Isaiah 37:21-38 – Relying on God
Ultimately Hezekiah and his people relied upon God, for He was, and He remains, and ever shall be, reliable. God answers the prayer, and He honors the faith that He had put into Hezekiah and his people. He begins by acknowledging His own people, not casting them off. What an encouragement to those who had heard with dismay the claims of Sennacherib. They knew that they had been great sinners, and they knew that they deserved a casting off. God rebukes Sennacherib for raising himself up over God. God reminds Sennacherib that the only reason they were able to do anything was because Jehovah had allowed them to do so. And they were being used by Jehovah as an instrument of discipline against His people.
Then in verses 30 through 35, God promises deliverance. He had preserved the remnant as we see in verses 30-32. And He promises in verses 33- 35 that no attack will come despite Sennacherib’s boasting. That’s immediately what happens. For the very next morning, the army is struck down. 185,000 men — dead overnight! Sennacherib had bragged, ‘nobody could stop me.’ But God, in order to bless and care for His covenant people, in order to glorify His name, does it overnight. And the fearsome king must return with his tail between his legs, in a manner of speaking, and is murdered by a couple of his own sons, where his own god couldn’t protect him.
The church of Jesus Christ always has trials of different sorts. And so very often the trials she faces are because of her own folly. And we can begin to be scared and worried. And the enemies may begin to gloat and say, nothing can stop us. But we still have His promises. We still have His Word. We still have prayer, and He still hears us. We still have the covenant God. Whether we are thinking of the trials and the difficulties before us as a congregation, as a denomination, for the true church of Jesus Christ as a whole within our society, we can fully rely on God. So let us go to His Word and take those promises in faith. Let us go to Him in prayer through our covenant head, the Lord Jesus Christ. Let us repent of our sin. In God’s best timing and in His best way, He will deliver, and He will vindicate His name. He will show forth his glory. He will bring the abundant blessings of the covenant as we rely upon our God.
Questions
- How did God answer Hezekiah’s prayer?
- What happened to Sennacherib?
Prayer Points
- Pray for the preaching and hearing of God’s Word tomorrow.
- Use prayer points from your congregation.
- Pray for family matters.