The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Kings — Section 346

character does not command your respect. Choose the company, seek the counsel, of good men. II. CB.AilAOTEB GIVES POWEB IN PRAYER, "The effectual fervent prayer of !I righteous man availeth much." The man who expects an answer to his prayers is the man who habitually lives near to God. Mary Queen of Scots said she feared the prayers of John Knox more than an army of ten thousand men. Therefore: 1. Live near t.J God if you, would influence others. Power for service comes from fellowship with God. Men like Isaiah have that quiet power that enables them to inspire others with confidence. "Be not afraid of the words which thou bast beard" (ver. 6). So with St. Paul on his perilous voyage to Rome. " I exhort you to be of good cheer : for there shall be no loss of any man's life among you, but of the ship. For there stood by me this night the angel of God, whose I am, and whom I serve, saying, Fear not, Paul. , .. Wherefore, sirs, be of good cheer: for I believe God, that it shall be even a, it was told me." 2. Live near to God if you, would have power in prayer. The mau who prays most is the man who knows the power of prayer, "Thrice blast whose lives are faithful prayers, Whose loves in higher love endure ; What souls possess themselves so pure, Or is there blessedness like theirs? " C.H. I. Vers. 8-37.-0ur difficulties, and how to deal with them. We have seen that Hezekiah was a man distinguished by his trust in God. We have seen how his trust in God led him to act in times of peace. His trust in God led to personal religion, to practical effort, and to prosperity in life. We see here how he acted when troubles came. Depend upon it, the man who makes his peace with God when all is going well with him-he will have peace within his spirit when the time of trouble comes. The man who does not allow the flowing tide of worldly prosperity or worldly pleasure to draw him away from God, he will find that God is near to him in the hour of danger and of need. It was certainly nn hour of danger and anxiety with Hezekiah. With a vast army, Sennacherib, the King of Assyria, was threatening Jerusalem. The very name of Assyria was at that time a terror to the nations, just as for a long time the name of Napoleon was a terror to Europe. One by one, nation after nation had gone down before the triumphal progress of the Assyrian arms. Sennacherib, conscious of his past successes, conscious of the mighty host that accompanies him, looks down with contempt upon Hezekiah and his attempt at resistance. He sends him a letter, in which he points out how futile his efforts at resistance must prove. The gods of the other nations hnd not been able to deliver them, and let him not think that his God whom he served would deliver him. This letter and Hezekiah's action regarding it suggest to us some instructive lessons. I. SENNAOHEBIB'B LETTER, AND THE TEMPTATION lT BROUGHT. (Vers. 9-13.) The drift of Sennacherib's lette.r was entirely to lead Hezekiah to distrust God. Sennacherib was confident, of victory; but he wanted Hezekiah to surrender to him, so that he might obtain as much tribute as he could, and at the same time incur no loss of life in hie own army. So he turns into ridicule Hezekiah's faith in his God. "Let not thy God in whom thou trustest deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be delivered into the hand of the King of Assyria. Behold, thou, hast heard what the kings of .Assyria have done to all lands, by destroying them utterly: and shalt thou be delivered 1 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed? •.. Where is the King of Hamath, and the King of Arpad, and the King of the city of Sepharvaim, of Hena, and Ivah? ~ In a similar way Rabshakeh, one of Sennacherib's generals, had already spoken to the people of Jerusalem. He had sought to influence their fears. He had sought to tempt them by bribes. He had said, "Let not Hezekiah deceive you: ... neilher let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord .... Hearken not to Hezekiah: for thus saith the King of Assyria, Make an agreement with me by a present, nnd come ye out to me, and then eat ye every man of hie own vine, aud every one of his fig tree, and drink ye every one the waters of his cistern: until I come and take you away into a ln.ud like your own land, a land of corn and wine, !I land of bread lllld viµeyards, a land of oil olive and of honey, that ye may live, and not die: and hearken 394 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE KINGS. [en. xix. 1-37.