II Kings 19:14 “And Hezekiah received the letter of the hand of the messengers, and read it: and Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread it before the LORD.”
Assyrian King Sennacherib sent a letter to King Hezekiah trying to discourage him and entice him to just give up and turn Judah and Jerusalem over to the Assyrians. He tried to convince Hezekiah that it was in the best interest of Judah and Jerusalem to capitulate because no other nation had been able to protect themselves from the Assyrian army, no other god’s had been able to protect their worshipers from the Assyrians, and no other king could stand against Sennacherib. So,“Hezekiah went up into the house of the LORD, and spread” the “letter” “before the LORD” and he “prayed before the LORD” (II Kings 19:15). Then, “that night … the angel of the LORD went out, and smote in the camp of the Assyrians an hundred fourscore and five thousand” (II Kings 19:35) and “Sennacherib king of Assyria departed” (II Kings 19:36). And, when “Sennacherib” returned home, while he was worshiping his false god, his own “sons smote him with the sword” (II Kings 19:37). So, let us not get discouraged in the face of our present tribulations; but, confidently hold fast in faith and in much prayer lay our troubles before the Lord.