However will God certainly dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the very best heaven can’t include you, a lot much less this home that I’ve constructed! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you immediately; that your eyes could also be open night time and day towards this home, the place of which you mentioned, ’My identify shall be there,’ that you could be heed the prayer that your servant prays towards this place. Hear the plea of your servant and of your folks Israel once they pray towards this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive.
Background
Solomon started the prayer with petitions that additionally included reward, then turns to the first topic of the prayer—the Temple. As a result of this prayer is formal, it doesn’t sound like most public prayers we hear. It’s lofty, grand, and turns into theologically conversant at occasions. That is additionally a prayer of petition, however it, like the start of the prayer, hints at reward.
First, Solomon addresses a theological query concerning the Temple: can God actually dwell on earth in a Temple constructed by people? He solutions the query himself—in fact not! Even the universe can’t include God, Solomon says, so actually no constructing—nevertheless magnificent—can achieve this. It might appear unusual to debate divine philosophy in a prayer. But the query (and its reply) implies one thing about God’s character. He’s a transcendent, sovereign, and unfathomable God. That qualifies this prayer as a reward prayer. A part of the operate of this part might also be to distinction some in style beliefs that gods and goddesses did dwell within the temples which had been constructed for them.
Subsequent, Solomon turns to the petition itself. As a result of God can’t truly dwell within the Temple, Solomon asks that He be frequently conscious of it. He reminds God that He mentioned, “my identify shall be there,” one other instance of how petitions can generally emphasize a promise made by God, with the implication that He’ll maintain it as a result of He’s trustworthy—an implied reward.
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For extra on this idea of a petition implying reward, see the final chapter, “A Petition That Additionally Praises (1 Kings 8.23-26).” ↩
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