Saturday, November 08, 2008

2 Ch. 6: Solomon's Prayer

2 Chronicles 6:18 "But will God really dwell on earth with men? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain you. How much less this temple I have built!"

Solomon prays to God in this chapter, and its a prayer laden with wisdom and humility. His requests are not selfish. He asks for correction and healing and restoration for Israel's people when they blow it. Because it was bound to happen (we already know it will) and Solomon was a man who knew his history, and knew his people were prone to miss God's mark.

I like how Solomon himself is in awe of the sort of oddity that God has wrought. A temple, a place on earth where he would dwell. He would come and be among these unholy people, despite the fact that the highest heavens could not contain him. And here we have this little patch of property, tiny in comparison even to the city of Jerusalem in which it was built. Solomon doesn't really dwell on the fact, and is more concerned about what God will do in spite of this ungraspable concept of God on Earth.

Solomon covers a lot in his prayer, pre-emptively praying for numerous situations that may arise that could be painful for Israelites, and would require God's grace in restoration.

They include wronging one's neighbor (first and foremost), defeat by an enemy, times of famine and drought, and sin and repentance, including the idea that there is no one who does not sin.
If that is true, every single person stands under judgment.

An interesting read, and a little more detailed than what was in 1 Kings 8.

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