It was 'by terrible things in righteousness' that Hezekiah's answer
came. His prayer was at one end of the chain, and at the other was a
camp full of corpses. One poor man's cry can set in motion tremendous
powers, as a low whisper can start an avalanche. That magnificent
theophany in Psalm xviii., with all its majesty and terror of flashing
lightnings and a rocking earth, was brought about by nothing more than
'In my distress I called upon the Lord,' and its purpose was nothing
more than to draw the suppliant out of many waters and deliver him from
his strong enemy.
That army swept off the earth may teach us how much God will do for a
praying child of His. His people's deliverance is cheaply purchased at
such a price. 'He reproved kings for their sake.'
One man with God beside him is stronger than all the world. As the
psalmist learned in his hour of peril, 'Thou, Lord, makest me to dwell
in safety, thou alone!'