Solomon’s Blessing to the People

Solomon’s Blessing to the People

1 Kings 8:56 – “Blessed is the LORD, who has given security to his people Israel, just as he promised. Not one of his promises has failed to come about that he gave through his servant Moses. 5 – May the LORD our God be with us, just as he was with our ancestors. May he never leave us or abandon us, 58 – so that he may turn our hearts toward him, so that we may live life his way, keeping his commands, statutes, and ordinances that he gave to our ancestors.

Verse 59 – And may what I’ve had to say to the LORD remain with the LORD our God both day and night, so that he may defend the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as the need of the day may require it, 60 – so that, in turn, all the people of the earth may know that the LORD is God – there is no one else. 61 – Now let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God, to live according to his statutes and to keep his commands, as we are doing today.”

Solomon spoke these words after he prayed to God dedicating the temple that had just been built. I’m not going to repeat the description of how magnificent that temple was. You can read it for yourself in 1 Kings 5-7. What struck me was Solomon’s final appeal in today’s verses (verse 61) – let your heart be completely devoted to the LORD our God… What does that look like? How do we let something like that happen?

The temple was a place God and man could meet together. Solomon conveyed it this way: “Let your eyes always look toward this Temple night and day, toward the location where you have said ‘ May name will reside there.’ Listen to the prayer that your servant prays in this direction. 1 Kings 8:29.

Now check out these verses starting in Ephesians 2:18 – For through him [the Messiah], both of us have access to the Father by one Spirit. 19 – That is why you are no longer strangers and foreigners but fellow citizens with the saints and members of God’s household, 20 – having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the Messiah Jesus himself being the cornerstone. 21 – In union with him the whole building is joined together and rises into a holy sanctuary for the Lord. 22 – You, too, are being built in him, along with the others, into a place for God’s Spirit to dwell.

We are a living temple and we are all parts of a living temple, having Jesus Christ as our cornerstone. His Spirit is to dwell within us – just as Solomon prayed for God’s presence to reside in the temple he had built. Only today we do not have to pray in a specific geographic direction – but to pray in a spiritual direction – to God Himself. Let us not doubt about whether He hears us, but know that through Jesus – The Heavenly Father’s heart is completely devoted to us and longs to connect with us each day and each moment. Let us allow that connection to happen and let our hearts respond to the call of God with complete devotion to Him – knowing beyond all doubt that the Lord is God, there is none like Him.