Isaiah 37:3
to tell him, "This is what Hezekiah says: Today is a day of distress, rebuke, and disgrace; for children have come to the point of birth, but there is no strength to deliver them.
Sermons
A Dangerous CrisisProf. J. Skinner, D. D.Isaiah 37:3
Days of TroubleW. Alnwick.Isaiah 37:3
Hezekiah's Day of TroubleW. Alnwick.Isaiah 37:3
Hours When Prophets have InfluenceJ. Parker, D. D.Isaiah 37:3
Our Highest SolicitudeW. Clarkson Isaiah 37:1-4
Hezekiah's ResourcesE. Johnson Isaiah 37:1-18














The conduct of the king on hearing the haughty message of the Assyrian is that of a man of habitually religious mind and religious practice.

1. He rends his garments and covers himself with sackcloth. This was significant of sorrow and of self-humiliation: "Humble yourselves beneath the mighty hand of God, and he will exalt you in due time." Instead of searching far and wide for the causes of our distress, it were well to look first into our own hearts, and that closely. There, where the mischief has begun, the remedy and the hope may be revealed.

2. He sends a deputation to the minister of God; also clothed in sackcloth. They give the king's message to Isaiah, "This day is a day of trouble, punishment, and contumely." The outward forms and shows of grief could not denote them truly. They had

"That within which passed show,
Beneath the trappings and the suits of woe." The mourning garb expresses the need of the rending of the heart, and the bowing down of its pride before the judgments of God. Human extremity is confessed: "There is no strength to bring forth." The toil over insoluble problems - the matching of one's strength against a superhuman enterprise, the comparison of one's idea of what should be with one's sense of the absence of resources for its accomplishment, brings utter exhaustion. It is under such conditions that men learn that whatever strength they had at any time is from God, that whatever help is needed must come from him now. In the house of God, in the attitude of humility and penitence, in communion with men of God, let us be found in the day of distress.

I. THE HUMAN INTERCESSOR. In common life we recognize the principle of intercession. We shelter ourselves behind the worth of another; we seek to gain interest with the powerful and the good. To carry things by personal interest and partiality doubtless opens the door to abuses; but alter all it is founded itself upon love. Logic says," Let every case be judged by its merits, every man stand or fall by merit or demerit of his person." Love, softening down the hard lines of logical principle, or concealing them with flowing ornament, says, "Let fellow-feeling and pity, kinship of blood or of mind, have their influence on the decision." The great truth of the mediation of Christ is reflected in a weaker but still emphatic way in the office of an Abraham, a Moses, a Samuel. Scripture expressly recognizes: "The prayer of a righteous man availeth much" (cf. Jeremiah 15:1). Our objection to the Romish doctrine of the intercession of saints should not carry us too far. It might lead us to a cold denial of the influence of loving thought upon one another's weal. What limit is there to the far-reaching influences of love? Because some assume to know too much of those influences and the manner in which they may be secured, that is no reason why we should ignore them. "An interest in the prayers of good men," it is natural to seek, and blessed to have secured. The belief in the intercession of good men rests on the belief that some men stand nearer to God than others. They have a firmer faith, a steadier insight into the methods of Providence, and therefore a clearer outlook into the future, and a courage which is inspiring to others. On this occasion Isaiah is found to be calm and undisturbed by the revilings of the Assyrian. He can speak of his officers with contempt as the "minions of the King of Assyria." He can foretell that a "spirit" will be put in the enemy - an impulse quite contrary to that now animating him; he will hear ill news, will return to his own land, and will fall by the sword. The prophet sustains the king; Hezekiah leans on Isaiah; true policy finds its inspiration in religion. The ministers of state, if wise, will own the worth of the service of the ministers of God.

II. BUSINESS LAID BEFORE GOD. The threat of the Assyrian, the taunting arguments on which he had before relied, are repeated. Let Hezekiah beware of trusting in Jehovah, for he may prove no better resource than the "gods of the nations" which have been subdued by the Assyrians. Hezekiah takes the letter, goes up into the house of Jehovah, and spreads it open before Jehovah. We may be reminded, as we read, of the prayer-machines of the Buddhists; or of the waxen tablets hung upon the statues of the gods by the Romans. inscribed with prayers, as alluded to by Juvenal in his tenth Satire. But where the outward act is similar, the intention may be widely different. If we look to the essence of the act, there is nothing in itself more superstitious in laying open a written letter before God, than in addressing him orally on its contents. If the spreading out is a "prayer without words," the prayer with words follows. There is no external form which we may not fill out with the life of our spirit and make vital and real; none from which we may not withdraw that life, and so leave dead and cold. It is idle to suppose that the mere abandonment of certain forms will remove the foundations of superstition, which is certain to spring up in a mechanical and lifeless state of mind.

III. HEZEKIAH'S PRAYER. His thoughts of God. He is revealed in nature and in human life. He is enthroned upon the cherubim - those mysterious creatures of poetic and plastic fancy, representing spiritual power revealed in strong wind and cloud, and figured in the ark. Analogous figures are common in Oriental art. Jehovah is the God of nature, the Creator of heavens and earth. He is the only true Ruler of the kingdoms of the earth. The heathen believed that their gods swayed in the sphere both of nature and of human life - that their glory and power was revealed, not only in sun, and moon, and stars, and wind, but in the might of warriors and the ascendency of kings. But the contrast is that these pretensions were unreal, that of Jehovah alone. founded on truth and facts. Those "gods of the nations" who had been put into the fire by the Assyrian were no genuine gods, as the result has proved. When the idol was destroyed, the visible image of the god, the faith of the worshipper lost its visible support, and his hope fled. There was no Saviour here. True faith is not dependent on such visible props; they may fail - it remains. The symbols of religion may change; old sanctuaries may fall into decay; Jerusalem may be taken; the Shechinah-glory may fade from the hallowed spot; but Jehovah remains. In superstition, when the idols are broken, the false faith dies; in true religion, when the idols are broken, the true faith rises into new life. Adversity, fatal to imposture, brings the genuine tradition to light. The true God is bound by his very nature to be the Saviour, the Deliverer of men. The cry for salvation must sooner or later, in one or another way, be answered from him. If the cry be not answered, it is a proof that we have not directed it to the true Object - not to Jehovah, the Alone, the Eternal, but to some creature, the fabrication, if not of our hands, of our sensuous and unspiritual fancy. - J.

This day is a day of trouble.
Ahaz the father and immediate predecessor of Hezekiah on the throne of Judah, engaged himself, and virtually his successors, to pay tribute to the kings of Assyria. Such a state of vassalage Hezekiah no doubt rightly though hazardously declined to continue, and this is what is meant when it is said of him that "he rebelled gains the king of Assyria and served him not" (2 Kings 18:7). Any such refusal on the part of Hezekiah to acknowledge the despotic king of Assyria as his lordparamount we may be sure would not be allowed to pass unchallenged, and hence Sennacherib's invasion of the kingdom of Judah in order to compel submission to what the king of Judah objected to and declined to do. This is what constituted Hezekiah's day of trouble.

(W. Alnwick.)

1. Hezekiah but represents what has been the general experience of man, for there has probably never lived a man on the face of the earth whose lot it has not been to have some days of trouble and annoyance.

2. If we cannot entertain a reasonable hope of any such thing as immunity from trouble, we can, however, endeavour to live and act so that our troubles may not be more than they need to be. It cannot be doubted that many bring much trouble on themselves, and subject themselves to many heart-aches and heart burns, which they ought never to have known, and probably would not have experienced had a different course of conduct been pursued, a course, perhaps, pointed out to them by those gifted with greater wisdom, prudence, and foresight than they themselves were possessed of, but which by their obstinacy of will and unjustifiable determination to take their own way, they were led to reject.

3. We are not, of course, to think that because many and great troubles fall to the-lot of a man, he has necessarily acted foolishly, acted in opposition to any law of God, either natural, religious, or spiritual. This was just the grievous mistake Job's friends fell into.

4. It is only in heaven that trouble will be a thing unknown, and where all tears will for ever be wiped away.

5. We cannot but see the importance of being well prepared for days of trouble before we are made sensible of their presence with us. If we are wise enough to prepare ourselves for them their approach will be no surprise to us, and we shall be the better able to battle with them, and to turn that which is an evil in itself into a blessing, and so much help to us in our journey heavenward.

6. There can be no doubt that troubles are often sent by a wise and gracious providence for this very purpose.

7. It now only remains for me to make a few further remarks on how to deal with days of trouble when from being matters of prospect or future contingents, they have become translated into actual and stern facts. In dealing with such days we shall find much instruction and guidance afforded us by the example of Hezekiah in dealing with his day of trouble. As soon as Hezekiah became acquainted with the invasion of Sennacherib, he went into the house of the Lord, the sure resort of God's people in the time of distress, there in prayer to lay both his trouble and its cause before God, and at the same time he sent Eliakim and Shebna unto the prophet Isaiah to desire that man of God to lift up his prayer in behalf of the remnant that was left. We are informed what was the blessed result of this union of prayer on the part of the king and the prophet. The day of trouble was removed, and the sun, which one day was shrouded in darkness, the next, shone forth bright and clear, every cloud being swept from the sky. The course taken by the king of Judah in his day of trouble and distress must commend itself to all who are found in similar circumstances by its marvellous success. It is a fact, in spite of the sneering scepticism of some people, that prayer is a really great power, and that as a means for the attainment of ends consistent with and approved by infinite wisdom and goodness, it will succeed when other means, such as men in their ignorance sometimes elect to employ as the best and fittest, utterly fail to reach the end aimed at.

(W. Alnwick.)

In the midst of his distress Hezekiah sent "unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz." So far Hezekiah was right. He might have gone himself directly by an act of faith to the living God, but he had regard to the constitution of Israel, and he availed himself of the ordinances and institutes appointed of Heaven. Hezekiah made through Eliakim a pathetic speech to Isaiah — "This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy." There are hours when prophets come to the enjoyment of their fullest influence. Isaiah had been despised and derided, but now his hour has come, and he stands up as the one hope of Judah. The question was, What can you, Isaiah, do to extract Israel from all the peril which now presses upon the people of God? In the sixth verse we see how nobly the attitude of Isaiah contrasts with the attitude of Hezekiah. Instead of the word of inspiration proceeding from the, king it issued from the prophet.

(J. Parker, D. D.)

"The children are come to the birth," &c. Obviously a proverbial expression for a crisis which becomes dangerous through lack of strength to meet it (Isaiah 66:9; Hosea 13:13).

(Prof. J. Skinner, D. D.)

People
Adrammelech, Amoz, Assyrians, David, Eliakim, Esarhaddon, Haran, Hezekiah, Isaiah, Rabshakeh, Sennacherib, Sharezer, Shebna, Tirhakah
Places
Ararat, Arpad, Assyria, Cush, Egypt, Gozan, Hamath, Haran, Hena, Ivvah, Jerusalem, Lachish, Lebanon, Libnah, Mount Zion, Nineveh, Rezeph, Sepharvaim, Telassar, Tigris-Euphrates Region, Zion
Topics
Bear, Birth, Blasphemy, Bring, Contumely, Deliver, Despising, Disgrace, Distress, Forth, Hezekiah, Hezeki'ah, Point, Power, Punishment, Ready, Rebuke, Rejection, Reviling, Says, Shame, Sons, Strength, Thus, Trouble
Outline
1. Hezekiah mourning, sends to Isaiah to pray for them
6. Isaiah comforts them
8. Sennacherib, going to encounter Tirhakah, sends a blasphemous letter to Hezekiah
14. Hezekiah's prayer
21. Isaiah's prophecy of the destruction of Sennacherib, and the good of Zion
36. An angel slays the Assyrians
37. Sennacherib is slain at Nineveh by his own sons.

Dictionary of Bible Themes
Isaiah 37:3

     5663   childbirth

Isaiah 37:3-4

     4921   day

Library
Where to Carry Troubles
And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord.'--ISAIAH xxxvii. 14. When Hezekiah heard the threatenings of Sennacherib's servants, he rent his clothes and went into the house of the Lord, and sent to Isaiah entreating his prayers. When he received the menacing letter, his faith was greater, having been heartened by Isaiah's assurances. So he then himself appealed to Jehovah, spreading
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The Triumph of Faith
'And Hezekiah received the letter from the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up unto the house of the Lord, and spread it before the Lord. 15. And Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord, saying, 16. O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims, Thou art the God, even Thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth: Thou hast made heaven and earth. 17. Incline Thine ear, O Lord, and hear; open Thine eyes, O Lord, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which
Alexander Maclaren—Expositions of Holy Scripture

The First Trumpet.
The first trumpet of the seventh seal begins from the final disturbance and overthrow of the Roman idolarchy at the close of the sixth seal; and as it was to bring the first plague on the empire, now beginning to fall, it lays waste the third part of the earth, with a horrible storm of hail mingled with fire and blood; that is, it depopulates the territory and people of the Roman world, (viz. the basis and ground of its universal polity) with a terrible and bloody irruption of the northern nations,
Joseph Mede—A Key to the Apocalypse

The Power of Assyria at Its Zenith; Esarhaddon and Assur-Bani-Pal
The Medes and Cimmerians: Lydia--The conquest of Egypt, of Arabia, and of Elam. As we have already seen, Sennacherib reigned for eight years after his triumph; eight years of tranquillity at home, and of peace with all his neighbours abroad. If we examine the contemporary monuments or the documents of a later period, and attempt to glean from them some details concerning the close of his career, we find that there is a complete absence of any record of national movement on the part of either Elam,
G. Maspero—History Of Egypt, Chaldaea, Syria, Babylonia, and Assyria, V 8

The Golden Eagle is Cut to Pieces. Herod's Barbarity when He was Ready to Die. He Attempts to Kill Himself. He Commands Antipater to be Slain.
1. Now Herod's distemper became more and more severe to him, and this because these his disorders fell upon him in his old age, and when he was in a melancholy condition; for he was already seventy years of age, and had been brought by the calamities that happened to him about his children, whereby he had no pleasure in life, even when he was in health; the grief also that Antipater was still alive aggravated his disease, whom he resolved to put to death now not at random, but as soon as he should
Flavius Josephus—The Wars of the Jews or History of the Destruction of Jerusalem

Christ Rightly and Properly Said to have Merited Grace and Salvation for Us.
1. Christ not only the minister, but also the author and prince of salvation. Divine grace not obscured by this mode of expression. The merit of Christ not opposed to the mercy of God, but depends upon it. 2. The compatibility of the two proved by various passages of Scripture. 3. Christ by his obedience truly merited divine grace for us. 4. This grace obtained by the shedding of Christ's blood, and his obedience even unto death. 5. In this way he paid our ransom. 6. The presumptuous manner in which
John Calvin—The Institutes of the Christian Religion

The Harbinger
The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the LORD , make straight in the desert a high-way for our God. Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low, and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain. And the glory of the LORD shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together, for the mouth of the LORD hath spoken it. T he general style of the prophecies is poetical. The inimitable simplicity which characterizes every
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 1

A Discourse of the House and Forest of Lebanon
OF THE HOUSE OF THE FOREST OF LEBANON. ADVERTISEMENT BY THE EDITOR. That part of Palestine in which the celebrated mountains of Lebanon are situated, is the border country adjoining Syria, having Sidon for its seaport, and Land, nearly adjoining the city of Damascus, on the north. This metropolitan city of Syria, and capital of the kingdom of Damascus, was strongly fortified; and during the border conflicts it served as a cover to the Assyrian army. Bunyan, with great reason, supposes that, to keep
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Holy City; Or, the New Jerusalem:
WHEREIN ITS GOODLY LIGHT, WALLS, GATES, ANGELS, AND THE MANNER OF THEIR STANDING, ARE EXPOUNDED: ALSO HER LENGTH AND BREADTH, TOGETHER WITH THE GOLDEN MEASURING-REED EXPLAINED: AND THE GLORY OF ALL UNFOLDED. AS ALSO THE NUMEROUSNESS OF ITS INHABITANTS; AND WHAT THE TREE AND WATER OF LIFE ARE, BY WHICH THEY ARE SUSTAINED. 'Glorious things are spoken of thee, O city of God.'-Psalm 87:3 'And the name of the city from that day shall be, THE LORD IS THERE.'-Ezekiel 48:35 London: Printed in the year 1665
John Bunyan—The Works of John Bunyan Volumes 1-3

The Prophet Amos.
GENERAL PRELIMINARY REMARKS. It will not be necessary to extend our preliminary remarks on the prophet Amos, since on the main point--viz., the circumstances under which he appeared as a prophet--the introduction to the prophecies of Hosea may be regarded as having been written for those of Amos also. For, according to the inscription, they belong to the same period at which Hosea's prophetic ministry began, viz., the latter part of the reign of Jeroboam II., and after Uzziah had ascended the
Ernst Wilhelm Hengstenberg—Christology of the Old Testament

Concerning the Lord's Supper
There are two passages which treat in the clearest manner of this subject, and at which we shall look,--the statements in the Gospels respecting the Lord's Supper, and the words of Paul. (1 Cor. xi.) Matthew, Mark, and Luke agree that Christ gave the whole sacrament to all His disciples; and that Paul taught both parts of it is so certain, that no one has yet been shameless enough to assert the contrary. Add to this, that according to the relation of Matthew, Christ did not say concerning the bread,
Martin Luther—First Principles of the Reformation

Divine Support and Protection
[What shall we say then to these things?] If God be for us, who can be against us? T he passions of joy or grief, of admiration or gratitude, are moderate when we are able to find words which fully describe their emotions. When they rise very high, language is too faint to express them; and the person is either lost in silence, or feels something which, after his most laboured efforts, is too big for utterance. We may often observe the Apostle Paul under this difficulty, when attempting to excite
John Newton—Messiah Vol. 2

Isaiah
CHAPTERS I-XXXIX Isaiah is the most regal of the prophets. His words and thoughts are those of a man whose eyes had seen the King, vi. 5. The times in which he lived were big with political problems, which he met as a statesman who saw the large meaning of events, and as a prophet who read a divine purpose in history. Unlike his younger contemporary Micah, he was, in all probability, an aristocrat; and during his long ministry (740-701 B.C., possibly, but not probably later) he bore testimony, as
John Edgar McFadyen—Introduction to the Old Testament

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