1 Kings 8

1 Kings 8:1-11

The building and furniture of the temple were very glorious, but the dedication of it exceeds in glory. 1. The ark introduced into the temple, vers. 1-9. 2. The glory of God fills the body, vers. 10, 11. 3. Solomon’s speech to the assembly of Israel, vers. 12-21. 4. His prayer to God, vers. 22-53. 5. His parting benefice-tion, vers. 54-61. 6. The sacrifices he offered, and the feast he held, vers. 62-60.

1. THEN ‘Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon, in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the LORD, ‘out of the city of David, which is a Zion. 2. And all the men of Israel assembled them, selves unto king Solomon, ‘at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. 3. And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. 4. And they brought up the ark of the LORD, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, ’even those did the priests and the Levites bring up. 5. And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, ‘fscrising sheep and oxen, ’that could not be told nor numbered for multitude. 6. And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the LORD ‘unto his place, into the oracle of the house to the most holy place, were under the wings of the cherubims. 7. For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark, and the slaves thereof above. 8. And they drew out the slaves, that the ends of the slaves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without: and there they are unto this day. 9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeh, when the LORD made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. 10. And it came to pass when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the LORD, 11. So that the priests could not stand to minister, because of the cloud: ‘for the glory of the LORD had filled the house of the LORD.

The work being completed, nothing remained but the solemn dedication of the place to the service of Jehovah. For this purpose,

1. An assembly of the elders of Israel is convoked by the king, in the month Ethanim, to bring up the ark to the place provided for it: they met seven days before the feast of tabernacles, which began on the fifteenth, and the congregation was dismissed on the twenty-third, having kept the feast fourteen days. It was a matter of general joy and exultation, and vast sacrifices were offered on the occasion. Note, (1.) When religion prospers, it is the subject of general joy to God’s people. (2.) When kings become nursing fathers to the church, courtiers, whether they possess it or not, will pretend seal for its interests.

2. The priests took up the ark, containing that precious and inestimable jewel of God’s law, and with it the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod. The Levites, their assistants, brought also the old tabernacle from Gibbon, with all its utensils, and probably that also from the city of David, to be laid up in the treasury of the temple, and now no more to be used. The ark is fixed in his place, under the wings of the cherubim, and the slaves drawn forward, not to be seen without in the holy place, for that is denied in the next clause, but before the oracle, from under the shadow of the wings of the cherubim, as a direction to the high-priest in the day of atonement, to go to the mercifes between them. Note, God will shortly take down our old tabernacle of the body, and lodge our souls, like the ark, in that house, not made with hands, eternal in the heavens.

3. No sooner is the ark safely lodged between the cherubim, and the priests withdrawn from the most holy place, than the glory of God filled the house, either like the pillar of a cloud spreading thick darkness around, or in a blaze of light, so in-superable that the priests could not stand to minister. Thus

5 C God Before Christ

God testified his approbation of the work, confirmed their faith in the former manifestations they had read in the book of Moses, and henceforth taking up his visible abode between the chorubims, gave them assurance of his readiness to hear and answer them, whenever before that temple they poured out their supplications. Note, Though our eyes behold not this visible lustre, yet whilst by faith we are enabled to look to Jesus, all our requests will be granted, and at last, with open face, we shall behold his brighter glory.

a Lev. xvi. a. Pf. xxvii. xi. a. xxvi. a. a. Sam. vii. xi. a. Nunc. vii. xi. Re. Luke xix. viii. a. Pf. xxv. ix. a Deut. xii. xi. Phil. xxxvii. 13. a. Sam. vii. xi. a Cor. viii. a. a. Sam. vii. xi. a Chom. xxviii. 5.

18. ¶ Then Spake Solomon, ‘The LORD said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 13. ‘I have surely built thee an house to dwell in, a settled place for thee to abode in for ever. 14. And the king turned his face about, and ‘bleffed all the congregation of Israel: (and all the congregation of Israel stood.) 15. And he said, ‘Bleffed as the LORD God of Israel, which Spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 16. Since the day that I brought forth my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, ’that my name might be therein; but I chose David to be over my people Israel. 17. And ‘it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 18. And the LORD said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto my name, ’thou diest well that it was in thine heart: 19. Nevertheless, ’thou shalt not build the house, but thy ion that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto my name. 20. And the LORD hath performed his word that he Spake, and I am risen up in the room of David my father, and sit on the throne of Israel, ‘as the LORD promised, and have built an house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. 21. And I have set there a place for the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.

19. 12—21. The priests and people appearing in confirmation at the fight, Solomon encourages them.

20. He reminds them that this is the fulfilment of God’s promise, Lev. xvi. 6. and a gracious mark of his favour and approbation. The house now being built, the Divine inhabitant comes to take up his residence therein, and Solomon cannot but pray it may be for ever. Note, (1.) If we enter, at any time, the dark cloud of affliction or temptation, let us not be dismayed, for there also God dwelleth. (2.) If we have found, at any time, God’s comfortable presence, it cannot but excite us to pray, that he may take up his abode with us continually.

21. He pronounced a solemn benediction on the people, who reverently stood up to receive it.

22. He, with thankful acknowledgments to God, recites the design of his building this house. God had promised to choke the place of his abode, and David his father had planned the future; but God stayed him from proceeding, though he gradually accepted his intentions, and fixed on his son for the glorious work. Now then the promise is accomplished, the fixed abode for God’s ark provided, and the literature for ever devoted to the service of their covenant God. Note, (1.) The fulfilment of God’s precious promise engages more the tongues of the faithful, than their own unworthy performances. (2.) A good desire is not forgotten of God.

23. ¶ And ‘Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD, in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and ‘spread forth his hands toward heaven: 23. And he said, LORD God of Israel, ’there is no God like thee, in heaven above, or on earth beneath, ‘who keepeth covenant and mercy with thy servants, ’that walk before thee with all their heart: 24. Who hath kept with thy servant David my father that thou promised him: thou Spakeeth also with thy mouth, and ‘hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 25. Therefore now, LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that thou promised him, saying, ‘There shall not fail thee a man in my fight, to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take beak to their way, that they walk before me, as thou hast walked before me: 26. And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou Spakeeth unto thy servant David my father. 27. But ‘will God indeed dwell on the earth? behold, ’the heaven, and heaven of hea-

vens cannot contain thee, how much less this house that I have built? 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: ’thou, which thy servant prayeth before thee to-day: 29. That ’thine eyes may be opened toward this house night and day, ‘curs toward the place of which thou hast said, ‘My name shall be there: that thou mayst hearken unto the prayer which thy servants shall make towards this place. 30. And hearken thou to the supplication of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, when they shall pray towards this place: and hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and when thou heareth, ‘forgive. 31. ¶ If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before ’thine altar in this house: 32. Then hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, ‘condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. 33. ¶ When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, ‘because they have sinned against thee, and ‘shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house: 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. 35. ¶ When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, ‘when thou afflicteth them: 36. Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, ’that thou reach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. 37. ¶ If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blushing, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be; 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, and spread forth his hands towards this house: 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, ever thou only knowest the hearts of all the children of men) 40. That they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 41. Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but ‘cometh out of a far country, for thy names sake: 42. (For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm) when he shall come and pray towards this house: 43. Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: ’that all the people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built, is called by thy name. 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: 45. Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication, and ‘maintain their cause. 46. If they sin against thee (for there is no man that sinners not) 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; 47. Yet if they shall bethink themselves, in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, ‘We have sinned, and have done pervertly, we have committed wickedness; 48. And if ‘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: 49. Then hear thou in heaven their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling-place, and ‘maintain their cause, 50. And forgive

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the people that have finned 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: 51. For they be thy people and thine inheritance,” which thou broughteth forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: 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. 53. For thou distil separate them from among all the people of the earth, to be thine inheritance, as thou spakeeth by the hand of Moses thy servant, when thou broughteth our fathers out of Egypt, O LORD God.

1 Kings 8:22-53

We have here Solomon appearing in greater glory on his knees before the altar, than when feared on his ivory throne, and crowned with gold. Having confessed the people with his benediction, he lifts up his heart and hands to God in prayer, that this houle, so gloriously opened, might be for ever diffusing with God’s pretence, grace, and merciful regard to those who there should pour out their supplications.

1. Solomon himself began the fervor, and shewed the people the way to the throne of grace, where, on their behalf, he is intercessor for the feasting a blessed intercourse between God and them. He did not think himself too great to how before his Lord, nor was at a loss how to address him; but before the altar, as depending on the blood shed there for the success of his petitions, he spread abroad his hands to heaven, and bent the supplant knee. Note, (1.) Let great men imitate to noble a pattern, nor think it unbecoming them to pray with their housholds; and if their hearts be right as Solomon’s with God, though they possess not his wisdom or gifts, they shall not want that spirit of prayer and supplication which will help their infirmities, and reach them how and what to pray for as they ought. (2.) Every prayer which would find acceptance with God, must be preferred through the blood and intercession of Jesus. (3.) Everyone in prayer, whether in word or gesture, may provoke the censure of the careless or the lukewarm; but God will not deplete the hands lifted up to heaven.

2. The prayer of Solomon:

[1.] He opens, with ascribing to God the glory due unto his name, acknowledges his transcendent greatness, and his faithfulness in his promises to those who walk before him in simplicity and truth. Note, (1.) To praise God for such mercies, is not only the tribute we owe him, but a comfortable encouragement to our own faith. (2.) They who desire to serve God from their hearts, will find his ears ever open to their prayers.

[2.] He supplicates for himself and people the fulfilment of God’s promises, with admiration and astonishment at the considerations of God, who, though the heaven, and the heaven of heaven cannot contain him, vouchsafes to visit this inful earth, and to dwell with worms of the dust, v. 27, he prays, that according to the promise made to David, his feet might never fail, or his throne be removed; that God would ever regard this temple, where he had so gloriously manifested his pretence; and that his prayers, and the prayers of the people there pretenced unto him, or offered with their faces turned thitherward, might ever meet an answer of peace. Note, (1.) The word of promise is the ground of prayer. (2.) God shall be considered to dwell on earth, not indeed in temples made with hands, but in the more glorious temple of the believer’s heart. (3.) Every accepted prayer must be through him whom the temple be procured, even Jesus Christ, and which the eye of faith is turned to him, we may be assured God will hear and answer us. (4.) Forgiveness of sin is the constant prayer of the enlightened mind, and among the most invaluable blessings it seeks from God.

[3.] He instances a variety of circumstances, in which he begs, that God on their humble application would regard them. (1.) In case of an oath in any contested matter, that he would appear for the vindication of the righteous, and the condemnation of the perjured. Note, God is an avenging God, and will not at his tribunal suffer falsehood and wrong to pass with impunity. (2.) In case of national calamities, occasioned by their sins, whether the sword of their enemies, drought, famine, pestilence, or any other plague, on their repentance and return to God, he believes they may be again restored to his favour, delivered from the evil, and inflicted and led in the way of peace. Note, (1.) Sin is the cause of every calamity. (2.) There is no hope of deliverance from suffering, without repentance for sin. (3.) They who through Jesus Christ return humbly to God, he will return to them in mercy. (4.) Thirteenth God teach and uphold us, our repentance would be God, and our relapse sudden. (3.) When a man convinced of the plague of his own heart, v. 38, his natural corruption, or believing sin, in shame and confusion of face, applies for pardon and healing; he begs the Lord, who knoweth the heart, would hear and forgive, and by such goodness engage the sin-

ner to love and fear him for ever, v. 40. Note, (1.) Of all plagues, heart-plagues are the world. (2.) No man who truly knows his own heart but must go on, being burdened, and cry, O wretched man that I am. (3.) God trieth our heart, and seeth much more evil in us, than ever we beheld in ourselves. (4.) Nothing engages a sinner’s soul towards God, so much as a sense of his pardoning grace. (4.) If a stranger, engaged by the same of Israel’s God, joined in supplication before him, Solomon intrasters he may speed alike with the true Israelites themselves, that God may be glorified even among the most different nations, who should be thus convinced of his grace and power, and that none fought his face in vain. (5.) When they went to battle, and in prayer lifted up their hearts to God, and their eyes to his sanctuary, he intrasters they may succeed, and that God would crown them with victory. Note, They who put their life in their hand, have especially need to seek God’s care and protection over them. (6.) In the time of their captivity, which their impulses might bring upon them, and when God in anger should sell them into their enemies hands, he intrasters they may not utterly be cast off; but on their penitentiary return, and their prayer towards his holy temple, that he would forgive them, incline their enemies to pity them, and restore them to their desolate heritage. Note, (1.) When our troubles drive us to our knees, they answer the end for which God sends them. (2.) God hath in his hands the hearts of all men, and can turn our bitterest enemies into friends. (3.) He concludes with a general regard in favour of the people, that whatever they should ask of God might be ground them; and pleads, as an argument, the peculiar and endeared relation in which they stood, as separated from all nations, to be a peculiar people, and for whom God had already shewn such wonders of providence and grace. Note, (1.) Our relation to God, as our covenant God, is a prevailing ground of prayer. (2.) Whatever we ask in the name of Jesus, believing, we are sure to receive.

54. And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread up to heaven. 55. And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel, with a loud voice, saying, 56. Blessed be the LORD, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57. The LORD our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58. That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59. And let these my words wherewith I have made supplication before the LORD, be nigh unto the LORD our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: 60. That all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is none else. 61. Let your heart therebe be perfect with the LORD our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

1 Kings 8:54-61

Having finished his prayer, he arose from his knees, and dismissed the people with a gracious benediction: magnifying God for the rest and peace they enjoyed, and the full accomplishment of all his promises, v. 56, earnestly willing his blessing might be ever with them, as with their fathers, v. 57, especially that his grace might incline their hearts to serve him, which could not fail to secure the continuance of his regard, v. 58, and that a continued answer to his prayer, v. 59, might be vouchsafed to them; to the end, that all the earth might, from these instances of his power and love to his people, be brought to acknowledge the glory of Israel’s God, v. 60, and then concludes with a solemn charge to be faithful to the Lord, who would never fail them, if they forsook not him. Note, (1.) We ought to praise God for the rest we enjoy, spiritual or temporal; and especially for the eternal rest the word of promise hath secured to us. (2.) God’s pretence with us is the greatest blessing we can enjoy in this world, and the earnest of our inheritance in a better. (3.) When his rich grace (sevenly) influences and inclines our hearts, then and only then shall we be enabled to run the way of God’s commandments. (4.) Whilst Jesus our high-priest is our advocate, we cannot fail of the Divine benediction. (5.) Though our liberation is secured to us, not by any strength of our own, but by the unchangeable counsel and free grace of God; yet death not that, as many think, loosen the bond of obedience, but encourage to fidelity, from the confederacy of Divine love, and the confidence and support in every time of need.

62. ¶ And the king, and all Israel with him, ‘offered sacrifice before the LORD. 63. And Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offerings, which he offered unto the LORD, ’two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep: to the king and all the children of Israel, dedicated the house of the LORD. 64. The same day did the king hallow the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD: for there he offered burnt-offerings, and meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings: because the brazen altar that was before the LORD, was too little to receive the burnt-offerings, and meat-offerings, and the fat of the peace-offerings. 65. And at that time Solomon held ‘a fealt, and all Israel with him, a great congregation, from the entring in of Hamath, unto the river of Egypt, before the LORD our God, seven days and seven day, even fourteen days. 66. On the eighth day he sent the people away: and they blessed the king, and went unto their tents joyful and glad of heart, for all the goodness that the LORD had done for David his servant, and for Israel his people.

1 Kings 8:62-66

They who meet to pray before the Lord, shall rejoice in their labour.

1. Vail sacrifices are offered, on which the congregation, v. 65, sailed during fourteen days; and the brazen altar not being sufficient to consume what was devoted to the fire, the middle of the court was extraordinarily consecrated to the service. As the day of atonement must have intervened on the 10th day of the month, though it was a day to afflict their souls, it might be numbered among their joyous days. The tears of godly sorrow, are the fiercest fealt for the soul.

2. On the eighth day, when the fealt of tabernacles ended, after the former seven days of the fealt of dedication, the people returned happy in the service, blessing the king, praying for the continuance and increase of his prosperity and greatness; and thanking him for their noble entertainment, and God for all the great kindness shewn to David, in giving him such a son, and them such a monarch. Nate, (1.) When we return from God’s ordinances, it becomes us to rejoice in the God of our salvation. (2.) A good king is the joy of his subjects. (3.) When we shall return to our eternal home, then shall our joy never end; and Jesus, our king, be the subject of our everlasting praises.