“Pay Attention To My Prayers”

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in front of the whole assembly of Israel, spread out his hands toward heaven 23 and said:

“Lord, the God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth below—you who keep your covenant of love with your servants who continue wholeheartedly in your way. 24 You have kept your promise to your servant David my father; with your mouth you have promised and with your hand you have fulfilled it—as it is today.

25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

Solomon gathered the people not just to dedicate the temple, but to rededicate themselves to God’s service. Solomon could well be speaking these words to us today: “But your hearts must be fully committed to the Lord our God, to live by his decrees and obey his commands, as at this time” (8:61).

What was the difference between the tabernacle and the temple, and why did the Israelites change from one to the other? As a tent, the tabernacle was a portable place of worship designed for the people as they were traveling toward the promised land. The temple was a permanent place to worship God after the Israelites were at peace in their land. To bring the ark of the Lord’s covenant to the temple signified God’s actual presence there.

The prayer of dedication considers seven circumstances in which the God of the covenant is obligated to his people (vv. 22–53). Solomon takes a position at the altar in front of all the people and begins his prayer of dedication. Standing with one’s hands spread toward heaven is a customary posture of prayer (v. 22), though Solomon is later said to have been kneeling (v. 54). The Chronicler reconciles the discrepancy by having Solomon stand and kneel, explaining that a special dais was created for the occasion (). It was unusual for a king to kneel before someone else in front of his own people because kneeling meant submitting to a higher authority. Solomon demonstrated his great love and respect for God by kneeling before him. His action showed that he acknowledged God as the ultimate king and authority, and it encouraged the people to do the same.

Solomon takes a position at the altar in front of all the people and begins his prayer of dedication. Standing with one’s hands spread toward heaven is a customary posture of prayer (v. 22), though Solomon is later said to have been kneeling (v. 54). The Chronicler reconciles the discrepancy by having Solomon stand and kneel, explaining that a special dais was created for the occasion ().

Kneeling and standing are both depicted as postures in prayer, often with palms opened. Standing before a seated deity signifies an attitude of readiness for service; kneeling or sitting depicts humility in the presence of the deity. Kneeling worshipers can be said to stand up in reference to divine service. Terms for posture in prayer signify disposition, not only the external position of the body. The open palm expresses petition (cf. ). We do damage to ourselves and to others if we pretend to change but don’t mean it.

Solomon prays before the assembled crowd in the presence of the altar (vv. 22, 54). Presumably this is the bronze altar in the court (v. 64), though it has not been previously mentioned in the furnishings of the temple made by Hiram. Japhet thinks that the prayer “before the altar of the Lord” means the altar in the inner court. Her argument is that the Chronicler changes the phrase to “before the court [ʿazārâ],” inferring that the prayer takes place in the enclosure around the outer altar, because it is inconceivable to a later generation that the crowds could have been inside the temple. It is possible that Kings referred to the outer court.

The prayer emphasizes the loyal faithfulness of God in his covenant with those who are faithful (v. 23). “Covenant of love” is a paraphrase for loyalty; the Hebrew word ḥesed is used primarily to describe loyalty to a commitment made by oath. Complete faithfulness is one expression of love, one that is most critical in all relationships. Divine loyalty is evident in the promise to David already fulfilled (v. 24). Solomon was referring to the promise God had made to David that one of David’s Son would build the temple.

13 D. R. Ap-Thomas, “Notes on Some Terms Relating to Prayer,” VT 6 (1956): 225–28.

August H. Konkel, 1 & 2 Kings, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 172–173.

Solomon prays“Pay Attention To My Prayers”, asking God for several things:

Continual blessing upon David’s dynasty (8:25-26)25 “Now Lord, the God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father the promises you made to him when you said, ‘You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.’ 26 And now, God of Israel, let your word that you promised your servant David my father come true.

Solomon’s prayer is that the divine promise might now be fulfilled in the continuity of David’s descendants on the throne (vv. 25–26). The covenant blessing is conditional on the faithfulness of the covenant partners; that is Solomon’s particular concern in this prayer, for there is no person who does not sin and incur divine wrath (v. 46). Solomon pleads for the temple to receive the divine mercy when the people pray. First“Pay Attention To My Prayers”,Continual blessing upon David’s dynasty.

2. “Pay Attention To My Prayers”, Attentiveness to his prayers(8:27-30) 27 “But will God really dwell on earth? The heavens, even the highest heaven, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built! 28 Yet give attention to your servant’s prayer and his plea for mercy, Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that your servant is praying in your presence this day. 29 May your eyes be open toward this temple night and day, this place of which you said, ‘My Name shall be there,’ so that you will hear the prayer your servant prays toward this place. 30 Hear the supplication of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place. Hear from heaven, your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.

The presence of God is not to be conceived as limited to the temple, since even the heavens cannot contain the Creator (v. 27); this is the place God has chosen for his “Name” (v. 29). A place for “the Name” is one of the distinguishing features of Deuteronomistic theology. Worship at other shrines continued as long as there was no one place for God to dwell (3:2); Solomon’s purpose is to build a central temple for “the Name” of God (8:17, 19). The Name is present as a guarantor of God’s intent to save; it is a declaration of his election of Jerusalem. Solomon prays that “the eyes of the Lord” will always be open to the place where petitions are made (vv. 29, 52). The temple gives testimony to the divine election of Jerusalem and the dynasty of David; it is the assurance that God is the guarantor of the covenant.

The prayer locates God in heaven, which is interpreted to make him transcendent, invulnerable to any catastrophe that might affect his temple. The Name was regarded as a hypostasis of God, the very essence of him being present. In his prayer of dedication, Solomon declared that even the highest heaven cannot contain God. Isn’t it amazing that, though the heavens can’t contain God, he is willing to live in the hearts of those who love him? The God of the universe takes up residence in his people. First“Pay Attention To My Prayers”,Continual blessing upon David’s dynasty. Second “Pay Attention To My Prayers”, Attentiveness to his prayers

In

his prayer of dedication, Solomon declared that even the highest heaven cannot contain God. Isn’t it amazing that, though the heavens can’t contain God, he is willing to live in the hearts of those who love him? The God of the universe takes up residence in his people.

August H. Konkel, 1 & 2 Kings, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 173–174.

2. “Pay Attention To My Prayers”, Attentiveness to his prayers

August H. Konkel, 1 & 2 Kings, The NIV Application Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006), 169.

In conclusion, The Christian calling has a fundamental continuity with the function of the temple as expressed in Solomon’s dedication prayer. The temple was a manifestation of God’s elective choice of David and Jerusalem (, ; ).

The dedication prayer taught the ultimate sovereignty of God over both land and people. The temple was a focal point to which prayers could be made; God, whose temple was the heavens, would attend to his earthly temple night and day (vv. 28–29) and respond in mercy to the prayers of his people.

God has chosen to mediate his rule of the world through people. David and his people had a special function in this rule, because they were to make the name of God great (8:16, 25, 43, 60; 9:4–5).

Ignatius of Loyola once said, “Everything that one turns in the direction of God is prayer.” No matter what has arisen in you during this time-irritation, fear, desire, disinterest, lack of trust in God-it can all be prayer when shared with him; it’s all part of your conversation with God. Notice how Solomon lets his anxiety and insecurity spill into his prayer to God, and allow yourself to do the same.

1 Kings 8:22-30

v See

w See , ; ; ;

x See ; ;

y See

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a See

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c ver 52; ; ; ; ; ; ; ;

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e See ; ; See

f ver 47; ; ; ;

g ver 39;

h See , ; ;

The New International Version (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011), –30.1 Kings 8:22-30