2 Kings — Chapter 19

When king Ezechias had heard this, he rent his garments, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord. Lapide: Hezekiah's first response to Rabshakeh's blasphemy was not military preparation but prayer — going to the house of the Lord in sackcloth. This is the model of how Christian kings and peoples should respond to persecution: not relying primarily on armies, but on God. \"To him that goeth in sackcloth to pray, God is more propitious than to the king going in purple to war.\"

Ezechias received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it; and he went up to the house of the Lord and spread it before the Lord. Lapide: Hezekiah's act of spreading Sennacherib's letter before the Lord in the Temple is one of the most beautiful examples of prayer in Scripture. He laid the problem literally before God, as a child lays his troubles before his father. The prayer that follows (vv. 15-19) is a model: it begins with adoration of God as Creator, acknowledges the facts honestly, and asks for deliverance not for Israel's sake alone but \"that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord.\"

Save us out of his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou alone art the Lord God. Lapide: The motive of Hezekiah's prayer — \"that all the kingdoms of the earth may know\" — shows his zeal for God's glory above all things, including his own safety. This is the highest motive of prayer: the glory of God and the conversion of nations. God hears such prayer immediately, as the event shows. Lapide says this is the model for Christian rulers facing infidel or heretical enemies.

An angel of the Lord came and slew in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and eighty-five thousand. Lapide: The slaughter of 185,000 Assyrians by a single angel in one night is one of the greatest miracles of the Old Testament. It demonstrates the omnipotence of God, who can in a single moment overthrow the mightiest army. Lapide notes that the angel acted not by natural means but by divine power acting through an angelic instrument — and applies this to Providence: no enemy, however great, can prevail when God has resolved to protect His people. Sennacherib returned home and was murdered by his own sons.