← Back to sermon library

You can turn in your Bibles to 
1 Kings 8. 1 Kings 8, because of the weather, 
the Lord's Supper will be next Sunday evening. So we'll get 
right to the sermon so that people are able to get home safely, 
the Lord willing, after our service this evening. But this morning 
we looked at Stephen's defense, or began to look at Stephen's 
defense, in Acts 7. And one of the charges laid against 
Stephen was that he was anti-temple. So, because we're concerned a 
lot with the temple, I thought it would be good for us to look 
at the dedication of the temple under Solomon in 1 Kings 8. I just want to read verses 22 
to 53. It is the longest section. It does contain the prayer of 
Solomon on that particular occasion. So, beginning in verse 22. Then 
Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of 
all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven. 
And he said, Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above 
or on earth below 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. 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 before me as you have walked before me. And now I pray, O 
God of Israel, let your word come true, which you have spoken 
to your servant David, my father. But will God indeed dwell on 
the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven 
of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which 
I have built. Yet regard the prayer of your 
servant in his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to 
the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before 
you today, that your eyes may be open toward this temple night 
and day, toward the place of which you said, my name shall 
be there, that you may hear the prayer which your servant makes 
toward this place. And may you hear the supplication 
of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray toward 
this place. Hear in heaven your dwelling 
place, and when you hear, forgive. When anyone sins against his 
neighbor and is forced to take an oath and comes and takes an 
oath before your altar in this temple, then hear in heaven and 
act and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing 
his way on his head, and justifying the righteous by giving him according 
to his righteousness. When your people Israel are defeated 
before an enemy because they have sinned against you, and 
when they turn back to you and confess your name and pray and 
make supplication to you in this temple, then hear in heaven and 
forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them back to 
the land which you gave to their fathers. When the heavens are 
shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against 
you, when they pray toward this place and confess your name and 
turn from their sin because you afflict them, then hear in heaven 
and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, that you 
may teach them the good way in which they should walk and send 
rain on your land which you have given to your people as an inheritance. when there is famine in the land, 
pestilence or blight or mildew, locusts or grasshoppers, when 
their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever 
plague or whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever 
supplication is made by anyone, or by all your people, Israel, 
when each one knows the plague of his own heart and spreads 
out his hands toward this temple, then here in heaven, your dwelling 
place, and forgive, and act, and give to everyone according 
to all his ways, whose heart you know, for you alone know 
the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear you all 
the days that they live in the land which you gave to our fathers. 
Moreover, concerning a foreigner who is not of your people, Israel, 
but has come from a far country for your name's sake, for they 
will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your 
outstretched arm. When he comes and prays toward 
this temple, hear and have in your dwelling place and do according 
to all for which the foreigner calls to you, that all peoples 
of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people, 
Israel, and that they may know that this temple which I have 
built is called by your name. when your people go out to battle 
against their enemy, wherever you send them, and when they 
pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the 
temple which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven 
their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause. When 
they sin against you, for there is no one who does not sin, and 
you become angry with them and deliver them to the enemy, and 
they take them captive to the land of the enemy, far or near. 
Yet when they come to themselves in the land where they were carried 
captive, and repent and make supplication to you in the land 
of those who took them captive, saying, We have sinned and done 
wrong, we have committed wickedness. And when they return to you with 
all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their 
enemies who led them away captive, and pray to you toward their 
land which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have 
chosen, and the temple which I have built for your name. Then 
here in heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their 
supplication, and maintain their cause, and forgive your people 
who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions 
which they have transgressed against you, and grant them compassion 
before those who took them captive, that they may have compassion 
on them, for they are your people and your inheritance, whom you 
brought out of Egypt out of the iron furnace. That your eyes 
may be open to the supplication of your servant and the supplication 
of your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to 
you, for you separated them from among all the peoples of the 
earth to be your inheritance, as you spoke by your servant 
Moses when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God. And 
so it was when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication 
to the Lord that he rose from before the altar of the Lord 
from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven. 
Then he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a 
loud voice saying, Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to 
his people Israel according to all that he promised. There has 
not failed one word of all His good promise, which He promised 
through His servant Moses. May the Lord our God be with 
us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us nor forsake 
us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His 
ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgments, 
which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, 
with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the 
Lord our God day and night, that He may maintain the cause of 
His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day 
may require. That all the peoples of the earth 
may know that the Lord is God, there is no other. Let your heart 
therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes 
and keep His commandments as at this day. Amen. Let us pray. Our Father, we thank You for 
the written Word. We thank You for this prayer of Solomon and 
for the great theology that it contains. And we would pray now 
that Your Spirit would help us to understand the passage, as 
well, God, help us to apply the passage in our own lives. We 
know there are timeless principles contained here. We know, Father, 
that You do demand, You require that Your people, Your covenant 
people, saved by grace, walk in obedience unto you. Grant 
us help from on high, and we ask through Jesus Christ our 
Lord. Amen. Well, just to give a bit of a 
context observation on the context, basically Solomon builds the 
temple according to chapter 5, verse 1, to chapter 7, verse 
51. And here in chapter 8, Solomon 
dedicates the temple, and it's broken down into several sections. 
First, we see the ark is brought into the temple, verses 1 to 
13. Then there are these words of thanksgiving from Solomon 
in verses 14 to 21. There is this prayer of dedication 
that we just read in verses 22 to 53. And then the benediction 
pronounced on the assembly in verses 54 to 61. And then finally, 
the dedication of the temple proper by Solomon in verses 62 
to 66. So this was a key event in Israel's 
history. Remember up to this point they 
had a tabernacle, they had sort of a mobile dwelling place for 
God when they were in the wilderness, when they initially come. into 
the land of Canaan, David wants to build a house for God. God 
tells him, no, I'm going to build a house for you, basically asserting 
a dynasty will come or arise from David, and that the promise 
of house building would be Solomon in terms of the temple, but the 
larger context with reference to that promise by God to David 
is fulfilled in Jesus Christ. He is the Son of God who comes 
from the line of David that ultimately builds a house for God and of 
His kingdom. There shall be no end. But as 
I said, I think there's a lot of good practical lessons in 
this prayer of Solomon. I want to just look at it briefly 
by way of exposition and then spend the bulk of our time tonight 
making some application with reference to this prayer. Note 
first the foundation of his prayer. It is theology proper. In verses 
22 to 30, Solomon was an excellent theologian. Solomon doesn't start 
to pray, God do this, God do that. First, Solomon muses upon, 
reflects upon, meditates upon, and rehearses in prayer who God 
is. This is a good thing to do when 
we're at the throne of grace. Spend time rehearsing who God 
is. Praise Him. Glorify Him. Consider 
the various perfections that the scripture tells us concerning 
God. The specific ones highlighted 
here, perfections, are what we may call attributes. are the 
incomparability of God. There's no one like you, Solomon 
says. There is no God on earth like 
you. He asserts that in verse 23. 
He speaks concerning the faithfulness of God in verses 24 to 26. A 
faithfulness that you and I can testify to. a faithfulness that 
does see and appreciate God's work, God's kindness, God's mercy. As well, he asserts the transcendence 
of God in verse 27. And transcendence simply means 
that God is removed from us. There's a great big distinction 
between God and between us. There's what's called the creator-creature 
distinction. All that is not God is creature 
and is in a completely different category of being. God alone 
occupies the category of Creator and He is transcendent. That 
means He is far removed from the creature. Notice that in 
verse 27. But will God indeed dwell on 
the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven 
of heavens cannot contain you, how much less this temple which 
I have built." This was Stephen's emphasis before the Sanhedrin 
in Acts chapter 7. They thought that the building 
contained God. They had become idolaters based 
on that supposition. And so Stephen points out that 
that's not the case. He cites the prophet Isaiah, 
who says essentially what Solomon says in this instance. God is 
majestic. God is holy. You cannot build 
a place, a dwelling place, that does contain God. So he highlights 
the transcendence of God. But then as well, in verses 28 
to 30, he highlights what's called the imminence of God. And essentially 
what imminence means is that God is near us. So on the one 
hand, He's transcendent and removed, but on the other hand, He's near 
us. He is imminent. And it's not just by virtue of 
His omnipresence, but it's by virtue of the fact that He is 
Creator and we are creature. God is near to His people. God 
hears the prayers of His people. God forgives the sins of His 
people. Now, these two doctrines are maintained in Christianity. If you get rid of one of them, 
you're going to end up as a heretic. The pantheist, who teaches that 
everything is God, has a doctrine of God's imminence, but he doesn't 
have a doctrine of transcendence. versus the deist who has the 
doctrine of transcendence, but he doesn't have the doctrine 
of imminence. So to maintain Christianity, we affirm and confess 
that God is both transcendent and imminent. This is particular 
to Christian theism. So the foundation of Solomon's 
prayer is theology proper. Notice, secondly, the petitions 
of Solomon's prayer. Forgiveness is a central theme. Forgiveness is a central theme 
in the petitions from verses 31 to 51. Notice in the first 
place, Solomon requests assistance with reference to the adjudication 
of civil matters. In verses 31 and 32, Solomon 
requests that God aids him and assists him and renders him able 
to bring justice to bear within the body politic of Israel. Solomon 
was the wisest man that ever lived, of course, except for 
the Lord Jesus Christ. Solomon's wisdom is on display 
in 1 Kings 3, when those two harlots come before him. This 
was a demonstration of Solomon's wisdom, and yet Solomon realizes 
that in the government of this kingdom of Israel, there are 
going to be things that are outside of his ability and his competency 
level, So he asks God to be in the midst of the people so that 
the righteous will be vindicated and the wicked will be punished. 
Notice, secondly, Solomon is, in many respects as well, praying 
with Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28 opened up before him. Leviticus 
26 and Deuteronomy 28 specify not only the blessings for Israel 
when they occupy the land, but also the curses upon Israel when 
they occupy the land and they do not maintain faithfulness 
to God. And so Solomon now begins to think through what will happen 
if the people are disobedient in the land. they will reap the 
curses associated with the covenant in Deuteronomy chapter 28. He 
says, notice in verses 33 and 34, when Israel is defeated by 
enemies, they will humble themselves, they will call upon God, and 
you, God, in heaven, hear and forgive. So those themes are 
replete throughout this section. The next section, he speaks of 
drought sent by God in verses 35 and 36. Again, curse is associated 
with the covenant in Leviticus 26 and Deuteronomy 28. When this 
drought comes, the people, hopefully, will humble themselves, they'll 
confess their sins, you hear from heaven, and forgive their 
sins. In the next section in verses 37 to 40, famine and pestilence 
and other disasters. Again, prescribed according to 
Deuteronomy 28. When this happens, the people 
will humble themselves and the people will call upon you and 
in heaven here and forgive. And then notice in verses 41 
and 42, it's not necessarily a request for forgiveness, but 
it's a request or a petition that all the nations may come 
to know the God of Israel. Notice in verse 41, moreover 
concerning a foreigner who is not of your people Israel, but 
has come from a far country for your namesake, for they will 
hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched 
arm, when he comes and prays toward this temple, here in heaven, 
your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner 
calls to you, that all peoples of the earth may know your name 
and fear you as do your people Israel, and that they may know 
that this temple which I have built is called by your name. 
See, there was this hope, there was this desire. It was connected 
to the promise made to Abraham that in Abraham's seed, all the 
families of the earth would be blessed. And so Solomon wants 
Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God. Now, this is 
ultimately realized in and through the new covenant, the work of 
the Lord Jesus Christ, but it's already being prayed for in this 
instance. And then notice, he requests 
God's presence in battle, according to verses 44 and 45. When we 
go out to battle, wherever you send them, when they pray to 
the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the temple 
which I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer 
and their supplication and maintain their cause. And then the last 
reference in verses 46 to 51 has to do with exile. Exile. Solomon already, conscious of 
the curses in Deuteronomy, where a lot of Deuteronomy 28 is given 
to this particular theme of exile, prays this when they are captured, 
when they are defeated, when they go into enemy countries. 
when they are exiled by you, when they pray to you here in 
heaven, forgive their sin and restore them to the land. And 
he refers to God bringing them out of bondage in Egypt. What's 
the implication? If God could bring them out of 
Egypt, he can certainly bring them out of Babylon. If God could 
bring them out of Egypt, he can certainly bring them out of one 
of these other foreign nations that have exiled the people of 
Israel. So that's sort of an overview 
of the prayer itself. Theology proper is the foundation, 
and then these particular petitions, which sees forgiveness as a central 
theme. Now, in terms of some points 
of application with reference to the section as a whole, I 
want to first note the faithfulness of God toward His people. I think 
this is always a good application for us as God's people. It's 
always good for us to rehearse this as God's people, and it's 
always good for us to see it in display on the pages of Holy 
Scripture. Note in the first place the faithfulness 
of God toward Abraham. Chapter 8, verse 56. Notice what 
he says. Blessed be the Lord who has given 
rest to his people Israel. according to all that he promised. 
There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which 
he promised through his servant Moses. I got Abraham. Must be 
Moses I'm thinking of there. The Lord, actually it is Abraham, 
giving rest to his people Israel according to all that he promised. 
That was the promise to Abraham of rest in the land, but as well 
his fidelity toward Moses. But also go back to the beginning 
of the prayer with reference to his faithfulness to David. 
to David. David wanted to build that house 
for God. God said, no, David, because you're a man of war. 
And so Solomon is going to build the house. And Solomon recognizes 
the faithfulness of God to his father, David. God's faithfulness 
is replete throughout the pages of scripture. And if you look 
specifically at verses 23 to 26, he said, and he said, Lord 
God of Israel, there's no God in heaven above or on earth below. like you, who keep your covenant 
in mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all 
their hearts." Now notice in verse 24, 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. See, that is something that you and I can testify to in light 
of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ. See, at the particular 
time that Solomon prayed this, the full application or fulfillment 
or realization of 2 Samuel 7 hadn't taken place. It wasn't the case 
that the Son of God prophesied in 2 Samuel 7 had come to build 
the house for God. We see that Son of David. We 
appreciate that reality. We know that we are participants 
in the very house that Christ is building. Remember in Matthew 
16, we considered this yesterday morning in the theology study. 
Peter confesses thou art the Christ the the son of the Living 
God Jesus pronounces a blessing upon him blessed are you Simon 
bar Jonah for flesh and blood did not reveal this to you, but 
my father in heaven revealed this to you see Jesus Exultant 
sovereign grace not in the free will of Peter and then he goes 
on to say and you are Peter and on this rock I will build my 
church and So on this confession that Christ is the Son of the 
Living God, the Son of the Living God now builds a house for God, 
a la 2 Samuel 7. We see the faithfulness of God. 
Notice what Solomon goes on to say in verse 25. Look at verse 
24 again. 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. Verse 
25. 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 before me as you have walked before me. You see the logic 
of Solomon's prayer. Because you have been faithful, 
God, we will ask you to continue to be faithful. In other words, 
you have tried and proven God, and therefore you continue to 
try and prove God. That's how the people of God 
are supposed to live. Spurgeon said it that way. Pray 
as a people who have tried and proven their God. When has God 
ever let us down? When has God ever left us? When 
has God ever forsaken us? Now, I realize in the midst of 
trial, in the midst of affliction, we often go to those sorts of 
places. We think that perhaps God has 
abandoned us. Later on in this particular prayer, 
Solomon recognizes that God sends affliction so that the afflicted 
come to him in a way that they hadn't previously. Brethren, 
afflictions and trials and hardships and pain does not and should 
never be interpreted as to mean that God is no longer present 
with His people. He says, He covenants, He promises, 
He swears, I will never leave you, nor will I forsake you. And in the context that that's 
used in the book of Hebrews, in its new covenant sort of setting, 
it's, yes, spiritual, but it's well physical. He's never going 
to leave us. He's never going to forsake us 
in the context of not being a covetous people. Don't be that sort of 
people. God promises, I will never leave 
you nor forsake you. Secondly, we ought to appreciate 
something about the presence of God among His people. Remember 
the doctrine of imminence. First, His holiness necessitates 
sacrifice. Look at verse 5 in 1 Kings 8. This is when the ark is brought 
into the temple. And in verse 5, we read, also 
King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel who were assembled 
with him were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and 
oxen that could not be counted or numbered for multitude. And then again, in verses 62 
to 64. Then the king and all Israel with him offered sacrifices 
before the Lord. And Solomon offered a sacrifice 
of peace offerings, which he offered to the Lord, 22,000 bulls 
and 120,000 sheep. So the king and all the children 
of Israel dedicated the house of the Lord. On the same day, 
the king consecrated the middle of the court that was in front 
of the house of the Lord, for there he offered burnt offerings, 
grain offerings, and the fat of the peace offerings, because 
the bronze altar that was before the Lord was too small to receive 
the burnt offerings, the grain offerings, and the fat of the 
peace offerings." God's holiness necessitates sacrifice. We don't just run into the presence 
of God. We are defiled with sin. We are polluted. We are wicked. 
We are evil. We have transgressed God's law. We don't do what He says. The 
only way of approach is through sacrifice. Well, praise God Almighty, 
the Lamb of God has come to take away the sin of the world. So 
we have access to God through the sacrifice of our Lord Jesus 
Christ. In terms of His presence, it 
promotes reverential awe, or it ought to promote reverential 
awe. Notice in verses 10 and 11. And 
it came to pass when the priest came out of the holy place, that 
the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priest 
could not continue ministering because of the cloud, for the 
glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord. That glory 
of God Most High ought to promote in the people of God a reverential 
awe. We talked about that yesterday 
in theology as well. I saw on Twitter, Todd Pruitt 
gave this clip to a particular church, and he said, ladies and 
gentlemen, behold modern-day evangelicalism, and it was a 
church service that would celebrate Super Bowl Sunday in the very 
worship of Almighty God. Serving chicken wings today. 
having a rock band today, doing all those sorts of things. That's 
not the reverential awe that you see at the dedication of 
the temple. The glory of God so filled the 
place that the priest could no longer maintain occupancy in 
it, in there. Reverential awe, fear before 
the Lord. See, we've lost sight of that 
today. This idea of a good God-fearing Christian, which used to be commonplace 
to identify the people of God, now it raises eyebrows. How could 
you be a people that want to fear God? How could we be a people 
that don't fear God? He's most high. He's glorious. He's awesome. He's majestic. 
He's excellent. We should fear. We should have 
reverential awe. We shouldn't be about chattiness 
in His presence. We shouldn't be about games and 
jocularity and frivolity. When we come into the house of 
God, it's to have dealings with the God of the house. And therefore, 
we ought not to engage as if He's our equal, or He's our fellow, 
or He's our companion. He is God Most High. Deuteronomy 
4, Hebrews chapter 12, tells us that God is a consuming fire. Now, I would argue that that 
reverential awe will be accompanied with joy. Because the people 
of God, redeemed by the grace of God, on the one hand they 
reverence this God, they fear this God, but on the other hand 
they do so happily and joyfully, because their sins are forgiven, 
their debts are forgiven, they're canceled. They've received the 
righteousness of Jesus Christ. So that reverential awe is always 
mingled with joy. As well, his nearness produces 
dependence on the part of the people of God. That's the essence 
of the prayer, the petitions in 31 to 51. What is Solomon 
saying? God, we are in this land, we 
have this temple, but we are always a dependent people upon 
you. There's never going to be a time, God, when we don't need 
you. And he happens to outline the times when they sin against 
God, when they rebel against God, and they reap the curses 
of the covenant. That is what it is that's going 
to cause them to continue to be dependent upon God. Have you 
ever asked the question, why affliction? Why trouble? Why 
difficulty? Have you ever asked the question, 
why remaining corruption in the heart of God's people? It's to 
promote dependence upon God. What would happen if we were 
never afflicted? What would happen if we were never tried? What 
would happen if we didn't have remaining corruption? I'm not 
suggesting we should love remaining corruption, but I am suggesting 
we should appreciate the theological rationale, at least one of the 
theological rationale, for this remaining corruption. It keeps 
us dependent upon God. What's the wise man say in Proverbs 
30? Two things I request of you before I die. One of them is 
give me neither poverty nor riches. Why? If I'm poor, I'll go out 
and steal and dishonor God. But if I'm rich, I'm inclined 
to forget God. See, that's the problem when 
everything is going well, when there is no trial, when there 
is no affliction, when there is no struggle or battle. there 
is this lack of dependence upon the Lord God. So I'm not going 
to say tonight, take courage from the fact that you have remaining 
corruption. I would never go that far, but 
I would suggest there is a theological rationale for it. It keeps you 
humble, and it keeps you dependent, and it keeps you at the throne 
of grace. And then finally, in terms of the presence of God 
among His people, notice that His blessing His blessing results 
in joy and gladness. Look at verse 66. This is after 
the dedication. This is a summary statement. 
And it says in verse 66, on the eighth day, He sent the people 
away and they blessed the king and went to their tents joyful 
and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for 
His servant David and for Israel, His people. You see, that's what 
the presence of God yields. That's what the presence of God 
produces. We often refer to Psalm 122 on 
the Lord's Day. I was glad when they said unto 
me, let us go to the house of the Lord. So there's this anticipation 
on the part of David. There's this gladness of heart 
on the part of David. He goes on Sabbath to the house 
of God, and he knows that there he's going to meet with God. 
Well, hopefully at the end of the Sabbath day, we have glad 
hearts. We have joy because we have been 
in the presence of God Almighty. Hopefully it's not, oh, I'm so 
glad the day is over. I'm so glad that long sermon 
is over. I'm so glad the tedium of sitting in church for all 
that time is over. No, we got to commune with the 
living God today. We got to enjoy the presence 
of God in a corporate setting. God loves the gates of Zion more 
than all the dwelling places of Jacob. And he promises his 
blessing and his presence in the new covenant era in the churches 
of Jesus Christ. What better thing is there than 
to be in the house of God? So we see the faithfulness of 
God toward His people, the presence of God among His people. Thirdly, 
the centrality of theology proper in prayer. The centrality of 
theology proper in prayer. Let me explain what I mean. Theology 
proper means the doctrine of God Himself. Theology is a broad 
statement. It means the study of God, to 
be sure. It means the doctrine of God. But we use theology as 
more of a general reference to any sort of religious study, 
any sort of study of scripture. When we say theology proper, 
we mean specifically theology proper, that which is proper 
to God, God the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. And Solomon, 
as I said, begins his prayer extolling the perfections of 
God Almighty. He doesn't just run into the 
presence of God and say, give us. He first adores. He first meditates upon. He first rehearses. He first 
tells himself what the later divines at Westminster would 
say. God is spirit, infinite, eternal, and unchangeable in 
his being, wisdom, power, holiness, justice, goodness, and truth. 
And we need to understand as we use that word attribute, We 
ought not to have an improper understanding. It's not as if 
all of these things make up God. All that is in God is God. God is His attributes. The doctrine of divine simplicity 
demands that understanding. The attributes, the perfections, 
are more for us. to appreciate this God. In fact, 
Turretin explains it in this way. He says, the divine attributes 
are the essential properties by which God makes himself known 
to us who are weak and those by which he is distinguished 
from creatures. Or they are those which are attributed 
to him according to the measure of our conception in order to 
explain his nature. He goes on to say, now the definitions 
of the divine properties are rather of our conceptions, conceiving 
God under this or that relation, than of the thing itself, which 
is one and most simple. Essentially, what he is saying 
is that you don't look at God and say, well, he's 33% love, 
he's 33% justice, he's 33 and a third percent whatever else. It's not as if God is composite. 
It's not as if God is made up. It's not as if God is put together. 
That's what the doctrine of divine simplicity demands. We read that. He's without parts according 
to our confession of faith. That's the doctrine of divine 
simplicity. There's not sort of material 
or God's stuff out there that comes together and produces God. There's nothing before God. There's nothing outside of God. 
There's nothing pre-existent to God. He's not composed of 
parts. He's not put together. That means 
that He is His attributes, and we need to understand that. When 
we hear the word attribute, it's something we attribute to God, 
but it's not the case that He is composed of those particular 
things. Now, I tried to make that as 
simple as I could. No pun on simple there, Isaac 
got that. But if you're confused or you 
want more information, you can email Isaac. Just maybe one other 
quote. Hermann Bavink says, whatever 
God is, He is that completely and simultaneously. And then 
he quotes Augustine, God has no properties but is pure essence. That's the thing. There's no 
properties. He's a simple being. He's not composed of parts. Not 
that there's all these sorts of things that conglomerately 
form or shape God. That's just not the way God is, 
as Scripture reveals Him. So, back to Augustine. God has 
no properties, but His pure essence. God's properties are really the 
same as His essence. They neither differ from His 
essence, nor do they differ materially from each other. In other words, 
when we think attributes, when we think perfections, we cannot 
think these are the things that make up God. Rather, it's from 
our vantage point. It's according to the manner 
of man. They're accommodations to us so that we can appreciate 
and appropriate who God is and what he does in terms of his 
creatures. those attributes outlined by 
Solomon, the incomparability of God. Verse 23 in 1 Kings 8. Verse 23, Lord God of heaven, 
Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on 
earth below like you, who keep your covenant and mercy with 
your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts. This 
is the same statement that comes from the Song of Moses in Exodus 
15, 11. There is no God like you. This 
is the same question posed by the prophet Micah in Micah 7. 
Who is a god like you? What's the answer? There is no 
god like you. Because no gods of the earth 
will forgive the iniquities of their people. No gods in the 
earth will pardon the sins and transgressions of their people. 
But Micah praises God for the incomparability seen in that 
attribute, or rather seen in that expression of his goodness 
in the forgiveness of sin. He goes on, as I've said, to 
promote the faithfulness of God, an attribute, a perfection that 
you and I ought to consider. Davis comments in terms of verses 
25 and 26, the reality that God has shown Himself faithful, and 
then the prayer based on that for God to continue to be faithful. Notice in verse 26, and now I 
pray, O God of Israel, let your word come true which you have 
spoken to your servant David my father. Ralph Davis says in 
short, act in the future as you have acted to date. Yahweh's 
fidelity in the past becomes the basis for expecting the same 
in the future. God has joined. I love this. Fidelity and expectancy. Fidelity and expectancy. When he has shown himself faithful, 
he creates on the part of his people an expectancy in further 
faithfulness. That's not blasphemous. That 
is not untoward. That is the way the people of 
God pray. The people of God know their God. They know He won't 
leave them. They know He won't forsake them. And based on His 
conduct in the past, they pray that in the present, that God 
would continue to maintain that path in the future. And then, 
as I mentioned, the transcendence and the imminence of God, two 
things that must be maintained, or we're going to be pantheists, 
or we're going to be deists. And both pantheism and deism 
is absolutely, positively wrong. It is heretical. Deism is the 
idea that God is like a watchmaker, a clockmaker. He makes the clock, 
and then he winds it up, and then he puts it on the mantle 
of the fireplace, and he just sort of forgets about it. That's 
deism. There's no doctrine of imminence. 
God is not present. God is not with. God is not hearing. 
God is not answering. God is not forgiving his people. 
But pantheism is equally messed up. That teaches that God is 
everything. Brethren, that is not the case. 
There is this great chasm, this great divide between the Creator 
and the creature. And then the final perfection 
or attribute we ought to recognize that Solomon refers to is actually 
found in verse 60. Verse 60, that's why I read that 
section, because in verse 60 he says that, "...all the peoples 
of the earth may know that the Lord is God, there is no other." 
This is the singularity of God. The singularity of God. This can be further subsetted. and specifically we find here 
the unity of singularity. Bavink explains, there is but 
one divine being, that in virtue of the nature of that being, 
God cannot be more than one being, and consequently, that all other 
beings exist only from him, through him, and to him. Hence, this 
attribute teaches God's absolute oneness and uniqueness. We need to confess this, and 
we need to maintain this. Before we finish on the practical 
lessons for God's people, I would suggest that the church really 
needs to take theology proper seriously. The church really 
needs to know who their God is. The church needs to see, in our 
confession of faith, yes, there's a whole lot of statements in 
terms of perfections, with reference to He's most loving, He's most 
gracious, He's most merciful, but those sort of three foundational 
or fundamental attributes or perfections of God, divine simplicity, 
and divine impassibility, and divine incorporeality. That means he's without body. 
So when the Confession says he's without body, parts, and passions, 
this is probably where the Church is the weakest. Without body, 
parts, and passions. This is foundational. The very 
grammar of theology depends on an understanding of those particulars. I think we're all good on divine 
non-corporeality. He's without body. That's what 
Jesus says. God is spirit, according to John 
chapter 4. But it's the without passions, 
the without parts, that I think is a bit more confusing for the 
people of God, because we just don't think about it. We don't 
hear messages on this. We don't always attend the confession 
studies, where these things are explained, hopefully in detail. But these are absolutely crucial 
things for the people of God to know. And it's not because 
you need to be a PhD or because you need to have all of this, 
you know, you need to read Bob Ink and Augustine. It's for the 
comfort of your soul. To know your God produces comfort. To know your God produces encouragement. To know your God produces happiness 
and joy. To realize the doctrine of divine 
impassibility secures the reality that He's most loving. He's not 
going to diminish in His love for me. He's not going to get 
less loving toward me. Of course not. He's impassable. 
It is impossible for God to change, to undergo change, either from 
without or from within. That's a beautiful thing, isn't 
it? Now, that doesn't mean we should go out and sin and let 
grace abound, but to realize that God's love for us in the 
language of our confession is most It's most loving. That's a world of comfort for 
the believer. Now, finally, in terms of some 
practical stuff, notice the centrality of the Word of God for the people 
of God. It's intriguing. They bring the Ark of the Covenant 
into the temple, and notice what's in it, according to verse 9. 
Nothing was in the Ark except the two tablets of stone, which 
Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with 
the children of Israel when they came out of the land of Egypt. Paul House says God's presence, 
God's word, and God's covenant with Israel are inextricably 
linked. In other words, the word is paramount 
for the people of God. It's a good practical lesson 
in terms of 1 Kings 8 and the dedication of the temple, but 
in terms of 2019 in Chilliwack, BC. Secondly, the necessity of 
obedience from the heart. Solomon stresses that. Now, you've 
heard me say it, and I hope I'll die saying it. We are not saved 
by our obedience. We are saved by Jesus' obedience. We are saved by the work of Jesus 
Christ, His life of obedience, And His death at Calvary satisfies 
those things that sinners desperately need. We need a righteousness 
that avails with God. We have it because of Jesus' 
righteousness. We need forgiveness from sin 
to blot out our transgression. We have it because of Jesus' 
death at the cross. So we're not saved by our obedience. We're saved by the obedience 
of another. That's where, if this was a black 
church in Southern California, everybody would say, amen, because 
that's a glorious thought. We're not saved by our obedience, 
we're saved by Christ's obedience. Now, having been saved as the 
people of God who are undergoing sanctification, we are called 
to obey God out of a pure heart. Does everybody get that? The 
doctrine of justification, God, by grace, through faith, justifies 
us. The doctrine of sanctification, 
the Spirit of God is working in us, both to will and do according 
to His good pleasure. So justification, the work of 
Christ, is that work that is done outside of us, for us, and 
the work of sanctification is that work of God by the Spirit 
in us. to further conform us under the 
image of Jesus Christ. Now look at Solomon's emphasis 
here on the necessity of obedience from the heart. Verse 40, he 
says, that they may fear you all the days that they live in 
the land which you gave to our fathers. Verse 58, that he may 
incline our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways and to 
keep his commandments and his statutes and his judgments, which 
he commanded our fathers." See, keeping commandments as the people 
of God is not legalism. Keeping commandments as the people 
of God is what the people of God are supposed to do. This 
is Jesus' point in the upper room when he says, if you love 
me, you will keep my commandments. That word legalism gets bandied 
about a lot, and I think there's various ways to explain or define 
legalism. Legalism is most certainly not 
actually obeying God's law. By the power of the Holy Spirit, 
that's not legalism. That's biblical Christianity. 
That's sanctification. And then notice in verse 61, 
Let your heart, therefore, be loyal to the Lord our God, to 
walk in His statutes and keep His commandments as at this day." 
So we see the centrality of the Word of God for the people of 
God. Secondly, the necessity of obedience from the heart. 
Thirdly, the perpetual need for forgiveness. Do you see that 
in Solomon's prayer? Do you see that emphasis in Solomon's 
prayer? All these things are going to 
happen to them in subsequent history. And when they pray, 
when they cry to you here in heaven, and forgive them, forgive 
them, forgive them, forgive them. Brethren, that is the reality 
of the Christian life. You and I are taught by our master 
to pray, forgive us this day, or give us this day our daily 
bread. We're told as well to ask God 
to forgive us from our sins. Why is that? Because we continue 
to sin. Not laughing as if it's frivolity 
or jocular, but Romans 7 and Galatians 5 tells us there's 
going to be this necessity for the people of God to cry out 
to God for continued forgiveness. Christ has paid for all of our 
sins. Christ is atoned for all of our 
sins. So some might say, well, why 
do I need to continue to pray for the forgiveness of sins? 
Well, there is that reality where God the Judge acquits us. God 
the Judge declares not guilty. But in terms of our relationship 
with God the Father, we want to maintain short accounts with 
Him. We want to know His smiling face. We want to know that communion 
with our Lord. And that's the place that daily 
forgiveness has in the lives of God's people. Note specifically 
in 1 Kings 8, verse 38, whatever prayer, whatever supplication 
is made by anyone or by all your people, Israel, when each one 
knows the plague of his own heart and spreads out his hands toward 
this temple. It's not an intriguing way for 
a brother to describe what's happening in the lives of God's 
people when we know the plague of our own heart. See, I would 
suggest that if we don't know the plague of our own heart, 
we need to start studying the Bible more. We need to start 
reflecting more accurately on Romans 7 and on Galatians 5. 
We need to look at the spiritual essence of the law of God, because 
this is something the people of God do surmise, they do see, 
they do view in themselves. They know the plague of their 
own heart. And knowing that plague of their own heart, what do they 
do? They cry out to God, wretched man that I am, who will deliver 
me from this body of death? And then notice in verse 46, 
when they sin against you, for there's no one who does not sin. Sinless perfectionism is heresy. The reality is that the people 
of God stand in need of the forgiveness of God, and they have been promised 
that forgiveness by God Himself. And then the final practical 
observation I want to look at is the usefulness of afflictions. 
Notice in verse 35, when the heavens are shut up and there 
is no rain because they have sinned against you, when they 
pray toward this place and confess your name and turn from their 
sin, notice, because you afflict them, because you afflict them, 
Why did God do this? Because it turned you from that 
unto Him. Turn over to Psalm 119, probably 
one of the clearest expressions of this particular truth. Psalm 
119, specifically at verse 67. Psalm 119, verse 67, before I 
was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Verse 71, "'It is good for me 
that I have been afflicted, that I may learn your statutes.'" 
Spurgeon, on verse 67 here, in Psalm 119, says, "'Grace is in 
that heart which profits by its chastening.'" It is of no use 
to plow barren soil. When there is no spiritual life, 
affliction works no spiritual benefit. But where the heart 
is sound, trouble awakens conscience. Wandering is confessed. The soul 
becomes again obedient to the command and continues to be so. 
Whipping will not turn a rebel into a child, but to the true 
child a touch of the rod is a sure corrective. Before his trouble 
he wandered, but after it he kept within the hedge of the 
Word, and found good pasture for his soul. The trial tethered 
him to his proper place. It kept him, and then he kept 
God's Word. Sweet are the uses of adversity, 
and this is one of them. It puts a bridle upon transgression 
and furnishes a spur for holiness." Luther said, I never knew the 
meaning of God's Word until I came into affliction. I have always 
found it one of my best schoolmasters. I think that's a better approach 
to affliction than those fools who say, well, there's an evidence 
of your lack of faith. Shame on those wicked men to 
ever tell anybody that sort of a thing. When David extols the 
affliction of God, because before it I went astray, but now I keep 
your word. You see, afflictions are designed 
by our Father in the way that chastening comes from fathers 
and mothers today toward their children. We don't spank them 
because we hate them. We don't spank them because we 
despise them. It's because we love them. And 
that's what God communicates throughout to his people. So 
those are some practical things. We ought to appreciate the typological 
significance of the chapter as a whole, as we saw today in Stephen. The temple points to Christ. 
Christ has come, we're no longer attached to a temple that is 
situated in Jerusalem, but rather now the temple is God the Father 
and the Son and the Holy Spirit. There is no temple there for 
the Father and the Lamb, or God and the Lamb are its temple. 
Well, let's close in a word of prayer. Our Father, we thank 
you for this prayer, this section in 1 Kings 8, and for the great 
things it teaches us in terms of theology, and in terms of 
practical religion. I pray that you'd help us to 
meditate upon these things, not just tonight, but to perhaps 
visit it again in the coming weeks, and help us, God, to see 
those things that are important in godly man at the throne of 
grace. Go with us now. Again, we pray for protection 
as we travel these roads. We thank you that you are sovereign 
over everything, over weather patterns, over snow, rain, sun. All of these things are under 
the sovereign control of our great and our glorious God. Keep 
us, watch over us, and protect us, we pray, through Jesus Christ 
our Lord. Amen. We'll close with a brief 
time of meditation and then be dismissed.