To be a bully, one needs to have some advantage over others.
It may be size, it may be wealth, it may be status or connections with the high and mighty.
Whatever it may be, a bully uses those things to get what he wants from those he is bullying.
But without all those things to support him, a bully is just as weak and vulnerable as those he is bullying.
The one who is being bullied has a couple of options. He can try to stand up to the bully, but it may not turn out well for him.
Or he can have recourse to someone stronger and higher for protection.
That was what king Hezekiel did in the first reading. When he read that letter from Sennacharib, he would have quivered with fear because he knew what Sennacharib could do.
But instead of worrying and panicking, Hezekiel went to the Temple, laid that letter before the Lord, and pray for God's help.
And God answered immediately. The prophet Isaiah relayed God’s reply and that same night Sennacharib’s mighty army was wasted.
The 1st reading reiterated the truth that God does not favour the proud, the mighty and the bully.
God hears the cries of the weak and the lowly and He will come to their help to be their protector and Saviour.
So, in the face of bullies or injustice or oppression, let us turn to the Lord for help.
God will hear the cries of the lowly and humble and come to help them and deliver them from danger.