For mine own sake - God‘s honor was concerned to defend His own city against one who denied His power in direct terms, as did Sennacherib 2 Kings 18:35; 2 Kings 19:10-12. His faithfulness was also concerned to keep the promise made to David Psalm 132:12-18.
“Why hast Thou then broken down her hedges,
So that all they which pass by the way do pluck her?
The boar out of the wood doth waste it,
And the wild beast of the field doth devour it.
Return, we beseech Thee, O God of hosts:
Look down from heaven, and behold, and visit this vine;
And the vineyard which Thy right hand hath planted,
And the branch that Thou madest strong for Thyself....
PK 359.1
“Quicken us, and we will call upon Thy name.
Turn us again, O Lord God of hosts,
Cause Thy face to shine; and we shall be saved.” Psalm 80.
PK 359.2
Hezekiah's pleadings in behalf of Judah and of the honor of their Supreme Ruler were in harmony with the mind of God. Solomon, in his benediction at the dedication of the temple, had prayed the Lord to maintain “the cause of His people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.” 1 Kings 8:59, 60. Especially was the Lord to show favor when, in times of war or of oppression by an army, the chief men of Israel should enter the house of prayer and plead for deliverance. Verses 33, 34. PK 359.3
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