Scripture Daily

Context No. 1140 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 8:12-16: in context

12Then Solomon said, “The LORD has said that he would dwell in the thick darkness. 13I have surely built you a house of habitation, a place for you to dwell in forever.” 14The king turned his face around and blessed all the assembly of Israel; and all the assembly of Israel stood. 15He said, “Blessed is the LORD, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, 16‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’

The temple is finished, the ark brought in, and Solomon stands to dedicate it. He begins with a paradox: the LORD has said he would dwell in thick darkness. I have built you an exalted house, a place for you to dwell forever. Then he turns to bless the assembly, recounting God's faithfulness: blessed be the LORD, who spoke with his mouth to my father David and has fulfilled it with his hand, choosing David and this house for his name.

Solomon's opening words hold a mystery worth sitting with: the LORD said he would dwell in thick darkness. At the dedication of the most glorious building in Israel, made to house the presence of God, Solomon does not describe a God of blazing, obvious light, but one who dwells in thick darkness, hidden, veiled, beyond seeing. Even in his own temple, God remains partly concealed; the innermost room, the holy of holies, was a windowless dark chamber, and that darkness was not the absence of God but the sign of his overwhelming presence, too holy and great to be looked at directly. There is a truth here about how God is known. We often want him clear, visible, fully explained, and instead he frequently meets us in a kind of holy darkness, present but not fully seen, near but not exposed to our gaze. The thick darkness of the temple was where God was most surely present. And yet Solomon pairs that mystery with a firm confidence in what God has plainly done: he spoke to David and fulfilled it with his hand. God is hidden in his being and reliable in his acts; we cannot see through the darkness where he dwells, but we can trust the promises his hand has kept.

Can I accept that God often dwells in a thick darkness I cannot see through, present but hidden, while still resting on the promises his hand has visibly kept?

Sources