Online Resource Library
Commentary Index | Return to PrayerRequest.com | DownloadPaul Kretzmann Commentary - 1 Kings 8:22 - 8:53
(Show All Books | Show All Chapters)
This Chapter Verse Commentaries:
Solomon's Invocation
v. 22. And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, the great altar of burnt offering in the Court of the Priests, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, in a gesture of the most eager supplication;
v. 23. and he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God like Thee, in heaven above or on earth beneath, who keepest covenant and mercy with thy servants that walk before Thee with all their heart; all the so-called gods of the heathen could simply not stand the comparison, they could not come into consideration;
v. 24. who hast kept with Thy servant David, my father, that Thou promisedst him; Thou spakest also with thy mouth and hast fulfilled it with Thine hand, as it is this day, visible before the eyes of all men.
v. 25. Therefore now, Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David, my father, also in the future, that Thou promisedst him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel, so that, this expressing the condition of Jehovah for the fulfillment of His promise, thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before Me as thou hast walked before Me. In that event the family of David would be assured a continual rule over the kingdom of Israel.
v. 26. And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray Thee, be verified which Thou spakest unto Thy servant David, my father. It is an urgent petition as the careful repetition shows.
v. 27. But will God indeed dwell on the earth? making even such a splendid palace as the Temple His habitation among men. Behold, the heaven and the heaven of heavens, all the space which the imagination of man can reach, cannot contain Thee, even their all-embracing extent was insufficient for the infinite God; how much less this house that I have builded! Though Jehovah could not be confined to this one house, yet He was appealed to reveal His merciful presence, especially in hearing the prayers of His children there.
v. 28. Yet have Thou respect unto the prayer of thy servant and to his supplication, O Lord, my God, to hearken unto the cry and to the prayer which thy servant prayeth before Thee to-day,
v. 29. that Thine eyes may be open toward this house night and day, even toward the place of which Thou hast said, my name shall be there, Deu_12:11; that Thou mayest hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant shall make toward this place, He should be alert to hear and to fulfill the prayers of those who would call on Him in this Temple.
v. 30. And hearken Thou to the supplication of Thy servant and of Thy people Israel when they shall pray toward this place; and hear Thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place, as the prayers rise to the Throne of Grace; and when Thou hearest, forgive, for forgiveness of sins is not only the greatest blessing which man may have here below, but man can hope for the acceptance of his prayer only when his sins are forgiven, since every answer to prayer rests on the sin-pardoning grace of God.
v. 31. If any man trespass against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before Thine altar in this house, the place of divine witness and presence,
v. 32. then hear Thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, punishing him for his false oath, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. The name of Jehovah, to whom this Temple was dedicated, was by all means to be kept holy.
v. 33. When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against Thee, Lev_26:17; Deu_28:25, and shall turn again to Thee, and confess Thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto Thee in this house, seeking the face of the Lord in true repentance,
v. 34. then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which Thou gavest unto their fathers, taking away their captivity for the sake of His mercy.
v. 35. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against Thee, Lev_26:19; Deu_11:17; Deu_28:23; if they pray toward this place, and confess Thy name, and turn from their sin when Thou afflictest them, for drought, especially in Palestine, was rightly considered a sign of curse and punishment,
v. 36. then hear Thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of Thy servants and of Thy people Israel, that Thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon Thy land which Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance. Because God teaches, educates, His people, tries to bring them back to the right way by means of punishments, therefore He is asked to forgive if His people acknowledge the punishment and plead for forgiveness.
v. 37. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar, Lev_26:19-26; Deu_28:22-23; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, in all their gates, throughout their land; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;
v. 38. what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all Thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, if they acknowledge the punishment as a chastisement of God directed at their heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house,
v. 39. then hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart Thou knowest; (for Thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)
v. 40. that they may fear Thee all the days that they live in the land which Thou gavest unto our fathers. God, who knows the heart of every man, can treat each individual case as its merits demand.
v. 41. Moreover, concerning a stranger, that is not of Thy people Israel, not a member of the chosen nation by birth, but cometh out of a far country for Thy name's sake, as a proselyte of the gate, if not of righteousness;
v. 42. (for they shall hear of Thy great name and of Thy strong hand and of Thy stretched-out arm, even as the surrounding nations had heard of it at the time of the wilderness journey;) when he shall come and pray toward this house,
v. 43. hear Thou in heaven, thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for, that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel, convinced of the supremacy of His divine power by the fulfillment of their prayer; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy name, that His almighty power was manifested in the midst of Israel.
v. 44. If thy people go out to battle against their enemy, whithersoever Thou shalt send them, and shall pray unto the Lord toward the city which Thou hast chosen, and toward the house that I have built for Thy name, the outward turning of the face and body being a sign of the inward turning of the heart,
v. 45. then hear Thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause, causing right and justice to take their course upon them.
v. 46. If they sin against Thee, (for there is no man that sinneth not, a truth which is properly emphasized at all times,) and Thou be angry with them, and deliver them to the enemy, so that they carry them away captives unto the land of the enemy, far or near, deportations of this kind being the custom in Oriental lands at that time;
v. 47. yet if they shall bethink themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, return to sense and reason, and repent, and make supplication unto Thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness, such a free and unequivocal confession being required in case of real sorrow over sins,
v. 48. and so return unto Thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies which led them away captive, and pray unto Thee toward their land which Thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which Thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for Thy name:
v. 49. then hear Thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven, Thy dwelling-place, and maintain their cause, uphold their right,
v. 50. and forgive Thy people that have sinned against Thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against Thee, and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them;
v. 51. for they be Thy people and Thine inheritance, Deu_9:29, which Thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron, Deu_4:20;
v. 52. that Thine eyes may be open unto the supplication of Thy servant and unto the supplication of Thy people Israel, to hearken unto them in all that they call for unto Thee.
v. 53. For Thou didst separate them from among all the people of the earth, chose them out of all nations, to be Thine inheritance, as Thou spakest by the hand of Moses, Thy servant, when Thou broughtest our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. Thus Solomon, in seven petitions of his dedication prayer, had brought before the Lord the principal needs of his people, as they would find expression in prayer. Note: Christians call upon the Lord in the name of Jesus Christ, asking forgiveness and help for the sake of His redemption, being sure that He will in no wise cast them out.