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Speaker 1: I'm John Stangi, and today we're in Second Chronicles, chapter six,
Speaker 1: and we'll be reading from the New Living Translation. Then
Speaker 1: Solomon prayed, Oh Lord, you have said that you would
Speaker 1: live in a thick cloud of darkness. Now I have
Speaker 1: built a glorious temple for you, a place where you
Speaker 1: can live forever. Then the King turned around to the
Speaker 1: entire community of Israel standing before him and gave this blessing.
Speaker 1: Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who has kept
Speaker 1: the promise he made to my father David. For he
Speaker 1: told my father, from the day I brought my people
Speaker 1: out of the land of Egypt, I have never chosen
Speaker 1: a city among any of the tribes of Israel as
Speaker 1: the place where a temple should be built to honor
Speaker 1: my name, nor have I chosen a king to lead
Speaker 1: my people Israel. But now I have chosen Jerusalem as
Speaker 1: the place for my name to be honored, and I
Speaker 1: have chosen David to be king over my people Israel.
Speaker 1: Then Solomon said, my father David wanted to build this
Speaker 1: temple to honor the name of the Lord, the God
Speaker 1: of Israel. But the Lord told him, you wanted to
Speaker 1: build the temple to honor my name. Your intention is good,
Speaker 1: but you are not the one to do it. One
Speaker 1: of your own sons will build the temple to honor me.
Speaker 1: And now the Lord has fulfilled the promise he made
Speaker 1: for I have become king in my father's place, and
Speaker 1: now I sit on the throne of Israel. Just as
Speaker 1: the Lord promised, I have built this temple to honor
Speaker 1: the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. There
Speaker 1: I have placed the ark, which contains the covenant that
Speaker 1: the Lord made with the people of Israel. Then Solomon
Speaker 1: stood before the altar of the Lord, in front of
Speaker 1: the entire community of Israel, and he lifted his hands
Speaker 1: in prayer. Now Solomon had made a bronze platform seven
Speaker 1: and a half feet long, seven and a half feet
Speaker 1: wide and four and a half feet high, and had
Speaker 1: placed it at the center of the temple's outer courtyard.
Speaker 1: He stood on the platform, and then he knelt in
Speaker 1: front of the entire community of Israel and lifted his
Speaker 1: hands toward Heaven. He prayed, O, Lord God of Israel,
Speaker 1: there is no god like you in all of heaven
Speaker 1: and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love
Speaker 1: to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. You
Speaker 1: have kept your promise to your servant, David my Father.
Speaker 1: You made that promise with your own mouth and with
Speaker 1: your own hands. You have fulfilled it today. And now,
Speaker 1: O Lord God of Israel, carry out the additional promise
Speaker 1: you made to your servant David my father. For you
Speaker 1: said to him, if your descendants guard their behavior and
Speaker 1: faithfully follow my law as you have done, one of
Speaker 1: them will always sit on the throne of Israel. Now,
Speaker 1: O Lord God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your
Speaker 1: servant David. But will God really live on earth among people?
Speaker 1: Why even the highest heavens cannot contain you? How much
Speaker 1: less this temple I have built. Nevertheless, listen to my
Speaker 1: prayer and my PLEA, O Lord my God, hear the
Speaker 1: cry and the prayer that your servant is making to you.
Speaker 1: May you watch over this temple day and night, this
Speaker 1: place where you have said you would put your name.
Speaker 1: May you always hear the prayers I make toward this place.
Speaker 1: May you hear the humble and earnest requests from me
Speaker 1: and your people Israel, when we pray toward this place, Yes,
Speaker 1: hear us from heaven where you live. And when you
Speaker 1: hear forgive. If someone wrongs another person and is required
Speaker 1: to take an oath of innocence in front of your
Speaker 1: altar at this temple, then hear from heaven and judge
Speaker 1: between your servants, the accuser and the accused. Pay back
Speaker 1: the guilty as they deserve, acquit the innocent because of
Speaker 1: their innocence. If your people Israel are defeated by their
Speaker 1: enemies because they have sinned against you, and if they
Speaker 1: turn back and acknowledge your name and pray to you
Speaker 1: here in this temple, then hear from heaven and forgive
Speaker 1: the sin of your people Israel, and return them to
Speaker 1: this land you gave to them and to their ancestors.
Speaker 1: If the skies are shut up and there is no
Speaker 1: rain because your people have sinned against you, and if
Speaker 1: they pray toward this temple and acknowledge your name and
Speaker 1: turn from their sins because you have punished them, then
Speaker 1: hear from heaven and forgive the sins of your servants
Speaker 1: your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path,
Speaker 1: and send rain on your land that you have given
Speaker 1: to your people as their special possession. If there is
Speaker 1: a famine in the land, or a plague or crop disease,
Speaker 1: or attacks of locusts or caterpillars, or if your people's
Speaker 1: enemies are in the land besieging their towns, whatever disaster
Speaker 1: or disease there is, and if your people Israel pray
Speaker 1: about their troubles or sorrow, raising their hands toward this temple,
Speaker 1: then hear from heaven where you live, and forgive. Give
Speaker 1: your people what their actions deserve. For you alone know
Speaker 1: each human heart. Then they will fear you and walk
Speaker 1: in your ways as long as they live in the
Speaker 1: land you gave to our ancestors. In the future, foreigners
Speaker 1: who do not belong to your people Israel will hear
Speaker 1: of you. They will come from distant lands. When they
Speaker 1: hear of your great name and your strong hand and
Speaker 1: your powerful arm, and when they pray toward this temple,
Speaker 1: then hear from heaven where you live, and grant what
Speaker 1: they ask of you. In this way, all the people
Speaker 1: of the earth will come to know and fear you,
Speaker 1: just as your own people Israel do. They too will
Speaker 1: know that this temple I have built honors your name.
Speaker 1: If your people go out where you send them to
Speaker 1: fight their enemies, and if they pray to you by
Speaker 1: turning toward this city you have chosen and toward this
Speaker 1: temple I have built to honor your name, then hear
Speaker 1: their prayers from heaven and uphold their cause. If they
Speaker 1: sin against you, and who has never sinned, you might
Speaker 1: become angry with them and let their enemies conquer them
Speaker 1: and take them captive to a foreign land far away
Speaker 1: or near. But in that land of exile, they might
Speaker 1: turn to you in repentance and pray, we have sinned,
Speaker 1: done evil, and acted wickedly. If they turn to you
Speaker 1: with their whole heart and soul in the land of
Speaker 1: their captivity, and pray toward the land you gave to
Speaker 1: their ancestors, toward this city you have chosen, and toward
Speaker 1: this temple I have built to honor your name, then
Speaker 1: hear their prayers and their petitions from heaven where you live,
Speaker 1: and uphold their cause. Forgive your people who have sinned
Speaker 1: against you. Oh my God, may your eyes be open
Speaker 1: and your ears attentive to all the prayers made to
Speaker 1: you in this place. And now arise, o Lord God,
Speaker 1: and enter your resting place, along with the ark, the
Speaker 1: symbol of your power. May your priests, O, Lord God,
Speaker 1: be clothed with salvation. May your loyal servants rejoice in
Speaker 1: your goodness. Oh Lord God, do not reject the king
Speaker 1: you have anointed. Remember your unfailing love for your servant, David.
Speaker 1: Let's pray. Lord, we thank you for your word, and
Speaker 1: we thank you for the privilege of being able to
Speaker 1: look at it together today. And we thank you, Lord,
Speaker 1: for your goodness and for all the things that you
Speaker 1: do for your people. And Lord Solomon recognized that there
Speaker 1: were many things that he and the people of Israel
Speaker 1: needed to give you praise for. These were things that
Speaker 1: you had been doing for their benefit and for their blessing,
Speaker 1: and for their good and for your glory. And he
Speaker 1: was acknowledging that you were the source of all the
Speaker 1: good that came to them. He also acknowledged the need
Speaker 1: of forgiveness that the people had, because, as he says here,
Speaker 1: who has never sinned, we all have sinned. Lord. We
Speaker 1: wrestle with this as well. Each of us have gone
Speaker 1: our own way, We've done our own thing. We've at
Speaker 1: times rejected your counsel and your leading, and by nature
Speaker 1: we are sinful people. But Lord, you are gracious, and
Speaker 1: you are merciful, and you are forgiving. And we're grateful
Speaker 1: Lord that in the midst of all that we wrestle with,
Speaker 1: in the midst of this, you offer the opportunity for
Speaker 1: us to be forgiven, because your son, Jesus Christ came
Speaker 1: to this earth and experienced our penalty, our punishment, when
Speaker 1: he died on the cross, and he rose from the
Speaker 1: grave as the victorious king of all creation, having defeated sin,
Speaker 1: having defeated the power of Satan and the power of death.
Speaker 1: And now through faith in your son, we can experience
Speaker 1: complete and total forgiveness. And Lord, we need that, and
Speaker 1: we pray that that would be something that you would
Speaker 1: impress upon our heart as something we know we need
Speaker 1: to possess as a gift from you through faith in
Speaker 1: your son. So we request of you today, Lord, and
Speaker 1: we pray that we would be faithful to you in
Speaker 1: every context that you place us in. Today we pray
Speaker 1: that our minds and our hearts would only be given
Speaker 1: over to that which honors you, and we commit this
Speaker 1: day to your care and thank you for your goodness
Speaker 1: and your grace and your love. And we pray this
Speaker 1: all in Jesus' name. Amen,