John Calvin Commentary Isaiah 37:17

"Incline thine ear, O Jehovah, and hear; open thine eyes, O Jehovah, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, who hath sent to defy the living God." — Isaiah 37:17 (ASV)

incline your ear, O Jehovah. From these words we conclude how great Hezekiah's perplexity was; for the earnestness that pervades the prayer breathes an amazing power of anguish, so that it is easily seen that he had a struggle attended by uncommon difficulty to escape from the temptation. Though his warmth in prayer shows the strength and eminence of his faith, yet at the same time it exhibits, as in a mirror, the stormy passions.

Whenever we are called to sustain such contests, let us learn by the example of the pious king to combat our passions with everything that is suited to strengthen our faith, so that the very disturbance may lead us to safety and peace, and that we may not be terrified by a conviction of our weakness, if at any time we are powerfully assailed by fear and perplexity. It is, indeed, the will of the Lord that we should toil hard, and sweat and shiver; for we must not expect to gain the victory while we repose in indolence, but after various contests He promises us a prosperous outcome, which He will undoubtedly grant.

But why does Hezekiah demand that God should listen? Does he think that He is asleep or does not hear? By no means; but in a matter of such difficulty we frequently speak in such a manner as if we thought that God was absent or did not attend to our afflictions. He shows that he was oppressed by so great perplexity that he almost thought that God had forsaken him—that is, according to the eyes of the flesh; for if he had not by the eyes of faith perceived God as present, he would have lost courage.

Open your eyes, O Jehovah, and see. It is as if Hezekiah had prayed that the assistance of God, which he had long kept in his heart committed to the guardianship of hope, would be actually and publicly manifested. Therefore, he prays that Jehovah would open his eyes and see; that is, would show that He cares about these matters. Hezekiah shows plainly what was the subject about which he was most anxious: namely, that God would avenge the insults offered to Him. For although he was deeply affected by anxiety about his kingdom and people, yet he set a higher value on the glory of God than on all other sources of uneasiness. The advancement of that glory ought, indeed, above all things, to move and impress our hearts, and especially because we know that it is closely connected with our salvation.

Thus Hezekiah here represents this tyrant as an enemy of God, who dishonors Him by reproaches and curses because Jerusalem glories in His name and protection, and concludes that God cannot forsake the city which He has undertaken to defend, without at the same time abandoning His own name. Since, therefore, God in His infinite goodness chooses to connect our salvation with His glory, we ought to lay hold of those promises for the purpose of strengthening our hearts, that although the wicked, while they reproach God and pour out and vomit the venom of their breast, harden themselves in the vain hope that they will not be punished, still there will not be a syllable which the Lord does not hear, and which He does not at length call to account.