28Yet give attention to your servants prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Suddenly this great and beautiful temple becomes very small and insignificant in comparison with the One for Whom it is built. That is his privilege and his duty. "Solomon's Prayer of Dedication" . The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. After sacrificing a seemingly endless number of animals ( 1 Kings 8:5 ), Solomon blessed the Lord for His covenantal faithfulness (vv.12-21). When we gather to worship, this is what we seek first and foremost. We ask that he would be with us as he was with our fathers, and we pray that he may never leave nor forsake us. 28Yet regard the prayer of Your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which Your servant is praying before You today: 29that Your eyes may be open toward this [a]temple night and day, toward the place of which You said, (K)My name shall be (L)there, that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes (M)toward this place. Skilled workers were employed. Ray Fowler. Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 54:34 9.4MB) King Solomon . 54-61), and dismisses it (vv. For less than $5/mo. 29May your eyes be open(J) toward(K) this temple night and day, this place of which you said, My Name(L) shall be there, so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. This type of praying produced some marvelous results. This was not a blanket request for blessing on every military adventure. Teach(W) them the right way(X) to live, and send rain(Y) on the land you gave your people for an inheritance. And so now we are finally in a position officially to dedicate this sanctuary to God and his glory. Click to enable/disable Google reCaptcha. But then Solomon goes on to pray this second prayer of dedication in verses 54-63. It was the Lord who fulfilled all the good promises he had given through his servant Moses. b. And that is all part of this third portion of Solomons prayer here in 1 Kings 8: a prayer for Gods name to be known among the nations. God is able to send rain and He is able to withhold it. Solomon: Begins by praising the God who keeps his promises. 6:36; Ps. Traffic and Tears on the Road to Jerusalem. 41As for the foreigner(AJ) who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your name 42for they will hear(AK) of your great name and your mighty hand(AL) and your outstretched armwhen they come and pray toward this temple, 43then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. 1 Chronicles 29:16). (Selman). Then Solomon spoke: "The LORD said He would dwell in the dark cloud. King Solomon ( "Shlomo Hamelech" in Hebrew) was the third king of Israel. The temple is dedicated and let God now arise to His dwelling place! What a wonderful prayer to pray! And this is really the heart of what all dedications to God are all about. Yet I have chosen Jerusalem, that My name may be there; and I have chosen David to be over My people Israel. Now it was in the heart of my father David to build a temple for the name of the LORD God of Israel. For less than $5/mo. 28:21, 22, 27, 38, 42, 52, [1 Sam. a. 35When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain(U) because your people have sinned(V) against you, and when they pray toward this place and give praise to your name and turn from their sin because you have afflicted them, 36then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel. (1-2) All of Israel assembles at Jerusalem. 14-21), utters a long dedicatory prayer (vv. How then shall this house which Solomon has built house Him? 22-53), blesses the assembly again (vv. But this will always prompt you to accept/refuse cookies when revisiting our site. 37When famine(Z) or plague(AA) comes to the land, or blight(AB) or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers,(AC) or when an enemy besieges them in any of their cities, whatever disaster or disease may come, 38and when a prayer or plea is made by anyone among your people Israelbeing aware of the afflictions of their own hearts, and spreading out their hands(AD) toward this temple 39then hear(AE) from heaven, your dwelling place. 2 Chronicles 6 - Solomon's Prayer of Dedication A. Solomon blesses God. 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. It was important to recognize that though God had a special presence in the temple, He was far too great to be restricted to the temple. God is the one who gave you the talents, the time, the opportunity and the strength to do whatever it is you have done. Solomon here prays for Gods daily provision and sustenance, but he does so for a very specific purpose. Used by permission. a. There is room for petitions, but first we are to realize to Whom we come and we must also realize our own limitations. 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. They always respond because they want Gods blessing on their marriage. Hear in heaven Your dwelling place; and when You hear, forgive. Judge between your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing down on their heads what they have done, and vindicating the innocent by treating them in accordance with their innocence.(Q). Our church began back in 1948 when a small group of people had a vision for a church in the newly developing community of Plantation, Florida. 28:36, 64; 2 Kin. Seeing God always forgives upon His people's repentance, can this forgiveness become rather common place to 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. And so I ask them: How can you stand up in front of the church and promise to raise your child in the Lord when you arent following God yourself? It is a wonderful thing to want to dedicate your child to the Lord, but God wants you to dedicate yourself to him first. The Lord had promised David that his would be a dynasty, i.e., his children should sit on the throne of Israel through generations if they would fear Him and keep His commandments. It would have been easy for Solomon and the people to take the credit for the work that had just been accomplished. Verse Concepts. Solomon's prayer of dedication of the Temple. this temple for God, so did His represented presence in the form of the Ark of the Covenant (see 2 Chronicles 5:2-10). Well, yes, of course Solomon and the people all played their parts in making the temple come together, but Solomon in his wisdom recognizes that it was only possible because of the Lord. Next Solomon prays for Gods name to be known among the nations. 24 You have kept And God did help them! Now set your heart and your soul to seek the Lord your God; arise, therefore, and build the sanctuary of the Lord God, so that you may bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord and the holy vessels of God into the house that is to be built for the name of the Lord.". The "man after God's own heart" had left the scene. V. 22b Verse 54 tells us that he knelt on his knees: "when Solomon had finished praying all The king is here not referring to the stranger who makes his home in Israel, but to the foreigner who comes and goes. i. 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. (v. 1-2) Solomon blesses all of Israel. The we come to Solomon's prayer of dedication of the temple. Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices before the Lord. God having given testimony to Solomon's prayer by fire from heaven, 2. and glory in the temple, the people worship him 4. And the priests could not enter the house of the LORD, because the glory of the LORD filled the LORD's house. Solomon took time to contemplate the God he was praying to. Standing there at the altar, he cried out for God to have mercy on His people . Before we try and answer that question, it is helpful to get a little background on this temple that Solomon was dedicating. THE HOUSE OF DAVID. Solomon used the phrasing of that passage to emphasize that the ark of the covenant and the symbol of Gods presence would wander no more and had finally come to its final resting place. and more. For this reason, many observant Jews still pray facing the direction of the site of the temple in Jerusalem. These cookies are strictly necessary to provide you with services available through our website and to use some of its features. Do we take the credit for it? If there was no rain, there was no food. How dreadful to pray a prayer of dedication over a house if you are not going to live a godly life for Jesus in that house. Blasting refers to the singeing of the grain by the dry hot wind blowing from the desert. It is not therefore to be wondered at that, when Solomon dedicated to the Lord the temple which he had built, his great petition was that God would hear every prayer that should be uttered in that place or toward that place. The temple was completed the 8 th month of 11 th year of reign. The heavens, Hebrew heaven of heavens, because this language has no comparative or superlative degree cannot contain Him! When the temple was complete Solomon praised God before His people reminding them of His promises. fulfilled with his hands) really means that Gods actions have confirmed his words it is as if Gods unseen hands were active in all the human hands who contributed to the construction work (cf. If the rains do not come because the people have sinned the livelihood of the majority of the people will be affected at once. We should pray for Gods continued presence and direction. This "fear of God" is a concept which we find frequently in the Old Testament. (If you're a human, don't change the following field), Solomons Prayer at the Dedication of the Temple. Outline Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple? This lesson was prepared for older elementary students and can be adapted for . We dedicate this sanctuary to be a house of prayer. But the LORD said to my father David, Whereas it was in your heart to build a temple for My name, you did well in that it was in your heart. 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. Out of the land of Egypt: Solomon presses the remembrance of the Exodus. There I have put the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD: The chief glory of the temple was that it was the resting place for the ark of the covenant, a representation of Gods covenantal presence with His people. Was that a major accomplishment? 62-66).To this account is appended an appearance of the Lord to Solomon that balances the divine word to Solomon in the . But understand that such a prayer of dedication only has meaning if you yourself are personally committed to the Lord. The heathen may think that their deities will be able to help them in certain situations, but their hopes are futile. 26:34, 44; Deut. Solomon's solemn sacrifice 8. In summary: - Solomon describes the reason for the Temple, that it was in David's heart to build it, but God decided that his son should build it instead. Living together outside of marriage is direct disobedience to Gods commands, and God cannot bless disobedience. So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God and that there is no other. Solomons prayer has a global focus. Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands (for Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court; and he stood on it, knelt down on his knees before all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven); and he said: LORD God of Israel, there is no God in heaven or on earth like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts. He will then not lack a son to sit upon his throne. The Ark has been brought in. a. 30:9]; Ezra 7:6; Ps. Five Reasons to Read God's Word This Year, Involving People in Personal and Group Worship, Receiving People into Fellowship and Service, Sharing Gods Love in Broward County and Beyond, Teaching and Equipping People for Ministry, This Man Welcomes Sinners and Eats with Them, Five Candles at Christmas (Advent Wreath Sermons), Abraham (3): Unquestioning Obedience to Gods Commands, Creation: Understanding the Power of Gods Word, Faith: Being Certain of What You Do Not See, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph: Trusting God with the Future, Jericho and Rahab: Trusting in Gods Deliverance (2), Moses and His Parents: Fearing God Rather Than Man, Moses: Identifying with Christ and His People, New Testament Believers: Something Better for Us, Old Testament Believers (1): Triumphant in Victory, Old Testament Believers (2): Triumphant in Suffering, The Red Sea: Trusting in Gods Deliverance (1), Abortion: Caring for mothers and children in crisis pregnancy situations, Assisted suicide: Caring for the elderly and infirm, Divorce and Remarriage: Covenant, commitment, grace and forgiveness, Homosexuality: Caring for those who experience same-sex attraction, Living Together: Dishonoring those you love the most, Racism: A sin against God, humanity and the gospel, Transgender: Caring for those who experience issues with gender identity, The Parables of the Mustard Seed and the Yeast, The Parables of the Treasure and the Pearl, Turning Your Attitudes Upside Down - Part 1, Turning Your Attitudes Upside Down - Part 2, A Prayer to Be Pleasing to God (Sanctifying), Psalm 121 - Trusting in Gods Providential Care, Psalm 123 - Looking to the Lord for Mercy. He adds, "for there is no man that sinneth not.". 24You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled itas it is today. SOLOMON BEGINS HIS PRAYER WITH PRAISE. The second part of his prayer was for Gods continued presence and direction. Keep prayer at he center of all you do! Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. If anyone sins against his neighbor, and is forced to take an oath, and comes and takes an oath before Your altar in this temple, then hear from heaven, and act, and judge Your servants, bringing retribution on the wicked by bringing his way on his own head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness.. Why Do You Look for the Living Among the Dead? (1 Kings 8:54-56). c. When they come to themselves in the land where they were carried captive: Solomon also asked God to hear Israels prayer from captivity in a foreign land. How were the kingly and priestly offices kept separate? How would this be possible? This is the second part of Solomons prayer: a prayer for Gods continued presence and direction. ii. Click here to return to the Sermons page. It took seven years for King Solomon to actually build the temple.
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