It is a chastened Hezekiah whom we find in verse 1. He gives expression to his deep distress, and goes into the house of the Lord It is in God's presence that the tried and harassed saint finds peace and strength. For a time he had gone on in his own strength, and the folly of it had become evident; now he turns to the mighty God whom he knew, and desired His help.
The king's message to Isaiah shows that the chastening (not for the present joyous but grievous) had exercised him. Hezekiah's appeal now is to God, and on the ground of the reproach to His name. The narrow limits of Judah are forgotten; it is the living God that is the object of the enemy; His people are before Him seeking succor of the Mighty One.
The answer is prompt: Isaiah was able to tell the messengers of the king, "Thus saith the Lord, Be not afraid of the words which thou hast heard.. .." But the trial was not fully removed at once; Rabshakeh went away, but sent messengers with another frightening word to Hezekiah. Who had escaped the kings of Assyria? he asked; what use to resist ?
The new message produced a yet deeper work in Hezekiah, we judge. He now goes direct to God, rather than through Isaiah, and pours out his heart. It was true, he confessed, that the Assyrian power had been irresistible, but the nations they had destroyed knew not the Lord God of Israel who dwelt between the cherubim, the only true God, the living God. Their gods were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone, and therefore those nations perished. Then came the majestic answer, through Isaiah, marvelous in its response to the cry of the burdened Hezekiah. God will not see iniquity in His people when the enemy reproaches them; in His grace He speaks of the remnant who trusted in Him as "the virgin the daughter of Zion," and He will show the proud Assyrian that he has no power against Himself. Times and seasons are naught to God; He will act as sovereignly in the day of small things, as when all is well, outwardly. The trial was at an end; the remnant would he blessed. Without using man in anyway whatever—not even after the fashion of Gideon and his little band of trumpeters—light bearers—(Judges 7), God lays low the Assyrian host; 185,000 men are found dead in their camp. And in due course, Sennacherib fell, by the sword in his own land, as had been promised in verse 7; his own sons killed him while in the act of worshiping his idol. God's Word will be fulfilled; heaven and earth will pass away, but His Word shall be fully and gloriously vindicated.