14 Then Hezekiah took the letter from the hand of the messengers and read it, and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord . 15 Hezekiah prayed before the Lord and said , "O Lord , the God of Israel , who are enthroned above the cherubim , You are the God , You alone , of all the kingdoms of the earth . You have made heaven and earth . 16 " Incline Your ear , O Lord , and hear ; open Your eyes , O Lord , and see ; and listen to the words of Sennacherib , which he has sent to reproach the living God . 17 "Truly , O Lord , the kings of Assyria have devastated the nations and their lands 18 and have cast their gods into the fire , for they were not gods but the work of men's hands , wood and stone . So they have destroyed them. 19 "Now , O Lord our God , I pray , deliver us from his hand that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that You alone , O Lord , are God ."
20 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent to Hezekiah saying , "Thus says the Lord , the God of Israel , 'Because you have prayed to Me about Sennacherib king of Assyria , I have heard you.' 21 "This is the word that the Lord has spoken against him: 'She has despised you and mocked you, The virgin daughter of Zion ; She has shaken her head behind you, The daughter of Jerusalem ! 22 'Whom have you reproached and blasphemed ? And against whom have you raised your voice , And haughtily lifted up your eyes ? Against the Holy One of Israel ! 23 ' Through your messengers you have reproached the Lord , And you have said , "With my many chariots I came up to the heights of the mountains , To the remotest parts of Lebanon ; And I cut down its tall cedars and its choice cypresses . And I entered its farthest lodging place , its thickest forest . 24 "I dug wells and drank foreign waters , And with the sole of my feet I dried up All the rivers of Egypt ." 25 ' Have you not heard ? Long ago I did it; From ancient times I planned it. Now I have brought it to pass , That you should turn e fortified cities into ruinous heaps . 26 'Therefore their inhabitants were short of strength , They were dismayed and put to shame ; They were as the vegetation of the field and as the green herb , As grass on the housetops is scorched before it is grown up. 27 'But I know your sitting down , And your going out and your coming in, And your raging against Me. 28 'Because of your raging against Me, And because your arrogance has come up to My ears , Therefore I will put My hook in your nose , And My bridle in your lips , And I will turn you back by the way which you came . 29 'Then this shall be the sign for you: you will eat this year what grows of itself, in the second year what springs from the same, and in the third year sow , reap , plant vineyards , and eat their fruit . 30 ' The surviving remnant of the house of Judah will again take root downward and bear fruit upward . 31 'For out of Jerusalem will go forth a remnant , and out of Mount Zion survivors . The zeal of the Lord will perform this . 32 'Therefore thus says the Lord concerning the king of Assyria , " He will not come to this city or shoot an arrow there ; and he will not come before it with a shield or throw up a siege ramp against it. 33 " By the way that he came , by the same he will return , and he shall not come to this city ,"' declares the Lord . 34 ' For I will defend this city to save it for My own sake and for My servant David's sake .' "
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Kings 19:14-34
Commentary on 2 Kings 19:8-19
(Read 2 Kings 19:8-19)
Prayer is the never-failing resource of the tempted Christian, whether struggling with outward difficulties or inward foes. At the mercy-seat of his almighty Friend he opens his heart, spreads his case, like Hezekiah, and makes his appeal. When he can discern that the glory of God is engaged on his side, faith gains the victory, and he rejoices that he shall never be moved. The best pleas in prayer are taken from God's honour.
Commentary on 2 Kings 19:20-34
(Read 2 Kings 19:20-34)
All Sennacherib's motions were under the Divine cognizance. God himself undertakes to defend the city; and that person, that place, cannot but be safe, which he undertakes to protect. The invasion of the Assyrians probably had prevented the land from being sown that year. The next is supposed to have been the sabbatical year, but the Lord engaged that the produce of the land should be sufficient for their support during those two years. As the performance of this promise was to be after the destruction of Sennacherib's army, it was a sign to Hezekiah's faith, assuring him of that present deliverance, as an earnest of the Lord's future care of the kingdom of Judah. This the Lord would perform, not for their righteousness, but his own glory. May our hearts be as good ground, that his word may strike root therein, and bring forth fruit in our lives.