All true children of God desire to talk to their heavenly Father. They want to talk to him about their lives, to fellowship with him, and to ask him for help in difficult situations. Sometimes, their needs are massive and immediate. Their need is urgent. Large and looming circumstances hover over them, threatening to engulf them in its destructive path. They need the Lord God to come quickly to their rescue, bringing comfort and peace. No one else can help; only the Lord can come with the needed help. So we call on him in the hour of our pressing need.
We find many prayers of this nature in the Bible. One of them is the prayer of Hezekiah, king of Judah. We find the prayer of Hezekiah in 2 Kings 19:14-19 and Isaiah 37:14-20. Hezekiah was king of Judah from about 715 til about 686 BC. He was one of the best kings of Judah. Shortly before his reign, the massive and cruel Assyrian Army invaded and defeated the northern Kingdom of Israel and its capital city, Samaria, in 722 BC. The Assyrians were empire-building and had defeated numerous cities and kingdoms before setting their sights on the kingdoms of Israel and Judah. After defeating several leading cities of Judah, the Assyrians laid siege to Jerusalem in 701 BC.The king of Assyria sent leading officials with a large army to Jerusalem. They encircled the city and began a propaganda campaign against the people of the city to cause them to loose heart and surrender. The leader of the delegation sent a letter to Hezekiah, trying to intimidate him. When Hezekiah received the letter and read it, he immediately went to the temple of the Lord to seek him in prayer. The Lord would answer Hezekiah’s prayer in a dramatic way. In the face of unavoidable defeat from a human perspective, Hezekiah cried out to the Lord for mercy to be rescued. Hezekiah’s prayer is rich in biblical truth and is instructive for us when we face insurmountable circumstances in our lives.
The prayer of Hezekiah has three movements: (1) Recognition of God’s Greatness (Isaiah 37:14-20). (2) Plea for God to Hear and See (Isaiah 37:19-19). (3) Request for Salvation (37:20). We want to look at each of these to discover how we can cry out to God in our urgent need.
God’s Greatness
King Hezekiah begins his prayer by recognizing and ascribing majesty and greatness to God (Isaiah 37:14-16). By beginning this way, Hezekiah is acknowledging to whom he is praying as the only one who can do what is necessary to change the situation. He ascribes five attributes of greatness to God. First, Hezekiah calls God, “the Lord of Hosts.” This is a common title for God in the OT, occurring 233 times. The name, Lord of Hosts, is the English translation of the Hebrew, Yahweh Sabaoth. It literally means the Lord’s armies and refers to the angelic armies of which the Lord is commander and King. This name for God speaks of the Lord in his glory as the one who is surrounded by an extremely large host of angels, and who is the sovereign almighty of the universe. It is noteworthy that Hezekiah calls the Lord by this name as he is surrounded by the largest and most fierce army in the world at that time.
Second, Hezekiah calls the Lord, “God of Israel.” This name brings to mind the covenant relationship the Lord has with his people, Israel. The Lord himself called Israel to be his people. He is the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob. He is the God of Moses and David. He is their God, and they belong to him. He has made promises to them, and he must come to their rescue for them to continue in the covenant relationship. Third, Hezekiah says that the Lord is, “Enthroned above cherubim.” This designationrefers to the ark of the covenant with a large cherub on either side in the holies of holies, which is the inner sanctuary of the temple. It is the most holy place in Israel and is the dwelling place of the Lord. This title speaks to the sovereign presence of the Lord in the place of atonement. God is present with his people, atoning for their sins so that they are qualified to stand in his presence. Fourth, Hezekiah calls the Lord, “the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth.” In the ancient world, each group of people had its own gods, and the strongest god would defeat the weaker ones. Thus, the Assyrians had defeated all other nations and the gods they faced. Hezekiah is saying that he knows that there are no other gods but that the Lord is alone, the God of all nations of the earth. Therefore, the Lord alone has the right and power to destroy them as they threaten his covenant people. Finally, Hezekiah calls the Lord, “You have made heaven and earth.” The Lord God is the creator of all things and is able to control the destiny of all things. This is the Lord God Hezekiah prays to and appeals to for rescue.
Plea for God to Hear and See
The second part of Hezekiah’s prayer is a plea to the Lord to hear and see (Isaiah 37:17-19). In this part of the prayer, we see Hezekiah’s desperation. The desperation is not only for Hezekiah and the people of Jerusalem but a serious threat to the Lord’s plan and glory. Hezekiah calls on the Lord to hear the wicked words of the Assyrian king who mocks the living God. He also calls on the Lord to see the letter from the king of Assyria that he has laid out before the Lord and to see the situation his covenant people face from the mighty Assyrian army. All followers of Jesus Christ find themselves in desperate situations. When that happens, they can call out to the Lord to hear and see what they are facing. As Hezekiah did so, believers can do by seeing their situation in terms of the plan of God and calling on the Lord for mercy.
Request for Salvation
The final part of Hezekiah’s prayer is short and to the point (37:20). It is Hezekiah’s basic prayer request of the Lord. It is a prayer for the Lord to save them, to rescue them from the hand of the evil Assyrian king and his bloodthirsty army. Hezekiah asks the Lord to do this so that, “all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” He is praying for the Lord’s glory. When believers pray in desperate situations, they can pray that the Lord will be glorified in answering their prayers and meeting their needs.
Conclusion
The prayer of Hezekiah, like all prayers, is closely connected to the dire situation he was facing in his life. However, it is not only ancient kings like Hezekiah who face dire situations but all believers in Jesus Christ. We live in a fallen and sinful world. We also live in a spiritual battlefield. We will face dire situations from which we cannot rescue ourselves. We need the mighty hand of the Lord to intervene in our lives. When this happens, we can pray like Hezekiah. We can call on the Lord in terms of who he is in his holy character and in the covenant relationship we have with him. All believers are in a covenant relationship with God through the blood of Jesus Christ. We can also pray in terms of the details of the dire situation we are facing. It doesn’t matter that the Lord already knows the situation. We can still lay them before him in desperation. God loves a seeking heart. And finally, we can lay before the Lord the basic prayer requests as we perceive it, wrapped in a call for the Lord to glorify himself in our rescue. It is a call to make himself known. That is one of the reasons, maybe even the main reason, we are in the situation we face. God seeks to make himself and his plan of salvation known in the world. Your struggle and your prayer may be the vehicle through which that can happen.
We too are living desperate times and hear of many desperate situations. This is something the believer must hold onto.
Thanks for sharing.