2 Kings 19:14

_AND HEZEKIAH RECEIVED THE LETTER OF THE HAND OF THE MESSENGERS, AND READ IT: AND HEZEKIAH WENT UP INTO THE HOUSE OF THE LORD, AND SPREAD IT BEFORE THE LORD._ Hezekiah received the letter ... and ... went up into the house of the Lord. Hezekiah, after reading it, hastened into the temple, spread it, in the child-like confidence of faith, before the Lord, as containing taunts deeply affecting the divine honour, and implored deliverance from this proud defier of God and man. The devout spirit of this prayer, the recognition of the Divine Being in the plenitude of His Majesty-so strikingly contrasted with the fancy of the Assyrians as to his merely local power; his acknowledgment of the conquests obtained over other lands, and of the destruction of their wooden idols, which, according to the Assyrian practice, were committed to the flames, because their tutelary deities were no gods; and t...

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....

Verse 2 Kings 19:14. _SPREAD IT BEFORE THE LORD_] The temple was considered to be _God's dwelling-place_; and that whatever was there was peculiarly under his eye. Hezekiah spread the letter before the Lord, as he wished him to read the blasphemies spoken against himself....

HEZEKIAH RECEIVED THE LETTER - The inscriptions show that scribes accompanied the Assyrian armies, with the materials of their craft, so that such a dispatch might be easily drawn up. As Hezekiah himself “read” it, we may presume that it was in the Hebrew tongue....

EXPOSITION 2 KINGS 19:1 SECOND EXPEDITION OF SENNACHERIB AGAINST HEZEKIAH (_continued_)._ _The chapter falls into four portions: (1) The sequel to the embassy of Rabshakeh (2 Kings 19:1); (2) the insulting letter of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:9); (3) Hezekiah's prayer, and God's answer to it by the mouth of Isaiah (verses 15-34); and (4) the destruction of Sennacherib's host, his hurried flight, and his murder at Nineveh by his sons (verses 35-37). The narrative runs parallel w

2 Kings 19:1...

2. HEZEKIAH AND ISAIAH AND THE DELIVERANCE CHAPTER 19 _ 1. Hezekiah's message to Isaiah (2 Kings 19:1)_ 2. Isaiah's answer. (2 Kings 19:6) 3. Sennacherib's message to Hezekiah (2 Kings 19:8; 2 Chronicles 32:17) 4. Hezekiah's Prayer (2 Kings 19:14; 2 Chronicles 32:20) 5. Jehovah's answer through Isaiah (2 Kin

2 KINGS 19:2. UNTO ISAIAH: from the Book of Isaiah we learn that the prophet had steadily opposed Hezekiah's intrigues against Assyria. SHELNA: Isaiah 22:15 *. 2 Kings 19:9. Ethiopia was the country S. of Egypt. At a time later than this (681 B.C. ?), Tirhakah seems to have established his government in Egypt. There is, therefore, a chronological difficulty in the mention of him here (p. 72). He is, however, not called king of Egypt, and he may have been acting as an ally of the princes of the Nile valley. 2 Kings 19:10. Sennacherib's letter to Hezekiah, showing how hopeless it was for a king of Juda

THE HOUSE OF THE LORD. Hezekiah's zeal for the house of Jehovah is seen in his "Songs of the degrees". Compare Psalms 122:1; Psalms 122:9; Psalms 134:1; Psalms 134:2. See App-67....

Hezekiah spreads the letter before the Lord, and prays for deliverance (2 Chronicles 32:20; Isaiah 37:14-20) 14. _Hezekiah received the letter_ Though bringing a written document the messengers of Sennacherib may be supposed to have also enforced their message by words of their own. _went up_into [R.V. UNTO] _the house of the Lord_ The change brings the words into exact likeness with the verse in Isaiah. It is not likely that the king entered the temple. He would go into no place which was set apart only for priests and Levites. It is more reasonable to suppose that standing at the porch he made his prayer towards the Holy of Holies to which he alludes. _spread it before the Lord_ We are not to think of this act as intended by the king to exh