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. By the way that he came, by the same shall he return, and shall not come into this city, saith the LORD. For I will defend this city to save it for mine own sake, and for my servant David’s sake.

Isaiah 37:33-35

Explanation:
In yesterday’s verses we found out that God will take care of His people. He would sustain them in difficulty in response to Hezekiah’s prayer. In this passage He gives detail as to what he would allow Senacharib to do and why he would deal with him this way.

Senacharib would not be allowed to come into the city. He would not be able to shoot an arrow, come at it with shields, nor “cast a bank against it”. To cast a bank against it spoke of the practice of digging up dirt and making a ramp towards a wall to be able to go over it. God confirmed that Senacharib would go the way he came. He had already said this in a message to Senacharib in verse 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.

Isaiah 37:29

He also said why he would defend it. He was doing it for his own sake. God has reasons that he wants to defend Israel. He is also doing it for David’s sake. This is a reference to the Davidic covenant. God told David that his house would be established forever.

And thine house and thy kingdom shall be established for ever before thee: thy throne shall be established for ever.

2 Samuel 7:16

The ultimate fulfillment of this promise comes to bear when Christ sits on the throne in Jerusalem to rule and to reign. God keeps his promises.

Application:
We see in this passage that God was keeping his promise to Israel, to Hezekiah, to David, and ultimately to us. We know that God was working through redemptive history to bring about the salvation of not only Israel, but the whole world through the Messiah, Jesus Christ. God answers our prayers according to His will, and there is a sense in which prayer helps to align our will with God’s. We must pray as Jesus taught us, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” When we pray according to God’s will and rely on His promises we cannot go wrong.

Response:
What do you need to pray about today? What would it look like to pray according to His will?