Dedication: Praying with King Solomon

Have you ever dedicated your “temple” to God? Scripture tells us that we are made in God’s image and that when the Holy Spirit of God lives in us we are the Temple of the Holy Spirit. For many of us this dedication happens when we decide to be baptized. Baptism is an outward show of what God has done within us. We are saved by grace through faith. We are cleansed of sin by Christ, which is symbolized by going down into the baptism waters. Then we are made spiritually alive, a type of resurrection, symbolized by coming out of the baptism waters. We dedicate our lives to Christ because he gave his life for us. This doesn’t mean we profess to be perfect. It’s rather a promise to try to live as a follower, a dedicated disciple of Christ, willing to repent when we sin, and to love God and others as God has loved us.

Life goes in seasons though, hills and valleys, planting and harvesting. Sometimes we have seasons of good intentions that fall flat or feel empty. We begin to wonder if we are even believers. We have fond memories of God’s past work in our lives but then the monotony of everyday draws us away from the fire and we grow cold. We become cynical and judgemental. How do we get back to that place of awe for God and warmth for our salvation?

Like Solomon with the Temple dedication, we lay our offerings and dedicate ourselves on the altar and God’s holy fire consumes and consecrates them.

Solomon was the son of David, who was called the “Man after God’s own heart.” David wasn’t allowed to build God’s temple because he was a blood king, conquering God’s enemies by war and force. Solomon was the wise king. There was no one on earth wiser than Solomon, made wise by God and chosen to build God’s Temple in Jerusalem during a time of kingdom peace.

In 2 Chronicles 2 Solomon said, “Behold, I am about to build a house for the name of the LORD my God and dedicate it to him for the burning of incense of sweet spices before him, and for the regular arrangement of the showbread, and for burnt offerings morning and evening, on the Sabbaths and the new moons and the appointed feasts of the LORD our God, as ordained forever for Israel. The house that I am to build will be great, for our God is greater than all gods. But who is able to build him a house, since heaven, even highest heaven, cannot contain him? Who am I to build a house for him, except as a place to make offerings before him?”

This study of the Temple Dedication is really about prayer. We can learn from Solomon how to have a right view of God’s glory and majesty and a right view of our own sinfulness and how we need God to cleanse our own temples. The second part, next week, will be about consecration. We can dedicate ourselves to God but only he can cleanse and consecrate us, making us fit for his kingdom.

2 Chronicles 5 tells us just before the Temple dedication prayer the priests and Levites brought the Ark of the Covenant up from Jerusalem to the temple and put it in the Holy of Holies, the inner sanctum also called the Most Holy Place. They sacrificed and worshiped and sang, “For he is good, for his steadfast love endures forever.”

2 Chronicles 6

1Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in thick darkness. ² But I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell in forever.” ³ Then the king turned around and blessed all the assembly of Israel, while all the assembly of Israel stood. ⁴ And he said, “Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, who with his hand has fulfilled what he promised with his mouth to David my father, saying, ⁵ ‘Since the day that I brought my people out of the land of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel in which to build a house, that my name might be there, and I chose no man as prince over my people Israel; ⁶ but I have chosen Jerusalem that my name may be there, and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’ ⁷ Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD, the God of Israel. ⁸ But the LORD said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. ⁹ Nevertheless, it is not you who shall build the house, but your son who shall be born to you shall build the house for my name.’ ¹⁰ Now the LORD has fulfilled his promise that he made. For I have risen in the place of David my father 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. ¹¹ And there I have set the ark, in which is the covenant of the LORD that he made with the people of Israel.”

“That God would dwell in thick darkness,” and the Ark itself are reference to the Mosaic Covenant and the cloud that covered Mt. Sinai when Moses went up to receive the commandments from God. Solomon also references the Davidic covenant, the promise made to David that his son would sit on the throne and build the house for the Lord, and that the line of David would continue to have kings on the throne. He mentions this a few times throughout the dedication prayer. As you read through the dedication prayer watch for phrases and ideas that repeat. The repetition draws attention to the most important aspects of who God is in relation to Solomon, the people, and the temple itself. Look for words like prayer, cries, and pleas, covenant, promise, and heaven.

Solomon’s Dedication Prayer

¹² Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands. ¹³ Solomon had made a bronze platform five cubits long, five cubits wide, and three cubits high, and had set it in the court, and he stood on it. Then he knelt on his knees in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven, ¹⁴ and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven or on earth, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart, ¹⁵ who have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day. ¹⁶ Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk in my law as you have walked before me.’ ¹⁷ Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David.

Two things stood out to me in this opening section.

First, his posture. While it is true we can pray at any time and in any posture there are some times when prayer is so focused and serious that our bodies take a back seat to our hearts. After Solomon stood before the people and spread his hands he then knelt on his knees and spread his hands toward heaven. This was a gesture of open willingness to God, both giving worship and ready to receive what he’s asking for.

Second was how he begins his prayer reminding God of his covenant promises and asking God to confirm those promises. We can do this by learning to pray scripture back to God. David does it often in the Psalms and even Jesus does it in the new testament in the Lord’s prayer (Luke 11,) the high priest prayer (John 17,) and even his final words from the cross.

Where God Dwells

¹⁸ “But will God indeed dwell with man on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house that I have built! ¹⁹ Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you, ²⁰ that your eyes may be open day and night toward this house, the place where you have promised to set your name, that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. ²¹ And listen to the pleas of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen from heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Solomon had a right view of God. Acts 17:24-25, 29 says, “The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything… Being then God’s offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man.” Solomon didn’t build the temple as a way to trap God into living on earth and doing the will of man. That would have been idolatry. He built it knowing that it would be a touchstone for the hearts of the people, a place for the repentant heart to look for forgiveness from the God who created them. Solomon understood that God’s dwelling place is heaven. God would not step down from heaven to dwell in the temple, but he would commune with his people there, his eyes and ears would be on Israel and the temple because of the sacrifice and worship and prayer offered there. There was no Image of God in the temple, No Idol, only the Ark of the Covenant, the Altar and instruments for worship to remind the people of God’s commands and promises. They were to use the temple to worship God but not worship the temple itself.

Integrity

²² “If a man sins against his neighbor and is made to take an oath and comes and swears his oath before your altar in this house, ²³ then hear from heaven and act and judge your servants, repaying the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.

This was an indication of the omniscience of God. If people had no witnesses to a dispute then it set God, who knows everything, as the judge. The temple was a place to be proven honorable or dishonorable by a God who knows what’s in the hearts of people. Our lives ought to be an example of integrity. We can lie to ourselves and each other but we can’t lie to the Spirit of God.

Community

²⁴ “If your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, ²⁵ then hear from heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers.
²⁶ “When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them, ²⁷ then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant rain upon your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance.
²⁸ “If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemies besiege them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, ²⁹ whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands toward this house, ³⁰ then hear from heaven your dwelling place and forgive and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways, for you, you only, know the hearts of the children of mankind, ³¹ that they may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.

Sin and affliction, then repentance and deliverance. This prayer is a foreshadowing of Israel’s national future and our own personal journeys with God. Verse 29 says “whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people.” Here Solomon speaks of two kinds of prayer, personal and corporate. God hears both kinds of prayer and both are important. The expectation of scripture is that you are part of a local body of worshipers. If you are not, ask yourself why not? Have you been hurt? Were you shunned or have you become burnt out? Maybe it’s time to try again. Solomon didn’t build the Temple so he himself could worship, but for the benefit of all Israel to worship God together. In the same way Jesus said he would build his Church and the gates of hell would not prevail against it.

Outsiders

³² “Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, when he comes and prays toward this house, ³³ hear from 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 and fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that this house that I have built is called by your name.

It’s not often in the OT Gentiles are included with Israel but the Temple was built with an outer court just for the Gentiles, who were invited to come and see what the God of Israel was all about, to learn of his great name, fear him and offer prayers to him. The same God that loves and forgives Israel also loves and forgives Gentiles. His arms are stretched out to them.

Victory

³⁴ “If your people go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁵ then hear from heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.

This was not a blanket request for military victory under any circumstances but takes into account that their prayers for victory should be answered when it is God who has sent them to battle the enemy. Psalm 20:7 says, “Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God.” In Ephesians we are told to put on the full armor of God, and that armor includes “all prayer.” God has sent us as his ambassadors into the world, but the enemy will fight us every step of the way. Don’t take the armor and the power of prayer for granted.

Repentance

³⁶ “If they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you are angry with them and give them to an enemy, so that they are carried away captive to a land far or near, ³⁷ yet if they turn their heart in the land to which they have been carried captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ ³⁸ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity to which they were carried captive, and pray toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, ³⁹ then hear from heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their pleas, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you. ⁴⁰ Now, O my God, let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this place.

This sounds so much like Romans 3:23, “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God.” The only escape from captivity of sin is humble repentance to God. We will sin, and when we sin we must repent. We will become stagnant and cynical and let the enemy convince us God is not taking good enough care of us. We must dedicate our mind, heart, soul and strength to repentance and prayer, in our personal lives as well as our church lives. Prayer is not an unemotional endeavor. Hear the language Solomon uses here and throughout this prayer, repentance takes all your heart and soul, prayers and please, and crying out and acknowledging the name of the Lord. Romans 8:26 says “Likewise the Spirit helps us in our weakness. For we do not know what to pray for as we ought, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” Don’t be afraid to pray with that kind of intense crying out.

Invitation

⁴¹ “And now arise, O LORD God, and go to your resting place,
you and the ark of your might.
Let your priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation,
and let your saints rejoice in your goodness.
⁴² O LORD God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one!
Remember your steadfast love for David your servant.”

Solomon invites God right into the Temple, into the Most Holy Place. Take some time in prayer right now. Acknowledge God’s majesty and holiness, agree with Solomon that God is not contained in anything made by human hands, remember His promises that you would not be left an orphan, then invite Him into your most holy place, dedicate your temple, all your heart, soul, mind, and strength, to Him.