Isaiah answered them, “Tell your master, ‘God’s word: don’t be at all concerned about what you’ve heard from the king of Assyria’s bootlicking errand boys—these outrageous blasphemies.
What a relief with this verse to wrap up First and Second Kings! Mostly the stories in these Bible history books are about kings who were deeply corrupt. But there were a tiny handful who stayed faithful to God. Hezekiah, king of Judah, was one of them.
During his reign, the king of Assyria conquered all the surrounding kingdoms. After Hezekiah had paid him an enormous tribute of gold and silver, nonetheless the king of Assyria sent his messengers to Jerusalem with a threat. The messengers stood outside Jerusalem’s walls, and told Hezekiah’s officers that if they didn’t surrender, they'd be starved out. They warned the Jews not to foolishly rely on their God to save them.
To make matters worse, the lead messenger purposely spoke in Hebrew, so that the people on the city wall could hear and understand and pass along his threats. He knew how to propagate fear.
In response, Hezekiah rips his clothes. He sends his messengers to the prophet Isaiah, who gives the above verse as reassurance. And then Hezekiah goes to the Temple and prays. The Bible says, in so many words, he prays his heart out to God.
The rest of the story is one of Divine rescue. Overnight, 185,000 Assyrian soldiers are mysteriously killed. The army and the king of Assyria flee, leaving Jerusalem safe—at least for a while.
My own experience has been when I am facing enormous fear, Divine rescue is the exception, not the norm. But something that I keep thinking about in this story is Hezekiah’s willingness to express his grief. In the chapter following this one, he is told about his impending death, and there is this verse, “Hezekiah wept.”
I’ve been reading Richard Rohr’s book, The Tears of Things,1 in which he argues that tears have the ability to work deep, spiritual transformation in us—and ultimately in the world. Rohr writes, “The process of transformation by way of tears is largely hidden and unconscious, characteristic of the work of the Spirit. My belief is that tears, although they look like a mere emotional reaction, are much more: a deeply free action that many do not enjoy. They proceed from deep inside, where we are most truly ourselves. Tears reveal the depths at which and from which we care (p. 98).
Rohr’s premise (as I understand it) is that almost every one of the prophets underwent a spiritual transformation in which they moved from anger at humanity to a deep compassion, reflective of God’s deep love and compassion. The journey of their transformation involved facing directly and accepting the deep sadness inherent in our human world. Only then could they transform their anger and outrage into an expansive, healing compassion.
I find myself spontaneously crying these days. It doesn’t last long, just a small burst that aches to be released. It happens when I’m alone, thinking of something that acutely breaks my heart. And then it’s over, and I feel a little ashamed when it happens, but maybe I’ll try not to feel that way. Maybe I’ll tell myself tears are holy, a sign something important is happening from the inside out. Maybe spontaneous tears are a physiological expression when we know deep in our being that God is drawing near.
Rohr, Richard. The Tears of Things. Convergent. New York, New York. 2025.
I love the idea of tears being a sign that god is near. When my sister and I were younger, she'd point out rays of light shining through clouds and say, "There's god." I imagine saying the same thing about tears. When I feel that familiar knot in my throat and stinging in my eyes, I'm going to try telling myself, "There's god." Maybe this will replace the shame and judgment that always makes me try to force them away.
I cry just about once an hour these days. The lack of caring and compassion in our “new world order” here in the USA should make everyone weep. The Bible verse that plays itself over and over in my head is “Jesus wept.” The one all children try to choose when we are asked in Sunday school to choose a bible verse to memorize. Perhaps it wasn’t a childish cop-out after all, but rather the best verse to remember in times like these.