Verses from 2 Kings

“希西家在耶和华面前祷告，说：“耶和华以色列的神，坐在二基路伯中间的啊，只有你是地上万国的神，天地是你创造的。 耶和华啊！求你侧耳聆听；耶和华啊！求你睁眼垂顾；听那派使者来侮辱永活的神的西拿基立的话。耶和华啊！亚述列王真的曾毁坏列国和它们的领土，把它们的神丢进火里，但他们并不是神，不过是人手用木头、石头做成的，因此他们可以把他们除掉。现在，耶和华我们的神啊，求你从他的手中把我们拯救出来，地上万国就可以知道只有你耶和华才是神。””

列王纪下 19:15-19

“And Hezekiah prayed to the Lord: “ Lord, the God of Israel, enthroned between the cherubim, you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You have made heaven and earth. Give ear, Lord, and hear; open your eyes, Lord, and see; listen to the words Sennacherib has sent to ridicule the living God. “It is true, Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into the fire and destroyed them, for they were not gods but only wood and stone, fashioned by human hands. Now, Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone, Lord, are God.””

2 Kings 19:15-19

In the days before telephones, email, and mobile phones, the telegram was usually the fastest means of communication. But only important news was sent by telegram, and such news was usually bad. Hence the saying, “The telegram boy always brings bad news.”

It was wartime in ancient Israel when Hezekiah was king of Judah. Sennacherib, king of Assyria, had invaded and captured the cities of Judah. He then sent a letter to Hezekiah, a bad-news “telegram” urging his surrender. Hezekiah described the moment as “a day of distress and rebuke and disgrace” (2 Kings 19:3).

With taunts and scoffs, Sennacherib boasted of his past military campaigns, belittling the God of Israel and threatening mayhem (vv. 11-13). In that dreadful moment, King Hezekiah did an unusual thing with the bad-news letter: “He went up to the temple of the Lord and spread it out before the Lord” (v. 14). Then he prayed earnestly, acknowledging the power of God over their gloomy situation (vv. 15-19). God intervened in a powerful way (vv. 35-36).

Bad news can reach us at any time. In those moments, Hezekiah’s action is a good example to follow. Spread out the news before the Lord in prayer and hear His reassurance: “I have heard your prayer” (v. 20).

Heavenly Father, 

when people attack us, 

we tend to react defensively. 

Teach us to turn to You instead of taking matters into our own hands. 

We trust You and love You. 

Defend us today.

Prayer is the child’s helpless cry to the Father’s attentive ear.