Solomon Anticipates Praise

January 26, 2020 Background Scripture: 1 Kings 8:54 – 66; 2 Chronicles 7:4 – 9 Lesson Passage: 1 Kings 8:54 – 61 After Solomon finished his dedicatory prayer of Israel’s first temple, he stood up from the kneeling position he had prayed in and led Israel in a praise rally. Again, Solomon acknowledged God’s faithfulness in fulfilling all of the promises He had made to Israel. Solomon’s exaltation of God reached back over a thousand years to the time when Moses led Israel. During those years, God was fulfilling and making great promises to them. Solomon admonished the people of Israel to follow after God in keeping His commandments, statutes, and judgments according to what had been passed down to them from Moses through their elders. He called for loyalty from the people as they lived out their lives before God. He requested that God would retain all of the words of the prayer he had offered to God in the presence of Israel and that it would lead to all people (not just Jews) recognizing the Lord as God. After this praise of God, and exaltation of the people, Solomon then started a fourteen-day celebration to culminate the dedication of the temple. The total amount of sacrifices and burnt offerings was enormous. The temple floor had to be used because the sacrifices were too much for the brass altar. Twenty-two thousand bulls and one hundred, twenty thousand sheep, and grain were sacrificed and offered to the Lord. This was a very extravagant worship with a true sacrificial offering. No expense was withheld for the event that was celebrating the dedication of Israel’s first temple. Some of the sacrificial animals were the main course for the national feast that took place during the two-week celebration. The people of Israel left the celebration rejoicing and filled with hope—having been reminded of the great things God had done for David and for the people of Israel. The temple dedication was a time of celebration of the goodness of God and an opportunity for the people of Israel to participate in a great national feast unlike any other. No doubt, the people left the ceremony feeling proud to be a part of this nation which had been shown such favor by the only true and living God. They left encouraged to live their best life and to continue to reap the favor of God. Solomon had reminded Israel of God’s faithfulness to their ancestors in the past as a reason to praise Him. Seeing the splendor of the temple and the cloud of God occupying the most holy place was a reason to praise Him. Enjoying the bounty of the Promise Land, the livestock and the grain, during the feast was a reason to praise God. How could Israel not offer God the fruit of their lips, that is, the sacrifice of praise. God had been too good to Israel for them not to praise Him. The anticipation that God would continue to be with them into the future was reason enough to praise Him. Solomon had shown himself to be a God-fearing and a godly leader for Israel. Just as God had been with King David in subduing all of Israel’s enemies around them, there was no reason for Israel not to expect God to be with King Solomon in like manner. Solomon praised God and led Israel in a national praise of God. Robert C. Hudson January 3, 2020

Solomon Seeks God’s Blessing

January 19, 2020 Background Scripture: 1 Kings 8:22 – 53; 2 Chronicles 6:12 – 42 Lesson Passage: 1 Kings 8:22 – 30, 52, 53 This is the third lesson in a series that detail King Solomon’s actions at the conclusion of the construction of the first temple in Israel. Solomon led the procession that brought the ark from the tabernacle to the temple. He had witnessed the cloud and the glory of God filling the most holy place after the ark was in place. He addressed the people of Israel concerning the cloud as evidence of God’s physical presence in the midst of His people. Solomon also reminded them of the faithfulness of God in keeping His promises throughout the generations of Israel. In today’s lesson, Solomon knelt down and offered a public prayer of dedication. That prayer has everything that a child of God should do and say at such a time. As king, Solomon showed great humility as he humbled himself in the presence of God and the people of God. It was not a short prayer but neither was it just repetitive or meaningless words that made it long. In his prayer, Solomon continuously acknowledged Israel as God’s very own people whom He had chosen and led out of Egypt through His servant, Moses. Solomon acknowledged that there is no other God in earth or the heavens above. God, alone, is God and Israel had not made themselves His people but God had chosen Israel to be His special people. The completion of the temple was more evidence of God’s faithfulness in that He had promised David that his son would build a temple. Although God in His omnipresence is not limited to a single physical location, yet He would make His glory known in the cloud in the most holy place of the temple—just as He had in the most holy place of the tabernacle during the wilderness years of Israel. Therefore, the temple was dedicated as a holy place. Solomon asked God to be attentive to the prayers that were made or offered in the temple. Not only did he want God to hear the prayers, but Solomon asked God to answer the prayers of those who petition Him in the temple. Solomon specifically included gentile worshipers in the list of those who he wanted God to listen to their prayers and answer them when they prayed from the temple. Solomon anticipated gentiles coming to the temple in witness of the God of Israel as the one and only true God. If God were to answer the prayers of gentiles when they sought Him in the temple, it would serve as confirmation of their faith. Solomon prayed concerning the falling away from the faith of the children of Israel and their forsaking of God. He said once they came to themselves and repented, he wanted God to again restore them and answer their prayers. Further, if God became angry at His people and allowed their enemies to carry them to a foreign land, Solomon asked God to hear their prayers if they turned in the direction of the temple even from a foreign land. And if God allowed natural misfortune to befall His people, such as drought, pestilence, or famine, if the people repented of their sin and returned to God, Solomon asked God to hear and answer their prayer and restore them. In fact, no matter what misfortune might befall Israel, whether it was their fault or not, if they repented and returned to following God and prayed with the temple as a central part of their prayer, Solomon was asking God to hear and answer their prayer. As long as Israel prayed earnestly to God, either in the temple or in the direction of it, Solomon asked God to bless them by honoring their petition. These were the blessings of God that Solomon sought through prayer. Robert C. Hudson January 2, 2020