Today we are continuing our look at the prayer Solomon prayed during the dedication ceremony for the temple.
He's been praying for the Lord's mercy on himself and on the people of Israel. He now prays for the Gentiles who convert to the God of Israel. "As for the foreigner who does not belong to Your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of Your name---for they will hear of Your great name and Your mighty hand and Your outstretched arm---when they come and pray toward this temple, then hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of You, so that all the peoples of the earth may know Your name and fear You, as do Your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears Your name." (1 Kings 8:41-43, 2 Chronicles 6:32-33) The Lord intends the temple to be not only for the people of Israel but for everyone who wants to know Him. He speaks of it as the "house of prayer for all nations". (Isaiah 56:7, Mark 11:7)
Next Solomon prays for victory in battle. During his reign the nation was enjoying an era of peace but he knew this would not always be so. "When Your people go to war against their enemies, wherever You send them, and when they pray to the Lord toward the city You have chosen and the temple I have built for Your name, then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause." (1 Kings 8:44-45, 2 Chronicles 6:34-35)
Solomon prays that even if the people fall into such sin that they are defeated and taken captive, the Lord would hear their prayer of repentance from a foreign land and bring them home. "When they sin against You---for there is no one who does not sin---and You become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captors and say, 'We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly'; and if they turn back to You with all their heart and soul in the land of their enemies who took them captive, and pray to You toward the land You gave their ancestors, toward the city You have chosen and the temple I have built for Your name; then from heaven, Your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their plea, and uphold their cause. And 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; for they are Your people and Your inheritance, whom You brought out of Egypt, out of that iron-smelting furnace." (1 Kings 8:46-51, 2 Chronicles 6:36-39)
Earlier in the Old Testament the Lord explained the benefits of obedience and He described the correction that would be applied for disobedience. He warned the people that if they fell into sin and idolatry, and if they did not respond to less harsh methods of correction, He would "scatter you among the nations". (Leviticus 26:33) But He also said He would hear their prayer of repentance for the sake of His covenant with Israel. "But if they will confess their sins and the sins of their ancestors---their unfaithfulness and their hostility toward Me, which made Me hostile toward them so that I sent them into the land of their enemies---then when their uncircumcised hearts are humbled and they pay for their sin, I will remember My covenant with Jacob and My covenant with Isaac and My covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land. For the land will be deserted by them and will enjoy its sabbaths while it lies desolate without them. They will pay for their sins because they rejected My laws and abhorred My decrees. Yet in spite of this, when they are in the land of their enemies, I will not reject them or abhor them so as to destroy them completely, breaking My covenant with them. I am the Lord their God. But for their sake I will remember the covenant with their ancestors whom I brought out of Egypt in the sight of the nations to be their God. I am the Lord." (Leviticus 26:40-45)
Solomon appeals to the promise above when he asks the Lord to hear the people's prayers of repentance from a foreign land. The Lord concluded His promise by saying, "I am the Lord"; in other words, His promise can be counted on because of who He is. He is able to make and keep promises because He has all power to make and keep promises. He cannot break a promise because He cannot lie or change His mind. "He who is the Glory of Israel does not lie or change His mind; for He is not a human being, that He should change His mind." (1 Samuel 15:29)
Solomon concludes his prayer with these words: "May Your eyes be open to Your servant's plea and to the plea of Your people Israel, and may You listen to them whenever they cry out to You. For You singled them out from all the nations of the world to be Your own inheritance, just as You declared through Your servant Moses when You, Sovereign Lord, brought our ancestors out of Egypt." (1 Kings 8:52-53, 2 Chronicles 6:40) "Now arise, Lord God, and come to Your resting place, You and the ark of Your might. May Your priests, Lord God, be clothed with salvation, may Your faithful people rejoice in Your goodness. Lord God, do not reject Your anointed one. Remember the great love promised to David Your servant." (2 Chronicles 6:41-42)
Solomon turns the house of the Lord over to the Lord for His use. He invites the Lord to have His way in everything that happens there, which is an invitation that should be issued to the Lord in every service held in His name everywhere. This is an invitation that should be issued to the Lord by every heart. We need Him. We---the creatures---are nothing without our Creator.
No comments:
Post a Comment