"Let not thy God . . . deceive thee" (ver. 10). As though God ever deceived, aa though he were not the Truth itself. Sennacherib represents him as either a poor braggart who could not do what he had promised, or a malevolent being intentionally beguiling men to their ruin. "Jehovah," he says, "has sent him against Jerusalem," has bidden him "go up and destroy it" (eh. xviii. 25), while at the same time he wa8 deluding Hezekiah with promises of deliverance. 2. Absolutely confident in his own &trength. Who can stand against the Assyrians? Who has ever been able to resist them ? " Rath any of the gods of the nations delivered at all his land out of the hand of the King of Assyria?" (ver. 33). And if not, "shalt thou be delivered?" He sets his own strength against Hezekiah's weakness (vers. 23, 21), and regards himself as irresistible. His will is law. What can hinder it? Not armies-least of all Egyptian armies-not mountains, not rivers, not deserts. Intoxicated with success, he thinkA there is no power equal to him either in earth or heaven. The gods of the nations have all failed. Hezekiah's God will fail equally. 3. Secure of thefuture, and without any tltougl.t of suing for Divine aiil. Why should Sennacherib sue ? Success had ahrnys attended him in the past; surely "to-morrow would be as to-day," only "yet more abundant." He does not appear to give even his own gods a thought. Conven- tional ascription of his victories to Asshur may be found in his inscriptions; but, as Isaiah lays bare to us the workings of his innermost soul (ver. 23, 21), there is no leaning on any higher power, no recognition of anything behind his own greatness and material strength, no suspicion even of the possibility of a reverse. He is a god to himself; he commands the future; everything must necessarily go well with him. The event shows the wisdom of Hezekiah's trust and the utter folly of Sennacherib's. "Out of the depths" Hezekiah "cries unto the Lord," and "the Lord hears his voice." "With the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plenteous redemption." Hezekiah may in the past have wavered, have listened to evil counsellors, have paid his court to Pharaoh, and put his trust in the broken reed Egypt; but now, at any rate, he has repented of such evil courses, he has put them away from him, and thrown him.11elf wholly upon God. His words (vers. 15-19) have the unmistakable ring of sincerity and truth. To God he looks, and to him only. His strength is become perfected in his weakness; with the resnlt that God hears his prayer (ver. 20), and grants the unparalleled deliverance related in ver. 35. Sennacherib, on the other hand, finds in a moment the whole ground of his self-confidence fail. It was as the master of many legions that he had thought to bend all things to his will. Bereft of his legions, he is nothing. To-day a mighty conqueror carrying everything before him, unfeignedly astonished that any one should dare to disobey his commands; on the morrow he is a wretched fugitive, hurrying homewards as fast as his chariot-steeds will bear him, only anx:ioUB to escape from the foes whom he so lately despised, and to bury his shame and his disgrace within the walls of his distant palace. In his pride and his self-trust he had thrown out a challenge to God. God took up the challenge, and struck him down to the earth. The circumstances of the catastrophe are unique in the world's history; but the lesson is one that the events of history have taught again and again. At the hei?-ht of his pride and arrogancy and self-trust, the ungodly conqueror i~ stricken with failure, humiliated, beaten down to the ground, shown that, after all, he 1s a mere man, and that the fates of nations are not in his power, but in the hand of One whose name ii "the Most High," and who ruleth in all the kingdoms of the earth.
HOMILIES BY VARIOUS AUTHORS. Vere. 1-7.-.A good man's prayers Bougltt. Hezekiah is in deep distress of spirit at the haughty, defiant, confident tone of Uabshakeh. He wants_ help in his trouble, He sendi! not to his men of war, uot to his statesmen, for advice, but to the man of God. I. CnARACTEB GIVES CONFIDENCE. Isaiah was known to live near to God. 'l'here- fore Hezekiah had confideuce in him. Here is a good test of the character of yoor companions and associates. Would you go to them in time of trou b~e? W oul<l you expect them to give you any comfort? Would you tell them the mner sccre~s of your heart? lf nut, is it not because you have uo confidence in them ? Their OH, :lUX, 1-37,] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. 393