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<center><h1>Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary
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on the Whole Bible</h1>
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[<A HREF="MHC00000.HTM">Table of Contents</A>]<BR>
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Matthew Henry<BR><I>Commentary on the Whole Bible</I> (1712)
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<!-- (Begin Body) -->
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<CENTER>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+3><B>I S A I A H.</B></FONT>
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<BR>
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<BR><FONT SIZE=+2>CHAP. XXXVII.</FONT>
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<HR SIZE=1 WIDTH=50>
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</CENTER>
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<FONT SIZE=-1>
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<P>
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In this chapter we have a further repetition of the story which we had
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before in the book of Kings concerning Sennacherib. In the foregoing
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chapter we had him conquering and threatening to conquer. In this
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chapter we have him falling, and at last fallen, in answer to prayer,
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and in fulfillment of many of the prophecies which we have met with in
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the foregoing chapters. Here we have,
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I. Hezekiah's pious reception of Rabshakeh's impious discourse,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:1">ver. 1</A>.
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II. The gracious message he sent to Isaiah to desire his prayers,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:2-5">ver. 2-5</A>.
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III. The encouraging answer which Isaiah sent to him from God, assuring
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him that God would plead his cause against the king of Assyria,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:6,7">ver. 6, 7</A>.
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IV. An abusive letter which the king of Assyria sent to Hezekiah, to
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the same purport with Rabshakeh's speech,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:8-13">ver. 8-13</A>.
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V. Hezekiah's humble prayer to God upon the receipt of this letter,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:14-20">ver. 14-20</A>.
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VI. The further full answer which God sent him by Isaiah, promising
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him that his affairs should shortly take a happy turn, that the storm
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should blow over and every thing should appear bright and serene,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:21-35">ver. 21-35</A>.
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VII. The immediate accomplishment of this prophecy in the ruin of his
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army
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:36">ver. 36</A>)
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and the murder of himself,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:37,38">
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ver. 37, 38</A>.
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All this was largely opened,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=2Ki+19:1-37">2 Kings xix.</A></P>
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</FONT>
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<A NAME="Isa37_1"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_2"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_3"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_4"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_5"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_6"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_7"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec1"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Hezekiah's Message to Isaiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard <I>it,</I> that he
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rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went
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into the house of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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2 And he sent Eliakim, who <I>was</I> over the household, and Shebna
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the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth,
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unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
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3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day <I>is</I> a
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day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children
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are come to the birth, and <I>there is</I> not strength to bring
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forth.
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4 It may be the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh,
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whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the
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living God, and will reprove the words which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> thy God
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hath heard: wherefore lift up <I>thy</I> prayer for the remnant that
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is left.
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5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
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6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your
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master, Thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, Be not afraid of the words that thou
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hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have
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blasphemed me.
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7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a
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rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall
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by the sword in his own land.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We may observe here,
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1. That the best way to baffle the malicious designs of our enemies
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against us is to be driven by them to God and to our duty and so to
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fetch meat out of the eater. Rabshakeh intended to frighten Hezekiah
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from the Lord, but it proves that he frightens him to the Lord. The
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wind, instead of forcing the traveller's coat from him, makes him wrap
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it the closer about him. The more Rabshakeh reproaches God the more
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Hezekiah studies to honour him, by rending his clothes for the
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dishonour done to him and attending in his sanctuary to know his mind.
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2. That it well becomes great men to desire the prayers of good men and
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good ministers. Hezekiah sent messengers, and honourable ones, those of
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the first rank, to Isaiah, to desire his prayers, remembering how much
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his prophecies of late had plainly looked towards the events of the
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present day, in dependence upon which, it is probable, he doubted not
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but that the issue would be comfortable, yet he would have it to be so
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in answer to prayer: <I>This is a day of trouble,</I> therefore let it
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be a day of prayer.
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3. When we are most at a plunge we should be most earnest in prayer:
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Now that the <I>children are brought to the birth,</I> but <I>there is
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not strength to bring forth,</I> now let prayer come, and help at a
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dead lift. When pains are most strong let prayers be most lively; and,
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when we meet with the greatest difficulties, then is a time to stir up
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not ourselves only, but others also, to take hold on God. Prayer is the
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midwife of mercy, that helps to bring it forth.
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4. It is an encouragement to pray though we have but some hopes of
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mercy
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(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>):
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<I>It may be the Lord thy God will hear; who knows but he will return
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and repent?</I> The <I>it may be</I> of the prospect of the haven of
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blessings should quicken us with double diligence to ply the oar of
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prayer.
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5. When there is a remnant left, and but a remnant, it concerns us to
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lift up a prayer for that remnant,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>.
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The prayer that reaches heaven must be lifted up by a strong faith,
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earnest desires, and a direct intention to the glory of God, all which
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should be quickened when we come to the last stake.
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6. Those that have made God their enemy we have no reason to be afraid
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of, for they are marked for ruin; and, though they may hiss, they
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cannot hurt. Rabshakeh has blasphemed God, and therefore let not
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Hezekiah be afraid of him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:6"><I>v.</I> 6</A>.
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He has made God a party to the cause by his invectives, and therefore
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judgment will certainly be given against him. God will certainly plead
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his own cause.
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7. Sinners' fears are but prefaces to their falls. He shall <I>hear
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the rumour</I> of the slaughter of his army, which shall oblige him to
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retire to his own land, and there he shall be slain,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
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The terrors that pursue him shall bring him at last to the <I>king of
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terrors,</I>
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Job+18:11,14">Job xviii. 11, 14</A>.
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The curses that come upon sinners shall overtake them.</P>
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<A NAME="Isa37_8"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_9"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_10"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_11"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_12"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_13"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_14"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_15"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_16"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_17"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_18"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_19"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_20"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec2"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Prayer of Hezekiah.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring
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against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from
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Lachish.
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9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is
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come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard <I>it,</I> he sent
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messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
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10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let
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not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying,
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Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of
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Assyria.
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11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done
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to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be
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delivered?
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12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers
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have destroyed, <I>as</I> Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the
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children of Eden which <I>were</I> in Telassar?
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13 Where <I>is</I> the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and
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the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
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14 And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the
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messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of
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the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and spread it before the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, saying,
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16 O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest <I>between</I> the
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cherubims, thou <I>art</I> the God, <I>even</I> thou alone, of all the
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kingdoms of the earth: thou hast made heaven and earth.
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17 Incline thine ear, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and hear; open thine eyes, O
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L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath
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sent to reproach the living God.
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18 Of a truth, L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all
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the nations, and their countries,
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19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they <I>were</I> no
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gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone: therefore they
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have destroyed them.
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20 Now therefore, O L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> our God, save us from his hand, that
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all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou <I>art</I> the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>,
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<I>even</I> thou only.
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</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We may observe here,
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1. That, if God give us inward satisfaction in his promise, this may
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confirm us in our silently bearing reproaches. God answered Hezekiah,
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but it does not appear that he, after deliberation, sent any answer to
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Rabshakeh; but, God having taken the work into his own hands, he
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quietly left the matter with him. <I>So Rabshakeh returned</I> to the
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king his master for fresh instructions.
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2. Those that delight in war shall have enough of it. Sennacherib,
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without provocation given to him or warning given by him, went forth to
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war against Judah; and now with as little ceremony the king of Ethiopia
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goes forth to war against him,
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<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:9"><I>v.</I> 9</A>.
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Those that are quarrelsome may expect to be quarrelled with; and God
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sometimes checks the rage of his enemies by giving it a powerful
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diversion.
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3. It is bad to talk proudly and profanely, but it is worse to write
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so, for this argues more deliberation and design, and what is written
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spreads further, lasts longer, and does the more mischief. Atheism and
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irreligion, written, will certainly be reckoned for another day.
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4. Great successes often harden sinners' hearts in their sinful ways
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and make them the more daring. Because the kings of Assyria have
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destroyed all lands (though, in fact, they were but a few that fell
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within their reach), therefore they doubt not but to destroy God's
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land; because the gods of the nations were unable to help they conclude
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the God of Israel is so; because the idolatrous kings of Hamath and
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Arphad became an easy prey to them therefore they doubt not but to
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destroy God's land; because the idolatrous kings of Hamath and Arphad
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became an easy prey to them therefore the religious reforming king of
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Judah must needs be so too. Thus is this proud man ripened for ruin by
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the sunshine of prosperity.
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5. Liberty of access to the throne of grace, and liberty of speech
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there, are the unspeakable privilege of the Lord's people at all times,
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especially in times of distress and danger. Hezekiah took Sennacherib's
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letter, and spread it before the Lord, not designing to make any
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complaints against him but those grounded upon his own handwriting. Let
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the thing speak itself; here it is in black and white: <I>Open thy
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eyes, O Lord! and see.</I> God allows his praying people to be humbly
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free with him, to utter all their words, as Jephthah did, before him,
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to spread the letter, whether of a friend or an enemy, before him, and
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leave the contents, the concern of it, with him.
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6. The great and fundamental principles of our religion, applied by
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faith and improved in prayer, will be of sovereign use to us in our
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particular exigencies and distresses, whatever they are; to them
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therefore we must have recourse, and abide by them; so Hezekiah did
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here. He encouraged himself with this, that the God of Israel is <I>the
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Lord of hosts,</I> of all hosts, of the hosts of Israel, to animate
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him, of the hosts of their enemies, to dispirit and restrain
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them,--that he is God <I>alone,</I> and there is none that can stand in
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competition with him,--that he is the <I>God of all the kingdoms of the
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earth,</I> and disposes of them all as he pleases; for he made heaven
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and earth, and therefore both can do any thing and does every thing.
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7. When we are afraid of men that are great destroyers we may with
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humble boldness appeal to God as the great Saviour. They have indeed
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destroyed the nations, who had thrown themselves out of the protection
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of the true God by worshipping false gods, but the Lord, the God alone,
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is our God, our King, our lawgiver, and he will save us, who is <I>the
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Saviour of those that believe.</I>
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8. We have enough to take hold of, in our wrestling with God by prayer,
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if we can but plead that his glory is interested in our case, that his
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name will be profaned if we are run down and glorified if we are
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relieved. Thence therefore will our most prevailing pleas be drawn:
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"Do it for thy glory's sake."</P>
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<A NAME="Isa37_21"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_22"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_23"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_24"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_25"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_26"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_27"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_28"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_29"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_30"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_31"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_32"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_33"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_34"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_35"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_36"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_37"> </A>
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<A NAME="Isa37_38"> </A>
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<A NAME="Sec3"> </A>
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<TABLE WIDTH="100%" BORDER=0>
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<TR><TD><FONT SIZE=+1><I>Sennacherib Threatened; Sennacherib Destroyed.</I></FONT></TD>
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<TD ALIGN=RIGHT><FONT SIZE=-1>B. C.</FONT> 710.</TD></TR>
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<TR><TD COLSPAN=2><HR SIZE=1></TD></TR>
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</TABLE>
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<P>
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<FONT SIZE=+1>21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus
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saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me
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against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
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22 This <I>is</I> the word which the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> hath spoken concerning
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him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, <I>and</I>
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laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her
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head at thee.
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23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom
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hast thou exalted <I>thy</I> voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high?
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<I>even</I> against the Holy One of Israel.
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24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast
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said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height
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of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down
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the tall cedars thereof, <I>and</I> the choice fir trees thereof: and
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I will enter into the height of his border, <I>and</I> the forest of
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his Carmel.
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25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet
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have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
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26 Hast thou not heard long ago, <I>how</I> I have done it; <I>and</I> of
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ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to
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pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities <I>into</I>
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ruinous heaps.
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27 Therefore their inhabitants <I>were</I> of small power, they were
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dismayed and confounded: they were <I>as</I> the grass of the field,
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and <I>as</I> the green herb, <I>as</I> the grass on the housetops, and <I>as
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|
corn</I> blasted before it be grown up.
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|
28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in,
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|
and thy rage against me.
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|
29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into
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|
mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my
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|
bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which
|
|
thou camest.
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|
30 And this <I>shall be</I> a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat <I>this</I>
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|
year such as groweth of itself; and the second year that which
|
|
springeth of the same: and in the third year sow ye, and reap,
|
|
and plant vineyards, and eat the fruit thereof.
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|
31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall
|
|
again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
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|
32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that
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|
escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> of hosts shall do
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|
this.
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|
33 Therefore thus saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> concerning the king of
|
|
Assyria, He shall not come into this city, nor shoot an arrow
|
|
there, nor come before it with shields, nor cast a bank against
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|
it.
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34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and
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|
shall not come into this city, saith the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT>.
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35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake,
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|
and for my servant David's sake.
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|
36 Then the angel of the L<FONT SIZE=-1><B>ORD</B></FONT> went forth, and smote in the camp
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|
of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and
|
|
when they arose early in the morning, behold, they <I>were</I> all
|
|
dead corpses.
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|
37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and
|
|
returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
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|
38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of
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|
Nisroch his god, that Adrammelech and Sharezer his sons smote him
|
|
with the sword; and they escaped into the land of Armenia: and
|
|
Esarhaddon his son reigned in his stead.
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|
</FONT></P>
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<P>
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We may here observe,
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|
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|
1. That those who receive messages of terror from men with patience,
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|
and send messages of faith to God by prayer, may expect messages of
|
|
grace and peace from God for their comfort, even when they are most
|
|
cast down. Isaiah sent a long answer to Hezekiah's prayer in God's
|
|
name, sent it in writing (for it was too long to be sent by word of
|
|
mouth), and sent it by way of return to his prayer, relation being
|
|
thereunto had: "<I>Whereas thou hast prayed to me,</I> know, for thy
|
|
comfort, that thy prayer is heard." Isaiah might have referred him to
|
|
the prophecies he had delivered (particularly that
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:1-34"><I>ch.</I> x.</A>)
|
|
|
|
and bid him pick out an answer from thence; but, that he might have
|
|
abundant consolation, a message is sent him on purpose. The
|
|
correspondence between earth and heaven is never let fall on God's
|
|
side.
|
|
|
|
2. Those who magnify themselves, especially who magnify themselves
|
|
against God and his people, do really vilify themselves, and made
|
|
themselves contemptible, in the eyes of all wise men: <I>"The virgin,
|
|
the daughter of Zion, has despised</I> Sennacherib, and all his
|
|
impotent malice and menaces; she knows that, while she preserves her
|
|
integrity, she is sure of the divine protection, and that though the
|
|
enemy may bark he cannot bite. All his threats are a jest; it is all
|
|
but <I>brutum fulmen--a mere flash,</I>"
|
|
|
|
3. Those who abuse the people of God affront God himself; and he takes
|
|
what is said and done against them as said and done against himself:
|
|
"<I>Whom hast thou reproached?</I> Even <I>the Holy One of Israel,</I>
|
|
whom thou hast <I>therefore</I> reproached because he is a Holy One."
|
|
And it aggravated the indignity Sennacherib did to God that he not only
|
|
reproached him himself, but set his servants on to do the same: <I>By
|
|
thy servants,</I> the abjects, <I>thou hast reproached me.</I>
|
|
|
|
4. Those who boast of themselves and their own achievements reflect
|
|
upon God and his providence: "<I>Thou hast said, I have digged, and
|
|
drunk water;</I> I have done mighty feats, and will do more; and wilt
|
|
not own that <I>I have done it,</I>"
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:24-26"><I>v.</I> 24-26</A>.
|
|
|
|
The most active men are no more than God makes them, and God makes them
|
|
no more than of old he designed to make them: "<I>What I have formed of
|
|
ancient times,</I> in an eternal counsel, <I>now have I brought to
|
|
pass</I>" (for God does all according to the counsel of his will),
|
|
"<I>that thou shouldst be to lay waste defenced cities;</I> it is
|
|
therefore intolerable arrogance to make it thy own doing."
|
|
|
|
5. All the malice, and all the motions and projects, of the church's
|
|
enemies, are under the cognizance and check of the church's God.
|
|
Sennacherib was active and quick, here, and there, and every where, but
|
|
God knew his going out and coming in, and had always an eye upon him,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:28"><I>v.</I> 28</A>.
|
|
|
|
And that was not all; he had a hand upon him too, a strict hand, a
|
|
strong hand, <I>a hook in his nose and a bridle in his lips,</I> with
|
|
which, though he was very headstrong and unruly, he could and would
|
|
<I>turn him back by the way which he came,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:29"><I>v.</I> 29</A>.
|
|
|
|
<I>Hitherto he shall come and no further.</I> God had signed
|
|
Sennacherib's commission against Judah
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+10:6"><I>ch.</I> x. 6</A>);
|
|
|
|
here he supersedes it. He has frightened them, but he must not hurt
|
|
them, and therefore is discharged from going any further; nay, his
|
|
commitment is here signed, by which he is clapped up, to answer for
|
|
what he had done beyond his commission.
|
|
|
|
6. God is his people's bountiful benefactor, as well as their powerful
|
|
protector, both a sun and a shield to those that trust in him.
|
|
Jerusalem shall be defended
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:35"><I>v.</I> 35</A>),
|
|
|
|
the besiegers shall not come into it, no, nor come before it with any
|
|
regular attack, but they shall be routed before they begin the siege,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:33"><I>v.</I> 33</A>.
|
|
|
|
But this is not all; God will return in mercy to his people, and will
|
|
do them good. Their land shall be more than ordinarily fruitful, so
|
|
that their losses shall be abundantly repaired; they shall not feel any
|
|
of the ill effects either of the enemies' wasting the country or of
|
|
their own being taken off from husbandry. But the earth, as at first,
|
|
shall bring forth of itself, and they shall live and live plentifully
|
|
upon its spontaneous productions. The blessing of the Lord can, when he
|
|
pleases, make rich without the hand of the diligent. And let them not
|
|
think that the desolations of their country would excuse them from
|
|
observing the sabbatical year, which happened (as it should seem) the
|
|
year after, and when they were not to plough or sow; no, though they
|
|
had not now their usual stock beforehand for that year, yet they must
|
|
religiously observe it, and depend upon God to provide for them. God
|
|
must be trusted in the way of duty.
|
|
|
|
7. There is no standing before the judgments of God when they come
|
|
with commission.
|
|
|
|
(1.) The greatest numbers cannot stand before them: one angel shall, in
|
|
one night, lay a vast army of men dead upon the spot, when God
|
|
commissions him so to do,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:36"><I>v.</I> 36</A>.
|
|
|
|
Here are 185,000 brave soldiers in an instant turned into so many dead
|
|
corpses. Many think the
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Ps+76:1-12">76th Psalm</A>
|
|
|
|
was penned upon occasion of this defeat, where from <I>the spoiling of
|
|
the stout-hearted,</I> and sending them to sleep their long sleep
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:5"><I>v.</I> 5</A>),
|
|
|
|
it is inferred that God is <I>more glorious and excellent than the
|
|
mountains of prey</I>
|
|
|
|
(<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:4"><I>v.</I> 4</A>),
|
|
|
|
and that <I>he, even he, is to be feared,</I>
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:7"><I>v.</I> 7</A>.
|
|
|
|
Angels are employed, more than we are aware of, as ministers of God's
|
|
justice, to punish the pride and break the power of wicked men.
|
|
|
|
(2.) The greatest men cannot stand before them: <I>The great king, the
|
|
king of Assyria,</I> looks very little when he is forced to return, not
|
|
only with shame, because he cannot accomplish what he had projected
|
|
with so much assurance, but with terror and fear, lest the angel that
|
|
had destroyed his army should destroy him; yet he is made to look less
|
|
when his own sons, who should have guarded him, sacrificed him to his
|
|
idol, whose protection he sought,
|
|
|
|
<A HREF="http://bible.gospelcom.net/bible?version=KJV&passage=Isa+37:37,38"><I>v.</I> 37, 38</A>.
|
|
|
|
God can quickly stop their breath who <I>breathe out threatenings and
|
|
slaughter</I> against his people, and will do it when they have filled
|
|
up the measure of their iniquity; and <I>the Lord is known by</I> these
|
|
<I>judgments which he executes,</I> known to be a God that resists the
|
|
proud. Many prophecies were fulfilled in this providence, which should
|
|
encourage us, as far as they look further, and are designed as common
|
|
and general assurances of the safety of the church and of all that
|
|
trust in God, to depend upon God for the accomplishment of them. He
|
|
that has delivered does and will deliver. Lord, forgive our enemies;
|
|
but, <I>so let all thy enemies perish, O Lord!</I></P>
|
|
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