Dedicating the Temple

First Kings chapter 8, sermon number 12 on King Solomon, and we have five more to go, 17 all together, to look at this man's life. And this is the greatest day of his life, okay? First Kings chapter 8, the dedication of the temple is the greatest day of his life, all right? Better than when he was anointed king over Israel, because nothing would compare to this day in which the temple of God was dedicated to the Lord God himself. And so when you look at all the events that have taken place, this is the greatest of all events in Solomon's life.

It's a day in which they have brought the Ark of the Covenant into the temple of God. And as he brought the Ark of the Covenant into the temple of God, and the 120 trumpeteers began to blast their trumpets, the priests would march in order, and the choir would sing. And the choir would sing these words based on 2 Chronicles chapter 5, verse number 13, in unison, when the trumpeters and the singers were to make themselves heard, with one voice to praise and to glorify the Lord.

And when they lifted up their voice, accompanied by trumpets and cymbals and instruments of music, and when they praised the Lord, saying, He indeed is good, for his lovingkindness is everlasting. Then the house, the house of the Lord was filled with a cloud, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of God. You wonder, what is it they said other than the Lord is good, his lovingkindness is forever? Did they repeat it over and over and over again? Were they overwhelmed with the goodness of God, that all they could say, well, God is good, God is good, his lovingkindness is forever.

Oh, his mercy is forever. Oh, God is so good, so good, so good. And as the trumpeters would begin to blast their trumpets, and the choir would sing in unison, you could imagine the number of people that were there.

It was the feast of tabernacles. Jerusalem was filled with pilgrims from all over the land of Israel. It was a momentous day.

It was the greatest of all days in Solomon's life. And it's on this day, he dedicates the temple to the Lord. It's a dedication that deals with God's dwelling among his people, and the faithfulness of his word to his people, and the faithfulness of God to keep his promises to the nation itself.

It's a dedication that teaches us how to pray, how to pray for the people of God. It's a dedication that mentions the name of God 14 times. It talks about prayer and supplications 20 times.

It talks about heaven 12 times. And as Solomon begins to pray, you begin to understand what he knows about Scripture. You see, when he begins to pray, he is going to pray for the nation based on what God's word has already said.

Do you ever notice that when you listen to somebody pray, you can tell a lot about that person's life? How they pray, what they pray about, tells you a lot about where they are spiritually. Just listen to them pray, and you understand where they're at. Solomon was a man who knew the word of the Lord.

We know, we've read this to you on several occasions, the book of Deuteronomy in the 17th chapter, these words are spoken. Now, it shall come about when the king sits on the throne of his kingdom, he shall write for himself a copy of this law on a scroll in the presence of the Levitical priests. It shall be with him, and he shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the Lord his God by carefully observing all the words of this law and these statutes.

And that his heart may not be lifted up above his countrymen, and that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right or the left, so that he and his sons may continue long in his kingdom in the midst of Israel. Well, Solomon did that. He was the king.

That was the requirement. So, as he would write the law of God in the presence of the Levitical priesthood, as he would read the law of God, he would begin to understand what God wanted him to do. And so, when he prays, he prays in accordance with the book of Leviticus and the book of Deuteronomy, because he knows about the blessings for Israel.

He also knows about the cursings for Israel. So, now he knows how to pray for the people. All that to say, if you don't know the word of God, you have no idea what to ask the Lord for.

If you don't know what God has already said, you don't know how to pray, because you want to pray Scripture. You want to pray the word of the Lord. We must be masters at knowing God's word.

In Matthew chapter 6, the Lord gives us the disciples' prayer, and he maps out a pattern for prayer. Is it a prayer that you can recite? Yes. Was it meant to be recited? Not necessarily, but you can recite it because you can memorize Scripture.

But it was a pattern given on how to map out the way you pray, because if you know the pattern, you know how to pray, and you know how to ask in the name of the Lord God of Israel. Solomon, way before the disciples' prayer was ever given, focuses in on the same elements that God himself focuses in on when he prays the disciples' prayer, when he teaches the disciples on how to pray, because he begins with the preeminence of God, our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, thy will be done on earth as it is in heaven.

It's a prayer that begins with the preeminence of God. Solomon's prayer begins with the preeminence of God, because all prayer begins with putting God in his rightful place in your life. If you don't do that, then your prayer starts off on the wrong note, the wrong foot.

So you need to know what Scripture says. Solomon knows the Bible. And so as he comes to pray this prayer of dedication, as he begins to bless the people as the preacher, because remember in the book of Ecclesiastes, chapter one, verse number one, he's called the preacher.

He sees himself not just as a king, but he really sees himself as a proclaimer of truth, a preacher. And so as he begins to make this proclamation, which will lead to point number two, his supplication, which will lead to point number three, his benediction, which leads to point number four, their commemoration. I know there's only three points in your outline, but I added one just because I can, you know, that's what I do.

And so, but the fact of the matter is, is that that's what he did, but he knew how to pray. And I wonder, as I was going through this, do we know how to pray? What do you say when you pray? How do you say it? Do you know what God has already said about how you are to pray? And that's what Solomon does. So he begins with a proclamation.

It's really a jubilant proclamation. It begins in verse number 12. Then Solomon said, the Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick cloud.

I have surely built you a lofty house, a place for your dwelling dwelling forever. He begins with a proclamation, and he begins by proclaiming the purpose of the temple. There was a purpose behind it.

God had designed the purpose behind it, because it says, the Lord has said that he would dwell in the thick cloud. And I have surely built you a lofty house, a place for your dwelling forever. Now, does God need a place to dwell? No, because he's on the present.

He dwells everywhere. But as you were with us in our study of the Ark of the Covenant and bringing it to Mount Zion, the place called Mount Moriah, the holy hill, the city of David, the city of Jerusalem, all that plays a very important part in understanding why Moriah, Mount Zion, is so important, and why God specifically chose that place for his name to be forever. Why he chose that place for his name to be seen forever.

Why he chose that place, why he would say, I would love the gates of Zion more than all the other gates of Jacob. Why he would love that place more than any other dwelling place. Why he would want his name there more than any other place in the world.

And if you have been with us, you know over the years that I am convinced it's the Garden of Eden. If you go to Israel with me in February and March of next year, I will prove with iron clad assurance that it's the Garden of Eden. And go take you through the scripture and prove it to you.

It began there when Christ came. He dwelt there. He wanted his name there.

When he comes back, he goes back there. When he rules for that thousand year millennium, he rules from that place. That is a central focus of the entire universe.

For some reason, it's because it all began there, it's all going to end there, and everything in between. And therefore, it's such an important place. And so the purpose of the temple is spelled out that the Lord has said he would dwell among his people in a thick cloud.

Why a thick cloud? What's all that about? Solomon is so good. He's just so sharp. And if you don't think about this, if you don't think it through, you don't understand it.

He takes them back to Moses. And as God came down on Sinai in that thick cloud, remember? And all of Sinai would tremble, and the people would stand below in the mountain, and they'd be there in fear, right? They were in fear as to the voice of God as it came thundering out. And Moses would ascend the mountain, and he would go up into the cloud because God said in Leviticus 16, verse number two, that he would dwell within the thick cloud over the Ark of the Covenant in between the two cherubim.

And that's what he did because he's the God of light, right? In 1 Timothy 6 says he dwells in unapproachable light. And no man can look upon him and live, right? And so he's encased in this cloud. And remember, when Israel would go through the wilderness, they were led by a cloud during the day and by a pillar of fire by night.

Remember that? So what Solomon's doing is bringing Israel along with not just their history as to how God has functioned among them in the past, but how he's now going to function among them in the present. He's tying it all together for them. And because there would be people there that weren't a part of the wilderness wandering.

There'd be people there that weren't way back during the days of Moses. They had no idea except what was passed down from generation to generation and what they could read in the law of God. But even remember when Moses—this is very important—when Moses had gone up into the dark cloud, and God communed with him, and God thundered from there, he still wanted to see the glory of the Lord, right? In the book of Exodus, the 34th chapter, he says, Lord, show me your glory.

I want to see your glory. I want to see your beauty. I want to see your beautiful presence.

I want to see you. That's what he says in verse number 18. And the Lord said, I myself will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim the name of the Lord before you.

And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious and will show compassion on whom I will show compassion. But he said, you cannot see my face for no man can see me and live. I can't let you see me, Moses.

If you see me, I got to kill you. Can't let that happen, okay? So he says, behold, there is a place by me and you shall stand there on the rock. This shall come about while my glory is passing by.

Remember, my glory is going to pass by. What's the glory of God? It's the presence of God manifested in light, okay? When my glory is going to pass by, that I will put you in the cleft of the rock and cover you with my hand until I pass by. Then I will take my hand away from you and you shall see my back.

My face, you should not be seen. So in verse number 5 of chapter 34, it says, the Lord descended in the cloud, okay? Same cloud. What cloud is that? Same cloud on top of Mount Sinai.

Same cloud that God had used to manifest himself throughout the wilderness wanderings of Israel, okay? And he stood there with him as he called upon the name of the Lord, okay? So God descends. Moses calls upon the name of the Lord. Then the Lord passed by in front of him.

And what's the next phrase? And proclaimed. And proclaimed. The Lord, the Lord God, compassionate and gracious, full of anger and abounding in loving kindness and truth, who keeps loving kindness for thousands, who forgives iniquity, transgression and sin.

Yet he will by no means leave the guilty unpunished, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and on the grandchildren to the third or fourth generations. Moses made haste to bow low toward the earth and worshiped. Why is that important? Because the emphasis, listen carefully, the emphasis in Israel's history, the emphasis in Israel, not just in their history, but in the present and the history for you and me, even in our past, and even for this very day, is never on what we see, but always on what God says.

That's the emphasis. It's never about what you see. God told Thomas, blessed are you because you've seen, but how blessed are those who believe and yet have never seen.

You see, you need to take God's word for it, right? And so it was always about not what you see me do, but what you hear me say. That's always been the way it is. It's always about hearing.

It's always about listening. It's always about obeying. And so Solomon is tying everything together for them because he comes down in this thick cloud.

The choir begins to sing. When they sing, the glory of the Lord comes down in this thick cloud because Leviticus 16, two says, God says, I will be in the cloud. So his presence is manifested inside that cloud.

And the cloud is just a manifestation of God's presence among his people. God is everywhere. When we say our father who art in heaven, it doesn't mean that God only is located in one particular place in heaven.

No, he's everywhere, right? He's on the present, but we refer to him as being in heaven because of his high and holy splendor. And so what he's trying to get the people to see is that as the nation itself would tremble in the fear of the Lord, as Moses, when he heard God's voice proclaim his loving kindness and graciousness, he bowed in worship. He bowed trembling before God.

What Solomon was doing is tying this history together with the present to show them that Israel must always revere the voice of the Lord. They must always stand in awe of God. You see, he didn't want the nation to treat the Lord with flippancy.

He never wanted the nation to treat the Lord as if he was their buddy, that he is as if he was the big guy upstairs. He always wanted the Israel to know that Christ, the Lord God of Israel is king over all. You must worship him in holy splendor.

You must bow in reverence to him. You must fear him constantly. And so when he begins this proclamation, he talks to them concerning the fact that God said that he would dwell in the thick cloud.

God said to build this house. And I did. I did it.

He didn't say it to gloat. He says it simply by the fact that I've done what God said to do. I was faithful to finish what God said was prescribed for me.

My father was to build it, but God said no. I, his offspring, was to build it. And as you read on to the text, that's what happens.

Then the king faced about and blessed all the assembly of Israel while all the assembly of Israel was standing. He said, blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, verse 15, who spoke with his mouth to my father, David, and has fulfilled it with his hand saying, since the day that I brought my people Israel from Egypt, I did not choose a city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house that my name might be there. But I chose David to be over my people Israel.

Now it was in the heart of my father, David, to build a house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. But the Lord said to my father, David, because it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you should not build the house, but your son who will be born to you, he will build the house for my name.

Now the Lord has fulfilled his word, which he spoke for I have risen in place of my father, David, and sit on the throne of Israel as the Lord promised. And I have built the house for the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. There I have set a place for the ark in which is the covenant of the Lord, which he made with our fathers when he brought them from the land of Egypt.

As Moses in Exodus 40, when he completed the tabernacle, as Jesus in John 17, who said, I have accomplished the work, I finished the work which thou gavest me to do. Christ wasn't gloating when he said that. He was just making a statement of fact that he came and was faithful to doing what his father had prescribed for him.

As Paul would say in verse four, verse number seven, chapter four, verse number seven, I have finished, finished the work. I have run the race, right? I have accomplished the task. I have done all that God has asked me to do.

Just an emphasis on the faithfulness that they had to accomplish what God had prescribed for them. The call of God upon their life. And that's why this is such a hallmark in Solomon's life.

God had called him for this purpose. God had set him as king over Israel for this purpose, to build the house of the name of the Lord, his God. And he did it.

And so he's not gloating. He's just making a statement of fact. I've accomplished what God had prescribed for me.

Would it be that all of us are that way, right? Would it be that we, once having been called by God, would complete the task, that we would do exactly what God had called us to do, that we might be faithful to the word of the Lord? That's what Solomon was saying. That's all he said. But he said it from this angle.

He said, as he praised God and blessed God, he said, God had fulfilled his word. God's true to his word. Not only has he fulfilled his promises, but he has shown favor on this place, the city of David, and on his people, Israel.

He's just emphasizing that God has dwelt among his people, has kept his word, has done everything that he said he was going to do, and that they now are witnesses to the faithfulness of God. What a great, great way to begin his dedication. So he moves from that proclamation to the supplication.

And he says 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. The second Chronicles tells us that he knelt. Now, why did he kneel and spread his hands out toward heaven and look to the heavens? It's because that's the way the Jews prayed.

They didn't know about praying with your eyes closed. That's what we do. Okay.

They didn't do that. They prayed looking upward to the heavens and with their hands held out. Why? Because it exemplified two things, poverty and expectancy.

Okay. Their hands were empty, signifying their poverty, and they had their hands out expecting God to fill them with the obligation that was set before them. And so they did it with expectancy.

And that's what Solomon would do. So the altar would be there. There'd be this platform.

He'd come out and Chronicles says that he would kneel on that platform, and he would lift his head and his eyes toward the heavens, and he would lift his hands toward the heavens expecting God to answer, showing that there's nothing in his hands to bring that he could offer to God to gain the favor of God. But he comes as a beggar before God. Would it be that we would kneel on Sunday mornings? Maybe.

Maybe we should do this this Sunday. Kneel and lift our hands to the heavens and our eyes to the heavens and beseech the God of the universe. You know, we don't open our eyes because we get so easily distracted, right? But they open their eyes and they look upward toward the heavens.

So they don't look out and be distracted, but look up toward God expecting God to answer. That's what he does. And then he says this.

He said, Oh Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven, above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant, showing loving kindness to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, who have kept your servant, with your servant, my father David, that which you have promised him. Indeed, you have spoken with your mouth and have fulfilled it with your hands as it is this day. Now therefore, oh Lord, the God of Israel, keep with your servant, David, my father, that which you have promised him saying, you should not lack a man to sit on the throne of Israel.

If only your sons take heed to their way to walk before me as you have walked. Now therefore, oh God of Israel, let your word, I pray, be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant, my father David. He beseeches God based on his preeminence and based on his performance that he is a God and there's no God like him in that his performance is one of complete faithfulness and trustworthiness, that he fulfilled everything that he had promised his father David.

God is so good. And then he summarizes the prayer before he actually prays it when he says this, verse 27, but will God indeed dwell on earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you. How much less this house, which I have built, yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his supplication.

Oh Lord, my God, to listen to the cry and to the prayer, which your servant prayers, prays before you today, that your eyes may be open toward this house night and day, toward the place of which you have said, my name shall be there to listen to the prayer, which your servant shall pray toward this place. Listen to the supplication of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray toward this place here in heaven, your dwelling place here and forgive. So the people of Israel are listening to him as he prays this, as he begins to petition the Lord God of Israel to hear what he has to say, to listen to what he has to say, to forgive his people Israel.

He truly wants them to know the direction of his prayer. And he embarks on seven particular petitions, seven of them, seven of them that show us how well he knows the law of God. And the first one deals with what happens when disputes arise.

Verse 31, if a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and he comes and takes an oath before your altar in this house, then here in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the wicked by bringing his way on his own head and justifying the righteous by giving him according to his righteousness. Now, he doesn't explain exactly how God's going to do that. He just says at the very beginning, when disputes arise, Lord, you be the judge, you be the discerner, you reward the righteous, you condemn the wicked.

The house of God was designed for the people of God to come and to hear the voice of God. Same is true today. We gather together and we pray and we ask the Lord to discern between what is right and what is wrong.

And when we go and there's a dispute among the people of God, is it not true that God speaks to us from his word? And is it not true that, you know, when you go back to Matthew chapter 16 and you realize that Christ says to Peter, once Peter's made that great confession, thou art the Christ, son of the living God. And the Lord God says to him, based on your confession, Peter, based on your truthful speaking about the identity of the Messiah, who the Messiah is, that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. All right.

I give you the keys to the kingdom. All right. You have the keys based on your confession.

And what's the confession? The identity of who Christ is, the son of the living God. And because I give you the keys, okay, whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven. Whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In other words, Peter, listen, you have the keys to the kingdom. And that is the only people to get to heaven are those who understand the identity of the Messiah, that he is the Christ, the son of the living God. And therefore you have the keys.

You have the authority because keys give you authority, right? If you have the keys to the building, guess what? You're in control of the building. If you had keys to your car, guess what? You're in control of who drives the car and who doesn't drive the car. If you have keys to the kingdom, you have authority.

And because you have the authority, you are able to tell someone whether or not they're going to heaven or they're not going to heaven based on their proclamation, based on their conviction on who the Messiah is. See that? Christ says to Peter, your confession has identified me correctly. Anybody who doesn't confess that, you can tell them they're still in their sins.

If they do confess that, that I am the son of the living God, that I am the Messiah of Israel, you can tell them with authority that they're going to glory because you have the keys. Same thing is true two chapters later in Matthew 18 when it comes to church discipline. And in that context in Matthew chapter 18, Christ says, where two or three are gathered together in my name, there I am in the midst of them, right? That's not about a prayer meeting, all right? Has nothing to do with a prayer meeting.

Has nothing to do with people doing what God has said to do when it comes to confronting a sinning brother. And the Lord says the exact same phrase. Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven.

In other words, when two or three are gathered together in my name, doing my work in terms of seeking to deal with a sinning brother, you can tell that brother whether or not they are still in their sin or have been loosed from their sin based on how they respond to the confrontation if you follow the biblical mandates. See that? And the same thing is true way back in the book of 1 Kings. Oh God, when there's a dispute that arises and we don't know what to do, have those two people come to the house of the Lord and Lord, you make the decision.

How does God make a decision? Through what he says in his word. God's already spoken on the issue. All we have to do know is what does God's word actually say? How do we know someone's in sin? God defines sin for us.

All right. How do we know someone's rebellion? Rebellion against God. God defines rebellion for us.

How do we know when someone is disobeying the truth of scripture? Put them to the test. The truth of scripture. It's not about our opinion.

It's not about what we think. It's about what God says. Right? So he prays about disputes and what happens when they arise.

And then the second petition deals with defeat and what happens not just when disputes arise, but when defeat abounds. Okay. That's what he says.

Verse 33, when your people, Israel are defeated before an enemy because they have sinned against you. If they turn to you again and confess your name and pray and make supplication to you in this house, then here in heaven and forgive the sin of your people, Israel, excuse me, and bring them back to the land which you gave to their fathers. In other words, he knows exactly what the book of Deuteronomy says in Deuteronomy chapter 28, where it says in verse one of chapter 20 of Deuteronomy, now it shall be, if you diligently obey the Lord, your God, being careful to do all of his commandments, which I command you today, the Lord, your God will set you high above all the nations.

Okay. Verse seven, the Lord will cause your enemies who rise up against you to be defeated before you. And they will come out against you one way and will flee before you seven ways.

In other words, if you obey me and you serve me and your enemy comes against you, they lose. You win. Ah, but if you sin and you rebel against me, he says, verse 25, then the Lord shall cause you to be defeated before your enemies.

You'll go out one way against them, but you will flee seven ways before them. And you will be an example of terror to all the kings of the earth. Your carcasses will be food to all birds of the sky and to the beasts of the earth.

And there will be no one to frighten them away. See, Solomon knows that. Solomon knows about the blessings and cursings of Israel.

And you'll notice that throughout the prayer, it's always a reference to the land, the land, the land. It's their land. Lord, it's your land.

It's our land, right? Why is that important? Abrahamic covenant. Abrahamic covenant was a land covenant, right? The Davidic covenant was a lordship covenant. The new covenant was a love covenant.

And those three covenants talk about how Israel will have a land and a Lord who will rule in that land because the great love, the new covenant, which he has for his people. And the Abrahamic covenant was a land covenant. It was all about the land and everything about Israel being in the land centered around their obedience.

That's why there'd be this deportation, which we'll see in a few minutes when they're deported off to a Syrian captivity, the Northern kingdom is, and then the Southern kingdom into Babylonian captivity. Why? Because of their continued sin. But all that to say is that Solomon prays when defeat abounds because of your sin, pray to the Lord and Lord, when they pray and they repent, forgive them, forgive them.

And he says very clearly to them, he says, and bring them back to the land, which you gave to their fathers, because inherent in the promises to Israel is the land of Israel is that promise land. And so he says, when disputes arise, deal with them in the house of God, when defeat abounds and your people pray, Lord, restore them, bring them back to the land. And then when drought arises, verse 35, when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned again, because they've sinned, he's almost anticipating their sin because he knows people, he knows they're going to sin.

And if you go back to Deuteronomy 28, the land covenant, God says, if you obey me, guess what? In the rainy season, it's going to rain. Crops are going to grow. You just obey me, guess what? In the rainy season, no rain, your crops are going to die.

Drought's going to come. You got to obey me. So he says, when the heavens are shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you and they have prayed toward the place, this place and confess your name and turn from their sin.

When you afflict them, then here in heaven, forgive the sin of your servants and of your people Israel. Indeed, teach them the good way in which they should walk and send rain on your land. And now he calls it God's land, right? Which you have given your people for an inheritance.

Again, he anticipates the fact that, Lord, if they sin, when they sin, oh Lord, hear their prayers. Telling them exactly what to do, what happens when they sin, confess your sin, turn from your wicked ways, give your life to the Lord, look to the Lord, repent and watch and see what he does. He's asking God to be true to his word.

So when disputes arise, when defeat abounds, when drought arises and when disease and devastation accumulate, verse 37, if there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence, if there is blight or mildew, locust or grasshopper, if their enemy besieges them in the land of their cities, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer or supplication is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and spreading his hands toward this house, then here in heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive and act and render to each 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 have given to our fathers. You see, he wants them to fear the Lord. And he knows that if devastation and disease come, maybe because of sin, maybe not because of sin, but it just happens to come.

Lord, if you read Ecclesiastes 7, if you read Ecclesiastes chapter 3, the preacher says, listen, that God's in charge of anything. In the day of adversity, consider, okay, God has brought the day of prosperity as well as the day of adversity. He does that, so now no man will ever know what comes after him, but everything is about fearing God in the book of Ecclesiastes.

And he concludes in Ecclesiastes 12, the sum of this is that man would fear God and keep his commandments. Oh God, may they turn to you. May they fear your commandments.

May they keep your law. May they obey your word. And then a little bit of change of tone, he says that when disciples approach foreigners, he says, verse 41, and concerning the foreigner, the Gentile, the non-Jewish person who is not of your people Israel, when he comes from a far country for your namesake.

In other words, he has heard what God has done. He has heard about how God has functioned among his people. For they will hear of your great name and your mighty hand and of your outstretched arm when he comes and prays toward this house here in heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you in order that all the peoples of the earth may know your name to fear you as you as do your people Israel.

And that they may know that this house which I have built is called by your name. Isn't that great? There's going to be people that are Gentiles who are not a part of Israel who are going to hear about what God has done, who are going to hear about the mighty hand of God among the people of Israel, who are going to come specifically to this house and they're going to pray. And when they pray, hear them.

Because it was meant, according to the book of Isaiah, a house of prayer for all nations, right? That's what the house of God was for. And so Solomon prays even for the Gentiles as he prays in front of the people of Israel. And then in verse 44, when danger attacks, when your people go out to battle against their enemy, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to the Lord toward the city which you have chosen and the house which I had built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their supplication and maintain their cause.

When they go to war, when danger attacks, Lord, they're going to look to you. They're going to cry out to you. Lord, hear their prayer.

Answer their prayer and give them the victory. You know what? We go to battle every day, don't we? And we are reminded of our responsibility to go before the God's throne and pray to Him. We are in war every single day of our lives.

And we are praying for our children and praying for our church and praying for other believers and praying for our spouses and praying that God does a great work. Because we know that Satan is our adversary. He goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour.

We know that. We're engaged in warfare. That's why Paul in Ephesians 6 talks about prayer being interwoven between each part of the armor because prayer is the battle.

That's where the battle is fought, on our knees, and we need to pray. And so he talks about danger when it attacks. So when disputes arise and defeat abounds and drought arises and disease and devastation accumulate, disciples approach and danger attacks, when your people pray, when they seek your face, Lord, hear their prayers, forgive their sins, bring them back into the land.

But he also knows if they don't repent, if they don't ask for forgiveness, the only thing left is a deportation. Deportation is the only answer to take them out of that covenant promise to Abraham out of that land. So when they sin against you, verse 46, for there is no man who does not sin and you are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy far off or near, it's almost as if this is a prophecy of what will happen under Assyrian and Babylonian captivity.

If they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive and repent and make supplication to you in the land of those who have taken them captive saying, we have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly, if they return to you with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive and pray to you toward their land, which you have given to their fathers, the city, which you have chosen and the house, which I have built for your name can hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven, your dwelling place and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you and all their transgressions, which they have transgressed against you and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive that they may have compassion on them for they are your people and your inheritance, which you have brought forth from Egypt from the midst of the iron furnace that your eyes may be open to the supplication of your servant and to the supplication of your people Israel to listen to them whenever they call on you, for you have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as your inheritance, as you spoke through Moses your servant when you brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God. What a great prayer. He knows they're going to sin.

He knows danger is going to happen. He knows disputes are going to come. He knows defeat is going to happen.

He knows unfortunately that God's going to take him out of the land. He's going to do that. Little does he know that it's because of his sin and incorporating idolatry during his reign that's going to lead to a divided kingdom and a rebellious people and a deportation from the true.

If they turn from their sin, if they repent, ask for forgiveness, seek your face, look toward your temple, toward your house, toward the place where your glory dwells, Lord, hear their prayers, bring them back, restore them. You see, inheriting the prayer is that sin's going to come, but if you repent and you seek the face of God, restoration is always, always going to be the case. It's going to happen.

God does it. God is a deliverer of man from a sin. God is a restorer of man.

God is a redeemer of man. That's what God does, but you got to look to him. You got to cry out to him.

You got to repent of your sins. You got to turn from your wickedness, and God knows your heart, right? He knows if it's a true turning, if it's a true repentance, if it's a true confession, he knows all that. So Solomon gives this benediction, verse 54.

That's point number three. When Solomon finished praying this entire prayer of supplication to the Lord, which by the way is the longest prayer in the Bible, he arose from before the altar of the Lord from kneeling on his knees and his hands spread toward heaven, and 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. Not one word has failed of all his good promises which he promised through Moses his servant.

May the Lord our God be with us as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us that he may incline our hearts to himself to walk in all his ways to keep his commandments and his statutes and his ordinances which he commanded our fathers. He says, listen, oh Lord, people, listen to this.

God has been faithful to keep all of his good promises. He has. He's fulfilled them all.

Nothing has failed. Same thing Joshua said in Joshua 24, 13 and 14 when he says, not one good word of the good Lord has ever failed you. Not one.

Because God didn't fail. He always keeps his promises. Solomon, knowing not just the law of God but the history of Israel passed down from generation and generation, picks up on that phrase, not one good word of the Lord has failed, knowing what Joshua said when they embarked on the land.

He's reiterating and bringing Israel's history all together with them from the time of Moses, from the time of Abraham, to the time of Joshua, to where they are today, to let them understand that God is so faithful to his word. And he says, he will not leave us nor forsake us. What a great statement.

A great, great statement used by God so many times in the Old Testament, whether it was with Abraham or Jacob or Moses or Joshua or Samuel the prophet or Gideon or Isaiah the prophet, when Israel was in Babylonian captivity, it was all about how God would never leave them nor forsake them. Same thing the Lord said in Matthew 28, 19, 20, that when we go into all the world and make disciples, he would never leave us nor forsake us. Hebrews 13, 15, he would never leave us or forsake us because the presence of God is what you and I need.

And remember, everything was about the glory of the Lord coming down, God's presence being manifested among his people, because you see, they didn't understand Christ in you, the hope of glory, right? They understood God being among them in the great cloud, but they didn't understand God being in them because that's a mystery concealed in the Old Testament, only revealed in the New Testament. But once revealed, God says, I'm never going to leave you. I'm never going to forsake you.

That's the great promise. And when you come to the commemoration at the very end, look what it says. I'll take you down to the very end, which says in verse 65, so Solomon observed the feast of that time and all Israel with him, a great assembly from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of Egypt.

That's basically encompasses the land from the north and the land from the south, meaning that all the people were there in Israel. And it says before the Lord our God for seven days and seven more days, even 14 days, they went into overtime. They went into, it was a double header when it came to the feast and assembly of the people of God.

And you know what? Nobody complained that it's got to go home, got to have lunch. No, it's more time here with the people of God. On the eighth day, he sent the people away.

I wish I could do that to you guys. I wish I had to send you away. I wish you just didn't go away.

I wish I had to actually send you away. Solomon had to send them away because they didn't want to leave. They didn't want to leave because so much had taken place with the ark of the covenant, the temple of God, and all that was there.

He sent the people away and they blessed the King. And they went to their tents, joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness that the Lord had shown to David, his servant, and to Israel, his people. Isn't it interesting to know that when the people are reminded of the goodness of God, they rejoice in the goodness of God.

That's exactly what happened. They went away glad. They went away filled with joy because God was so good to them.

Let me pray with you. Father, we thank you, Lord, for this time that we had in your word this evening, a chance to look at how it is you used Solomon in the great and mighty way. How it is he was your chosen representative for this time to build the house in the name of the Lord your God.

Thank you, Lord, that he could say the prayer that he did to remind all of us to seek your presence, to confess our sins, to turn from our wicked ways, to humble ourselves and seek your face, that we might find the restoration that only God himself can give. We thank you for what you've taught us. May we leave this place with joy and a glad heart.

In your name we pray.