Isaiah 37:15-20

It’s easy to mistake that other people’s gods might just be worth serving, cuz their lives often look smoother, more prosperous, more desirable than mine (e.g., the conversation I had with Aundrea recently about spending lots of money to have a nicely furnished house). That’s the position Hezekiah was in here with the Assyrian army on his doorstep. Sennacherib even made the point explicitly about superior gods (vv 10-13).

So Hezekiah’s prayer is helpful to reorient my soul. He recalls that God is exalted (“enthroned above the cherubim”), personal (“God of Israel”), supreme (“you are the God, you alone”), and powerful (“who made heaven and earth”). Then he implores God to listen and to see their dire situation, which he recounts in picturesque language (vv. 17-19). He observes that the nations who fell to Assyria had one distinct difference from Israel: fake gods (v 19)! And finally, he requests salvation for God’s own sake: “that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord” (v. 20). An awesome model prayer and one that gives me so much hope in my own struggle against the enemies of God in my own life!