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SERMON: Chris McKenzie, First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, IL
9 Plays9 months ago
“Solomon’s Prayer of Dedication Pt. 1”
1 Kings 8:22-32
Recommended
Transcript
Faith 168 Podcast Introduction
00:00:00
Speaker
Thank you for tuning in to the Faith 168 podcast. You are about to listen to a sermon given by Chris McKenzie, co-host of the Faith 168 podcast and pastor of First Baptist Church of Elizabethtown, Illinois.
Temple Dedication Celebration
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All right, so we're in First Kings chapter eight, verse 22 through 32.
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And the scenario we find ourselves in is that a temple has been built.
Solomon's Dedication Speech
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There's been a time of celebration as people are preparing to worship in this temple. But before that time starts, there's a lot of things to cover, a lot of things to explain, a lot of things to share. And so Solomon, he gives this speech. But after this speech, this is where we find ourselves tonight.
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We find ourselves in a very important prayer, a prayer of dedication for the temple.
God's Promises and Mercy
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I don't know this to be true, but I would say probably as this building was raised up at one point, that it was raised up not just by hands and
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tools and materials coming together, but it was also raised up with people prayerfully working over this
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prayerfully considering what was going to happen in this place of worship. When the church flooded, I know that there were a lot of people here that are here even to this day that helped get things together. And I'm sure that it was more than just working and laboring by the sweat of your brow, but also praying for what might come from continuing on in the ministry right here in a place such as this.
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And so as this temple is built, Solomon prays a prayer that would be almost the basis of every prayer lifted up in this temple for future generations.
Solomon's Seven Petitions
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And in Solomon's prayer of dedication, tonight we're reminded of God's superiority.
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reminded of God's glory and of God's impartiality, that there is one God who cannot be contained by a building. And he never wavers in his promises to us, even when we sometimes fail to do the things he has called us to do.
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So let us examine Solomon's prayer starting first with verse 22 through 26 where it's written in Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven and he said Lord God of Israel there is no God in heaven above or earth below like you.
God's Uniqueness and Israel's Faithfulness
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who keeps your covenant and mercy with your servants, who walks before you with all their hearts. You have kept what you promised your servant David, my father. You have both spoken with your mouth and fulfilled it with your hand as it is this day. Therefore, Lord God of Israel, now keep what you promised your servant David, my father.
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saying you shall not fail to have a man sit before me on the throne of Israel only if your sons take heed to their way that they walk before me as you have walked before me and now I pray oh god of Israel let your word come true which you have spoken to your servant David my father
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And so we see in this a series of petitions. You're going to see as we look at this prayer of dedication that Solomon's going to make seven petitions. He's going to request seven things from God as he prays. Why seven? No one's exactly sure, but seven's a very important number in scripture. It's the number of completion and the number of perfection
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But leading up to these petitions, Solomon praises God for his uniqueness. You see, Solomon lived in this world that there were many nations surrounding him that had many different gods. And some nations didn't just have one god, but they had multiple gods. In fact, he was married to the daughter of Pharaoh. And guess what she had?
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She had gods that we probably couldn't even number to this day. But he has to stand up and recognize this first point. That God is the only God. That
Futility of Idolatry
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Yahweh, that Elohim,
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The great I am is the only God He's the creator of the universe in all of the nations around him Even the nations that had false gods that gathered to get the material over to Israel to build this wonderful temple Their gods were false
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And that there was only one God that was able to put David, a little separate boy, that no one would have ever thought of as a king on the throne. That he would use David to slay the enemies of Israel, and that he would use Solomon to be the next king right after David, a young boy that didn't look like a king, like his brothers. And they have a crazy family history, if you remember.
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But God is the only God. God is the faithful, redeeming, covenant-keeping God. And that's one thing that no nation under any other God has been able to say. And that's one thing that I love, and that's one thing that I praise God about, that we know ourselves as a nation, one nation,
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under God, very specifically the living God, the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, the God that when we call upon Him, He hears us, He cares for us, and He answers. And all other nations that put their trust in another God other than the living God are never able to continue on.
God's Commitment to Promises
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How many of the ancient civilizations do we see today? That worshiped Gods like Baal Or the Sun God or the moon non people we hear about in Scripture There's one nation that remains After all of this time from ancient history thousands of years
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They worship the Living God, and even when they feel short of His glory, He's kept them together throughout history. And today when we talk about Israel, we don't talk about Israel as ancient history, but God has performed His promises for them and kept them together.
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But we know this, to trust in idols is foolishness. Recall what the psalmist writes in Psalms 115.3-8. But our God is in heaven. He does whatever He pleases. Their idols are silver and gold, the work of men's hands. They have mouths, but they do not speak.
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Eyes they have, but they do not see. They have ears, but they do not hear. Noses they have, but they do not smell. They have hands, but they do not handle. Feet they have, but they do not walk. Nor do they mutter through their throat. Those who make them are like them, so is everyone who trusts in them. Everyone who trusts in idols.
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will be like their idols, lifeless, empty. And as we look here, not only is God the only God, but the reoccurring theme of the Book of the Kings is that God being the only God is faithful and true to His word.
Temple as a Place for Communion
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And let me tell you,
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That says a lot about who God is. Because look at humanity. We sometimes get our feelings hurt, we sometimes see things happen, and we make promises that we cannot keep. But God says, when I'm going to keep you together, when I am going to take you places, when I am going to call you to these wonderful things, even when we mess up.
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Even when we're not true to our end, he doesn't stop working with us. Now don't get me wrong, that doesn't mean he rewards us for our bad behavior. But despite our bad behavior, he keeps us around. Solomon is a good example of this. We're going to see something with Solomon not too long from now as we read about him. Or he's not going to be such a good kid for God.
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But God doesn't destroy him, but God does make sure that he understands the consequences of his actions. And yet God still secures the throne. And not for Solomon, really, but for the one true king that will, when they claim that throne, Jesus, the Messiah. And the reason why thousands of years later we can gather in a place of worship,
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and have a time where we have prayer requests is because we see that God answers. We see that God's faithful, and we can trust in Him. Let us continue now to verse 27 through 30. And he prays, but will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain you.
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How much less this temple which I have built, yet regard the prayer of your servant and his supplication, O Lord my God, and listen to the cry and the prayer which your servant is praying before you today, that your eyes may be open toward this temple night and day toward the place of which you said, My name shall be there, and you may hear the prayer which your servant makes toward this place,
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And may you hear the supplication of your servant and of your people, Israel, when they pray toward this place. Here in heaven, your dwelling place. And when you hear, forgive. Another thing Solomon recognizes that's very important about this, that a lot of people forgot later on. Our next point is God isn't confined to a building.
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He looked at the glory of the temple and people thought that was a beautiful thing There was a lot of effort that was put into making the temple But he recognized this that heaven and the heaven of heavens and the whole universe for that matter could not contain the glory of God and Even that beautiful building that they had right there from could not fully contain God
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Sometimes we like to contain God to a building. It's easy to worship God on Sundays and forget to worship Him in our lives on Mondays. But the thing is, you can act like God stays here and act like God doesn't see how you live outside of here. Just like many people in the scripture did, they thought, okay, well, I'll go to the temple and worship.
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I'll do my religious obligated duty, and then I will go home, and I will live however I want, as if God is not present. But God is not confined to a building. We see that in Acts 17, 24 through 25. God, who made the world and everything in it since he is Lord of heaven and earth, does not dwell in temples.
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made with hands, nor has he worshipped with man's hands as though he needed anything, since he gives to all life, breath, and all things. Solomon, he understands what the temple is for. The temple isn't a place to contain God, but the temple was a place to go to God and pray to him
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And he says, God, let this be a place that we know that it can't contain your glory, but this is a place where we can come to you, we can meet with you, and we can cry out to you knowing that you are the only God and that you are the faithful God and that you are the redeeming God and that you are the God that keeps your promises.
Jesus as Mediator and Access to God
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And that's what we need to remember about here.
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This is a place to worship him. This is a place we can come together and cry out to him together. But by no means does that end here. What is more, when it comes down to this, as he understands that the temple is to be a petition place for God,
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that he would hear the prayers of his people. We see that he says this, that God's hearing is done in heaven. That's their understanding at that time. But we are in a different place now in our world because there's a difference that happened not terribly long later.
00:16:26
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But that on this side of the cross, that the true king came to this world. That they even shouted and proclaimed him as he walked into Jerusalem. Hosanna, Hosanna. Hey, here comes our king. And a few days later, they crucified him. But we know this to be true. That we don't need a temple.
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nor do we need a church building to cry out to God, that we have something completely bitter, and His name is Jesus. Remember when we read through Romans and through Hebrews where we talked about a mediator,
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that was better than anything that we had here on this earth or in the temple like in Romans chapter 8 verse 34 where it says, who is he who condemns? It is Christ who died and furthermore is also risen who is even at the right hand of God who also makes intercession for us. You know where they went for intercession in the Old Testament during the time of the temple? They went to
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The temple. They went to a priest. They sacrificed an animal. There were these steps that they went through. And then in Hebrew, 725, it says, therefore he is also able to save to the uttermost those who come to God through him, being Jesus, since he always lives to make intercession for them. You see, we don't have to go
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to a physical place now, to cry out to God. Does that mean ignore this place? No, because we remember in Hebrews where we're told that we should not forsake the assembling of ourselves, because we need to lift up our cries together. We need to commune together. We need to share strength together. But again, when we understand that God is not confined to this building,
00:18:50
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We understand that we can also call on God when we leave here. That we can follow God's lead in our lives, in our jobs, in our schools, in our families. And that the Holy Spirit that dwells within us allows us to commune with God. Remember what Paul wrote in Ephesians, chapter 218, for through him
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being Jesus, we both have access by one Spirit to the Father. And if you remember the layout of the temple, there was this place called the holiest of all. The holiest of all places, and there was a veil that separated man from God, and to go on the other side of that veil, you had to make a sacrifice.
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And that if you wanted to commune with the Father, a priest had to commit a sacrifice and then hope that he didn't go in there with the wrong heart or that he sinned before he walked in there because he'd be struck dead and then he would go behind the veil and he would commune with the Father and sacrifice on behalf of the people. What's crazy is that for 400 years they continued that practice even though God had left the temple.
00:20:17
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But remember this, that God wants to hear your Christ, not just here. God wants to be a part of your lives, not just here. But when you leave here, he wants to be an active part of everything you are doing. And so here's the first petition he makes in this prayer.
Solomon's Plea for Justice
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a petition, a prayer for justice. In verse 31 through 32, when anyone sins against his neighbor and is forced to take an oath and comes and takes an oath before your altar in this temple, then hear in heaven and act and judge your servants, condemning the wicked, bringing his way on his head and justifying the righteous by giving him according
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to his righteousness. The first petition is a very legal petition. Hey, what happens when someone does another person wrong? How are we going to take care of that, God? What's the requirement here? And here's what we're asking, God, is that justice in your temple be served.
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So the first petition is concerning this legal case where insufficient evidence makes it difficult to render a verdict. And there's a thing on this. We can't see everything. And unfortunately, mankind is pretty evil in their desires, and we like to hurt each other. We like to tear each other down sometimes. And we might think that we can get away with it. And let me tell you.
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This I know to be true. I'm an optimist in a lot of things. I like to try and be a realist. But when someone tells me something to my face, I want to believe them. Sometimes I'm very gullible. And it's led to my undoing in some areas where people have let me down and things like that. You may be able to fool me.
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You may be able to fool Bob or Brother Jimmy, but you want to know who you cannot fool. God.
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because he knows the contents of our hearts. And that's what Solomon's saying, even though he was the wisest king to ever sit on the phone and rule over Israel, he couldn't lightly judge all things. And Solomon had to acknowledge that he had to rely on God to perform true justice.
Impartial Justice and True Repentance
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And here's the thing about that. It's very easy when we sit on the throne to judge the way we want to. But our last point is this. God judges impartially.
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And for justice to be done, judgment must be impartial. There can't be favoritism. And that's something that's difficult in this world because we make friends and we create these relationships. And it's very easy for me to say to someone that I've grown up with, you know what? You did wrong, but I'm going to look over this.
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It is very easy for me to say to someone I didn't know, didn't grow up with, oh man, you committed the same sin, you committed the same injustice. And then I throw the book out of it. But when we trust in God to lead us to justice, we end up seeing the impartiality of God. That God
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loves his creation. But he's not going to make a difference between your friend and your enemy when it comes to his justice. Because he wants the same for both of them. Do you know that? For our friends and our enemies, he wants the same for both of them. He wants them to come to the saving knowledge of his grace. And let me tell you, sometimes the path to that is painful.
00:25:16
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were some. When David prays for his enemies, God crushed them. When we look through that and people are like, oh my goodness, is that how we're supposed to pray? Man, he's sitting there saying, take down my enemies, crush them, kick them around, and let them know what's up. David's heart wasn't
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in a stance of saying, crush them so that I can find joy, so that I can laugh at them as they fall. They're saying, let them know who's in charge. Not David, but God. Let them know who dispenses true justice. Not David, but God. And lead them to repentance.
Conclusion on Justice and Self-Reflection
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to turn away from their wicked ways. And David couldn't lead anyone to repentance. But God could. 1 Peter 1.17 says, And if you call on the Father, who without partiality judges according to each one's work, conduct yourselves throughout the time of your stay here in fear.
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and respect and soul understanding that God even looks on your sin with impartiality. Maybe just because I'm a pastor doesn't mean he's going to treat me different than the member. Or just because you're a Sunday school teacher doesn't mean that he's going to treat you different
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than the student. We should also pray for justice to be done in our church, in our life, in our communities. And we should pray that God would give us the wisdom to understand his judgment and his will
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And if we're experiencing his judgment and his chastisement, there's a little difference there. God judges the world. God chastises his children. And sometimes we don't take it well. Pray for God's wisdom when he sets it down and says, listen up, child, you gotta stop.
00:28:12
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I did that the field this afternoon when we were running out. I think Wendy saw this. He has like, boy, you have got to stop. And then he beat me up when we got home. So I don't know how well I did with that one. So. But I remember when I was young, I still am, I guess.
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I remember the times that people loved me and loved to chastise me because I was someone in their life. I was a sibling. I was a child, a grandchild, someone that they loved and wanted to see continue on. And I wish sometimes I'd had the wisdom to understand that sometimes you just need to listen. When God says, shut your mouth,
00:29:13
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Get back in line and do whatever I've called you to do. It was good when the football coaches did it. It was just when anyone else did it, I didn't want to listen. And hear this too. God knows your heart. I don't. I can guess. I can say Sister Darlene has a very caring and loving heart because she loves me and I love her.
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She checks in on me. And everybody else in here at some point has checked in on me once to see how I'm doing. And I love you all for that. And I can say, man, I feel like I know your heart. You're all wonderful, beautiful people. But it's not me you have to convince. It's God. I'm not going to be on the throne judging you. Because I can't. I'm imperfect just like you.
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God knows your heart. So I ask you this last question tonight before we end in prayer. What is God seeing in your heart and understand this? God's justice will prevail beyond anything else. God's justice will prevail. So church, you heard the word.
00:30:45
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And I don't know about you, but I think I should have left at 65 in here. But what will you do with it? Let's pray. Thank you for listening to the Faith 168 podcast. We hope you enjoyed this sermon and will continue to listen to all of the content we put out as we encourage you to live faithfully for Jesus, 168 hours of every week.