1 Kings 8:53

“ For you separated them from among all the peoples of the earth, to be your inheritance, as you spoke by Moses your servant, when you brought our fathers out of Egypt, O Lord YHWH.”

For the reason why YHWH would hear them was not to be because of the Temple, but because He had separated them from all the people of the earth to be His inheritance (Exodus 19:5; Exodus 33:16; Leviticus 20:24; Leviticus 20:26 compare Deuteronomy 7:6; Deuteronomy 14:2; Deuteronomy 32:8). And this was in accordance with the Law of Moses in Exodus 33:16. For ‘brought forth out of Egypt' see on 1 Kings 8:51.

It was a fitting statement on which to end his prayer, for it made clear that in the end it was not the Temple which was the be-all and end-all of things in his eyes, but the people. It was they who were YHWH's treasured possession, and it was because He had chosen them and delivered them and made them His own within the covenant. They were a people separated to Him.

1 Kings 8:54

‘ And it was so, that, when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication to YHWH, he arose from before the altar of YHWH, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread forth toward heaven.'

This is the closing verse of the inclusio, which parallels 1 Kings 8:22. Solomon had now concluded ‘praying all this prayer and supplication towards YHWH', and we learn that such had been his fervour that he had fallen on his knees with his hands still outstretched towards Heaven. Everyone who has truly prayed knows something of this experience, commencing by standing or sitting, and being so moved that they finish up on their knees. If only he could have maintained this zeal for YHWH to the end how different things would have been. But like so many he would get caught up by the world.