Or lets talk about marriage for a moment. And so this fourth part of Solomons prayer is so important when it comes to dedicating anything to God and his glory. It was Solomon's praise, that what he undertook, he went through with; it was by the grace of God that he prospered in it. 1. This was not a blanket request for blessing on every military adventure. 11:28, 29], NKJV, Chronological Study Bible: Holy Bible, New King James Version, NKJV, Cultural Backgrounds Study Bible, Red Letter Edition: Bringing to Life the Ancient World of Scripture, NKJV, The Story: The Bible as One Continuing Story of God and His People, NKJV, Lucado Encouraging Word Bible, Comfort Print: Holy Bible, New King James Version, NKJV, Spirit-Filled Life Bible, Third Edition, Red Letter Edition, Comfort Print: Kingdom Equipping Through the Power of the Word, NKJV, Charles F. Stanley Life Principles Bible, 2nd Edition, Comfort Print: Growing in Knowledge and Understanding of God Through His Word. Traffic and Tears on the Road to Jerusalem. The heavens, even the . Though only Jesus is God incarnate, the temple was a clear sign that God in all his being was committed to living among his people. (Selman), Then the king turned around and blessed the whole assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel was standing. And then the fourth and final part of Solomons prayer is a prayer for Gods people to remain fully committed to him. This prayer helps prevent us from turning inwards and from making all our decisions based on what we think is best for us. Teach(W) them the right way(X) to live, and send rain(Y) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. Paul's Reference Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. - Solomon acknowledges that God cannot be contained in any temple. Dedication of the Temple of God in the city of Nauvoo. (READ VERSES 23-24) SOLOMON IS PRAISING BECAUSE GOD IS FAITHFUL Lewis? Solomon mentions locust and caterpillar, grasshoppers and other creatures which denude the fields of all vegetation. EVERYONE: Hear(N) from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive. Israel's God does make covenant. Solomon made supplication at dedication of the temple - 1 Kin 8:28-29; Jesus made supplication as He was crucified; Stephen also, as he was being stoned - Lk 23:34; Ac 7:59-60; CONCLUSION. He speaks of a situation in which a man has sinned but the sin cannot be proved. Look at verses 57-58: May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers; may he never leave us nor forsake us. In Solomon's prayer at the temple inauguration he referred to Jehovah as the God above all, a God of loving-kindness and loyalty, the Fulfiller of his promises. If they in captivity come to a different insight and repent, if they acknowledge their sins before God and turn to Him with all their hearts and soul, if they then pray toward this land, toward this city and toward this house, may the Lord hear them and forgive, maintain their cause, and bring them back from captivity. Solomon's prayer of dedication of the Temple. Just because God promises does not mean that we possess. How were the kingly and priestly offices kept separate? Copyright 2019 by Zondervan. After many particulars, Solomon concludes with the general request, that God would hearken to his praying people. The importance of wisdom goes beyond just knowledge. On that platform King Solomon stood and then knelt, as the description of this very impressive occasion tells us in the preamble to Solomon's prayer, in 2 Chronicles 6:12-17: Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread forth his hands. Jerusalem: The End of the Road or Just the Beginning? Now Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the chief fathers of the children of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD from the City of David, which is Zion. Let God now hear Solomon. Through believing prayer like this, God promises and we appropriate. We should look beyond ourselves and pray for Gods name to be known among the nations. How much less this temple which I have built! The work on this sanctuary is long completed. 17:10]; Acts 1:24, 2 Chr. 58 May he turn our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep the commands, decrees and regulations he gave our fathers. 50And forgive your people, who have sinned against you; forgive all the offenses they have committed against you, and cause their captors to show them mercy;(BA) 51for they are your people and your inheritance,(BB) whom you brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace. Click here for more messages from the book of 1 Kings. He asks God to provide for each days need why? One land would often invade the other, besiege its cities and take the inhabitants captive. Bible Stories - 1 Kings 8:22-66: Solomon's Prayer of DedicationThen Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spre. Skilled workers were employed. With the aid of a simple acronym (ACTS), we should never forget "The Purpose Of Prayer". God is the one who gave you the talents, the time, the opportunity and the strength to do whatever it is you have done. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. 25Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, (G)You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as you have walked before Me. 26(H)And now I pray, O God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David my father. So yes, we pray for our needs as a church, and we ask God to meet those daily needs. Solomon prosperously effected all he designed, for adorning both God's house and his own. Before we try and answer that question, it is helpful to get a little background on this temple that Solomon was dedicating. b. And comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple: The temple grounds were used as a place to verify and authorize oaths. No place, now, under the gospel, can add to the prayers made in or towards it. When was the last time you invited someone to go to church? This was the greatest answer to prayer Israel could expect from God. 31-32). New King James Version (NKJV). The good news is that God not only forgives sins but also delights in dwelling with His people (v. 50). How many people have you told about Jesus lately? As Solomon was involved in doing God's work, he could expect God's blessing on his efforts. As long as this did not slip into a superstitious misunderstanding, it was good to recognize a special place to come and meet with God. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. A church that loses its outward focus has lost its way. Now, 11 months later, Solomon stands before the people, spread 26:16, 25, 26; Deut. For this occasion Solomon has had a platform built which was five cubits wide and five cubits long and three cubits high. But I think we all need to do a better job in personal evangelism as well. 4. Solomon pleads with the Lord that the temple would be a place of prayer and that all prayers directed toward it would be heard of the Lord and answered. This was made of either brass or copper and Solomon took his position on this platform. 31When anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take (O)an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, 32then hear in heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, (P)condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. What a sight! King Solomon built a structure for God's presence to occupy in Yerushalayim (Jerusalem), but Solomon's prayer points toward God's people's being the dwelling place of God. Solomons final request is that Gods people would remain fully committed to him at all times. How then shall this house which Solomon has built house Him? Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead? which revealed itself in boils. a. We can only truly dedicate things to God when we have first dedicated ourselves. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to You, that all peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You: Solomon asked God to hear the prayer of the foreigner out of a missionary impulse. i. The services of the dedication will continue for three days in succession, commencing on each day at 11:00 o'clock a.m. Tickets may be had at the watch house near the . Whenever you accomplish something, you are still to give God the glory for what he has done. 27But will God really dwell(G) on earth? In the early years of the Israelite kingdom, the Ark of the Covenant was periodically moved about among several sanctuaries, especially those of Shechem and Shiloh. This "fear of God" is a concept which we find frequently in the Old Testament. DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE 231 devaluation of the temple.9 The Deuteronomist, writing after the temple's destruction, purportedly recasts the temple's significance, "For him the temple is little more than a place towards which one turns in prayer."10 Similarly, Weinfeld sees Solomon's prayer as evincing the deuteronomic demythologization of . When a dispute came down to one word against another, Solomon asked that the temple would be a place to properly swear by. So this was a long-term project. Was that a major accomplishment? Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc. Used by permission. If you have any questions, please review our Privacy Policy or email us at privacy@biblegateway.com. The pretended gods of the nations could not compare to Him in any way. You must have JavaScript enabled to use this form. So yes, we want the gospel to go to all the nations, but we also want the gospel to go to our friends and neighbors. The king is here not referring to the stranger who makes his home in Israel, but to the foreigner who comes and goes. 2 Chronicles 7:1-3 - "Now when Solomon had finished praying, fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house. Israel did not have a Nile river which made the whole land fruitful. (1 Kings 6:37-38) Of course his father, King David, had spent many years prior to that making preparations and gathering supplies. b. Keep prayer at he center of all you do! 26:34, 44; Deut. Used by permission. Solomon urges God to enter into an agreement with Israel that when the people pray to God, whether to relieve a famine, or to give them victory in combat against an approaching enemy, or to grant them forgiveness from their sins against God and against one another, that God would grant their request. a. (BC), 52May your eyes be open(BD) to your servants plea and to the plea of your people Israel, and may you listen to them whenever they cry out to you. By proceeding, you consent to our cookie usage. The "man after God's own heart" had left the scene. a. He knows exactly who he is praying to. Otherwise you will be prompted again when opening a new browser window or new a tab. I sometimes run into this with baby dedications. All rights reserved. This is the second part of Solomons prayer: a prayer for Gods continued presence and direction. Prayer for Gods continued presence and direction (57-58). b. Suddenly this great and beautiful temple becomes very small and insignificant in comparison with the One for Whom it is built. (1 Kings 8:54-56). 24 You have kept He does not say what manner of sin it is because that is immaterial to what he has in mind. Though the temple was a house for Jehovah, Solomon realized that "the heavens, yes, the heaven of the heavens, themselves" could not contain Him. 59And may these words of mine, which I have prayed before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, that he may uphold the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel according to each days need, 60so that all the peoples(BL) of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. We need 2 cookies to store this setting. The violation of this principle made Jesus angry. In the last petition Solomon deals with the worst situation which can befall a people. 35-36). If you are new here, be sure to subscribe by email or feed reader so that you don't miss any future posts. We should pray for Gods continued presence and direction. And so finally after all the years of preparation and giving and building, the temple was complete. Solomon does not attribute the lack of rain to mere natural phenomena, but to the sins of the people. How much less this temple which I have built! Do we take the credit for it? The temple is dedicated and let God now arise to His dwelling place! Temple of Jerusalem, either of two temples that were the centre of worship and national identity in ancient Israel. Eight years ago this sanctuary was completed and we began worshiping here but we never had a dedication service, because we didnt actually own the building yet. When the Old Testament speaks of the "foreigner" it does not always refer to the same kind of people. He adds, "for there is no man that sinneth not.". 63 Solomon offered a sacrifice of fellowship offerings to the Lord: twenty-two thousand cattle and a hundred and twenty thousand sheep and goats. This splendid edifice is now completed, and will be dedicated to the Most High God on Friday, the 1st. When such a person prays toward this place, may God hear him too. 2 Chronicles 6:12-40 records the great prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. The heavens, even the highest heaven,(H) cannot contain(I) you. 37(W)When there is famine in the land, pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers; when their enemy besieges them in the land of their [b]cities; whatever plague or whatever sickness there is; 38whatever prayer, whatever supplication is made by anyone, or by all Your people Israel, when each one knows the plague of his own heart, and spreads out his hands toward this temple: 39then hear in heaven Your dwelling place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according to all his ways, whose heart You know (for You alone (X)know the hearts of all the sons of men), 40(Y)that they may fear You all the days that they live in the land which You gave to our fathers. Didnt they make the plans, gather the materials, and oversee the building of the temple? Thats the first part of Solomons prayer: thanksgiving and praise for what God has done. Who has fulfilled with His hands what He spoke with His mouth to my father David: Solomon recognized that the temple was the fulfillment of Gods plan, not Davids or Solomons. 32:11, 12; Deut. Its location, Mount Moriah, was where God appeared to David, and also where Abraham . This wisdom is soon revealed when a mother comes to him with another woman, each claiming the same child as her own. 12. the Lord appeared to Solomon by The dedication of the temple must have been an occasion of intense national interest to Solomon and his subjects. 1 Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.. 2 But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever.. 3 And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood.. 4 And he said, Blessed be the LORD God of Israel, who hath with his hands . A few short years after Solomon's prayer, God destroyed Israel as a nation. When they sin against You (for there is no one who does not sin): This is a succinct Old Testament statement of the principle most clearly stated in Romans 3:23: for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. How does Solomon overcome the difficulty of doing priestly work and not sinning by doing so? 1. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. i. 28:36, 64; 2 Kin. After placing the ark in its new home, a praise service broke out with instruments sounding out beautifully and voices raised . They built a larger sanctuary than they needed at the time because they trusted God would help them grow. His story is told primarily in 1 Kings (1-11). He is too great to be limited to any created place. Arise, O LORD God, to Your resting place, How dreadful to pray a prayer of dedication for a new business if you are not going to run that business according to godly principles. Will God dwell on the earth? III. When King Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem in all its glorious splendor, he stood before the altar of the Lord and prayed a very long prayer. As we just read in verse 61: Your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands.. If I see a Bank of England note, it is a promise for a certain amount of money, and I take it and use it. What is especially notable is that foreigners could know and fear God like your people Israel. This hope of equality in worship was rarely expressed in the Old Testament (e.g. Its the very first part of our purpose statement: The purpose of the Plantation Community Church is to make disciples of our Lord Jesus Christ. We make disciples by winning people to Christ and then helping them to grow in him. Blasting refers to the singeing of the grain by the dry hot wind blowing from the desert. There will be seven distinct petitions in this prayer of Solomon. He ruled Israel for forty years, ushering in an era of peace and prosperity for his people. When the building is now finished there is a great celebration of dedication and Solomon utters a prayer which has become a classic.