Scripture Daily

Context No. 755 of 4322 · 1 Kings

Context · Reflection

1 Kings 8:54-60: in context

54It was so, that when Solomon had finished praying all this prayer and supplication to the LORD, he arose from before the LORD’s altar, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread out toward heaven. 55He stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56“Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. There has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he promised by Moses his servant. 57May the LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers. Let him not leave us or forsake us, 58that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways, and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his ordinances, which he commanded our fathers. 59Let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near to the LORD our God day and night, that he may maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as every day requires; 60that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD himself is God. There is no one else.

Solomon has finished the long prayer of dedication for the new temple, kneeling with his hands spread toward heaven, and now he stands and blesses the whole assembly in a loud voice. The first thing out of his mouth is a verdict on God's track record. Blessed be the LORD, who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised; there has not failed one word of all his good promise, which he spoke through Moses. He is looking back over centuries, over the exodus and the wilderness and the conquest and the settling of the land, and his finding is total: not one promise dropped, not one word unkept.

But Solomon does not stop at praise. He turns it into a request that admits how little we can do on our own. May the LORD our God be with us, he prays, and not leave us or forsake us, and may he incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and keep his commandments. He does not ask for the strength to bend his own heart; he asks God to bend it, knowing the heart will not turn itself. And he lifts his eyes past Israel to the whole world, praying that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and there is no other. Perfect faithfulness behind, a plea for grace within, and the nations in view.

Solomon looked back and could say not one word of God's promise had failed. Can I look over my own life and see the promises kept, and do I ask God to incline my heart, or trust myself to turn it?

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