Solomon's Closing Benediction

Preliminary:

I invite you to 1 Kings 8 this morning

Thank for testimonies/songs etc

1 Kings 8 beginning at verse 56

I would like to talk to you about a prayer by King Solomon in which he shares some of his spiritual desires.

In fact God wants us to have some spiritual goals and desires.

Lets read this prayer by King Solomon.

1 Kings 8:56–61 KJV 1900

56 Blessed be the Lord, that hath given rest unto his people Israel, according to all that he promised: there hath not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by the hand of Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers: let him not leave us, nor forsake us: 58 That he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, and his statutes, and his judgments, which he commanded our fathers. 59 And let these my words, wherewith I have made supplication before the Lord, be nigh unto the Lord our God day and night, that he maintain the cause of his servant, and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require: 60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else. 61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.

Introduction:

It was a big day, there was pomp and circumstance, kind of like yesterday. There was celebration, there was music, prayers, sacrifices, offerings gifts given as nearly the entire nation of Israel gathered in Jerusalem to Dedicate the recently completed Temple.

Not only was it Dedication day, but Solomon chose to dedicate the Temple on a special feast, if you look at 1 Kings 8:2 you will notice it was the Feast of Tabernacles (The 7th month).

Solmon was not really known as a man of war, in fact, there is no record of real conflict until the end of his reign.

Solomon’s fame was in his wisdom and wealth

It was the wisdom and wealth that had brought them to this place The Temple had been built, the Ark of the Covenant was carried from its resting place at Mount Zion and placed with greatest reverence in the Holy of Holies. “Transfered from Tabernacle to Temple” It was moved from one hill of Jerusalem to another Mount Moriah or what we now call the Temple Mount area.

It was then that the glory of God had filled the temple, as it had the tabernacle in the past.

The significance of the glory entering in was more than just a display it was a dedication.

When a house in ancient Israel was built, it was said to be dedicated when the owners took up residence in them, no doubt amid festivities, rituals, and prayers. This was a significant moment for them.

If someone built a house but had not yet dedicated it, he was not to go to war, but go back to his house, lest he die in battle and another dedicate it (i.e., go live in it; Deut. 20:5).

This house built for God, and then dedicated to Him, to have a visible Glory of God come in to take up residence showed that God had indeed dedicated it.

That’ll preach - Have you ever let God “dedicate” your temple? Has He ever come in and taken up residence? Oh I tell you there is nothing like letting God have his way in your life.

You will never be happy any other way - I know we face hard times and trials, and problems - but if your building, if your temple, if your house is dedicated to HIM it will make all the difference.

I want to get the setting a little clearer here:

The Ark Brought in and Dedication (1 Kings 8:1-11)

Solomon Blesses the Lord (1 Kings 8:12-21)

Solomon's Prayer of Dedication (1 Kings 8:22-53)

Notice something in this section

The intensity of this prayer must have been very strong.

In 1 Kings 8:22 Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord, lifts his hands to heaven and prays. and prays for about 30 verses. While it was probably a prepared prayer - he is still so moved and passionate about what he prays that when you get to 1 Kings 8:54 it says that Solomon finished his prayer, and “he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread up to heaven.” That must have been quite a prayer.

I envision his voice raising and lowering as he prays to emphasis his desires and hopes

I see those Old Hebrew mothers grabbing their hankies and wiping their tears away

I see a some of those Dads tears in their eyes as they nod in assent and every once in a while sob out an amen

It must have been an amazing event.

That gets us to our text where Solomon shares some of his spiritual desires. Lets look at a few:

Solomon Blesses the Assembly/ Benediction (1 Kings 8:54-61)

He begins by blessing God

God gave rest - just as he had promised through Moses

This theological thought of “rest” is interesting.

When you go over into the New Testament (Heb 4) you find the author saying that the promise of entering God’s rest still stands.

In fact he warns that we should fear lest we fail to enter God’s rest (Heb. 4:2)

We should fear because the gospel message has been preached to us just as it had been to them. The problem they did not believe. Unbelief will keep us from entering God’s rest.

The author of Hebrews isn’t just pulling things out of the air he actually draws from Solomon’s father, David (Psalm 95) Where the Holy Spirit warned people during David’s time about the danger of not entering into God’s rest and that not entering into God’s rest was not limited to the Exodus generation. The opportunity did not end with them - it is available to us today.

God’s rest is a rest:

That God entered upon the completion of His creative work (Heb 4:3c–4, 10; Gen 2:2–3).

That the Exodus generation was excluded from because of their unbelief (Heb 3:19; 4:2, 6; Ps 95:11).

that Moses and Joshua did not provide (Heb 4:8; Ps 95:7b).

that the Holy Spirit said is offered “Today” (Heb 4:1, 9; Ps 95:7b).

that believers are entering by faith in the present (Heb 4:1b, 3a).

whose complete fulfillment is yet future (Heb 4:1, 11; 10:36, 39).

from our labor for Christ in this present world (Heb 4:9–10; Rev 14:13).

that we should fear falling short of (Heb 4:1).

that we should strive to enter (Heb 4:11).

Along with this idea of Rest - Solomon connects the promises of God. Oh we can stand on the promises of God - I love that last part of 1 Kings 8:56 “there hath not failed one word of all his good promise” That word “failed” can be translated as “fallen” Jesus put it this way not one space or punctuation mark of what God said is going to fail.

What follows is a couple of Spiritual Desires of Solomons:

Plea for the Presence of God -

May he not leave us or forsake us: The verbs leave and forsake render two Hebrew verbs that are near synonyms. The second verb is perhaps a bit stronger, expressing a more active rejecting or casting away. The cumulative effect of the two verbs together makes the appeal even more forceful. Donald Slager

Solomon recognized without the abiding presence of God they were going to go the wrong direction

To “incline” means to “turn” or “to bend down” You might say “turn our heats” Solomon sees that without God’s presence this can’t happen.

Solomon’s temple was a place of glory (vv. 1–12). However, despite its extraordinary beauty, it was just another building until God moved in and consecrated it (Exod. 40:34–38). So it is with our lives (1 Cor. 6:19–20; Eph. 5:18) and our assemblies (1 Cor. 14:23–25). The presence of God is the important thing. A. W. Tozer aptly stated, “If God were to take the Holy Spirit out of this world, much of what the church is doing would go right on, and nobody would know the difference.” - Warren W. Wiersbe,

Solomon’s desire is that God’s presence would stay and incline their hearts to walk in all His ways, to keep God’s commandments, statutes, judgments, all he commanded their fathers.

Do you know it is the same with us today. If God does not enable and empower us we can’t live that way either. We must have the abiding presence of God to live holy lives.

Solomon’s next spiritual desire is that God would keep his prayer next to Him all the time. This wasn’t just a one time prayer - Solomon wanted this prayer to last the rest of his life.

The reason Solomon prays all of this 1 Kings 8:60 “60 That all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God, and that there is none else.”

Solomon ends his prayer with an exhortation - 1 Kings 8:61 “61 Let your heart therefore be perfect with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments, as at this day.”

Solomon has shared some of his spiritual desires with us this morning - I trust you will take some of these and make them your own.

We have a God who keep His promises.

Who can enable us to live according to His commands.