xxxvii. 20. _Now, therefore, O Lord our God, save us, &c._
The conclusion of Hezekiah's prayer. Sennacherib had accomplished the
conquest of several countries, notwithstanding the protection of
their gods. He declared that the God who Hezekiah trusted would also
be unable to deliver him. What could the king do better than spread
the letter before the Lord, cry for help, and make the reproach of
the Almighty's power the principal plea? God's honour was at stake.
If Jerusalem was saved it would be a demonstration of God's exclusive
Divinity to all the nations around. The result was that the angel of
the Lord destroyed the Assyrian camp, so that Sennacherib returned to
Nineveh. It is one of the most remarkable answers to prayer.
This is pre-eminently a Christian prayer--that all the kingdoms of
the earth may know that the Lord is God alone. It is the end toward
which all Christian desire and effort is directed. We will consider
it in this view, and notice--