2 Kings 19:14

HEZEKIAH PRAYED TO GOD FOR DELIVERANCE OF JERUSALEM

"And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and Hezekiah went up unto the house of Jehovah, and spread it before Jehovah. And Hezekiah prayed before Jehovah, and said, O Jehovah, the God of Israel, that sitteth above the cherubim, thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; thou hast made heaven and earth. Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear the words of Sennacherib, wherewith he hath sent him to defy the living God. Of a truth, Jehovah, the kings of Assyria have laid waste the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire; for they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone; therefore they have destroyed them. Now therefore, O Jehovah our God, save thou us, I beseech thee, out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone."

"And Hezekiah ... spread it (the letter) before Jehovah" (2 Kings 19:14). "This was a symbolical action representing his prayer to Jehovah."[12] However, this was in no sense such a thing as the prayer-wheels of the Buddhists, or the petitions written on tiny strips of paper and attached to sacred trees. "What Hezekiah meant by his spreading out that letter in the house of Jehovah is spelled out in the prayer which followed."[13]

The prayer itself reaches sublime theological excellence. God is addressed, not merely as Israel's God, but as THE GOD OF ALL NATIONS and THE CREATOR OF HEAVEN AND EARTH. Furthermore, the basis of Hezekiah's humble plea for the salvation of his city is not based merely upon their own selfish interests, nor upon any claim that Israel deserved such a rescue, but, "Upon the need for the vindication of God's glory,"[14] and, "That all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou Jehovah art God alone" (2 Kings 19:19).

In this prayer Hezekiah also refuted Sennacherib's claim of having defeated the gods of all nations. That pagan ruler had equated Jehovah with all the gods of the pagans, but, "Hezekiah insisted that those gods were `no gods,' `mere blocks of wood or stone,' the works of the hands of men, but that Jehovah was the God of all the kingdoms of the earth."[15]