are of a transcendental nature. They open to us glimpses into the depths of the divinity, consequently into realities in fact, but into such before which we stand as before one that speaks in tongues. We must modestly refer the cherubim to the class of riddles that will not be resolved until the next life. It is a reflection of those heavenly functions of the cherubim, as they are described in Ezekiel, when we see the cherubim forms appear on the ark of the covenant as the bearers of the presence of God in the midst of the congregation of the Old Testament (Exo_25:18 sqq.). From the Kapporeth, from out the space between the two cherubim (ibid.22) the Lord will reveal Himself. Hence He is repeatedly designated as the ישׁב הכרבים (1Sa_4:4; 2Sa_6:2; 2Sa_22:11; 1Ch_13:6; Psa_80:2; Psa_99:1). The thou art the God, even thou Hezekiah took from the glorious prayer of thanksgiving of his ancestor David (2Sa_7:28) in which the latter made known his faith in the glorious promise given to his house (ibid. Isa_37:12 sqq.). [See Text. and Gram.]. In reference to God, comp. Psa_44:5. Moreover one needs to examine closely in its context every single passage which may besides be drawn hither (Deu_32:39; Isa_41:4; Isa_43:10; Isa_43:13; Isa_43:25; Isa_48:12; Isa_51:12; Neh_9:6-7), see on Isa_41:4. Hezekiah evidently is at pains right thoroughly to emphasize the aloneness of God. Rabshakeh and Sennacherib himself (Isa_37:12) had most incisively expressed the heathen idea that every land has its gods. In contrast with this Hezekiah most decisively makes prominent that Jehovah is not merely a God, but the God alone for all nations of the earth: and that because he made heaven and earth (Gen_1:1; Isa_44:24; Isa_51:13, etc.).
The causal clause for they were no gods,etc. Isa_37:19, gives at once the reason why those victories of the Assyrians were possible, and the negative ground of comfort for Israel’s hope. They could desolate those lands and destroy their gods, because the latter were only men’s work of wood and stone. But therein lay the reason for Israel’s hope. For Israel’s God was something very different: therefore the victory over those gave no ground for inferring that Assyria would conquer also the God of Israel. Isa_37:20 contains the prayer itself.
[“The adverb now is equivalent to therefore, or since these things are so. The fact that Sennacherib had destroyed other nations, is urged as a reason why the Lord should interpose to rescue His own people from a like destruction: and the fact that He had really triumphed over other gods, as a reason why He should be taught to know the difference between them and Jehovah.”—J. A. Alex.].
DOCTRINAL AND ETHICAL
1. On Isa_36:4 sqq. “Haec proprie est Satanae lingua et sunt non Rabsacis sed ipsissimi Diaboli verba, quibus non muros urbis, sed medullam Ezechiae, hoc est, tenerrimam ejus fidem oppugnat.”—Luther. “In this address the chief-butler, Satan performs in the way he uses when he would bring about our apostacy. 1) He urges that we are divested of all human support, Isa_36:5; Isaiah 2) We are deprived of divine support, Isa_36:7; Isaiah 3) God is angry with us because we have greatly provoked Him by our sins, Isa_36:7; Isaiah 4) He decks out the splendor, and power of the wicked, Isa_36:8-9; Isaiah 5) He appeals to God’s word, and knows how to turn and twist it to his uses. Such poisonous arrows were used by Satan against Christ in the desert, and may be compared with this light (Mat_4:2 sqq.). One needs to arm himself against Satan’s attack by God’s word, and to resort to constant watching and prayer.”—Cramer.
The Assyrian urges four particulars by which he would destroy Hezekiah’s confidence, in two of which he was right and in two wrong. He was right in representing that Hezekiah could rely neither on Egypt, nor on his own power. In this respect he was a messenger of God and announcer of divine truth. For everywhere the word of God preaches the same (Isa_30:1-3; Isa_31:1-3; Jer_17:5; Psa_118:8-9; Psa_146:3, etc.). But it is a merited chastisement if rude and hostile preachers must preach to us what we were unwilling to believe at the mild and friendly voice of God. But in two particulars the Assyrian was wrong, and therein lay Hezekiah’s strength. For just on this account the Lord is for him and against the Assyrian. These two things are, that the Assyrian asserts that Hezekiah cannot put his trust in the Lord, but rather he, the Assyrian is counseled by the Lord against Hezekiah. That, however, was a lie, and because of this lie, the corresponding truth makes all the deeper impression on Hezekiah, and reminds him how assuredly he may build on the Lord and importune Him. And when the enemy dares to say, that he is commissioned by the Lord to destroy the Holy Land, just that must bring to lively remembrance in the Israelite, that the Lord, who cannot lie, calls the land of Israel His land (Joel 4:2; Jer_2:7; Jer_16:18, etc.), and the people of Israel His people (Exo_3:7; Exo_3:10; Exo_5:1, etc.).
2. On Isa_36:12. [“In regard to the indelicacy of this passage we may observe: 1) The Masorets in the Hebrew text have so printed the words used, that in reading it the offensiveness would be considerably avoided. 2) The customs, habits and modes of expression of people in different nations and times, differ. What appears indelicate at one time or in one country, may not only be tolerated, but common in another. 3) Isaiah is not at all responsible for the indelicacy of the language here. He is simply an historian. 4) It was of importance to give the true character of the attack which was made on Jerusalem. The coming of Sennacherib was attended with pride, insolence and blasphemy; and it was important to state the true character of the transaction, and to record just what was said and done. Let him who used the language, and not him who recorded it bear the blame.”—Barnes in loc.].
3. On Isa_36:18 sqq. “Observandum hic, quod apud gentes olim viguerit πολύθεια adeo, ut quaevis etiam urbs peculiarem habuerit Deum tutelarem. Cujus ethnicismi exemplum vivum et spirans adhuc habemus apud pontificios, quibus non inscite objici potest illud Jeremiae: Quot civitates tibi, tot etiam Dei (Jer_2:28).”—Foerster.
4. On Isa_36:21. Answer not a fool according to his folly (Pro_26:4), much less the blasphemer, lest the flame of his wickedness be blown into the greater rage (Sir_8:3). Did not Christ the Lord answer His enemies, not always with words, but also with silence (Mat_26:62; Mat_27:14, etc.)? One must not cast pearls before swine (Mat_7:6). After Foerster and Cramer.
5. On Isa_36:21. “Est aureus textus, qui docet nos, ne cum Satana disputemus. Quando enim videt, quod sumus ejus spectatores et auditores, tum captat occasionem majoris fortitudinis et gravius premit. Petrus dicit, eum circuire et quaerere, quem devoret. Nullum facit insidiarum finem. Tutissimum autem est non respondere, sed contemnere eum.”—Luther.
6. [On Isa_37:1-7. “Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The wind, instead of forcing the traveler’s coat from him, makes him wrap it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God, the more Hezekiah studies to honor Him.” On Isa_37:3. “When we are most at a plunge we should be most earnest in prayer. When pains are most strong, let prayers be most lively. Prayer is the midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth.”—M. Henry, in loc.]
7. On Isa_37:2 sqq. Hezekiah here gives a good example. He shows all princes, rulers and peoples what one ought to do when there is a great and common distress, and tribulation. One ought with sackcloth, i. e., with penitent humility, to bring prayers, and intercessions to the Lord that He would look on and help.
8. On Isa_37:6 sq. “God takes to Himself all the evil done to His people. For as when one does a great kindness to the saints, God appropriates it to Himself, so, too, when one torments the saints, it is an injury done to God, and He treats sin no other way than as if done to Himself. He that torments them torments Him (Isa_64:9). Therefore the saints pray: ‘Arise, O God, plead thine own cause: remember how the foolish man reproacheth thee daily’ (Psa_74:22).”—Cramer.
9. On Isa_37:7. “God raises up against His enemies other enemies, and thus prepares rest for His own people. Example: the Philistines against Saul who pursued David, 1Sa_23:27.”—Cramer.
10. On Isa_37:14. Vitringa here cites the following from Bonfin Rerum Hungar. Dec. III. Lib. VI. p. 464, ad annum Isaiah 1444: “Amorathes, cum suos laborare cerneret et ab Vladislao rege non sine magna caede fugari, depromtum e sinu codicem initi sanctissime foederis explicat intentis in coelum oculis. Haec sunt, inquit ingeminans, Jesu Christe, foedera, quae Christiani tui mecum percussere. Per numen tuum sanctum jurarunt, datamque sub nomine tuo fidem violarunt, perfide suum Deum abnegarunt. Nunc Christe, si Deus es (ut ajunt et nos hallucinamur), tuas measque hic injurias, te quaeso, ulciscere et his, qui sanctum tuum nomen nondum agnovere, violatae fidei poenas ostende. Vix haec dixerat .… cum proelium, quod anceps ac dubium diu fuerat, inclinare coepit, etc.”
[The desire of Hezekiah was not primarily his own personal safety, or the safety of his kingdom. It was that Jehovah might vindicate His great and holy name from reproach, and that the world might know that He was the only true God. We have here a beautiful model of the object which we should have in view when we come before God. This motive of prayer is one that is with great frequency presented in the Bible. Comp. Isa_42:8; Isa_43:10; Isa_43:13; Isa_43:25; Deu_32:39; Psa_83:18; Psa_46:10; Neh_9:6; Dan_9:18-19. Perhaps there could have been furnished no more striking proof that Jehovah was the true God, than would be by the defeat of Sennacherib. The time had come when the great Jehovah could strike a blow which would be felt on all nations, and carry the terror of His name, and the report of His power throughout the earth. Perhaps this was one of the main motives of the destruction of that mighty army.”—Barnes, on Isa_37:2].
11. On Isa_37:15. “Fides Ezechiae verba confirmata magis ac magis crescit. Ante non ausus est orare, jam orat et confutat blasphemias omnes Assyrii. Adeo magna vis verbi est, ut longe alius per verbum, quod Jesajas ei nunciari jussit, factus sit.”—Luther.
12. On Isa_37:17. [“It is bad to talk proudly and profanely, but it is worse to write so, for this argues more deliberation and design, and what is written spreads further and lasts longer, and does the more mischief. Atheism and irreligion, written, will certainly be reckoned for another day.”—M. Henry].
13. On Isa_37:21 sqq. [“Those who receive messages of terror from men with patience, and send messages of faith to God by prayer, may expect messages of grace and peace from God for their comfort, even when they are most cast down. Isaiah sent a long answer to Hezekiah’s prayer in God’s name, sent it in writing (for it was too long to be sent by word of mouth), and sent it by way of return to his prayer, relation being thereunto had: ‘Whereas thou hast prayed to me, know, for thy comfort, that thy prayer is heard.’ Isaiah might have referred him to the prophecies he had delivered (particularly to that of chap. 10), and bid him pick out an answer from thence. The correspondence between earth and heaven is never let fall on God’s side.”—M. Henry.].
14. On Isa_37:31 sqq. “This is a promise of great extent. For it applies not only to those that then remained, and were spared the impending destruction and captivity by the Assyrians, but to all subsequent times, when they should enjoy a deliverance; as after the Babylonish captivity, and after the persecutions of Antiochus. Yea, it applies even to New Testament times from the first to the last, since therein, in the order of conversion to Christ, the Jews will take root and bring forth fruit, and thus in the Jews (as also in the converted Gentiles) will appear in a spiritual and corporal sense, what God at that time did to their fields in the three following years.”—Starke.
15. On Isa_38:1. “Isaiah, although of a noble race and condition, does not for that regard it disgraceful, but rather an honor, to be a pastor and visitor of the sick, I would say, a prophet, teacher and comforter of the sick. God save the mark! How has the world become so different in our day, especially in our evangelical church Let a family be a little noble, and it is regarded as a reproach and injury to have a clergyman among its relations and friends, not to speak of a son studying theology and becoming a servant of the church. I speak not of all; I know that some have a better mind; yet such is the common course. Jeroboam’s maxim must rather obtain, who made priests of the lowest of the people (1Ki_12:31). For thus the parsons may be firmly held in rein (sub ferula) and in political submission. It is not at all good where the clergy have a say, says an old state-rule of our Politicorum.” Feuerlein, pastor in Nuremberg, in his Novissimorum primum, 1694, p. 553. The same quotes Spener: “Is it not so, that among the Roman Catholics the greatest lords are not ashamed to stand in the spiritual office, and that many of them even discharge the spiritual functions? Among the Reformed, too, persons born of the noblest families are not ashamed of the office of preacher. But, it seems, we Lutherans are the only ones that hold the service of the gospel so low, that, where from a noble or otherwise prominent family an ingenium has an inclination to theological study, almost every one seeks to hinder him, or, indeed, afterwards is ashamed of his friendship, as if it were something much too base for such people, by which more harm comes to our church than one might suppose. That is to be ashamed of the gospel.”
16. On Isa_38:1. [“We see here the boldness and fidelity of a man of God. Isaiah was not afraid to go in freely and tell even a monarch that he must die. The subsequent part of the narrative would lead us to suppose that, until this announcement, Hezekiah did not regard himself as in immediate danger. It is evident here, that the physician of Hezekiah had not informed him of it—perhaps from the apprehension that his disease would be aggravated by the agitation of his mind on the subject. The duty was, therefore, left, as it is often, to the minister of religion—a duty which even many ministers are slow to perform, and which many physicians are reluctant to have performed.
No danger is to be apprehended commonly from announcing to those who are sick their true condition. Physicians and friends often err in this. There is no species of cruelty greater than to suffer a friend to lie on a dying bed under a delusion. There is no sin more aggravated than that of designedly deceiving a dying man, and flattering him with the hope of recovery, when there is a moral certainty that he will not and cannot recover. And there is evidently no danger to be apprehended from communicating to the sick their true condition. It should be done tenderly and with affection; but it should be done faithfully. I have had many opportunities of witnessing the effect of apprising the sick of their situation, and of the moral certainty that they must die. And I cannot now recall an instance in which the announcement has had any unhappy effect on the disease. Often, on the contrary, the effect is to calm the mind, and to lead the dying to look up to God, and peacefully to repose on Him. And the effect of that is always salutary.” Barnes in loc.]
17. On Isa_38:2. It is an old opinion, found even in the Chald., that by the wall is meant the wall of the temple as a holy direction in which to pray, as the Mahometans pray in the direction of Mecca. But הקיר cannot mean that. Rather that is correct which is said by Forerius: “Nolunt pii homines testes habere suarum lacrymarum, ut eas liberius fundant, neque sensu distrahi, cum orare Deum ex animo volunt.”
18. On Isa_38:8 :—
Non Deus est numen Parcarum carcere clausum.
Quale putabatur Stoicus esse Deus.
Ille potest Solis cursus inhibere volantes,
At veluti scopulos flumina stare facit.”
—Melanchthon.
19. On Isa_38:12. “Beautiful parables that picture to us the transitoriness of this temporal life. For the parable of the shepherd’s tent means how restless a thing it is with us, that we have here no abiding place, but are driven from one locality to another, until at last we find a resting-spot in the church-yard. The other parable of the weaver’s thread means how uncertain is our life on earth. For how easily the thread breaks.” Cramer. “When the weaver’s work is progressing best, the thread breaks before he is aware. Thus when a man is in his best work, and supposes he now at last begins really to live, God breaks the thread of his life and lets him die. The rational heathen knew something of this when they, so to speak, invented the three goddesses of life (the three Parcas minime parcas) and included them in this little verse:
Clotho colum gestat, Lachesis trahit,
Atropos occat
But what does the weaver when the thread breaks? Does he stop his work at once? O no! He knows how to make a clever weaver’s knot, so that one cannot observe the break. Remember thereby that when thy life is broken off, yet the Lord Jesus, as a master artisan, can bring it together again at the last day. He will make such an artful, subtle weaver’s-knot as shall make us wonder through all eternity. It will do us no harm to have died.” Ibid.—Omnia sunt hominum tenui pendentia filo.
[“As suddenly as the tent of a shepherd is taken down, folded up, and transferred to another place. There is doubtless the idea here that he would continue to exist, but in another place, as the shepherd would pitch his tent in another place. He was to be cut off from the earth, but he expected to dwell among the dead. The whole passage conveys the idea that he expected to dwell in another state.” Barnes in loc.].
20. On Isa_38:17. [“Note 1) When God pardons sin, He casts it behind His back as not designing to look upon it with an eye of justice and jealousy. He remembers it no more, to visit for it. The pardon does not make the sin not to have been, or not to have been sin, but not to be punished as it deserves. When we cast our sins behind our back, and take no care to repent of them, God sets them before His face, and is ready to reckon for them; but when we set them before our face in true repentance, as David did when his sin was ever before him, God casts them behind His back. 2) When God pardons sin, He pardons all, casts them all behind His back, though they have been as scarlet and crimson. 3) The pardoning of sin is the delivering the soul from the pit of corruption. 4) It is pleasant indeed to think of our recoveries from sickness when we see them flowing from the remission of sin; then the cause is removed, and then it is in love to the soul.” M. Henry in loc.]
21. On Isa_38:18. [Cannot hope for thy truth. “They are shut out from all the means by which Thy truth is brought to mind, and the offers of salvation are presented. Their probation is at an end; their privileges are closed; their destiny is sealed up. The idea is, it is a privilege to live because this is a world where the offers of salvation are made, and where those who are conscious of guilt may hope in the mercy of God.” Barnes in loc.] God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance (2Pe_3:9). Such is the New Testament sense of these Old Testament words. For though Hezekiah has primarily in mind the preferableness of life in the earthly body to the life in Hades, yet this whole manner of representation passes away with Hades itself. But Hezekiah’s words still remain true so far as they apply to heaven and hell. For of course in hell, the place of the damned, one does not praise God. But those that live praise Him. These, however, are in heaven. Since then God wills rather that men praise Him than not praise Him, so He is not willing that men should perish, but that all should turn to repentance and live.
22. On Isa_39:2. “Primo (Deus) per obsidionem et bellum, deinde per gravem morbum Ezechiam servaverat, ne in praesumtionem laberetur. Nondum tamen vinci potuit antiquus serpens, sed redit et levat caput suum. Adeo non possumus consistere, nisi Deos nos affligat. Vides igitur hic, quis sit afflictionum usus, ut mortificent scilicet carnem, quae non potest res ferre secundas.” Luther.
23. On Isa_39:7. “God also punishes the misdeeds of the parents on the children (Exo_20:5) because the children not only follow the misdeeds of their parents, but they also increase and heap them up, as is seen in the posterity of Hezekiah, viz.: Manasseh and Amon.”—Cramer.
HOMILETICAL HINTS
[The reader is referred to the ample hints covering the same matter to be found in the volume on 2 Kings 18-20. It is expedient to take advantage of that for the sake of keeping the present volume within reasonable bounds. Therefore but a minimum is here given of what the Author offers, much of which indeed is but the repetition in another form of matter already given.—Tr.]
1. On Isa_37:36. “1) The scorn and mockery of the visible world. 2) The scorn and mockery of the unseen world.” Sermon of Domprediger Zahn in Halle, 1870.
2. On the entire 38. chapter, beside the 22 sermons in FEUERLEIN’S Novissimorum primum, there is a great number of homiletical elaborations of an early date; Walther Magirus, Idea mortis et vitae in two parts, the second of which contains 20 penitential and consolatory sermons on Isaiah 38. Danzig, 1640 and 1642. Daniel Schaller (Stendal) 4 sermons on the sick Hezekiah, on Isaiah 38. Magdeburg, 1611. Peter Siegmund Pape in “Gott geheilighte Wochenpredigten,” Berlin, 1701, 4 sermons. Jacob Tichlerus (Elburg) Hiskiae Aufrichtigkeit bewiesen in Gesundheit, Krankheit und Genesung, 18 sermons on Isaiah 38. (Dutch), Campen, 1636. These are only the principal ones.
3. On Isa_38:1. “I will set my house in order. This, indeed, will not be hard for me to do. My debt account is crossed out; my best possession I take along with me; my children I commit to the great Father of orphans, to whom heaven and earth belongs, and my soul to the Lord, who has sued for it longer than a human age, and bought it with His blood. Thus I am eased and ready for the journey.” Tholuck, Stunden der Andacht, p. 620.
4. On Isa_38:1. “Now thou shouldest know that our word ‘order his house’ has a very broad meaning. It comprehends reconciliation to God by faith, the final confession of sin, the last Lord’s Supper, the humble committing of the soul to the grace of the Lord, and to death and the grave in the hope of the resurrection. In one word: There is an ordering of the house above. In reliance on the precious merit of my Saviour, I order my house above in which I wish to dwell. Moreover taking leave of loved ones, and the blessing of them belongs to ordering the house. And finally order must be taken concerning the guardianship of children, the abiding of the widow, and the friend on whom she must especially lean in her loneliness, also concerning earthly bequests.” Ahlfeld, Das Leben im Lichte des Wortes Gottes, Halle, 1867, p. 522.
5. On Isa_38:2-8. This account has much that seems strange to us Christians, but much, too, that quite corresponds to our Christian consciousness. Let us contemplate the difference between an Old Testament, and a New Testament suppliant, by noticing the differences and the resemblances. I. The resemblances. 1) Distress and grief there are in the Old, as in the New Testament (Isa_38:3). 2) Ready and willing to help beyond our prayers or comprehension (Isa_38:5-6) is the Lord in the Old as in the New Testament. II. The differences. 1) The Old Testament suppliant appealed to his having done nothing bad (Isa_38:3). The New Testament suppliant says: “God be merciful to me a sinner,” and “Give me through grace for Christ’s sake what it pleases Thee to give me.” 2) The Old Testament suppliant demands a sign (Isa_38:7-8; comp. Isa_38:22); the New Testament suppliant requires no sign but that of the crucified Son of man, for He knows that to those who bear this sign is given the promise of the hearing of all their prayers (Joh_16:23). 3) In Hezekiah’s case, the prayer of the Old Testament suppliant is indeed heard (Isa_38:5), yet in general it has not the certainty of being heard, whereas the New Testament suppliant has this certainty.
Footnotes:
[14]seated on the, etc.
[15]to.
[16]living divinity.
[17]Heb. lands.
[18]Heb. given.
[19]and.
[20]thou Jehovah alone (art it).
Lange's Commentary on the Holy Scriptures (Critical, Doctrinal, and Homiletical), ed. John Peter Lange, English translation edited by Philip Schaff (1864–1880) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv9–14 Tirhakah--(See on Isa 17:12; Isa 18:6). Egypt was in…
Tirhakah--(See on Isa 17:12; Isa 18:6). Egypt was in part governed by three successive Ethiopian monarchs, for forty or fifty years: Sabacho, Sevechus, and Tirhakah. Sevechus retired from Lower Egypt owing to the resistance of the priests, whereupon Sethos, a prince-priest, obtained supreme power with Tanis (Zoan in Scripture), or Memphis, as his capital. The Ethiopians retained Upper Egypt under Tirhakah, with Thebes as the capital. Tirhakah's fame as a conqueror rivalled that of Sesostris; he, and one at least, of the Pharaohs of Lower Egypt, were Hezekiah's allies against Assyria. The tidings of his approach made Sennacherib the more anxious to get possession of Jerusalem before his arrival.
sent-- Kg2 19:9 more fully expresses Sennacherib's eagerness by adding "again."
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv10, 14 10-13. Sennacherib, in his arrogance and ignorance, again insults…
10-13. Sennacherib, in his arrogance and ignorance, again insults the God of Israel by lowering him to the grade of the national gods around, and boasts of the great things his predecessors had done.
Gozan — Situated on the Chaboras — the river Chebor of Ezekiel — which flows from the north into the Euphrates.
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Haran — Farther west than “Gozan.” From here Abram went to Canaan.
Children of Eden — If by this is meant the tribe of Eden, (see Eze_27:23,) situated on the border of Media, which is not unlikely, then a long curve of territory was made by Sennacherib to denote the extensiveness of Assyrian conquest. Nobody now knows where Hena or Ivah lay.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv9–14 9. Tirhakah king of Ethiopia is named only here…
9. Tirhakah king of Ethiopia is named only here in the O.T. See General Introduction, p. xvi.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv9, 12, 13, 14 (9) Tirhakah.—The third of the twenty-fifth, or Ethiopian dynasty…
(9) Tirhakah.—The third of the twenty-fifth, or Ethiopian dynasty of kings, So, or Sabaco, with whom Hoshea, the last king of Israel, allied himself, being the first (2Ki_17:4). He is described in Assurbanipal’s inscriptions (Records of the Past, i. 60) as king of Mizr and Cush—i.e., Egypt and Ethiopia. The policy of Hezekiah’s counsellors had led them to court his alliance, as in Isaiah 30, 31. Now, however, the Egyptian army was at least mobilised. “Rahab” was no longer “sitting still” (Isa_30:7).
When he heard it.—The message is in substance a repetition of its predecessors, more defiant, perhaps, as if in answer to the threatened attack of Tirhakah’s armies, which Sennacherib could scarcely fail to connect with Hezekiah’s confident hope of deliverance.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv9–14 Tirhakah, King of Ethopia. Tirhakah is among the most…
Tirhakah, King of Ethopia. Tirhakah is among the most famous of the monarchs belonging to this period. The Greeks called him "Tearchon," the Assyrians "Tarku" or "Tarqu." His name, as represented on his own monuments, is "Tahark" or "Tahrak." According to the Egyptian remains, he had a reign of at least twenty-six years in Egypt from B.C. 693 to B.C. 667. He would seem, however, to have been King of Ethiopia, and lord paramount of the lower valley of the Nile, from about B.C. 700, Shabatok for some years ruling Egypt, or a portion of it, as his deputy (Rawlinson, "Hist. of Ancient Egypt," vol. 2. p. 450). Hezekiah"s negotiations had, it is probable, been with Tirhakah. (Isa_19:13 Isa_20:5 Isa_30:1-6) This monarch, having engaged to help him, now put his forces in motion, and began to descend the Nile valley to his relief. His movement rather provoked than alarmed Sennacherib, who, having defeated one Egyptian army in B.C. 701 ("Eponym Canon," pp. 133, 134), was confident of success against another. He sent messengers. It is not very clear what advantage Sennacherib expected from this second embassy. He had no fresh argument to bring forward, unless it were a suggestion that Hezekiah"s God was endeavouring to deceive him. In the main, vers. 10-13 are a mere expansion of Isa_36:18-20.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain On vv10, 14 Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive…
Isa_37:10
Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee
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A piece of satanic advice
I.
LET US WEIGH THIS PIECE OF SATANIC ADVICE. It is a very dangerous temptation for three reasons.
1. Because it appeals to the natural pride of the heart. There is a universal instinct which makes a man abhor the idea of being deceived. There is something in the very idea which rouses all the pride that lies latent in every heart.
2. There is no disguising the fact that if God did deceive us we are in a hopeless plight, and therefore there is force in the temptation.
3. The methods of Gods government being beyond our comprehension, sometimes appear to incline towards the tempters suggestion,--from appearances one might say, God is going to leave us in the lurch.
II. LET US TURN ROUND AND TEAR THE ADVICE UP.
1. We may tear it up because it comes too late. If God be a deceiver we are already so thoroughly deceived, and have been so for years, that it is rather late in the day to come and advise us not to be.
2. We may tear it up, because if God deceive us we may be quite certain that there is nobody else that would not. From all we know of our God, His holiness, His righteousness, and His faithfulness, if He can deceive us, then are we quite certain that there are none to be trusted
3. There is not one atom of evidence to support the libel. Search the world through, and see if you can find a man who will deliberately say, I have tried God, I have trusted Him, and He has deceived me.
4. There is overwhelming evidence to refute it. Never yet did man trust his God and be put to shame. Heaven and earth and hell declare that Jehovah never hath deceived and never can deceive. (A. G. Brown.)
Sennacherib versus Jehovah
Never before in his experience had Sennacherib heard of a God who could resist his progress; he believed in the almighty power of Asshur. (B. Blake, B. D.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary 1892 · Public Domain On v14 Isa_37:14. And Hezekiah received the letter, &c.
A KING IN TROUBLE
Isa_37:14. And Hezekiah received the letter, &c.
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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 foil of boastful arrogance, threats, blasphemy, false insinuations, and insults toits 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 (2Ch_32:1-8), 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 afterwards 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 defenced cities of Judah, and at length, determining to attack 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).
3. Another feeling which the perusal of Sennacherib’s letter was likely to produce in Hezekiah’s mind was irritation. It was written in a tone of proud sarcasm, well calculated to produce this effect. If Hezekiah found any such feeling arise in his mind in reading it, what could he do better than lay it before the Lord? We are continually liable to meet with circumstances calculated to ruffle the temper. Then, if we wish to feel and act as Christians should, let us spread the case before the Lord; let us not trust to our command of temper, or to any resolutions we may have formed, but meet the sudden call upon our patience and forbearance by a prompt application to the Fountain whence those graces flow. It is possible to pray under any circumstances. Ejaculatory prayer is a most precious privilege, especially in circumstances of sudden trial or temptation. As anger springs up so suddenly in the mind in cases of irritation, it is most happy that there is an antidote to its evil effects on the mind that may be resorted to as speedily (H. E. I. 3765–3773). How much better is prayer than angry retorts (H. E. I. 261–271).
The good effects of the habit of carrying everything to God are not limited to those three cases; they extend to every conceivable circumstance of trial or temptation. They have yet to learn the value of religion who do not know the difference it makes in a state of trial and affliction to have the privilege of turning to a reconciled and loving Father, and spreading our calamity before Him, and asking His tender and strong support. As trials may befall us any hour, we should live in constant fellowship with Him (H. E. I. 3872–3879).—John Marriott, M.A.: Sermons, pp. 424–436.
SPREADING THE LETTER BEFORE THE LORD
Isa_37:14. And Hezekiah received the letter, &c.
The letter was an insolent cartel of defiance from the Assyrian king Sennacherib, full as much of blasphemous defiance against God as of insolence to God’s servant. It represents the conflict between Assyria and Judah as being a struggle between the gods of one nation and the God of the other. The point of it is: “Don’t let the God in whom thou trusteth deceive thee, saying Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hands of Assyria. Thou hast seen what Assyria has done to all lands, and is thy God any better than theirs?” So the king of Judah, very simple and child-like, picks up the piece of blasphemy and goes up to the temple and spreads it out before God. A very naïve piece of unconscious symbolism! The meaning of it comes out in the prayer that follows: “Open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see,” &c. It is for Thee to act. That is the essential meaning of Hezekiah’s action.
I. It was an appeal to God’s knowledge. For his comfort it was necessary to make this appeal. That which influences and agitates us, we need in some way to spread before the Lord. When some great anxiety strikes its talons deep into our hearts, we need to have the truth made clear to ourselves. The Eyes up yonder see all about it. A plain old piece of commonplace, but, oh! there is a deep, unutterable consolation when a man realises this. “Thy Father which is in secret, seeth in secret.”
II. It was an appeal to God’s honour. His prayer was this in effect: “Hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to reproach the living God. I say nothing about myself, but it is Thine honour that is threatened. If this insolent braggart does the thing which he threatens, then it will be said, ‘Forasmuch as this Jehovah was not able to save His people, therefore He let them perish;’ those who worship other gods will say, ‘Jehovah is a name without meaning’—Thy name, which is above every name!” If a man has not got something like that in his prayers, they are poor prayers. With all humility, yet with all self-confidence, ask Him, not so much to deliver you, as to be true to His character and His promises, to be self-consistent with all that He has been; and let us feel, as we have a right to feel, that if any human soul, that ever in the faintest, poorest, humblest manner put out a trembling hand of confidence towards His great hand to grasp it, was suffered to go down and perish, there is a blight and blot on the fair fame of God before the whole creation which nothing can obliterate. But the feeblest cry shall be answered, the feeblest faith rewarded! Let us grasp the thought that not only for our own poor selves—though, blessed be God, He does take our happiness for a worthy object—but because His honour and fair fame are so inextricably wound with our well-being, He must answer the cries of His people (Eze_36:22-24).
III. Let us take out of the story, not only what we ought to do when we go to God in prayer, but the kind of things we ought to take to Him. Every difficulty, danger, trial, temptation, or blasphemy by which His name is polluted, should be at once spread out before the Lord. But most of all the common things of everyday life! The small boy, whom one of our writers tells of, who used to pray that he might have strength given him to learn his Latin declension, had a better understanding of prayer than the men of the world can understand (H. E. I. 3756, 3757).
IV. Another lesson: If you have not been in the habit of going to the House of God at other times, it will be a hard job to find your way there when your eyes are blinded with tears, and your hearts heavy with anxiety. Hezekiah had cultivated a habit of trusting God and referring everything to Him; so he went straight into the Temple as by instinct, where he could have found his way in the dark, and spread this letter before the Lord as a matter of course. It is a poor thing when a man’s religion is like a waterproof coat, that is only good to wear when it rains, and has to be taken off when the weather improves a little! If you want to get the blessedness of fellowship with God and help from Him in the dark days, learn the road to the Temple in sunshine and gladness, and do not wait for the bellow of the pitiless storm and darkness upon the path, before you go up to the Temple of God (H. E. I. 3877–3879).
V. What do we get by this habit of spreading out everything before God?
1. Valuable counsel. I do not know anything that has such a power of clearing a man’s way, scattering mists, removing misconceptions, letting us see the true nature of some dazzling specious temptations, as the habit of turning to prayer. In ninety-nine cases out of a hundred, the thing that perplexes us is that the steadiness of the hand that holds the microscope is affected by the beating of the heart and the passionate desires and wishes, and so there is nothing defined and clear; it is all a haze. Firmness of hand, clearness of vision, come in prayer to the man who is accustomed to take the harassing “letter” and spread it out before the Lord (H. E. I. 3741–3743).
2. A very accurate and easily applied test. I do not wonder that so many of us do not like to pray about our plans and about our anxieties; it is either because the plans have no God in them, or the anxieties have no faith. Anything we cannot pray about, we had better not touch. Any anxiety that is not substantial enough to bear lifting and laying before God, ought never to trouble us. Test your lives, your thoughts, your affairs, your purposes by this. Will they stand carriage to the Temple? If not, the sooner you get rid of them the better. And then, “In nothing be anxious; but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God; and,” in spite of all the blatant Sennacheribs who have poured out their insolent blasphemies, “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall guard your hearts and your thoughts in Christ Jesus.”—Alexander Maclaren, in Outlines of Sermons on the Old Testament, pp. 81–85.
The Preacher's Complete Homiletical Commentary (gen. ed. Joseph S. Exell; Funk & Wagnalls, c. 1892) — public domain (pre-1929). A full-Bible homiletical/sermon-outline anthology covering 65 of 66 books (2 John is absent from the source module). Text from a community e-Sword module.
Alexander MacLaren 1905 · Public Domain On v14
Isaiah
THE TRIUMPH OF FAITH
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WHERE TO CARRY TROUBLES
Isa 37:14.
When Hezekiah heard the threatenings of Sennacherib’s servants, he rent his clothes and went into the house of the Lord, and sent to Isaiah entreating his prayers. When he received the menacing letter, his faith was greater, having been heartened by Isaiah’s assurances. So he then himself appealed to Jehovah, spreading the letter before Him, and himself prayed God to guard His own honour, and answer the challenge flung down by the insolent Assyrian. It is noble when faith increases as dangers increase.
I. We have here an example of what to do with troubles and difficulties.
We are to lay them out before God, as we can do by praying about them. Hezekiah’s trouble was great. His kingdom could be crushed like an eggshell by the grasp of Sennacherib’s hand. But little troubles as well as great ones are best dealt with by being ‘spread before the Lord.’ Whatever is important enough to disturb me is important enough for me to speak to God about it. Whether the poison inflaming our blood be from a gnat’s bite, or a cobra’s sting, the best antidote is-pray about it.
How much more real and fervid our prayers would be, if we habitually turned all our affairs into materials for petition! That is a very empty dispute as to whether we ought to pray for deliverance from outward sorrows. If we are living in touch with God, we cannot but take Him into our confidence, if we may so say, as to everything that affects us. And we should as soon think of hiding any matter from our dearest on earth as from our Friend in heaven. ‘In everything, by prayer and supplication’ is the commandment, and will be the instinct of the devout heart.
Note Hezekiah’s assurance that God cares about him.
Note his clear perception that God is his only help.
Note his identification of his own deliverance with God’s honour. We cannot identify our welfare, or deliverance in small matters, with God’s fair fame, in such a fashion. But we ought to be quite sure that He will not let us sink or perish, and will never desert us. And we can be quite sure that, if we identify ourselves and our work with Him, He will identify Himself with us and it. His treatment of His servants will tell the world {and not one world only} what He is, how faithful, how loving, how strong.
II. We have here an example of how God answers His servants’ prayers.
It was ‘by terrible things in righteousness’ that Hezekiah’s answer came. His prayer was at one end of the chain, and at the other was a camp full of corpses. One poor man’s cry can set in motion tremendous powers, as a low whisper can start an avalanche. That magnificent theophany in Psa 18:1 - Psa 18:50, with all its majesty and terror of flashing lightnings and a rocking earth, was brought about by nothing more than ‘In my distress I called upon the Lord,’ and its purpose was nothing more than to draw the suppliant out of many waters and deliver him from his strong enemy.
That army swept off the earth may teach us how much God will do for a praying child of His. His people’s deliverance is cheaply purchased at such a price. ‘He reproved kings for their sake.’
One man with God beside him is stronger than all the world. As the psalmist learned in his hour of peril, ‘Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell in safety, thou alone!’
Alexander MacLaren, Expositions of Holy Scripture (1904–1910) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
C. I. Scofield 1917 · Public Domain On v10 (See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
trustest
(See Scofield "Psa 2:12")
The Scofield Reference Bible (1917 edition), notes by C. I. Scofield — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv11, 14 General Information:
General Information:
This continues the king of Assyria's message to Hezekiah.
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See, you have heard
The word "see" here is used to add emphasis to what is said next. AT: "You have certainly heard"
So will you be rescued?
The king of Assyria uses this question to ridicule Hezekiah and his army. This may be written as a statement. AT: "So you too will not be saved." or "So of course no one will rescue you either!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Have the gods of the nations rescued them ... Tel Assar?
The king of Assyria uses this question to ridicule Hezekiah and his army. This may be written as a statement. AT: "The nations' god did not rescue the nations that my fathers destroyed ... Tel Assar!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
that my fathers destroyed
These men destroyed the cities listed by conquering them with their armies. Here the word "fathers" refers to his father and his other ancestors who were kings. AT: "that my fathers destroyed with their armies" (See: Synecdoche)
Gozan ... Haran ... Rezeph ... Eden ... Tel Assar ... Hena ... Ivvah
These are places that the Assyrians had conquered. (See: How to Translate Names)
Where is the king ... Ivvah?
The king of Assyria uses this question to ridicule Hezekiah and his army. This may be written as a statement. AT: "We also conquered the king ... Ivvah!" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Hamath ... Arpad ... Sepharvaim
Translate the names of these cities the same as you did in Isaiah 36:19. (See: How to Translate Names)
translationWords
king
Assyria
false god
nation
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv9, 12, 14 37:9 King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was then the ruler…
37:9 King Tirhakah of Ethiopia was then the ruler of Egypt.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.