Isaiah Chapter 37 – Hezekiah’s Prayer and God’s Deliverance
Isaiah Chapter 37 opens in the aftermath of Assyria’s taunts. But instead of panic, King Hezekiah turns to the Lord. His prayer is sincere, his posture humble, and his trust complete. God responds not with delay—but with decisive action. Isaiah delivers a prophetic promise: the enemy will not enter the city. That night, the angel of the Lord strikes down the Assyrian army. Faith wins when fear is laid at God’s feet.
From Distress to Deliverance: The Power of Prayer
✔ Hezekiah humbles himself in sackcloth and seeks God’s word.
✔ Isaiah delivers God’s response—fear not.
✔ Assyria returns with more threats, but Hezekiah goes to prayer again.
✔ Hezekiah exalts God’s name above the enemy’s words.
✔ God promises deliverance and defends Jerusalem.
✔ One angel destroys 185,000 Assyrians in a single night.
📖 Isaiah 37:20 – “Now therefore, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.”
🔎 This verse reveals Hezekiah’s motive: not just to be rescued—but to glorify God before the nations. This is what victorious faith looks like.
Isaiah Chapter 37 - Overview
Isaiah 37:1–7 – Humility and the Word of the Lord
📖 Isaiah 37:1 – “And it came to pass… that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the Lord.”
🔎 This is the true starting point of deliverance—brokenness before God. Hezekiah doesn’t first rally his army or send messengers to Egypt. He tears his royal robes and clothes himself in humility. Sackcloth wasn’t just tradition—it was a public declaration of inward desperation. He entered the Lord’s house—not to be seen, but to seek. When kings fall on their knees, heaven stands ready to respond.
📖 Isaiah 37:2 – “And he sent Eliakim… and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet…”
🔎 In times of crisis, Hezekiah surrounds himself not with strategists, but with intercessors and messengers of God’s Word. This reflects the true heart of a spiritual leader—recognizing the need for a word from the Lord over human wisdom.
📖 Isaiah 37:3–4 – “This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke… it may be the Lord thy God will hear…”
🔎 Their words are filled with sorrow, but also a flicker of hope. “It may be…” shows their uncertainty—but even weak faith, directed toward God, is heard. They don’t demand a miracle—they plead for mercy. And they believe in the power of prayer, even when the odds are against them.
📖 Isaiah 37:5–6 – “Isaiah said unto them… Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid…”
🔎 Isaiah doesn’t rebuke their weakness—he delivers reassurance. God’s first answer to every trembling heart is the same: “Fear not.” The Assyrian army was terrifying, but the Word of the Lord silenced fear before a single sword was drawn. This is the power of prophetic encouragement—it realigns the soul before the situation changes.
📖 Isaiah 37:7 – “Behold, I will send a blast upon him…”
🔎 God’s intervention begins without Hezekiah lifting a single weapon. The battle is already shifting—not by strategy, but by sovereign decree. God declares that He Himself will deal with the enemy. Faith initiated heaven’s response, and God’s word secured the outcome.
Isaiah 37:8–20 – A Second Threat, A Deeper Prayer
📖 Isaiah 37:8–9 – “So Rabshakeh returned… and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah…”
🔎 The threat seems to ease—only to escalate again. Rabshakeh temporarily leaves, but the enemy is still moving. Just because fear is quiet doesn’t mean the battle is over. Spiritual warfare often comes in waves. The enemy doesn’t always retreat—sometimes he regroups.
📖 Isaiah 37:10–13 – “Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee…”
🔎 This is no longer subtle—it’s direct blasphemy. The letter sent to Hezekiah strikes at the very core of his faith: “Your God cannot save you. No other gods saved their people—why should yours be different?”
This is the enemy’s favorite tactic: comparing the true God to the gods of the nations. But our God is not like the others.
📖 Isaiah 37:14 – “Hezekiah… spread it before the Lord.”
🔎 What a powerful image. Hezekiah doesn’t write a response—he lays the threat before God. This is the heart of true intercession: not editing the problem, not minimizing it, but fully exposing it before the throne. What the enemy meant to destroy faith, Hezekiah turns into a prayer offering.
📖 Isaiah 37:15–17 – “O Lord of hosts… incline thine ear… open thine eyes…”
🔎 Hezekiah begins by exalting God’s sovereignty. He doesn’t start with the problem—he starts with praise. He acknowledges God as Creator and King before he asks for help. His prayer is not rooted in panic, but in perspective.
📖 Isaiah 37:18–20 – “Of a truth, Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste… Now therefore… save us… that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the Lord, even thou only.”
🔎 Hezekiah doesn’t deny the reality of the threat. He admits it: “It’s true, Lord—they’ve destroyed many.” But then he pivots: “But You are not like their gods.” His cry is not just for survival—it’s for God’s glory. His deepest desire is that God’s name be known across the earth.
Isaiah 37:21–35 – God Answers Through Isaiah
📖 Isaiah 37:21 – “Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria…”
🔎 This is a direct response from heaven: “Because you prayed…” Let this soak in—God is about to move because of one man’s humble, sincere intercession. Prayer shifts the narrative. The king of the most powerful empire on earth is now at the mercy of Hezekiah’s faith.
📖 Isaiah 37:22–23 – “The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee… whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed?”
🔎 God is not just defending Jerusalem—He’s taking it personally. What the Assyrians said about Judah, they really said about God Himself. And now God speaks with holy fire. He calls Zion a virgin—untouched, undefiled, protected. The enemy thought she was weak; God says she is His.
📖 Isaiah 37:24–27 – “By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord… I have digged, and drunk water…”
🔎 God quotes Sennacherib’s own words back to him. Then He dismantles the pride: “You thought you did this—but it was I who allowed it.” Assyria believed its conquests were self-earned. God reveals that He was always sovereign, even over enemy victories.
📖 Isaiah 37:28–29 – “But I know thy abode, and thy going out… I will put my hook in thy nose…”
🔎 God is not intimidated by earthly power. He knows every movement of the enemy—their headquarters, their thoughts, their travels. And now, like a beast being led back in humiliation, Sennacherib will be turned around and sent home. No war. No battle. Just divine reversal.
📖 Isaiah 37:30–32 – “This shall be a sign… the remnant that is escaped… shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward.”
🔎 Amidst the rebuke of Assyria, God offers hope to Judah. A remnant will remain. Not only survive—but thrive. What looked like a field of ash will bear fruit again. This is the language of revival—rooted and fruitful.
📖 Isaiah 37:33–35 – “He shall not come into this city… For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake…”
🔎 God’s final word is total protection: No entry. No arrows. No siege. The threat is denied access. The Lord defends the city—not because of Judah’s might, but for His name’s sake and for the promise to David.
Isaiah 37:36–38 – The Enemy Is Silenced
📖 Isaiah 37:36 – “Then the angel of the Lord went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand…”
🔎 One angel. One night. 185,000 soldiers. Not by chariots. Not by military alliance. But by the hand of a single messenger of the Lord. This is divine precision, not chaos. The battle belonged to the Lord—and He didn’t need help.
📖 Isaiah 37:37 – “So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.”
🔎 The once-proud king who taunted and mocked is now silent—retreating in shame. The enemy who declared, “Your God can’t save you” is now fleeing, defeated without lifting a sword. His mighty words have collapsed under God’s silent power.
📖 Isaiah 37:38 – “And it came to pass… that his sons smote him with the sword…”
🔎 He who mocked the God of Zion is slain in the temple of his false god. This is not coincidence—it is justice. While Hezekiah prayed in the house of the Lord and found life, Sennacherib knelt to an idol and met death. Every knee will bow—but not all will be saved.
Isaiah Chapter 37 - Deeper Study
Overview: From Intimidation to Intervention
🔹 Timeframe: Shortly after Assyria’s siege tactics in chapter 36.
🔹 Setting: Jerusalem, the temple, and Assyria’s camp.
🔹 Theme: Prayer, prophetic response, and divine victory.
🔹 Connection to Christ: Jesus, like Hezekiah, bore blasphemy silently and overcame through surrender to the Father.
Faith That Changes the Outcome
Isaiah 37 proves that faith doesn’t make the battle disappear—it changes who fights it. The outcome of the siege on Jerusalem didn’t shift because of new tactics. It shifted because one man—King Hezekiah—refused to let fear write the story. He laid it all before God, and faith became the hinge of history.
🔹 Faith doesn’t mean you won’t hear threats—it means you won’t bow to them.
The enemy still speaks. Letters are still delivered. But faith redirects them to the throne of God.
🔹 Faith doesn’t wait until there’s no danger—it moves while the danger still exists.
Hezekiah didn’t wait for assurance from his men or signs in the sky. He acted on God’s Word while the armies still surrounded the city.
🔹 Faith replaces reaction with reverence.
Instead of panicking, Hezekiah worships. Instead of writing back to the Assyrians, he spreads their words before God. He chose reverence over reaction—and heaven responded.
🔹 Faith magnifies God above the problem.
In prayer, Hezekiah doesn’t minimize the enemy—he maximizes God. He exalts His sovereignty, His uniqueness, His authority over all kingdoms.
🔹 Faith asks for more than survival—it asks for God’s glory.
“Save us, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that Thou art the Lord.”
This is the faith that moves heaven—when your victory is not just about you, but about God’s name being exalted through your life.
Key Takeaways
🔑 Hezekiah responded with humility, not panic.
🔑 Prayer changes what fear tries to control.
🔑 God’s word through Isaiah declared peace before the battle ended.
🔑 God’s deliverance can be instant and overwhelming.
🔑 Every enemy will ultimately bow before the Lord.
Prophetic Patterns & Dual Fulfillment
🔮 Hezekiah’s temple prayer foreshadows Christ’s intercession for us (Hebrews 7:25).
🔮 The angelic deliverance reflects end-time judgments by God’s messengers (Revelation 19:11–21).
🔮 God’s mocking of the mocker mirrors Psalm 2:4—“He that sitteth in the heavens shall laugh.”
🔮 The silencing of Sennacherib prefigures the final downfall of all who exalt themselves against God.
Historical & Cultural Context
📜 Hezekiah’s reign was marked by reform and revival, which preceded this testing moment.
📜 Sackcloth symbolized repentance and desperate prayer in ancient Israel.
📜 Isaiah was both a prophet and royal advisor, trusted during crises.
📜 Sennacherib’s death is confirmed in Assyrian and biblical records alike.
Present-Day Reflection: When Trouble Returns
Fear doesn’t always knock once. It comes back, louder. Bolder. More invasive. Just like Rabshakeh’s second message, trouble often returns with reinforcements. But Isaiah 37 teaches us what to do when it does:
🔹 Return to the secret place.
Hezekiah didn’t react in the palace—he retreated to the temple. When the second wave of fear hit, he didn’t rely on the first miracle. He prayed again. Deeper.
🔹 Lay it all before God—again.
Hezekiah didn’t rewrite the letter or hide its severity. He spread it out in raw form before the Lord. Your troubles don’t need polish—just presence. Bring them to Him unfiltered.
🔹 Shift the focus from rescue to revelation.
Hezekiah didn’t pray, “Save me so I feel better.” He prayed, “Save us so the world may know You.” That’s next-level trust: wanting God to be glorified more than yourself to be relieved.
🔹 Let praise be your lens.
He started not with the letter’s threats—but with God’s titles: “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, that dwellest between the cherubims…”
Perspective comes when praise leads the way.
🔹 Recognize the pattern: trouble tests—but prayer transforms.
Hezekiah didn’t need more strength—he needed more surrender. That’s where the breakthrough came from.
💡 Final Reflection: What’s Your First Response?
When trouble strikes, your first move speaks volumes. Hezekiah went to the house of the Lord—and the angel went to the camp of the enemy.
📌 Are you wringing your hands—or lifting them in prayer?
📌 Are you trying to fix it—or laying it before the throne?
📌 Are you rehearsing fear—or declaring His greatness?
📖 Isaiah 37:16 – “O Lord of hosts… thou art the God, even thou alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth…”
🔥 God answers faith. The battle is not yours—it is His.
Hezekiah Seeks Isaiah’s Help
Isa 37:1 And it came to pass, when king Hezekiah heard it, that he rent his clothes, and covered himself with sackcloth, and went into the house of the LORD.
Isa 37:2 And he sent Eliakim, who was over the household, and Shebna the scribe, and the elders of the priests covered with sackcloth, unto Isaiah the prophet the son of Amoz.
Isa 37:3 And they said unto him, Thus saith Hezekiah, This day is a day of trouble, and of rebuke, and of blasphemy: for the children are come to the birth, and there is not strength to bring forth.
Isa 37:4 It may be the LORD thy God will hear the words of Rabshakeh, whom the king of Assyria his master hath sent to reproach the living God, and will reprove the words which the LORD thy God hath heard: wherefore lift up thy prayer for the remnant that is left.
Isa 37:5 So the servants of king Hezekiah came to Isaiah.
Isa 37:6 And Isaiah said unto them, Thus shall ye say unto your master, Thus saith the LORD, Be not afraid of the words that thou hast heard, wherewith the servants of the king of Assyria have blasphemed me.
Isa 37:7 Behold, I will send a blast upon him, and he shall hear a rumour, and return to his own land; and I will cause him to fall by the sword in his own land.
Isa 37:8 So Rabshakeh returned, and found the king of Assyria warring against Libnah: for he had heard that he was departed from Lachish.
Isa 37:9 And he heard say concerning Tirhakah king of Ethiopia, He is come forth to make war with thee. And when he heard it, he sent messengers to Hezekiah, saying,
Isa 37:10 Thus shall ye speak to Hezekiah king of Judah, saying, Let not thy God, in whom thou trustest, deceive thee, saying, Jerusalem shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria.
Isa 37:11 Behold, thou hast heard what the kings of Assyria have done to all lands by destroying them utterly; and shalt thou be delivered?
Isa 37:12 Have the gods of the nations delivered them which my fathers have destroyed, as Gozan, and Haran, and Rezeph, and the children of Eden which were in Telassar?
Isa 37:13 Where is the king of Hamath, and the king of Arphad, and the king of the city of Sepharvaim, Hena, and Ivah?
Hezekiah’s Prayer for Deliverance
Isa 37:14 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.
Isa 37:15 And Hezekiah prayed unto the LORD, saying,
Isa 37:16 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.
Isa 37:17 Incline thine ear, O LORD, and hear; open thine eyes, O LORD, and see: and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which hath sent to reproach the living God.
Isa 37:18 Of a truth, LORD, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations, and their countries,
Isa 37:19 And have cast their gods into the fire: for they were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone: therefore they have destroyed them.
Isa 37:20 Now therefore, O LORD our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that thou art the LORD, even thou only.
Sennacherib’s Fall
Isa 37:21 Then Isaiah the son of Amoz sent unto Hezekiah, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel, Whereas thou hast prayed to me against Sennacherib king of Assyria:
Isa 37:22 This is the word which the LORD hath spoken concerning him; The virgin, the daughter of Zion, hath despised thee, and laughed thee to scorn; the daughter of Jerusalem hath shaken her head at thee.
Isa 37:23 Whom hast thou reproached and blasphemed? and against whom hast thou exalted thy voice, and lifted up thine eyes on high? even against the Holy One of Israel.
Isa 37:24 By thy servants hast thou reproached the Lord, and hast said, By the multitude of my chariots am I come up to the height of the mountains, to the sides of Lebanon; and I will cut down the tall cedars thereof, and the choice fir trees thereof: and I will enter into the height of his border, and the forest of his Carmel.
Isa 37:25 I have digged, and drunk water; and with the sole of my feet have I dried up all the rivers of the besieged places.
Isa 37:26 Hast thou not heard long ago, how I have done it; and of ancient times, that I have formed it? now have I brought it to pass, that thou shouldest be to lay waste defenced cities into ruinous heaps.
Isa 37:27 Therefore their inhabitants were of small power, they were dismayed and confounded: they were as the grass of the field, and as the green herb, as the grass on the housetops, and as corn blasted before it be grown up.
Isa 37:28 But I know thy abode, and thy going out, and thy coming in, and thy rage against me.
Isa 37:29 Because thy rage against me, and thy tumult, is come up into mine ears, therefore will I put my hook in thy nose, and my bridle in thy lips, and I will turn thee back by the way by which thou camest.
Isa 37:30 And this shall be a sign unto thee, Ye shall eat this 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.
Isa 37:31 And the remnant that is escaped of the house of Judah shall again take root downward, and bear fruit upward:
Isa 37:32 For out of Jerusalem shall go forth a remnant, and they that escape out of mount Zion: the zeal of the LORD of hosts shall do this.
Isa 37:33 Therefore thus saith the LORD 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 it.
Isa 37:34 By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD.
Isa 37:35 For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.
Isa 37:36 Then the angel of the LORD went forth, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians a hundred and fourscore and five thousand: and when they arose early in the morning, behold, they were all dead corpses.
Isa 37:37 So Sennacherib king of Assyria departed, and went and returned, and dwelt at Nineveh.
Isa 37:38 And it came to pass, as he was worshipping in the house of 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.
Date Written
740–700 BC
Written By
The prophet Isaiah, son of Amoz
Language
Hebrew
Verses
38