I'm gonna read a long section from verses 22 to 53. Essentially what we have is that Solomon builds the temple according to 1 Kings. We have him build it properly in chapter five to seven. And then Solomon dedicates the temple here in chapter eight.

And there are five sections in chapter eight. Essentially what you have is the placement of the ark in the temple, verses one to 13. The words of thanksgiving in verses 14 to 21. The section we're gonna look at, not in exhaustive detail, but the prayer of dedication in verses 22 to 53.

And then you've got a benediction pronounced on the assembly in verses 54 to 61. and then the dedication proper of the temple in verses 62 to 66. So that's an outline or a map of that particular chapter. As I said, 22 to 53, though we may bounce around a little bit to other sections here in 1 Kings 8. So I'll begin reading 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 opened 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.

Here 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 towards this temple, then hear 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, 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. 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 here in heaven, 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 hear 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 opened 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. Amen.

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, we thank you for this word. We thank you for the temple, the tabernacle, what they pointed forward to and prefigured in terms of our blessed Lord Jesus Christ. We thank you for your mercy.

We thank you for the fact, as Solomon so wonderfully relates here, that you are a God who forgives, that you are a God who does show mercy, a God who hears the prayers of his people, and we rejoice in that reality. Even now, again, we confess to you our iniquities, our sins, as we Prepare to come to the table. We pray that you would be glorified in this time of worship. Fill us with your Holy Spirit and guide us according to your truth.

And we ask this in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Introduction

Well, there is a lot of Bible in the background to what we see here in 1 Kings 8, and he makes frequent allusions to that, not direct quotations, to be sure, but definitely allusions. When he refers to his father David, he is referring, at least in a summary form, to 2 Samuel 7, what we call the Davidic covenant, when God promised that David would have a dynasty. that he would have a succession of kings who would follow him, and that would ultimately terminate in the coming of the son of David, the Lord Jesus Christ. As well, when he speaks of the various things that may obtain should the people of Israel be unfaithful in their covenant relationship to God, he's invoking Leviticus chapter 26 and Deuteronomy chapter 28. When he speaks of war, when he speaks of plague, when he speaks of exile, when he speaks of those eventualities that we know come, he is speaking in light of that law of Moses that promised blessings for faithfulness and cursings for disobedience.

So as we look at this particular prayer of dedication, again, we're not gonna look at every jot and tittle, but that section in verses 22 to 53, I wanna notice

The Foundation of the Prayer

first, the foundation of the prayer, secondly, the petitions of the prayer, And then thirdly, the conclusion of the prayer. The foundation of the prayer, very simply, is God. It is God. It is theology proper.

Solomon knows theology. Solomon was brought up at the feet of David. And of course, David knew theology. David wrote us the Psalms full of theological goodness with reference to who our God is.

And so when Solomon comes to dedicate the temple, He begins first with God. He highlights certain perfections or attributes of our God. That's the foundation of his prayer. Similar to what Jesus teaches us in the Lord's Prayer.

We don't begin with a request for our food, for our forgiveness or our protection. We end there, but we begin with God's name, God's kingdom and God's will. The Ten Commandments are structured in a similar way. Certainly, that second table is crucial for our interpersonal relationships and for societal blessing.

But it doesn't start there. It starts first with a prohibition against idolatry and blasphemy and Sabbath-breaking relative to our God. So Solomon is in good company starting with God. So with reference to these perfections that we see in the foundation of his prayer,

The Incomparability of God

Notice in the first place, the incomparability of God. The incomparability of God. There's nothing that compares with God. And he says as much in verse 23, Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like you.

And then he gives a rationale for that, who keep your covenant and mercy with your servants, who walk before you with all their hearts. If you turn back to the book of Exodus, you'll see a similar situation in the song of Moses. Moses writes, or Moses composes this song, and in 1511, he says, who is like you, O Lord, among the gods? Who is like you, glorious in holiness, fearful in praises, doing wonders?

We see a similar thing in the prophet Micah, in Micah chapter seven. playing off of his own name, who is a God like you? So these men ask the question, but then fulfill, or rather fill out, why it is the case, they're stressing the incomparability of God Almighty. In Micah 7, 18, he asks, who is a God like you? Again, he's incomparable.

How do we know he's incomparable? Well, theology proper, for sure, but in terms of his perfections, in terms of his acts toward his people. So who is a god like you? Pardoning iniquity, passing over the transgression of the remnant of his heritage.

He does not retain his anger forever because he delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea. You will give truth to Jacob and mercy to Abraham, which you have sworn to our fathers from days of old." It's a great way to frame our minds before we come to the supper.

As we eat this bread, as we drink this cup, we proclaim the Lord's death till he comes. And we know it's as a result of that death, we have that pardon for our sin. We have the casting of all of our sins into the depths of the sea. He doesn't throw them into the shallowest parts of the sea so that they can bubble up once again.

He doesn't put them in just the shallow waters so they can continue to haunt us. No, He goes deep sea fishing with our sin and casts them into the depths of it. So the incomparability of God, there is none like the living and the true God, that they may know Thee, the only true God. He is isolated.

There's a unity of singularity. He is all alone. It's not the case that God shares a sort of pantheon with other gods, and he's the best version of it.

The Faithfulness of God

Secondly, he speaks of the faithfulness of God. He does that in verses 24 to 26. Again, the backdrop is the Davidic covenant in 2 Samuel 7. He says, 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. Solomon is saying, we're not here building the temple because of our faithfulness. We're not here building the temple because of our goodness. We're not here building the temple because we have undertaken this project on behalf of you and we're going to accomplish it for you.

No, we're here because you promised we would be here. We're here because you made a covenant with my father David. We're here because you made good on those covenant promises and you vanquished his enemies through his warfare. And under that reign of peace that he secured, Solomon then was the temple builder.

He was the house builder for God most high. He goes on or draws an implication from that in verses 25 and following. 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.

He prays for a secure succession of the kings of Judah, such that ultimately that son of God will ultimately come and build a house for God. Remember, in 2 Samuel 7, that's the nature of the promise. David is sitting there in his palace, and he's musing on the fact that he's in a palace, and God is dwelling in a tent. And David makes known to the prophet that he wants to build a house for God.

And initially, the prophet authorizes it, and then God speaks to Nathan and says, tell David not to do this. David is a man of bloodshed. That's not an ethical judgment. He's not impinging upon David's ethics.

He's not saying, David's a bad guy. He's got blood on his hands. I'm not going to let him anywhere near my temple. That's not it.

David was a man of bloodshed to secure the kingdom so that his son Solomon could then come and build that house. So David says, I want to build a house for God. The chapter continues in 2 Samuel 7. And God says to David, actually, I'm going to build a house for you.

And that's that dynasty, that's that succession of kings that culminates in the Lord Jesus Christ, a son of God who builds the house for God. And we see that in Matthew chapter 16. Jesus says, who do men say that I, the son of man am? They answer the question.

And then he says, who do you say that I am? And Simon Peter confesses, thou art the Christ, the son of the living God, the son of the living God. Jesus pronounces a blessing on him and then he says that on this rock, the confession that Christ is the son of God, I will build my church. So you've got a son of God who builds a house for God that Solomon typifies and all the kings of Judah typified, David as well, and Jesus is the fulfillment of that.

So this invocation of David and the promises made to him is very important for biblical theology.

The Transcendence of God

The third thing we ought to appreciate is the transcendence of God. The transcendence of God. God is removed. God is other.

He's wholly other. He's not like us. There is a creator-creature distinction. And Solomon, at the dedication of the temple, acknowledges that.

See, the nations around Israel, they had temples. They had tabernacles. They had gods. Their gods lived in those tabernacles.

Their gods inhabited those tabernacles. When they went to visit, who was it? It wasn't Moloch. Who's the Philistine God?

Well, who is it? Who? Dagon, that's right, just jumped out of my head. That was a senior moment.

Actually, I'm not that senior, but I certainly feel it coming. I'm not gonna lie to you. The memory doesn't hold, and pains as you get older, you wake up out of bed. What's that one?

Dagon, when they went to see Dagon, when the Ark of the Covenant was in there, they went to see Dagon and Dagon had fallen over. Well, there's a great deal of theology there. They put the Ark of the Covenant that they won in battle in that temple of Dagon. Why?

It showed conquest. We beat the Israelites. We beat their God. And as a result, we're going to put the Ark of the Covenant in the Temple of Dagon to show that subjugation.

Of course, they go and visit Dagon, and he had fallen down, so they prop him back up. They go to him the next day. He had fallen down, and his hand broke off, so they have to glue it, super glue or gorilla glue, to put it back on. Their gods lived in the temples.

That's not Israel's God. The tabernacle and the temple were the special presence of God, but he wasn't located there. God transcends. God is in heaven.

As the prophet Isaiah tells us, heaven is his throne and earth is his footstool, according to Isaiah. So Solomon, before he gets to all the particulars and petitions, he wants, as it were, to not only praise God for this truth, but to remind Israel that this temple that we have built doesn't contain God. It's not the specific location of God. God is immense, God is omnipresent, God is transcendent.

So notice 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. He's not a Philistine. He's not a Hittite.

He's not a Hivite. He doesn't have any concept that this building actually houses God, as if it actually contains God. God is transcendent. But that God who is transcendent is also imminent.

And imminent means He is near us. He is with us. Again, immensity, omnipresence. The fact is, is that God is near his people.

Notice in verse 28. 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 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. imminence and transcendence. You get rid of either and you're a heretic. You get rid of imminence and you're a deist.

You get rid of transcendence, you're a pantheist. You've got big problems with your theology if you deny either of those truths. And in short compass, Solomon confesses these truths in prayer to God. And I think there's a great model here based on what we saw this morning in our studies in John's gospel, that they may know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom thou hast sent.

Notice how the knowledge of theology proper and who God is plays into our prayer life. If we are to bless God for every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ, then how can we come to God with an informed mind if we don't understand these truths? Solomon, I think, is a great example. Jesus is a great example in terms of prayer as far as it goes.

But again, that's not the main emphasis with Jesus. Here, Solomon dedicating the temple as the public man, as the king, praying to God to be sure that there is instruction in this in terms of the children of Israel. And for us, the New Covenant is real. So the foundation of his prayer is theology proper.

Solomon knows God.

The Petitions of the Prayer

Then secondly, and we'll run pretty quickly through this, the petitions of the prayer. And a central theme is forgiveness. Solomon not only knows God, but he knows man. Solomon not only knows the holiness and the righteousness and the justice and the goodness of God, but he knows all those contrary attributes that man is about.

So notice that Solomon prays for God's assistance in the adjudication of civil matters. Verses 31 and 32. Solomon was a wise man. You've got that in 1 Kings 2 and 3.

You've got Solomon requesting specifically from God wisdom. I mean, imagine that. God gives you a wish. God gives you the desire of your heart.

He comes to you by way of vision and says, what is it that you would like? What is it that you would like? I don't actually want to hear or know. If you're like me, it's probably wisdom wouldn't be the first thing that popped up.

But that's what Solomon says. Why? Solomon is the king in Israel. And he takes that responsibility seriously.

And part of the king's function in Old Covenant Israel is to adjudicate civil matters, to deal with the crimes committed in the body politic. You see this in Moses as well. There's that scene in Exodus chapter 24 where they ascend the mount. And yet there's elders left down below to make sure that the law and to make sure matters of justice are carried out among the body politic.

Just because Moses is up on the mountain doesn't mean the children of Israel aren't going to sin. It doesn't mean they're not going to commit crime. They're going to do that. And so all throughout, you see God's insistence on a well-regulated civil polity.

So Solomon prays for assistance in the adjudication of civil matters. Notice then, secondly, the defeat by enemies in verses 33 and 34. Again, you've got Leviticus 26, 17, Deuteronomy 28, 25 behind the scenes. So in verses 33 and 34, when your people Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you.

He doesn't say if, he doesn't say potentially, possibly, he knows. This has already been their history up to this point. Solomon is not a fool. He knows the heart of man.

Read the Proverbs sometimes. He knows the heart of man. He knows it's deceitful above all things. He knows it's desperately wicked.

And he knows one of the curses associated with covenant breaking was defeat by enemies in battle. 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. Notice then, thirdly, drought, verses 35 and 36. Here you've got Leviticus 26, 19, Deuteronomy 28, 23.

Drought sent by God. And notice in this particular section, the reality that God sends affliction. We're gonna tease that out a bit later when we come to some final thoughts. But with reference to affliction, notice in verse 35, when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you. because they have sinned against you.

He doesn't say Baal's not working properly as the storm god. He's not suggesting that there's just these natural forces at play, and the Israelites have been corporately unlucky for this time. When you read of drought, or you read of famine, or you read of those sorts of things in Old Covenant Israel, you know that the judgment of God is lurking behind that. So 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 sins, notice, because you afflict them, the psalmist says, it was good that I was afflicted.

Afflictions are blessed of God to bring us back to the path of God. He says, then here 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. And then notice famine and pestilence and other disasters. Again, you've got Leviticus 26, 16, 25 and 26, Deuteronomy 28, 21, 22, 27, 38, 42, 52.

Deuteronomy 28 is no walk in the park, brethren. Deuteronomy 28 is a house of horrors with reference to a promise to the children of Israel that if they breach, break, or disregard their covenant obligations before Yahweh, they will reap all these things associated with their unfaithfulness. So when you look at those passages in chapters 26 of Leviticus, Deuteronomy 28, Solomon is all too aware of that. And what is Solomon's recurring theme?

Forgive them, forgive them, forgive them. Hear from heaven and forgive them. Notice then in verses 41 to 43, this isn't a forgive them section, this is a Gentile inclusion in the covenant promises of God section. Solomon as well knows the Oracle of Noah, that Shem will find, or Japheth will find a safe harbor in the tents of Shem.

The promise throughout the prophets, the promise throughout the Psalter, that all nations shall come to the Lord. Notice in 1 Kings 8 verse 41. Moreover, concerning a foreigner who is not of your people Israel, but has come from a far country for your name's sake." I love this parenthetical remark, for they will hear of your great name and your strong hand and your outstretched arm. Brethren, I think implied there is that when we know our God, when we commune with our God, when we enjoy our God, we tell others about that God.

And once we tell others about that God, the word spreads. And in this particular instance, the nation's here. Remember the case of Rahab the harlot in Joshua chapter 2. She had heard of the mighty power of Yahweh.

She had understood all too well the God of Israel. So she gives safe harbor to those spies spying out the land of Jericho. As well, you've got the bride. Describe the bridegroom in the Song of Solomon and the daughters of Jerusalem saying, where is your beloved that we may seek him too?

So I think what we've got here is that people who know God, people that love God, people that have been saved by God will tell others about that. It's just the natural sort of a response. We tell people about how great our God is, and Solomon assumes that that will in fact be the case. He then goes on to say, when he comes, this is the foreigner, and prays toward this temple, hear 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." This is in Ephesians 3 in the Old Testament, or at least in this prayer of Solomon at the dedication of the temple.

Remember Paul's emphasis in Ephesians chapter 3? that the Gentiles are included in the covenant promises of God. This is the mystery of Christ. Again, not mystery as if it's brand new, not mystery as if it was hidden without any expression whatsoever. Genesis chapter 9.

You've got the prophets, you've got the Psalms, you've got Solomon here dedicating the temple. He's speaking of Gentile inclusion. Paul shouldn't have been opposed for being an apostle to the Gentiles. In Acts 22, when he got to that bit in his sermon and presentation, and he mentioned the Gentiles, that's when the Jews in the synagogue lost their minds.

Well, they shouldn't have lost their minds because Yahweh's purpose was always to demonstrate his power and glory in the reconciliation of the world to himself by his son, the Lord Jesus Christ. He says to the servant, in Isaiah 42 and 49. It is too small of a thing for you simply to redeem the lost tribes of Israel, but I will give you as a light unto the Gentiles. So Solomon is praying that, Solomon understands that, and Solomon recognizes the beauty of that.

He then moves on to the presence of God in battle, verses 44 and 45. We've just finished the book of Joshua in our readings on Sunday night. What do we see in the book of Joshua? We see God fight for Israel.

What do we see in the Psalter? We see that through God we shall do valiantly, for he it is that shall tread down his enemies in Psalm 60 and verse 12. The Lord God Most High fights for his people. Paul picks up this theme in Romans chapter 8.

If God is for us, who can be against us? Who can condemn you? Who can bring a charge against God's elect? It is Christ who died and who has risen again.

So what we have is the God of heaven and earth fighting for us, and Solomon prays that that would be the case.

The Prospect of Exile

And then he comes to the prospect of exile in verses 46 to 51. Here you've got Leviticus 26, 40 to 45, Deuteronomy 28, 36 and 37, and then Deuteronomy 28, 49 to 68. A lot of time spent in the covenant curses upon Israel with reference to exile. And that's precisely what you see subsequent to this time in redemptive history.

You see the collapse of the Northern Kingdom under the Assyrians. You see the collapse of the Southern Kingdom under the Babylonians. So what he sees and what he says has specific reference to that reality of their defeat in battle and then exile to foreign lands. Notice in verse 51, in this particular section, he says, for they are your people and your inheritance whom you brought out of Egypt out of the iron furnace.

I think this functions two ways in his prayer. On the one hand, God, you brought them out of Egypt as your own prized possession. You brought them out of Egypt and this is your project in terms of this covenant people. You did this for your glory, so see it through to your glory.

But then secondly, if they are exiled into foreign lands, you've shown yourself faithful to fetch your people out of those foreign lands. You redeem them from the iron furnace in Egypt. You redeem them with reference to the Babylonian exile. We see that after the 70 years, many Judahites returned to the land.

So that's the petitions in his prayer.

The Conclusion of the Prayer

The conclusion is with reference to God's goodness. Notice in verses 52 and 53, 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. In other words, you have shown yourself faithful you have made your promises, you have kept your promises, and we are trusting in your care and in your mercy to bless us and to keep us and to see us through.

Application

Well, just a few lessons in conclusion. First, with reference to the faithfulness of God toward his people. He often invokes God's faithfulness through Moses, and he invokes God's faithfulness toward David. It wasn't just for Moses and David.

Moses and David were public men. So as a result of his faithfulness to Moses, guess what? The whole of Israel prospers. As a result of his faithfulness to David, the whole of Israel prospers.

Secondly, the presence of God among his people. We're gonna jump out of the prayer just a little bit in the surrounding context. Notice that his holiness necessitates sacrifice. Verse five.

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 turn to the end in verses 62 to 64. So as far as the general heading, the presence of God among his people, the holiness of God necessitates sacrifice. Verses 62 to 64.

Let me pick it up here. 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. As well, the presence of God among his people promotes reverential awe." Reverential awe. I think that if you go to church, you ought to fear, not the people. They're not gonna steal your wallet or break into your car while we're singing hymns.

There ought to be a fear of God. There ought to be reverential awe, levity and jocularity and jokiness. That's not what we see. Notice in 1 Kings 8, specifically at 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. As well, the nearness of God in terms of his presence produces dependence. That's the nature of his prayer, specifically in verses 31 to 50. He is calling upon God and he says, hear from heaven and answer, hear from heaven and forgive.

God's presence amongst us provokes dependence by us upon him. As well, his blessing or his presence rather produces joy and gladness. Look at verse 66. 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. They had gladness, they had joy, they had Thanksgiving. So that fear, that reverential awe is mingled with joy. I love that scene at the tomb, the women run and they're trembling with joy.

Serve the Lord with fear, rejoice in him. says Psalm 2.

The Centrality of Theology Proper

I would suggest, secondly, the centrality of theology proper for his people. Solomon knows good stuff. Solomon understands truth. It affects the way that he prays.

It affects the way that he lives. It affects the way that he functions. Now, I know 1 Kings 11 gives a disfavorable view of that, but we're not going to consider that particular chapter tonight. But with reference to Solomon, he rehearses the attributes or the perfections of God Almighty.

Turretin speaks of the attributes this way, they are the essential properties by which God makes himself known to us who are weak and those by which he is distinguished from preachers, or they are those which are attributed to him according to the measure of our conception in order to explain his nature. He says, 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. Basically what he is saying is all that is in God is God. God is love.

God is justice. God is holiness. God is righteousness. Those perfections revealed to us demonstrate who God is, his nature.

Bovink says, whatever God is, he is that completely and simultaneously. Then he quotes 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.

That's a great way to look at it. So with reference to the explanation, notice then the enumerations. He speaks of incomparability. He speaks of faithfulness.

And notice in verses 25 and 26 what God's perfection of faithfulness does. 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, and 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 father David, my father. Isn't that beautiful?

The faithfulness of God evokes from us prayer for God's faithfulness. As Davis says, in short, act in the future as you've acted to date. Yahweh's fidelity in the past becomes the basis for expecting the same in the future. God has joined fidelity and expectancy.

We pray the way Spurgeon tells us as men and women who have tried and proven their God. That's precisely what verses 25 and 26 indicate. You have been faithful, continue to be faithful. We share faithfulness in the past, it gives us expectancy with reference to your faithfulness in the future.

Transcendence, imminence, singularity, it's all there. Solomon was a theologian.

Practical Lessons

And then I would suggest there are some practical lessons. We'll run quick through here. The centrality of God's word for the people of God. The centrality of God's word for the people of God.

Solomon isn't making this up. He's not ad hoc. He's not spitballing. He's got scripture in his head.

He's got scripture in his heart. He's got scripture at the throne of grace as he prays. As well, the necessity of obedience from the heart. He emphasizes that in verses 40 and 58 and 61.

That's a good lesson for us in the New Covenant. Christ has saved us, he has forgiven us, he has given us his righteousness, and therefore we are to let our conduct be worthy of the gospel. As well, Solomon understands the perpetual need for forgiveness. So do the apostles.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. John writes that in 1 John 1 verse 9. So when we look at men of God who understand God and people, they understand the need for forgiveness. And then the last practical lesson here is the usefulness of affliction.

The usefulness of affliction. Verse 35, from their sin, because you afflict them, then here in heaven. Maybe I'm alone here, but I doubt it. When bad things happen, do you ever say, I wonder why, or how is this, or why me, or I don't get it.

I mean, we default into a Pentecostal or charismatic way. Why is this happening to a child of the king? We become health, wealth, and prosperity people all overnight. Bad things happen, and we're wondering, how could bad things happen to me?

I'm such a great guy. I'm such a child of the king. Afflictions are God's means to conform us onto the image of his blessed son. Psalm 119, verse 67.

Psalm 119, verse 67. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. Before I was afflicted, I went astray, but now I keep your word. How does he get to the, but now I keep your word?

He went astray, but now I keep your word. What's the magic potion? Affliction. Notice in verse 71, it is good for me that I have been afflicted that I may learn your statutes.

Spurgeon makes a comment here. or actually on verse 67, he 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.

Beautiful statement. It's a beautiful concept, a beautiful exposition of that portion of scripture, and one that unfortunately flies out of our minds the moment that adversity comes. Bridges quotes Martin Luther in his treatment of verse 71. Luther, I never knew the meaning of God's word until I came into affliction.

I have always found it one of my best schoolmasters. That's encouraging. It's one perspective, the perspective that I would encourage all of us to get a hold of, and Solomon understands that principle all too well. Because you afflict them, then here in heaven, 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."

Typological Significance of the Temple

And then the typological significance for the encouragement of God's people. Solomon is a son of God who builds a house. for God. Jesus is the son of God who builds a house for God. The temple is the old covenant shadow of the new covenant reality.

Destroy this temple and in three days I will raise it up. What do you mean it took us 46 years to build this temple? What's John tell us? He was talking about his body.

Revelation chapters 21 and 22, there's no temple. God and the Lamb are its temple. Tabernacle and temple were temporary. They were not forever.

They pointed forward by way of prefiguring, by way of shadowing, by way of foreshadowing the glory of Jesus Christ. As well, we've got the in-gathering of Gentiles among the people of God. Dempster says, although the temple is built by Israelites in Jerusalem, it has universal implications. It is designed to be a place where all peoples of the earth may know your name to fear you like your people.

That's Jesus. Jesus is the one in whom all the promises of God are yea and amen. And then the fulfillment of the purpose of the temple in the Lord Jesus Christ. This is the end of Stephen's sermon.

He traces God's presence, that theme in an old covenant biblical theology, and he brings it to pass with reference to Jesus Christ our Lord. Well, hopefully those are some encouragements to us, not only in the manner of prayer, but in some of those things that Solomon exhibits in the nature of his prayer. And may God indeed encourage us to study him, to know him, to delight in him, to understand those perfections as best we can. We're finite, you know, seeking to know the infinite.

There's always going to be a chasm. There's always going to be some hurdles. but may the Lord guide us in that direction.

Closing Prayer

Well, let us pray. Our Father in heaven, thank you for your word. Thank you for what we have here in 1 Kings 8. And we pray that these things would be a benefit to our hearts, that you would go with us into this coming week, that you would cause us to constantly and always depend upon you, to know the presence and the power of your Holy Spirit to guide, to direct, to lead, and to help us each and every day.

And we pray through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen.

Scripture References

• Genesis 9
• Exodus 15:11; 24
• Leviticus 26:16-26; 26:17; 26:19; 26:40-45
• Deuteronomy 28:21-52; 28:23; 28:25; 28:36-37; 28:49-68
• Joshua 2
• 1 Kings 2-3; 8:1-13; 8:5; 8:10-11; 8:14-21; 8:22-53; 8:25-26; 8:31-50; 8:35-36; 8:40-61; 8:41-43; 8:44-45; 8:46-51; 8:51; 8:52-53; 8:54-61; 8:62-66; 11
• 2 Samuel 7
• Psalms 2; 60:12; 119:67; 119:71
• Isaiah 42; 49
• Micah 7:18
• Matthew 16
• Acts 22
• Romans 8
• Ephesians 3
• Revelation 21-22
• 1 John 1:9