Bible Talks

2 Chronicles 6:1-401Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 2But I have built an house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever. 3And the king turned his face, and blessed the whole congregation of Israel: and all the congregation of Israel stood. 4And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with his hands fulfilled that which he spake with his mouth to my father David, saying, 5Since the day that I brought forth my people out of the land of Egypt I chose no city among all the tribes of Israel to build an house in, that my name might be there; neither chose I any man to be a ruler over my people Israel: 6But I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and have chosen David to be over my people Israel. 7Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 8But the Lord said to David my father, Forasmuch as it was in thine heart to build an house for my name, thou didst well in that it was in thine heart: 9Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name. 10The Lord therefore hath performed his word that he hath spoken: for I am risen up in the room of David my father, and am set on the throne of Israel, as the Lord promised, and have built the house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. 11And in it have I put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the Lord, that he made with the children of Israel. 12And he stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands: 13For Solomon had made a brazen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven, 14And said, O Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts: 15Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day. 16Now therefore, O Lord God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me. 17Now then, O Lord God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David. 18But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built! 19Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O Lord my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee: 20That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place. 21Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive. 22If a man sin against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; 23Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness. 24And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house; 25Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers. 26When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them; 27Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance. 28If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillers; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be: 29Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: 30Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:) 31That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. 32Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house; 33Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for; that all people of the earth may know thy name, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name. 34If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name; 35Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause. 36If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near; 37Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly; 38If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: 39Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee. 40Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. (2 Chronicles 6:1‑40).
WE HAD the song of praise and thanksgiving which accompanied the bringing in of the ark into the temple in the last chapter. The next chapter opens with Solomon's address and his prayer on this occasion. He had caused a brazen platform to be made and on this he stood. Its size, given in cubits, according to our measurements would be about nine feet square by five feet high. Evidently the purpose of this was that all might hear and see him when he spoke. In a much later day, on the return from the captivity, Ezra, when reading from the book of the law, stood on a stage of wood. It shows how far removed things were from the glorious time of Solomon.
Solomon first mentions that the Lord had said He would dwell in the thick darkness. But, he adds, I have built Him an house of habitation, and a place for His dwelling forever. Then Solomon turned his face and blessed the whole congregation of Israel, and the whole congregation stood. He praised the Lord God of Israel for fulfilling all that He had promised to David his father in the building of the temple. He told them how the Lord had said that since the day He brought forth His people out of Egypt, He had chosen no city in Israel to build a house there, nor had He chosen any man to be king. But He had now chosen Jerusalem that His name might be there; and He had chosen David to be over His people Israel. Furthermore, Solomon told how it was on the heart of David his father to build a house for the name of the Lord God of Israel. Nevertheless, the Lord had said to David that he could not build the house, but that his son should build a house for His name. Solomon went on to say, that he, having risen up and now seated on the throne of David his father, had built the house and had brought into it the ark, in which were the tables of the law of the covenant, which the Lord had made with Israel.
Then Solomon kneeled down on the brazen platform, spreading his hands toward heaven, and addressed Jehovah in a very remarkable prayer. He was not all taken up with the glory of Israel in his own day, but made provision for the future when they would so fail as to be scattered among the nations. If at such a time they would confess their sins and pray toward this house, he requested of the Lord that He would hear their prayer and answer from heaven. We know that Daniel, several hundred years later, when in far off Babylon, availed himself of the privilege of praying toward Jerusalem, even though the house was then in ruins, and how pleasing it was to the Lord that he did so.
Only the wisdom God had given to Solomon in the midst of their splendor and glory could foresee the need of God's people, after He had come in and had scattered them because they forsook Him. Solomon spoke of God's dwelling with man, in such a way as to show how he appreciated His grace in doing so. He mentioned that the heaven of heavens could not contain Him, how much less the house that he had built. He requested of the Lord, "That Thine eyes may be open upon this house .day and night, upon the place where Thou hast said that Thou wouldest put Thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which Thy servant prayeth toward this place." Solomon also made provision for the stranger "which is not of Thy people Israel." He desired that all the people of the earth might know Jehovah's name and fear Him as did His people Israel.
Messages of the Love of God 5/25/1958