2 Kings 18-19
Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying... O Lord, our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord, even Thou only. Isa. 37:2020Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only. (Isaiah 37:20).
I AM now going to speak to you about something I told you a long time ago. I shall be very pleased if you have not forgotten it, for it is a hard thing to remember. Do you remember that God had been angry with King Solomon, and that God had said his son should be king only over part of Canaan? What God had said came true. Jeroboam took away a great deal of the land from Solomon's son. Jeroboam was called the king of Israel; and Solomon's son was called king of Judah. Now Solomon's son lived in Jerusalem, but Jeroboam lived in the other part of the land.
I have told you about some of the kings of Israel, about Ahab and Ahaziah; but there were a great many more besides, and they were all wicked, so that God let the king of Assyria come at last and take the king and the people of Israel into Assyria, which was a country a long way off. I have not told you about the kings of Judah. When Solomon's son died, his son was king of Judah, and when he died, his son was king—and so there were a great many kings one after another: some of the kings of Judah were good, and some were wicked. There was a good king, called Hez-e-ki-ah.
He lived at Jerusalem, and he liked to worship God in the temple, and he persuaded a great many people to come and worship God: for Hezekiah loved God.
Now you shall hear what care God took of Hezekiah. God had let the king of Assyria take away the people of Israel. Would God let him hurt the good king of Judah? Hear what God did!
The king of Assyria sent some of his soldiers to Jerusalem: and they brought their tents, and put them all round the city, and tried to get in. The people shut the gates: still they were afraid lest the king of Assyria's soldiers should get in at last. But Hezekiah knew that God would keep them from being hurt. The people of Assyria spoke very wicked words against God, while they were waiting outside Jerusalem: and one day the king of Assyria wrote a letter, and sent it to Hezekiah.
It was a very wicked letter: this was what was written in it. 'Your God cannot save you from the king of Assyria, who has conquered a great many countries: the gods of those people could not save them, neither can your God save you.'
Some men brought this letter to King Hezekiah, and he read it. He could not bear to read such wicked words against God: so he took it into the temple, and spread the letter before God, and began to pray. He said, 'O God, thou art the true God; Thou hast made heaven and earth. Other gods are only idols, made of wood and stone: they could not keep people from being hurt. O save us from the king of Assyria, that everybody may know that Thou art the only God.'
God heard Hezekiah's prayer. Now I will tell you what God did that night. He sent His angel to kill a great many of the people of Assyria as they lay in their tents. The angels did not kill them all: but the rest were very much frightened, when they found that so many had died in the night: and they went back to their own country, and they did not get into Jerusalem.
So God saved Hezekiah, king of Judah. Hezekiah was glad that all the people saw that his God was the true God. God can keep all people from being hurt. What should we do when we are frightened? We should pray to God to save us.
Does it never frighten you to think of the devil and all his wicked angels? Then is the time to pray to God to save us from them. God will hear us.
Why will He hear us? Is it because we are good that He will hear us? No, that is not the reason: for no one is really good. But this is the reason—Because He is kind and good, and because He promised Jesus that He would hear us, for Jesus' sake. Jesus died that His Father might hear our prayers and forgive us our sins.
The Assyrian host unburied lie,
While from each vale, and hill, and wood,
Wild beasts and birds are hastening nigh,
To eat their flesh and drink their blood.
The hand that lately grasped a sword,
The eye of pride, the lip of scorn,
The tongue that railed against the Lord,
By great wild beasts shall soon be torn.
How sweet the dawn of that dread day,
On those who safe in Zion dwell!
On cymbals, harps, and lutes they play,
And praise the God of Israel.
He heard the wicked heathen boast,
And Hezekiah's humble prayer.
His angel slew the Assyrian host,
While Israel slept beneath His care.
Child
How easy 'twere for God to slay
His enemies this very night!
O why does He so long delay
To make them feel His dreadful might?
'Tis love that makes Him slow to kill:
He waits that all men may repent;
Yet if they grieve His goodness still,
They'll share in endless punishment.
Questions on Lesson 36
What punishment had God given to Solomon a long while before Elisha lived?
What was that part of the land called which Jeroboam was king over?
What was that part of the land called which Solomon's son was king over?
Was Jerusalem in Judah or in Israel?
What became at last of the people of Israel?
Were there a great many kings, one after the other, over Judah?
Were any of them good?
Who was Hezekiah?
What king sent soldiers to fight against Jerusalem?
Why did the king of Assyria think that he should be able to conquer Jerusalem?
What did Hezekiah do with the wicked letter that the king of Assyria wrote to him?
How did God save Hezekiah from the king of Assyria?
What should we do when we feel afraid? Why will God hear our prayers?