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Solomon's Dedicatory Address
v. 1. Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that He would dwell in the thick darkness, Lev_16:2. As St. Paul expresses it: He dwells in the light which no man can approach unto; whom no man hath seen nor can see, 1Ti_6:16. The union of the believers with the Lord is still hidden from the eyes of men; it is invisible and will not be revealed until the last Great Day.
v. 2. But I have built an house of habitation for Thee and a place for Thy dwelling for ever. Solomon's remark was suggested by the fact that the cloud of God's presence had filled the Sanctuary; for he knew that the Lord would continue to reveal Himself from the mercy-seat of the ark, that He had promised to dwell among His people with His grace as long as they continued to walk in His ways.
v. 3. And the king turned his face, for he had been looking toward the Sanctuary and now faced about toward the multitude assembled in the court in the eastern end of the Temple area, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel. And all the congregation of Israel stood, to receive the king's good wishes with becoming reverence.
v. 4. And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, to whom alone he intended to give all glory, who hath with His hands fulfilled that which He spake with His mouth to my father David, saying,
v. 5. Since the day that I brought forth My people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in that My name might be there, He had had no permanent place of worship, no fixed place of abode in Israel; neither chose I any man to be ruler over My people Israel, this being at the time when there was an absolute theocratic rule in the country, only the Judges assuming the leader. ship when God deemed it wise, cp 2Sa_7:6-7;
v. 6. but I have chosen Jerusalem that My name might be there, and have chosen David to be over My people Israel, 1Ch_28:4.
v. 7. Now, it was in the heart of David, my father, to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 2Sa_7:2; 1Ch_17:1; 1Ch_28:2.
v. 8. But the Lord said to David, my father, through Nathan, the prophet, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for My name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart, this intention showed the sincerity of David's love for, and reverence of, Jehovah.
v. 9. Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house, but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for My name, 1Ch_17:4-10.
v. 10. The Lord therefore hath performed His word that He hath spoken; for I am risen up in the room of David, my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel, to His honor alone, and to afford a place where the worshipers of the true God might assemble in His name.
v. 11. And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, on the two tables of stone, where God wrote it with His own hand, that He made with the children of Israel. Note: The covenant of the New Testament is even more glorious than that of the Old. Wherever the Word of God is proclaimed and the Sacraments are administered, there God Himself is present, there He reveals to men His grace and His truth.