Today, I am reading and commenting on  1 Kings 8.

I really like King Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the Temple. Solomon started by reminding those who heard the prayer that God had promised David that as long as his descendants faithfully obeyed God one of them would sit on the throne of Israel.  Then King Solomon made clear that he fully understood that no place could contain God, that God would not live in the Temple which he had built.  The Temple was there to unify the people of Israel in their worship of God, but God was not limited by it.  In his prayer, King Solomon encouraged people to physically turn towards the Temple when they realized they had sinned in order to symbolize turning towards God and repenting of their sins.  Perhaps the most powerful portion of his prayer is when he asks God to hear and answer the prayers of foreigners who turn to Him.  If God will hear and answer the prayers of those who were not part of His people, how can His people refuse to accept them?  The only other portion of Solomon’s dedication of the Temple is his injunction to fully commit our hearts to the Lord.

I use the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.