Solomon was the king of Israel, but he humbled himself publicly and supplied himself as a residing sacrifice to the Lord. Jesus is the King of all Heaven and earth, but He humbled Himself publicly and supplied Himself as a sacrifice for us. They each praised God, gave Him glory, and prayed for themselves and their folks.
So, if the King of Israel, and extra considerably the King of Heaven and earth, are usually not too necessary to humble themselves and supply their lives to God, now we have no excuse. So, comply with their instance. Humble your self and dedicate your life to the Lord. Kneel earlier than Him and pray. Raise your palms in reward. Remind your self of God’s holiness, faithfulness, and kindness so you should have hope and religion for the long run
Solomon Dedicates the Temple– 1 Kings 8:12-66; 2 Chronicles 6:1-7:10
After the clergymen introduced the ark into the Most Holy Place and the glory of the Lord stuffed the Temple, Solomon stood on a 7½-foot sq. platform that was 4½ toes tall so he might be seen and heard by everybody. He reminded them that God had stated He would dwell with the folks in a thick cloud (Deuteronomy 4:10–14; Exodus 20:18–21), and Solomon had constructed Him an impressive home so He might keep there with His folks without end. The king blessed the group there as they stood, then he blessed the Lord for being trustworthy in protecting His promise to David.
God had chosen David to be the king, and it happy Him that the king wished to construct Him a home. However till the tip of his life, God had not but chosen a spot for His identify to dwell. It was not till David stopped the plague on the threshing ground of Ornan (Araunah) that God designated Jerusalem as His resting place (1 Chronicles 21:18–30). However David was not chosen to construct the Temple. That job was given to Solomon. The king reminded the folks of God’s promise to his father, saying that it had been fulfilled by his presence on the throne and with the completion of the Temple. The promise was made to the daddy however fulfilled within the son. Later, if any of them ever grew to become impatient or uncertain, they might bear in mind the achievement of the Temple-promise and have hope and religion within the Lord.
When he completed speaking to the folks, he knelt there earlier than the altar, unfold his palms towards Heaven, and prayed. What a place for a king! In any case, he had simply constructed God a grand Temple. He might have stood earlier than them as a robust and necessary ruler, however he selected as an alternative to humble himself earlier than the folks, main by instance. Romans 12:1 says “to current your our bodies as a residing sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your religious worship.” Solomon was the king, ruler of all of them, however he nonetheless worshiped God by providing himself earlier than the altar as a residing sacrifice.
He didn’t start his prayer by saying how exhausting he had labored on God’s home or how lengthy it had taken him to construct it. As an alternative, Solomon praised God and declared His holiness, faithfulness, and kindness to His folks. No different god made guarantees to its folks or would have the ability to hold them out if it did (Isaiah 46:9; Jeremiah 10:6–7). Israel’s God was like no different! He had fulfilled His Temple-promise. However He had additionally promised David that he would by no means lack a person on the throne of Israel, supplied that his sons paid shut consideration to comply with God’s legal guidelines and stroll in His methods (2 Samuel 7:12–16). By stating the promise God had already fulfilled, Solomon confirmed that he trusted God’s potential to meet one other. Solomon knew God had been trustworthy, but he nonetheless pleaded with the Lord to additional fulfill His guarantees, realizing that he would want God’s assist to stroll in keeping with His methods.
Solomon acknowledged that no constructing might actually include the Lord. Discover that he doesn’t say that God Himself was there, however that His identify was there—not as a result of God wasn’t there, however as a result of He wasn’t restricted to that area (Deuteronomy 12:5, 11; 2 Chronicles 6:20). Solomon understood that the Temple’s objective was not for confinement however for fellowship. It was a spot for the folks to fulfill with God in prayer and supply sacrifices.
Solomon humbled himself additional and begged that the Lord would hear his prayer. He desperately desired that God would proceed to meet in him all He had promised to his father David. He requested for God to concentrate to His Temple each second. The Lord’s true dwelling place was in Heaven, however His Presence was not contained there both. Solomon knew God might see and listen to them, and he requested that He would at all times pay attention to the prayers supplied in and towards the place the place He had set His identify.
Then Solomon started to hope for particular cases after they would actually need the Lord. He started by asking God to evaluate between the accuser and the accused. If a person accused his neighbor of sinning towards him and requested him to swear his innocence within the Temple, Solomon requested God to evaluate between them. Solely the Lord knew who was responsible or harmless, and Solomon trusted that He would take care of every particular person accordingly.
Solomon additionally knew that in the event that they sinned towards God, He would possibly permit them to be defeated by their enemy, withhold rain from their land, or convey famine, plague, illness, or different widespread afflictions within the land (Deuteronomy 28:15, 20–68). So he requested that if the particular person, or the collective nation, referred to as on God’s identify, cried out to Him towards the Temple, and turned from their sin, that the Lord would hear, forgive, restore, and train them the precise approach. Since God was the one One who knew what was in an individual’s coronary heart, Solomon trusted Him to reply completely to every particular person’s sin, ache, or affliction after they referred to as on Him (Jeremiah 17:10).
Solomon even prayed for the foreigner who would journey to the Temple looking for Israel’s God. He requested that if that particular person prayed, God would hear and reply their prayer, so they’d know that He was the One, True God. Solomon’s need for different folks to know and concern the Lord was telling. Israel was not chosen by God to be unique. He put His identify on them so He might reveal Himself to the world (Deuteronomy 7:6–8; Isaiah 42:6), that by His folks others would possibly come to know Him.
