Isaiah 37:21-38

“Did you not hear long ago how I made it, from ancient times that I formed it? Now I have brought it to pass, that you should be for crushing fortified cities into heaps of ruins.” (Isaiah 37:26, NKJV)

The Assyrians were a formidable foe. God had used them, as brutal as they were, as His instrument of judgment against the nations. They had taken the northern kingdom captive and attacked cities in the southern kingdom of Judah. But they had become arrogant and blasphemous against the LORD. Now their day of reckoning had come. God sent one angel who killed 185,000 Assyrian troops in a single night!

God’s sovereignty over the nations is a profound mystery. He directs kings and rulers as He will, and yet He also holds them accountable for their actions. World events and leaders—even bad ones—serve God’s purpose on earth. That is why it doesn’t do us any good to become angry or to fret when the wicked prosper. Instead, we should pray.

“Thus says the LORD God of Israel, ‘Because you have prayed to Me against Sennacherib king of Assyria…’” (Isaiah 37:21, NKJV)

This is what God desires—not that we look to ourselves or lean on the arm of flesh—but that we cry out to Him in the day of trouble. If he can send one angel to take out thousands of Assyrians, then He can certainly handle our problems!