Isaiah: Prayerful Surrender

Isaiah 36-37

There are times when I do everything I know to do. I have a problem, and I try to fix it. I think through the pros and cons, sometimes listing them on paper. I anticipate the “what ifs.” If this happens, I’ll go Route A. If that happens, I’ll go Route B. There is nothing wrong with using the brain that God has given us…if we depend on the God who has given us our brain. But often, I neglect to include God. Does this ever happen to you? 

King Hezekiah of Judah found himself in a dire situation, with the Assyrian army at the gates of Jerusalem. Hezekiah had attempted to forge an alliance with Egypt, but that effort failed. He even agreed to pay tribute to the king of Assyria, who accepted his money and then broke the agreement. 

The Assyrian ruler, Sennacherib, sent a high-ranking military official and a large army to Jerusalem so that Hezekiah would surrender. This official, whose title was the Rabshakeh, mocked Judah and their God. He went so far as to claim that God had sent him (Isa. 36:10), intending to instill fear in all those in Jerusalem. He warned them that if they did not surrender, the city would be under siege, and they would soon be eating their dung and drinking their urine (Isa. 36:12). 

Imagine if you were a Jew behind the walls surrounding Jerusalem with a vast army camped outside your gate, and you heard the Assyrian official call out in a loud voice:

Isaiah 36:13-20
“Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria! ¹⁴ Thus says the king: ‘Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you. ¹⁵ Do not let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord by saying, “The Lord will surely deliver us. This city will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.” ¹⁶ Do not listen to Hezekiah. For thus says the king of Assyria: Make your peace with me and come out to me. Then each one of you will eat of his own vine, and each one of his own fig tree, and each one of you will drink the water of his own cistern, ¹⁷ until I come and take you away to a land like your own land, a land of grain and wine, a land of bread and vineyards. ¹⁸ Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, “The Lord will deliver us.” Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? . . . Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? ²⁰ Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?’”

Rabshakeh was correct about a few points. The Assyrians had captured Samaria, the capital of Israel's northern kingdom, and conquered many other nations. It was true that the Judean army could not compete with the Assyrian fighting force. However, Rabshakeh overlooked one crucial detail: God was with his people, Judah. Too often, we ignore God until we need him. And now, Judah needed God. 

Hezekiah headed to the temple to pray and sent officials to Isaiah with this message: “This day is a day of distress, of rebuke, and of disgrace.” He asked Isaiah to “lift up your prayer for the remnant that is left” (Isa. 37:1-4). Isaiah sent back this message from the Lord, “Do not be afraid…” because God was at work (Isa. 37:5-7).

While Hezekiah was on his way to pray, God “put a spirit” in the Assyrian king so he would hear a rumor about a Cushite attack. This caused Sennacherib to postpone his assault on Jerusalem so his troops could confront the Cushites. However, before departing, he warned Hezekiah that he would return to complete the job at Jerusalem, stating, “Do not let your God in whom you trust deceive you by promising that Jerusalem will not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria” (Isa 37:10). 

Pause to think what is happening here. Sennacherib is the king of the vast Assyrian Empire. But God is sovereign over all kings and empires! Sennacherib mocked God and was intent on invading Jerusalem. God said, “Not today!” God used the Cushites to draw Sennacherib away from Jerusalem. The king's heart truly is like a stream of water in God’s hand, and “he turns it wherever he will” (Prov. 21:1).

I just read that three countries in the Middle East are investing over one trillion dollars in the United States. How will all that work out? How is God using that alliance? I don’t know, but I know this for sure: God is behind it all, moving the nations toward his intended purposes, ultimately leading to a new heaven and a new earth.

I also understand that things will become chaotic before the new heaven and new earth are ushered in. Isaiah has warned us about a time of tribulation on earth. Of course, we want to know when these events will occur, but no one can be certain of the timing. However, for believers who trust in God's sovereignty, there are no coincidences. Each day’s events strategically guide us to the heavenly kingdom. 

Hezekiah believed in God’s sovereignty and went to the temple to pray. Here is Hezekiah’s prayer. It is powerful and to the point. It is today’s Anchor Point.

Isaiah 37:16-20
“O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. ¹⁷ Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. ¹⁸ Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, ¹⁹ and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. ²⁰ So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” 

Let me conclude with a few observations about the king’s fervent appeal to God. This serves as a model prayer for us to follow.

• Hezekiah addresses God as “O Lord of hosts,” literally the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. Judah’s army could not defeat Assyria; victory could only come from God. The same applies to us. On our own, we cannot defeat our enemy. Victory will come only when the Lord of Heaven’s Armies is on our side. 
  
  
• Hezekiah acknowledges God as the Maker of heaven and earth and sovereign over all the kingdoms of the world. He then gets personal, calling the one and only God the “God of Israel.” Aren’t you thankful that the Sovereign Creator is also our heavenly Father? The believer can say, “You are my God, the God of me.”
  
  
• Notice how Hezekiah gets specific. He effectively says, “Okay, God, here’s the deal.” He entreats God to open his ears to hear and his eyes to see how Sennacherib is mocking “the living God.” He reminds God that Sennacherib is an earthly power, “having laid waste all the nations and their lands” and destroyed all the nations’ gods. However, those gods were “no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone.” The Lord is “our God.”
  
  
• Now, Hezekiah gets to the point of the prayer: Save us![1] Save us for your glory, “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” This is a critical point we can’t overlook: While every prayer request is specific to our situations, God’s work in our lives ultimately brings glory to him, so that everyone we interact with may know that God alone is our Lord! 

PERSONAL TIME WITH GOD
Time in the Word: Read and reflect on Isaiah 36-37. Read through our Anchor Point—Isaiah 37:16-20—a few times.   

Talking to God: Present your needs and requests before God using Hezekiah’s prayer as a model. Acknowledge the person of God. Specifically state your request. Express to God that your desire is for him to receive all the glory.  

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