1 Kings 8:39

_WHAT PRAYER AND SUPPLICATION SOEVER BE MADE BY ANY MAN, OR BY ALL THY PEOPLE ISRAEL, WHICH SHALL KNOW_ _ EVERY MAN THE PLAGUE OF HIS OWN HEART, AND SPREAD FORTH HIS HANDS TOWARD THIS HOUSE:_ No JFB commentary on these verses....

22-53 In this excellent prayer, Solomon does as we should do in every prayer; he gives glory to God. Fresh experiences of the truth of God's promises call for larger praises. He sues for grace and favour from God. The experiences we have of God's performing his promises, should encourage us to depend upon them, and to plead them with him; and those who expect further mercies, must be thankful for former mercies. God's promises must be the guide of our desires, and the ground of our hopes and expectations in prayer. The sacrifices, the incense, and the whole service of the temple, were all typical of the Redeemer's offices, oblation, and intercession. The temple, therefore, was continually to be remembered. Under one word, "forgive," Solomon expressed all that he could ask in behalf of his people. For, as all misery springs from sin, forgiveness of sin prepares the way for the removal of...

EXPOSITION THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE.—The stately and impressive service with which the Temple, the character and contents of which have now been described, was dedicated, is related in this chapter, and divides itself into four sections. We have (1) the removal of the ark and Solomon's ascription of praise on the occasion (1 Kings 8:1). (2) The prayer of consecration (1 Kings 8:23-11). (3) The benediction of the congregation (1 Kings 8:55-11), and (4) the festal sacrifices which followed on and completed the dedication ...

THEN HEAR THOU IN HEAVEN THY DWELLINGPLACE,.... Which was more properly so than this Solomon had built, and the Lord had taken possession of: AND FORGIVE; remove the calamity and distress, be it what it may: AND DO, AND GIVE TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS, WHOSE HEART THOU KNOWEST: that his prayer is cordial and sincere, his confession and repentance genuine, and that he is truly sensible of his sin, and sorry for it, and is pure in his intentions and resolutions, through divine grace, to depart from it for the future: (FOR THOU, [EVEN] THOU ONLY KNOWEST THE HEARTS OF ALL THE CHILDREN OF MEN;) he knows all men, the hearts of them all, what is in them, what comes out of them, and is according to them; omniscience belongs only to God; it is his prerogative to know the heart and search the reins, see Jeremiah 17:9....

CHAPTER 8THE DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE _ 1. The great assembly (1 Kings 8:1)_ 2. The transportation of the ark (1 Kings 8:3) 3. The glory of the LORD filling the house (1 Kings 8:10) 4. Solomon's opening words (1 Kings 8:12) 5. Solomon's great prayer (1 Kings 8:22) 6. Solomon's benediction (1 Kings 8:54) 7. The sacrifices and the feast ...

SOLOMON'S DEDICATION OF THE TEMPLE, PRAYER AND ADDRESS. This chapter is mainly Deuteronomic, being clearly written from the standpoint of one who has seen the Temple as the one national sanctuary of Israel, and has either witnessed its downfall or perceived that it was imminent. 1 Kings 8:1 is, however, probably from the early record of how the house of Yahweh was dedicated by Solomon, of which 1 Kings 8:62 is the continuation, the prayer of Solomon being Deuteronomic. In 1 Kings 8:12 f. we may have preserved an authentic poetic utterance of Solomon himself in the words of the dedication of the Temple. As they are given in the LXX they read as follows: Yahweh set the sun in heaven,...

HIS. all his, as in 2 Chronicles 6:30. FOR THOU, &C. Figure of speech _Epitrechon._ App-6....

_whose heart thou knowest_ This is the other aspect. God will know whether the discipline have wrought its effect, whether the heart have been plagued in such wise as to bring about repentance....

DISCOURSE: 334 THE REQUISITES FOR ACCEPTABLE PRAYER 1 Kings 8:38. _What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth hit hands toward this house: then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest._ RELIGION is often thought to be an employment fit only for weak minds, or for those who have nothing else to engage their attention; but it is worthy the pursuit of the wisest and greatest of men. Never did Solomon appear more glorious than when uttering these words. At the head of all his subjects he dedicated his temple to God. He set them a bright example of piety and devotion; and interceded, not for them only, but for all succeeding generations. In this portion of his instructi

GIVE TO EVERY MAN ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS— God is represented, in the sacred writings, both as the _tutelary deity_ and the _supreme magistrate_ of the Jews; in consequence of which, He governed them by an equal, or rather an extraordinary Providence. This extraordinary Providence is represented as administered, 1 over the state in general; 2 over private men in particular: and such a representation we should expect to find from the nature of the republic; because, as an extraordinary Providence over the _state_ necessarily follows God's being their _tutelary deity,_ so an extraordinary Providence to _particulars_ follows as necessarily from his being their _supreme magistrate._ As to this Providence over the state, it would be absurd to quote particular texts, when the whole Bible is one continued history of it. In his dedication of the first temple, Solomon addresses his prayer to God, t...