Devotional Reading: Psalm 132
When I was a young child, Mom took me to see Santa Claus at Famous Barr downtown St. Louis, Missouri. He asked me what I wanted for Christmas. So I proceeded to tell him that I wanted an Easy-Bake Oven and a Chatty Kathy Doll. Believe it or not, he promised I would receive my Christmas gifts. I did not realize, at the time, my parents were actually keeping that promise and not Santa who made the promise. The Easy-Bake Oven was gifted to both my sister and I. We loved it! Then I was overjoyed because I received a Chatty Kathy Doll that I had never seen advertised on commercials. She was African American! What a promise kept because I surely was not disappointed!
On a higher level let’s speak on some other promises. New Northside observes them every First Sunday of the year. Every person who is celebrating their marriage vows for that month is asked to stand and is recognized by name and number of years they have been wed. And as is stated in Matt 19:6, “So then, they are no longer two but one flesh. Therefore what God has joined together, let not man separate.” (NKJV) It is a beautiful sight to see members of the congregation stand to state they remain in married life with one another through thick and thin. They stand to state their continuing promise. It is so beautiful because everyone does not keep their wedding vows. They do.
At the greatest level we have the promise of God at John 3:16-17, “For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him should not perish but have everlasting life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world through Him might be saved.” (NKJV) At this level versus the previous two levels, the maker of the promise has sealed the deal of eternal life. There is no flaw on the side of the maker to cause the promise to ever fail. All we must do is believe and we are accepted into the promise of everlasting life. Then He provides us with the reason for His making His promise if we satisfy the condition of belief. He wants to save the world.
This spring quarter focuses on ways God’s people acknowledge the greatness of God. We are in Unit I “Follow in My Ways” of the three units of the quarter. This is the second lesson of a four lesson study. The scene takes place at Mt. Moriah. It was here that Abraham offered up his son to God, was the site where King David bought the threshing floor from a Canaanite to build an altar to the LORD to stop a plague against the people (2 Samuel 24), and upon David’s death, his son King Solomon built a glorious temple. Our lesson today focuses on the prayer of Solomon dedicating the temple, acknowledging the greatness of God while requesting the LORD keep the promises made to his father, David.
The book of 1 Chronicles, with the exception of chapter 10 regarding Saul, is about David. The first nine (9) chapters deal with the genealogy of David. This is important because ultimately Jesus comes from the seed of David. 1 Chronicles 17 is very important in that we find David’s desire to build a house for God. https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-chronicles-17/ 1 In response, God basically says no thanks and promised to build David’s house, a hereditary monarchy, so his throne lasts forevermore. God did not want an earthly house built until the spiritual house was promised and established. The more important house had to be in place first, and that house was David’s house and the dynasty that would result in the throne of God’s Messiah.
Although David would not be allowed to build God’s house, God promised him that his descendant would fulfill David’s desire to build His house. In 1 Chronicles 28:3, 5-8 it is stated, “But God said to me, ‘You shall not build a house for My name, because you have been a man of war and have shed blood.’…And of all my sons…He has chosen my son Solomon to sit on the throne of the kingdom of the LORD over Israel. Now He said to me, ‘It is your son Solomon who shall build My house and My courts; for I have chosen him to be My son, and I will be his Father. Moreover I will establish his kingdom forever, if he is steadfast to observe My commandments and My judgments, as it is this day…be careful to seek out all the commandments of the LORD your God, that you may possess this good land, and leave it as an inheritance for your children after you forever.” (NKJV) Solomon was not David’s choice. He was God’s choice. David may have chosen Absalom or another son. Besides David was a man of war while Solomon was a man of peace. So David assembled all the material, encouraged the people of Israel and told Solomon to get busy.
In our lesson today Solomon, the people of Jerusalem, and the skilled artisans and workmen had just completed building the grand temple. It was not huge, but it was a masterpiece. It was not built to emphasize Solomon’s riches or his pride. It was built for the glory and honor of God. Everything that was sacred was placed in the Temple. The ark had been in the wilderness, even outside of Israelite possession for many years, but now it is at rest (2 Chron 5). When the priests moved the ark into the Holy of Holiest, the glory of God’s presence filled the Temple. Solomon was overwhelmed with thankfulness and began to address the people with the purpose for the Temple and praising God for fulfilling His promise to his father David in building His house in Jerusalem through David’s house, Solomon. (2 Chron 6:3-11)
Solomon is the king, but he does not allow his position to stand in his way to humble himself before the people and, most importantly, before God as we see in 2 Chronicles 6:12-13. The passage reads, “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);” (NKJV)
When the Israelite approached the temple with his sacrifice and passed through the entrance gate he found that between him and the temple structure stood an altar with a priest standing beside it. http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Bronze_Altar.htm 2 The altar was square in shape. Its length and breadth were exactly the same as the height of the white linen fence around the court (7 ½ ft.). Its height was 3 cubits (4 ½ ft.) and it was made of acacia wood (known to be incorruptible) overlaid with bronze and with horns at each corner.
This was the altar at which the daily sacrifices were made as it was situated in the outer court. Lev 1:9 describes the sacrifices as a sweet savour to the LORD. This was where the blood was shed and the sinner pardoned. No matter how good a person was, without the shedding of blood there was no forgiveness. Apart from the bronze altar, there was no approach to God. It was a blood covenant and therefore the innocent animal represented the sinner and took his place on the altar. It is in this setting that Solomon humbles himself and ascends this special platform and stands before the altar. In fact we know there was sheep and oxen that could not be counted or numbered (2 Chron 5:6) that were sacrificed at the holy feast after the holy vessels were taken into the Temple which were accepted by God immediately after his prayer (2 Chron 7:1).
There was nothing wrong with Solomon’s posture in his communication to God. He stood with his hands held high for the world to see that he recognized the LORD. He then changed to a kneeling position of prayer with outstretched hands toward the heavens. He could not help but be seen by the Israelite assembly as he was in the middle of the courtyard on a raised platform. Then Solomon prayed before and for the people beginning at 2 Chron 6:14-15, “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. You have kept what You promised Your servant David my father; You have both spoken with Your mouth and fulfilled it with Your hand, as it is this day.” (NKJV)
Anyone who believes there is another God who can match just one quality of our God does not have an understanding and belief in the uniqueness of the LORD. God is incomparable and has no peer. When Moses asked who might I ask is sending me? God replied, “I AM.” People worship little gods, but none can compare to the Almighty God of Israel to whom Solomon prayed. He described God as a promise-keeping God. Look at his track record for promises. He promises in truth, with love, in His time, faithfully and never-changing. Many times God’s promise may require a condition from the other party which may, for example, simply be obedience. Should we break our condition He would require us to repent and He is just to forgive. (1 John 1:9)
In continuing his prayer to God in dedication of the Temple, Solomon focused on the promise God made to David to establish an eternal dynasty. The passage at 2 Chronicles 6:16-17 reads, “Therefore, LORD God of Israel, now keep what You promised Your servant David my father, saying, ‘You shall not fail to have a man sit before Me on the throne of Israel, only if your sons take heed to their way, that they walk in My law as you have walked before Me.’ And now, O LORD God of Israel, let Your word come true, which You have spoken to Your servant David.” (NKJV)
God had kept his promises to David this far. Solomon continues his intercessory prayer for the people. He reminds God of God’s words from the past and prays God’s covenant faithfulness continues as he knew God is obligated to follow through with his promises. We know God had made this covenant promise to David and his heirs based on their wholehearted obedience of God’s Will. They failed to obey the law of the LORD and became subject to His discipline. Yet God is not a man that He should lie. (Num 23:19) He always keeps His promises. Although the nation was later divided and ultimately David’s descendants over time would no longer sit on the throne physically, God kept his promise to build the spiritual house through the seed of David. Jesus Christ, the promised Messiah, was born and yet lives today.
Solomon then turned around and surveyed the handiwork of the Temple. He had spared no expense, time, or effort. It was a great work, but then he felt it could not possibly contain God. In 2 Chronicles 6:18 he simply acknowledged the Temple’s purpose was to honor God’s presence rather than contain Him. The passage reads, “But will God indeed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain You. How much less this temple which I have built!” (NKJV) There is no real comparison with the unlimited, infinite God and the limited, finite man. Any house built for Him would have to be for His honor because it would be too small to contain Him. He allows the Israelites to put His Name there which is another way of saying that His presence is dwelling in the Temple. This is represented by the presence of the Ark of the Covenant. The problem comes when the people worshipped His presence only in the Temple, without recognizing He is everywhere, and no longer trusting in the LORD Himself.
In addition to thanking God for faithfully keeping the promises He made His father David, Solomon was a great missionary. In the final three verses of our lesson today we see an expansion of the simple thought expressed by the verbs hear and forgive. The passage at 2 Chron 6:19-21 reads, “Yet 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: that Your eyes may be open toward this temple day and night, toward the place where You said You would put Your name that You may hear the prayer which Your servant makes toward this place. And may You hear the supplications of Your servant and of Your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven Your dwelling place, and when You hear, forgive.” (NKJV)
Solomon is crying out for mercy in this final plea of our lesson. He asks God to please give attention to his prayer, his plea for mercy, and to hear his cry. Solomon also requested divine round-the-clock observation over the Temple because that is where God’s Name is honored. As I stated above, God can’t be contained in a building structure. He does desire us to take the temples of our bodies seriously though. 1 Cor 6:19-20 tells us, “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.” (NKJV)
Finally Solomon requested God to hear the prayers of the people and to forgive their sins. This was a great missionary project. Come in strangers, God please hear their voices if they turn toward you. Do not turn away the faces of Your anointed. Remember the mercies of Your servant David. We have another Intercessor now, Jesus Christ, who hears our prayers, provides us mercies, and forgives us of our sins. God heard Solomon’s prayer and He kept His promises then and forevermore.
1 https://enduringword.com/bible-commentary/1-chronicles-17/
2 http://www.bible-history.com/tabernacle/TAB4The_Bronze_Altar.htm
Deborah C. Davis
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