“LORD, bow down thine ear, and hear: open, LORD, thine eyes, and see: and hear the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent him to reproach the living God” (II Kings 19:16).

In II Kings 19 and 20, King Hezekiah needed two immediate answers to prayer. One involved an external problem and the other an internal problem. Both were extremely serious.

The external problem: Sennacherib, King of Assyria, was coming against Jerusalem with an 185,000-man army. “Let not Hezekiah deceive you: for he shall not be able to deliver you out of his hand” (18:29) After receiving threats in a written message, Hezekiah “went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD” asking God to hear and see (19:14,16). The answer came through the prophet Isaiah: “Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, That which thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria I have heard” (v.20). God moved rapidly. That night the angel of the Lord smote the 185,000-man Assyrian army.

The internal problem: Hezekiah was sick unto death. Even Isaiah, predicted his coming death. “Thus saith the LORD, Set thine house in order; for thou shalt die, and not live” (20:1). Immediately, Hezekiah prayed unto the Lord and wept. At that point God intervened on his behalf saying, “I have heard thy prayer, I have seen thy tears: behold, I will heal thee. . . . And I will add unto thy days fifteen years” (vv.5,6).

Believers constantly face problems. We are “troubled on every side; without were fightings, within were fears” (II Corinthians 7:5).

What then should the believer do? He should remember that God both hears and sees. “And this is the confidence that we have in Him, that, if we ask any thing according to His will, He heareth us: And if we know that He hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of Him” (I John 5:14,15). NPS