Praying We Would Trust God Without Reservation
Notes
Transcript
Context of Solomon’s Prayer
See Lev. 26 & Deut. 27-28
3 active principles in Solomon’s prayer
God blesses obedience
“And if you faithfully obey the voice of the Lord your God, being careful to do all his commandments that I command you today, the Lord your God will set you high above all the nations of the earth.
2. There are consequences for disobedience
“But if you will not obey the voice of the Lord your God or be careful to do all his commandments and his statutes that I command you today, then all these curses shall come upon you and overtake you.
3. God accepts the repentance of His rebellious people.
“But if they confess their iniquity and the iniquity of their fathers in their treachery that they committed against me, and also in walking contrary to me, so that I walked contrary to them and brought them into the land of their enemies—if then their uncircumcised heart is humbled and they make amends for their iniquity, then I will remember my covenant with Jacob, and I will remember my covenant with Isaac and my covenant with Abraham, and I will remember the land.
I think we will see these 3 principles in Solomon’s prayer. There’s another principle that we will need to acknowledge in light of who Jesus is and what He has done, but we will return to that later.
The immediate context of Solomon’s Prayer
Solomon’s Father, David, had committed to building a temple for the worship of God. David died before those efforts could be realized. Solomon, who is now King, builds them temple (1 Ki 6), furnishes the temple (1 Ki 7), and has the Ark (contains the law) into the temple (1 Ki 8), and after all of this work is complete, Solomon prays, and it is this prayer that we will consider today. Now as we read this text, I want us to keep the principles I referenced before in mind and look for them here in this text. We have them on the screen:
1. God blesses obedience
2. God curses disobedience
3. God accepts the repentance of His rebellious people.
Let’s read the text
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, and said, “O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; you 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. 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 before me as you have walked before me.’ Now therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant David my father.
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! 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 this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
“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, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head, and vindicating the righteous by rewarding him according to his righteousness.
“When your people Israel are defeated before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and if they turn again to you and acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.
“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, 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.
“If there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew or locust or caterpillar, if their enemy besieges them in the land at their gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people Israel, each knowing the affliction of his own heart and stretching out his hands toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and forgive and act and render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways (for you, you only, know the hearts of all the children of mankind), that they may fear you all the days that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers.
“Likewise, when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a far country for your name’s sake (for they shall hear of your great name and your mighty hand, and of your outstretched arm), when he comes and prays toward this house, hear 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 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.
“If 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 that you have chosen and the house that I have built for your name, then hear in heaven their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause.
“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 the land of the enemy, far off or near, 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 captors, saying, ‘We have sinned and have acted perversely and wickedly,’ if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you 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, then hear in heaven your dwelling place their prayer and their plea, and maintain their cause and forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you, and grant them compassion in the sight of those who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are your people, and your heritage, which you brought out of Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace). Let your eyes be open to the plea of your servant and to the plea of your people Israel, giving ear to them whenever they call to you. For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth to be your heritage, as you declared through Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord God.”
Introduction
Confidence
Are you confident that when you leave this place today, you will get to your destination? Maybe we would acknowledge that we can’t know that with absolute certainty, but we’re reasonably confident that we will get to that restaurant or to our homes or wherever we intend to go.
How about the pandemic with which we have been contending for the past 18 months? Are you confident that:
the spread of the virus will stop
the vaccine will deliver as has been promised
that those who are tasked to fight against the virus on the front lines will be successful
that policy makers will make decisions that are free of the influence of partisan and hidden agendas
that the public will be able to process all of the information that is coming to us from the government and from the medical community om a way that will lead to peace and prosperity
Why the lack of confidence. Because to be confident in any of those things is to conclude that all the people and the science involved in the effort to deal with the virus is right and trustworthy, and just about everyone is suspect about those things on some level.
In favor of masks because they help to prevent the spread
Not in favor of masks because they don't help prevent the spread
Who’s right? Our conclusion will depend on where or in whom we put our confidence.
FCF: Often we lack confidence in prayer because the object of our confidence is ourselves instead of God.
What stands out to me, especially when Solomon prays for particular scenarios that we see in vs. 31-51, Solomon does not assume that the people of Israel will stay the course. He assumes that the people will disobey God, and that there will be consequences for their disobedience. He doesn’t pray that the people will always obey, and that there will never be unpleasant consequences. But Solomon conveys confidence in his prayer despite these unhappy conclusions. Why? From where does this confidence come, especially when he acknowledges that there will be trouble and that there will be heart ache and suffering?
Remember, the title of this series is Pleading the Promises. This is what Solomon is doing here. He is pleading the promises of God. He is not naive. He is not assuming that now this milestone has been achieved; The temple is built, fully furnished and the Arc of the covenant is in the temple, that somehow now the people will stop disobeying and that all will be well. This is not the source of Solomon’s confidence. It is the promises of God. And the reasons the promises of God are the source of Solomon’s confidence is because God always keeps His promises. He preserves His people, even through their disobedience. This is why Solomon is pleading the promises. He is anticipating that God will come through on them no matter what unfolds.
Confident prayers are prayed when the one praying is confident in God.
Confident prayers are prayed when the one praying is confident in God.
Not confident in the likelihood that things will work out as desired.
Not confident because we expect that all the people connected to our lives, including ourselves, will think and behave as we think is best.
Not confident because we anticipate that our leaders, government and otherwise, will do what is right and make the right decisions.
Confident because of the God to whom we are praying.
What do we need to know about God to be confident in Him?
What do we need to know about God to be confident in Him?
God is faithful (22-26, 52-53)
God is faithful (22-26, 52-53)
AQ: What does it mean that God is faithful?
God is unique in His unchanging faithfulness (23)
God is unique in His unchanging faithfulness (23)
Solomon’s confession: There is no one like you anywhere
And notice how Solomon describe God’s distinctiveness: keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants
Why does God keep His promises? Does God keep His promises in response to His people’s behavior. To ask the question another way: Do people impact God’s commitment to keep His promises?
Consider this:
It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you from the house of slavery, from the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt. Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
God keeps His promises to His people because of His love for His people, and notice what v. 23 says about His love for His people: steadfast
What does steadfast mean here?
hesed
a loyal love, an unfailing failing love, a love that is related to keeping covenant
If you belong to God. If you are a child of God through faith in Jesus, God’s love commitment to you is unshakable. It is unbreakable. You cannot cross a line of no return that will result in canceling God’s love for you.
Now notice the end of v. 23: your servants who walk before you with all their heart. God calls His servants, His people to genuine, authentic love and service to Him. We can’t fake it. Our disingenuous posture to God will not deter Him from loving us or keeping His promises to us, but difficulties arise within us as a result of approaching God in this way.
God is unique in His unchanging faithfulness.... That’s part of what it means that God is faithful.... another aspect to God’s faithfulness is
God is consistent in His faithfulness (24-26)
God is consistent in His faithfulness (24-26)
Solomon references His father, David, and the covenant God made with David. The Davidic Covenant, which is outlined in 2 Sam. 7, is God’s promise that a descendant of David will reign on the throne over the people of God forever. This covenant is ultimately fulfilled in Jesus.
Here in 1 Kings 8, Solomon references this covenant as a basis to pray David’s line would continue on the throne of the people of Israel. Solomon is praying that this covenant will be kept. He’s pleading the promise.
There is confidence here. God promised David, and now David’s son, Solomon, is praying for the fulfillment of this promise. There is a belief here that God is consistent. What he promised years ago, will come to pass. Even if it’s been a long time coming, even if there are obstacles that seem to threaten the promise being kept. There is a steadfast confidence in the promise because of the conviction that God is faithful.
Prayer Time #1
God, because you are always faithful to your people, I pray...
God, because you are always faithful to your people, I pray...
Confident prayers are prayed when the one praying is confident in God.
Something else we need to know about God to be confident in Him
God cares (27-30)
God cares (27-30)
Acknowledging that God is faithful is important, but because of how mixed up we can get in our struggles to have confidence in God and not ourselves, we can loose sight of the fact that God cares about His people. He cares about all that challenges our confidence in Him. Our own sin and the troubles of the world, the evil that is in the world, all of this can make it difficult to remain confident in God. And while there is never justification to loose confidence in Gd, He cares none-the-less.
The fact that God cares for His people was difficult for Solomon to understand. Look at v. 27
“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!
Solomon’s point here is that if heaven cannot contain God, why would anyone conclude or hope that God would dwell on the earth, in a temple that humans built? But what the rest of Solomon’s prayer makes clear is that Solomon did believe God would dwell among them. And I suggest, at least part of what fuels Solomon’s confidence in this is his belief and the fact that God cares.
What demonstrates that God cares for us?
God hears our prayers (28)
God hears our prayers (28)
Notice Solomon prays that God would have regard to the prayer of His servant. This is a prayer that God would direct His gaze towards His prayer.
And Solomon describes this regard for his prayer when he says also in v. 28: listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day. Listening here is an intentional hearing.
I’m notorious for hearing the words people speak to me but not perceiving. This is never the case with God in His hearing of our prayers. His is listening, understanding, His attention is ours when we pray. He cares.
God is always available to us (29-30)
God is always available to us (29-30)
night and day (v. 29)
He’s always available because this is the commitment He has made to His people. …you have said, my name shall be there.... God will be there. He is present with His people. In the dark moments. In our despondency, our abstractedness, in our apathy, in our suffering. He is there because He has promised to be there.
The fact the He is in heaven (v. 30) is not a barrier between Himself and the prayer of His people.
Our sin is not a barrier between God and His people. Notice the last petition in v. 30: and when you hear, forgive. I trust no one here is unaware that we have an ongoing battle with sin. We sin, and there should be a sorrow over our sin, but know this Christian. God forgives. It is right to ask for God’s forgiveness, but know that He does and will forgive.
Prayer Time #2
God, because you care about my/our .... I will trust in you.
God, because you care about my/our .... I will trust in you.
Our confidence in God is strengthened by the fact that God
God forgives (31-51)
God forgives (31-51)
In these 20 verses, Solomon anticipates Israel’s disobedience.
a man sinning against his neighbor
Israel suffering defeat because of their sin
Israel suffering a drought because of their sin
Israel suffering a famine because of their sin
Israel suffering a other kinds f plagues because of their sin
All of this is anticipated by Solomon, and in every case, he prays that God will forgive them. He knows God will because of the covenant God made with His people. Remember the 3rd principle that we noted earlier
God accepts the repentance of His rebellious people.
So repentance is God’s design for our sin. We sin, we repent, God forgives and restores
The pattern is clear in
“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, 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.
sin
consequence of sin
repentance of the sinners
God forgives
God restores
But something to keep in mind is the timing
Are we always willing to acknowledge and repent of our sin right away?
Does the restoration always come right away or even the way we expect?
Conclusion
Confident prayers are prayed when the one praying is confident in God.
Remember the principles that are present in the prayer of Solomon:
1. God blesses obedience
2. God curses disobedience
3. God accepts the repentance of His rebellious people
There’s something else on which we need to be clear. It’s crucial because we don’t always obey, and we sometimes fail to handle our sin the right way. Our confidence in prayer will not be bolstered by our striving to be more faithful, obedient and repentant. We should strive fr those things but we will struggles with them.
God blesses obedience
“Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them.
We are called to obey, and we should strive for obedience to Gd out of our love for Him. But never forget, our standing before God is not founded upon our obedience but Christ’s. He obeyed on our behalf. We can be confident in prayer even when we struggle.
God curses disobedience
Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
God did curse our disobedience, but instead of laying that curse on His people, He laid it on Christ. And now the curse of our disobedience is finished, because Christ’s work is finished. Confidence.
God accepts the repentance of His rebellious people
We all are rebellious. If we’re in Christ, we are not content with that. We care. But, we struggle with rebellion. But when we struggle to even repent of our sin, remember this:
Romans 2:4 (ESV)
Or do you presume on the riches of his kindness and forbearance and patience, not knowing that God’s kindness is meant to lead you to repentance?
God’s kindness, which is seen ultimately in the fact that Jesus, because He obeyed the law perfectly on our behalf, was able to die on the cross on our behalf, is meant to lead us to repent. So repentance comes from the kindness of God towards us. Remember this when you pray. Confidence.