Offer A Prayer for the Remnant

King Hezekiah waited patiently for his messengers to return from speaking to Rabshekah. When they returned with the letter from the King of Assyria with their clothes torn in mourning, the king of Judah tore his clothes in mourning also. Then he took off his royal robes and covered himself with sackcloth. Dressed in grief and mourning, he entered the house of the LORD to pray.

Hezekiah sent Eliakim, Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests all covered with sackcloth to Isaiah the prophet. As the elders of the priests entered the home of Isaiah, they shared the message of Hezekiah, ‘This is a day of distress, rebuke, and rejection; for children have come to birth, and there is not strength to deliver. Perhaps the LORD your God will hear the words of Rabshekah, whom his master the King of Assyria has sent to reproach the Living God, and will rebuke the words which the LORD your God has heard. Therefore, offer a prayer for the remnant that is left.’ What Hezekiah was admitting was that his plans to get Egypt to come to his aid had failed. The plan was formed, messengers were sent, and the end result was failure. The only One who could save them now was their God, whom Hezekiah should have consulted first but had not.

Isaiah heard the words of the messengers and gave them a response to bring to Hezekiah, ‘Thus says the LORD, ‘Do not be afraid because of the words that you have heard, with which the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed Me. Behold, I will put a spirit in him so that he will hear a rumor and return to his own land. And I will make him fall by the sword in his own land.’’ 

Rabshekah returned to Sennacherib and found him fighting against Libnah, for he had defeated Lachish. He gave his report, then another report was given that Tirhakah king of Cush was coming to fight Sennacherib. That battle would take all of his attention, so he sent even more messengers to Hezekiah with a similar message as before. His message to Hezekiah was that he should not trust in his God or be decieved, because he would return and destroy Jerusalem just as he had all of the other cities and lands. The gods of those places had failed them, and the God of Israel would not stand a chance against the might of Assyria. They would not be spared. And he even gave a list of conquered lands to prove his point.

Hezekiah took that second letter from the hand of the messengers and read it. Then he went up to the house of the LORD and spread it out before the LORD. Then he himself prayed to the LORD, recognizing Him for who He Is. ‘O LORD of hosts, the God of Israel, who art enthroned above the cherubim, Thou art the God, Thou Alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth. Thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline Thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open Thine eyes, O LORD, and see; and listen to all the words of Sennacherib, who sent them to reproach the Living God. Truly, O LORD, the kings of Assyria have devastated all the countries and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire, for they were not gods but the works of men’s hands, wood and stone. So they have destroyed them. And now, O LORD our God, deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou alone, LORD, art God.’

Hezekiah finally got to the point where he turned to the God of Israel for salvation. That is where he should have started before thinking to send envoys to the King of Egypt. Finally he had humbled himself before the LORD and asked for deliverance. Finally he recognized that this was something only God could accomplish. And he prayed himself, not asking someone else to pray for him. His tears, his words, the kings himself bowed before the LORD to seek the help of the only God who hears and answers prayer.