1 Kings 8:54-61

C. THE DEDICATORY BENEDICTION 8:54-61

TRANSLATION

(54) And it came to pass when Solomon had finished praying unto the LORD all of this prayer and supplication, he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling upon his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. (55) And he stood, and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying, (56) Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to His people Israel according to all which He has spoken. There has not failed one word from all His good word which He spoke by the hand of Moses His servant. (57) May the LORD our God be with us as He was with our fathers; may He not leave or forsake us, (58) that He may cause our hearts to incline unto Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments, His statutes and His judgments which He commanded our fathers. (59) And may these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, come near unto the LORD our God day and night, that He may execute justice for His servant, and justice for His people Israel in every situation, (60) so that all peoples of the land may know that the LORD is God; there is no other. (61) Therefore, let your heart be perfect with the LORD our God to walk in His statutes, and to keep His commandments as at this day.

COMMENTS

The service of dedication concluded as it commenced with a benediction[238] (cf. 1 Kings 8:14). At the conclusion of his prayer, Solomon rose up from his knees and, with hands spread toward heaven (1 Kings 8:54) blessed the congregation (1 Kings 8:55). According to 1 Kings 8:22, Solomon stood before the altar when he began his prayer. It must be assumed from this verse that at some point during the course of the prayer, he changed his posture from standing to kneeling.

[238] The benediction is absent from the account in 2 Chronicles 6.

The blessing began with praise to the Lord for the fulfillment of His promises. God had promised His people rest, and then the appointment of a place of sacrifice (Deuteronomy 12:9-11). God had already given Israel a measure of rest when the land of Canaan was conquered by Joshua (Joshua 21:44); but it was only after the victories of David that rest was fully secured. Solomon apparently regarded the dedication of the Temple as proof that the promised rest was at last fully attained. No other promise of God made through Moses had failed to be fulfilled either (1 Kings 8:56).

Solomon summed up all his wishes for the good of his kingdom in 1 Kings 8:57-61. 1 Kings 8:57 indicates two ways in which God might bring Israel to His commandments: (1) by positive guidance such as He had given to the fathers at Sinai; (2) by way of punishmentleaving or forsaking Israel. Solomon accordingly prayed that God would choose the former method. He prays that God might incline their hearts toward Him so that they might obey His commandments and thus meet the prerequisite for further divine blessing (1 Kings 8:58). He prayed that the words of his dedicatory prayer might ever be before the Lord that He might execute justice (i.e., secure the right) of both the king and the people of Israel (1 Kings 8:59). He prayed that Israel would be so blessed of God that all people of the earth would recognize that He alone was God (1 Kings 8:60).

Solomon's concluding remarks ended with a brief exhortation that the people continue to demonstrate the piety and loyalty to the Lord which they demonstrated in dedicating the Temple. Solomon exhorted, Let your heart be perfect with the Lord; of this king a few years later it would be said his heart was not perfect with the Lord (1 Kings 11:4). Having preached to others he himself became a castaway! According to Chronicles, it was at this moment that fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, and the glory of the Lord filled the house (2 Chronicles 7:1).