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2
Chronicles Chapter Six
2 Chronicles 6
Chapter Contents
Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple.
The order of Solomon's prayer is to be observed. First
and chiefly, he prays for repentance and forgiveness, which is the chief
blessing, and the only solid foundation of other mercies: he then prays for
temporal mercies; thereby teaching us what things to mind and desire most in
our prayers. This also Christ hath taught us in his perfect pattern and form of
prayer, where there is but one prayer for outward, and all the rest are for
spiritual blessings. The temple typified the human nature of Christ, in whom
dwelleth all the fulness of the Godhead bodily. The ark typified his obedience
and sufferings, by which repenting sinners have access to a reconciled God, and
communion with him. Jehovah has made our nature his resting-place for ever, in
the person of Emmanuel, and through him he dwells with, and delights in his
church of redeemed sinners. May our hearts become his resting-place; may Christ
dwell therein by faith, consecrating them as his temples, and shedding abroad
his love therein. May the Father look upon us in and through his Anointed; and may
he remember and bless us in all things, according to his mercy to sinners, in
and through Christ.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on 2 Chronicles》
2 Chronicles 6
Verse 1
[1] Then
said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness.
Thick darkness — He
has indeed made darkness his pavilion. But let this house be the residence of
that darkness. It is in the upper world that he dwells in light, such as no eye
can approach.
Verse 9
[9] Notwithstanding thou shalt not build the house; but thy son which shall
come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house for my name.
But thy son, … —
Thus one sows, and another reaps. And let not the wisest of men, think it any
disparagement to pursue the good designs which those that went before them had
laid.
Verse 14
[14] And
said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the
earth; which keepest covenant, and shewest mercy unto thy servants, that walk
before thee with all their hearts:
O Lord, … — By
this prayer the temple of Solomon is made a figure of Christ, the great
Mediator thro' whom we are to offer up all our prayers, and to expect all God's
favours, and to whom we are to have an eye in everything wherein we have to do
with God.
Verse 21
[21]
Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people
Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling
place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.
And when they shall, … — He asks not, that God would help them without their praying for
themselves, but that God would help them, in answer to their prayers. Even
Christ's intercession does not supersede, but encourage our supplications.
Verse 41
[41] Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark
of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and
let thy saints rejoice in goodness.
Arise — O
thou that sittest in the heavens, arise from the throne of thy glory, and come
down into this place, which thou hast appointed for thy constant habitation,
from which thou wilt not remove, as formerly thou hast done, from place to
place.
And the ark —
Thou in the ark.
Thy strength —
Which is the sign and instrument of thy great power put forth from time to time
on the behalf of thy people.
Salvation —
Let them be encompassed on every side with thy protection and benediction.
Verse 42
[42] O
LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of
David thy servant.
Thine anointed — Of
me, who by thy command was anointed the king and ruler of thy people: do not
deny my requests, nor send me from the throne of thy grace with a dejected
countenance.
The mercies —
Those which thou hast promised to David and to his house for ever. And thus may
we plead, with an eye to Christ, who is called David, Hosea 3:5. Lord, remember his merits, and accept
of us, on the account of them. Remember the promises of the everlasting
covenant, which are called the sure mercies of David, Isaiah 55:3. This must be all our desire, all
our hope, all our prayer, and all our plea; for it is all our salvation.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on 2 Chronicles》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-10
Then said Solomon, The Lord hath said that He would dwell in the
thick darkness.
God dwelling in darkness
His dwelling in darkness has a symbolical meaning. It tells us of
the darkness in which Divine and spiritual things are enveloped. It conveys to
us this truth--that only a certain portion of light is given us in anything,
enough to guide the conduct but not enough to satisfy the reason; and it
suggests, that if we will accept nothing until we satisfy the doubts that may
be raised concerning it, we shall end in accepting nothing.
I. In regard to
God himself, any perfect knowledge of Him is impossible to man. The smaller
must comprehend the greater, before man can comprehend Deity as He is in His
absolute nature. This secrecy of God is one of the attributes and perfections
of the Almighty. He who sees all and is Himself unseen must be the Creator. The
words of the inspired writer contain a literal truth, “It is the glory of God
to conceal a thing.”
1. Under this condition God has ever revealed Himself: to our first
parents in the garden of Eden; to Moses in the bush and in the clouds of Sinai;
to Elijah. He was present in each case, but could not be traced; revealed, but
unseen. The answer of the old heathen philosopher respecting Him is the true
one: “When I look for Him I find Him not, when I look not for Him I find Him
everywhere.”
2. Not otherwise was it in the Incarnation. A light in a dark place,
and the darkness comprehended it not. “There standeth One among you whom ye
know not.”
3. It is the same with God’s manifestation through the Holy Spirit.
He has been, and is, a Presence and a Power in the earth, working wondrously
but inscrutably.
4. As with the Person, so it has been with the Word of God; an
obscure light, enough to try faith, not to gratify human speculation. Take, e.g.,
prophecy. In its broad features the cast corresponds with the mould. But
when we enter into details, the exact literal completion is difficult to trace.
5. It was the same with the parables of Christ. They were truth under
a veil.
6. So it is in numberless instances of the deeper truths revealed in
Scripture.
II. Pass now to the
providence of God. It is a true idea that represents God as manifest in
history, ruling the world in righteousness and justice. But immediately we
leave this general truth and examine the case of particular nations or
particular periods, what perplexity arises! Civilised nations falling back into
darkness and degradation; eras of barbarism intervening; wars springing up and
throwing a continent back fifty years in its progress; evil of all kinds
permitted; wrong and injustice prevailing. “His way is in the sea, and His
paths in the great waters.” “His footsteps are not known.” It would be easy to
illustrate this in numberless other instances--in our individual lives; in
moral science; in physical science. The lesson from all this is that all truth
is beset with some obscurity, but must not be rejected on that account. “In
this world there is little to be known but much to be done.” It teaches us in
matters of right and wrong, in matters of religion, to trust but little to our
reason, but much to our inward consciousness, the instinct of conscience and
the aspirations of faith. (Archdeacon Grant, D.C.L.)
Verses 4-11
And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, who hath with His
hands fulfilled that which He spake.
The performance of God’s promise
I. That God deals
with His people in all ages by way of promise. Adam, Abraham, David.
II. That the
performance of this promise is a source of joy to them.
1. In revealing God to them.
2. In the actual bestowment of good to them.
III. That there are
special seasons to testify to God’s goodness in the performance of His promise.
1. Conversion.
2. Restoration from sickness and danger.
3. Dedication of places of worship.
4. Times of special favour. (J. Wolfendale.)
Verses 6-9
Now it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for
the name of the Lord God of Israel.
David’s intention to build the temple
I. Man’s purposes
are sometimes greater than his power. Limitation of--
1. Character.
2. Body.
3. Culture.
4. Circumstances--want of means or liberty.
5. Destiny.
6. Life.
II. The importance
and value of these gracious but unfulfilled intentions. Earnest purposes,
sincere desires, are facts, and as facts will be recompensed.
1. They are facts to God.
2. They are facts to those who cherish them.
3. Unfulfilled intentions are not without their practical influence
upon society.
III. The comfort
which these considerations are calculated to afford to--
1. The poor and uneducated.
2. The suffering.
3. Those who are called to premature death.
4. All good men in the presence of their imperfect lives. (W.
L. Watkinson.)
The rejected service, but approved motive
I. A rejected
service. Here is a good man bent upon a service which he is not permitted to
perform. It is an instance of a man’s purposes outrunning the possibilities of
his life. There are many reasons why a man should sometimes not be allowed to
accomplish sell-imposed tasks, although they may be the outcome of very fine
motives. There were reasons in David’s life. David had been a man of war, and
as such had shed human blood (1 Chronicles 22:8). There was an
incongruity which God recognised, which had escaped David’s attention, between
shedding blood and building a sanctuary for God. Then, again, there may be some
special hindrance in the age in which a man lives, or the circumstances by
which he is surrounded, which makes the postponement of the work necessary. A
man may live, as we say, before his age, he may project great purposes into
human life, and yet God may say to him, “Stop, the motive is pure enough, and
it is accepted as such, but the world is not yet ready; My providence must
mature things, and we must wait.” Again, there may be something in God’s
design--worldward: that design which includes time and eternity within the scope
of its operation--which may put a veto upon any such scheme, his accomplishing
tasks which are in themselves very praiseworthy, and which are prompted by pure
and exalted motives. Now I have said that every man who has lived to a purpose
must know some time or other what such a disappointment as this means. Why,
this, book tells us that God has put eternity into a man’s heart. God has put
eternity into a man’s heart; therefore the impulses of eternity, or the aims
and purposes which take in eternity, are there. Man is not a mere creature of time:
he strikes great outlines, not as the mere creature of time, but as one who is
to live for ever. Thus, as long as it is true that God has put eternity into a
man’s heart, and has only put seventy years, or at most eighty or ninety years,
into his life, there must be an overlapping of purposes and designs in relation
to attainments in this life. It is impossible, therefore, that he should fulfil
all his designs, or fill up the outlines of these plans, in a brief life. David
was bent upon building a house unto the Lord: he was denied that privilege: but
who will say that his life was therefore a failure? David, after all, was
permitted to do a nobler work than building a sanctuary for God, great as that
privilege would have been. He sang out the hymns which were destined to become
the inspired psalter for all ages. Now, there are some men who escape these
disappointments; but at what cost! The men who never aim at high things, who
never strike the outline of any noble work; men who never allow the immortal
spirit which is within them to design immortal things, and therefore things
which can never be accomplished in a mortal life, doubtless escape these
disappointments, but at the cost of degrading that which is noblest and best in
their natures.
II. The approved
motive: “Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house for My name, thou
didst well that it was in thine heart.” Many a man would have said, “Ah, poor
David, all the inspiration of a great purpose, all the patient planning, and
all the earnest endeavour to accomplish the task on his part, have been
useless. The Divine veto has put an end to all.” Nay, not so. David does not
occupy the same position Godward or manward which he would have occupied if he
had never designed so devout and exalted a scheme.
1. It was well for David himself--well for his own soul that this
thought took possession of it. Remember the circumstances. David had built for
himself a house with cedared roof, but was then shocked with the thought of his
dwelling in a palace while his God dwelt in the old tattered tabernacle of the
wilderness. Surely that recoil itself was ennobling.
2. It was well, too, for David’s outward, as well as his inner, life.
While engaged in gathering materials for the temple, he was saved from doing
things less worthy of his calling and position as the anointed of the Lord.
While engaged at this work he had less disposition to engage in conflict with
his neighbours.
3. It was also well that this was in his heart, because by gathering
the materials for the building of the temple ha had furthered the object by
preparing the way for some one else to finish the task..
4. It was well, too, because, now that he knew that he himself would
never be permitted to build the house, he would have an opportunity of
exercising a self-denial which he would not have done if his had been the
privilege of completing the task. Thus there was a spiritual blessing, an
enriching grace, an ennobling providence in this denial. Now, we see this often
in life. It is a law of human life that some men originate a work, and others
accomplish it. There is nothing final about man’s work on earth; we pick up the
thread where other hands dropped it, and soon will drop it into younger hands
than ours. God’s designs cover millenniums. Look at daily life. There is a man
who founds a house, or originates a business: a man who begins in a small room,
and by dint of genius and perseverance, under God’s blessing, so extends his
business that it well-nigh takes up one side of a street. That man passes away.
But he has had dreams greater than his accomplishment. Among his later thoughts
was that something else might be done, but he was denied the privilege of
giving embodiment to those thoughts. His son takes his place. Ah, and when the
motive is never attained, still, if it be noble, it is not fruitless. There is
that child overboard: a man leaps after it, but the storm rages and the ocean
heaves and lounges terribly, so that the man at length fails to rescue the child.
Who shall say that it was not well that he thought of it, and risked his own
life in the noble endeavour? It is heaven that will supply the final solution,
and it is the future that will crown the edifice of tasks unfinished in this
our mortal life, although they were originated with high motives and
far-reaching purposes. David entered eternity, not as a disappointed man, but
as one who was inspired with an exalted aim that he bequeathed to a succeeding
generation, whose noblest activities it set going. (D. Davies.)
Pious purposes frustrated but rewarded
I. The Lord
notices the pious purposes of the heart. And here the following points require
attention.
1. He is omniscient. “All things are naked and open unto the eyes of
Him with whom we have to do.” “I the Lord search the heart.” We judge by
external manifestations, and know the tree by its fruit; but He understands our
thought afar off.
2. The omniscient Jehovah approves the godly purpose. It is
acceptable to Him through Jesus Christ, as it springs from faith and love, as
it means glory to God and goodwill toward man. The Lord knows and approves your
desire to serve Him, whatever obstacles may arise to prevent the fulfilment.
“The desire of a man is his kindness,” and is accepted as such.
3. He sees the effect of His grace. “From Him all good things do
come.” And where is the believer who will not gratefully own, “Thou hast
wrought all our works in us”? We have no purposes which, in the sight of God,
are godly, until a good work is begun in us; for, as depraved creatures, we are
all alienated from the life of God. Our purposes are worldly and sinful.
II. It may please
the Lord, in the exercise of infinite wisdom and goodness, to disappoint us
with regard to the accomplishment of our purposes of serving Him.
1. To impress us with the conviction of His independence. He is the
“Lord God Almighty,” who is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we
ask or think. Such dispensations of Providence may be appointed to teach the
Church of God that its great Head, when He thinks proper, can dispense with the
instrumentality we expected Him to employ.
2. Another reason for the Divine conduct in the case in point is to
induce the spirit of submission and resignation. And can you say, “Thy will, my
God, Thy will be done”? We naturally like our own way. Our “purposes are broken
off,” even “the thoughts of our heart.” God thwarts us, not to grieve, but to
teach us deference to His will.
3. We may add another reason why God takes away the young and useful,
to prevent idolatry.
III. If the Lord
thus prevent the fulfilment of the pious purpose, He tenderly says, “thou hast
well done in that it was in thine heart.”
IV. God graciously
rewards the intention, even as much as if it had been accomplished. It is our
painful duty to charge the sinner to remember that God notices and takes
account of his evil devices. (S. Eldridge.)
The unfulfilled ideal
A religious ideal may be defined as a product of sanctified
imagination, and sanctified imagination may again be described as faith
considered in its free, intellectual expression. An ideal is the outline
picture of possible usefulness and success, conceived under the incitements of
faith, hope, and love inherent in the new life. An ideal that is born of pure
religious life, and not of mere worldly ambition, is a child of God’s
inspiration in the second degree of descent. Every Christian worker has his
ideals. The ideals cherished by God’s people vary with the requirements of the
age. David’s was to build a temple; ours probably concern the building of
living stones into that peerless temple in which God shall be worshipped
throughout all ages. The value of unfulfilled ideals is a lesson we all need to
learn. Only a slight fraction of the zeal that promised so much at first ever seems
to bear visible fruit. We see the ideals of fellow-labourers out short by the
act of God, almost before they have touched their coveted tasks. The
achievements of the best lives do not equal the measure of ardent aspiration,
and God rewards for aspiration as well as for perfected deed. There are also
ideals the secret of whose frustration is to be found in our own hearts. We
had, perhaps, miscalculated our strength, or pride mingled with our ideals, and
God was holding us back from their realisation till pride had been extinguished
and faith and hope and humility had grown to proportions commensurate with the
success He was about to give us. But we do not understand the meaning of God’s
delays, and so our ideals of work and obligation and evangelistic success have
been relegated to the lumber-room and have been lying there in ignoble dust and
dry-rot for years. A famous traveller has written a book to tell us how
remunerative the abandoned goldfields of Midian may yet become. Some of the
most productive silver mines of South America are mines that were worked by
Spanish conquerors, forsaken for two and a half centuries, and are now being
worked again. Boundless spiritual wealth and possibility lie hidden in the
half-forgotten ideals of our youth and early manhood.
I. The influence
exerted by the unfulfilled idea upon the personal character. It is just
conceivable that religious life may exist without the help and influence of
ideals, but it will only be marked by feebleness and insipidity. It will find
its appropriate emblem in the dead-level of the prairie rather than in the
towering majesty of the forest. The moment you give up your large ideals you
cease to feel the necessity for large sacrifice, large heroism, generous
self-forgetting toll. An ideal occupies precisely the same relation to
religious growth and power that the faculty of imagination in the child does to
the character and success of the after-man. Students of social science tell us
that the education provided in the parish workhouse supplies no element to
stimulate the imagination of the child, and that the little ones placed under
the regime grow up dull, sullen, void of interest in everything about them, and
without a single ambition to improve themselves. In the course of time, after
every potential interest and aspiration is battered down and deadened, the
child is turned into the world; and it is almost invariably found, after a few
years of indolence, stolidity, and mild crime, the child returns to the
workhouse to shelter its incompetency and approaching age. Let imagination be
denied its proper function in the religious life, and the result will be to
limit that life to a very low and abject plane. The professor of religion who
is without an inspiring ideal is spending the life of a creeping, torpid,
spiritual pauper. All our religious virtues gain or lose as our ideals of
religious work are grasped or abandoned. There is a logical impediment to the
growth of faith in the heart of the man who has given up his ideals. All faith
is twofold in its action, personal and vicarious, and the one type of action
can no more go on without the other than the systole can be separated from
diastole in the action of the heart. Decay in the faith you exercise on behalf
of the world will bring decay in the faith exercised on your own behalf. Hence
it is that in genuine revivals of religion the sanctification of believers and
the conversion of the ungodly always proceed by equal paces. An ideal, if
deferred in its fulfilment, or even unfulfilled in the precise form in which
you first conceived it, will be a perpetual fountain of health and prosperity
to your own soul. Doubtless the whole character of David was raised and
ennobled by the ideal he had so long cherished within his heart. If you cannot
see the worth of your unfulfilled ideals, God, who traces their influence upon
character, can; and if the inward ear were not heavy with the world’s
distracting babel, you would hear the testimony of His favour and approval,
“Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.” Never weigh against your moral
and spiritual
interests the temporal sacrifices you make for your ideals.
II. These ideals
move the mind of Almighty God. The ideal touches with some lasting impression
the unforgetting God, and passes into one of the abiding motive-forces of the
universe He governs to redeem. There is a spiritual doctrine of the
conservation of energy which is the heritage of all the true people of God.
When Providence puts its arrest upon the progress of our ideals, every fraction
of the force lives on. Blessed doctrine of the conservation of energy! David
held some clue to it when he exclaimed, “Are not my tears in Thy book?” Christ
was recognising it when He spoke the words that immortalised Mary’s love:
“Wheresoever this gospel shall be preached, there shall also this that this
woman hath done be told for a memorial of her.” The writer of the Hebrews felt
it when he exclaimed, “God is not
unrighteous to forget your work of faith and labour of love which
ye have showed toward His name.” There is a God-moving force in our own
keeping. How is power to be brought out and applied? It must be stimulated and
increased by temporary delay. There is a danger of one-sidedness in the action
of our ideals. They sometimes stimulate the power of work without stimulating
at the same time the twin power of prayer. You thrust on this side, and smite
on that, and accomplish nothing. God seems to confound you, and you are ready
to give up all your ideals in your vexation and impatience. God wants you to drop
the rude staff and take up the jewelled weapon of all-prayer. Again, when our
ideals are postponed in their accomplishment it is that faith may be made
perfect, and that we may cast ourselves more fully upon God. What frightful
infidels we should become if we saw our ideals leap up to immediate completion
at our mere touch as by a process of rapid tropical growth! You lose power over
the mind of God when you begin to throw away your ideals.
III. Think of the
influence of David’s ideal upon the actual work of erecting the temple. David’s
ideal became the accomplished work of his successor. Your towering ideals of
to-day, if grasped with fidelity and followed up as far as God permits, shall
be a secured platform for the action of the next generation. Conclusion:
1. You should pitch your ideals high enough to make sure they will be
called extravagant by all those in whose hearts is the love of the world, and
not the love of the Father. Never mind how daring they are, if the pure love of
God and men enters into their deepest essence.
2. Above all things try to keep pride out of them.
3. Having once formed your ideals, hold them fast. Some men sneer at
the ideals of their youth, as if they were a species of wild oats they had been
sowing, and not God-begotten and immortal seed. Do not be satirist where God is
admirer, and set your small, cynical sneers at yourself over against His word
of approbation. “Thou didst well that it was in thine heart.” (Thomas G.
Selby.)
Verses 12-15
And he stood before the altar of the Lord.
David’s charge to Solomon fulfilled
I. Solomon’s
affectionate remembrance of his earthly father.
II. His reverence
of his heavenly Father. What sublimity and yet what humility is there evinced
in this prayer of the king! Had he been an outcast like Manasseh, praying to
God for restoration to his lost throne, he could not have humbled himself
deeper in the dust. Listen to his lowly words: “But will God in very deed dwell
with men on the earth? Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain
Thee; how much less this house which I have built!” etc. Who is this on
bended knees and with bended heart that offers up these lowly petitions? A
king? Yea, I say unto you, and more than a king. ‘Tis Solomon in all his glory.
True greatness is ever founded on humility. As it is in the natural world, so
is it in the moral world--the higher the structure, the deeper the foundation.
The lofty Alps, upon whose snowy head the stars of heaven seem to rest, have
their foundations deep in the heart of the earth. Never was Solomon so exalted,
never was he nearer heaven, than when on bended knees we behold him a suppliant
at the footstool of God’s throne. The highest rank, the loftiest genius, the
most splendid crown, receive a double splendour from the grace of humility. (H.
Cay.)
Solomon’s prayer
The great proof of the blessing given to Solomon is to be found in
the prayer which he prayed at the dedication of the temple. No man could have
prayed that prayer without help. This we should have said about it in all
honesty if we had found it in Sanscrit; if we had exhumed it out of Indian
libraries, it would have been due to the author to have said, “You never
dreamed that dream; it was a vision of God.” Probably there is no such prayer
in all literary records. If ever that prayer be excelled, it will be by the Son
of God alone, and His excelling of it will be by contrast rather than by
comparison. There is not a selfish word in it. It is not a Jew’s prayer; it is
a man’s prayer. (J. Parker, D. D.)
Verse 18
But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?
The condescending God
I. Let me call
your attention to the fact of the Divine greatness; because it is only in the
view of that that we can be prepared to appreciate the Divine condescension.
“Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain Thee!”
1. What a view have we here of the immensity of God! We ourselves are
among the stars, careering through space, myriads of miles distant now from
where we were at the beginning of the service, but though perpetually changing
our place in the universe, ever surrounded by His presence, and enclosed by His
essence.
2. Equally awful is God’s relation to duration, or His eternity.
3. Here is also a recognition of God’s infinite supremacy.
II. And will this
uncontainable being actually manifest Himself to man? And here be it remarked
there was but one religion in the ancient world that knew anything of a
condescending God--but one--the Jewish. The so-called gods of Olympus could be
mean, intriguing, self-debasing; but they had it not in their power to
condescend. Morally, they had no height from which they could stoop. But the
history of the Divine conduct, as recorded in the Bible, had been, from the
first, a history of condescension. Look back to God’s first act of
condescension. Sin might have produced eternal silence. Yet it was to man, the
sinner, that He took the first step in His career of condescension by speaking
to him. Time rolled on; and though the depravity and guilt of man went on
increasing, there comes before us in the text another stage in the Divine
regard. He appoints a place for the symbol of His presence to dwell in, and
where man might be always welcome to approach and commune with Him. This was a
vast advance in the condescension of God. All this, astonishing as it was, was
only preliminary. What if He should take our nature and make a temple of that!
This, indeed, was an act beyond human conception. What! will God in very deed
dwell with man--as man--upon the earth?
III. Who does not
feel the wonderfulness of the Divine condescension? And what part of His
conduct is not condescending? and what part of His condescension is not a
wonder? Ascend to the first act--creation--for here the wonder begins. But all
this, a man might say--much as it enlarges my views of the Divine
condescension--all this I can believe. It relates only to His natural
greatness. Low and limited as His creatures may be, they are not as yet
supposed to have revolted, sinned. What might have taken place we know; and it
is that which makes what He has done so amazing. Here the real wonder begins.
That He should have stooped to ask for a hearing in a world filled with noisy
praises of itself and its idols.
IV. But this
wonderfulness of the Divine condescension is no valid objection to its reality
and truth. This is the very gist of the text, that, amazing as the conception
is, it is yet a fact.
1. Let us not be told by a pretended philosophy that such a Divine
interposition is out of all proportion to man’s importance in the universe. The
objection rashly assumes that the incarnation of the Son of God can have no
relation to any other part of the universe; for if it have, the objection
fails. His relation to our world, indeed, will always be specific and unique.
But we can conceive of no world to which His incarnation and death for the
redemption of our fallen race can be made known, without having their views of
God enlarged, and their motives to holiness increased. As an affair of moral
government, it is fraught with interest for all the subjects of God’s universal
empire. The planetary insignificance of the earth, the very circumstance which
man makes a reason for disbelieving it, may be an element investing it, in the
eyes of other worlds, with transcendent interest. They may behold in it only a
further illustration of the principle on which God uniformly acts, of “choosing
the things which are not to bring to nought things that are.” They may see in
it a designed intimation that there is no world, however insignificant--no
islet in space, however remote--which shall not be filled with His glory.
2. Neither let a mock humility pretend that such condescension is too
great for man’s belief. The right point of view is not from the dust in which
man is lying, but from the throne on which God is sitting. The reason of the
whole is in God. Do you not see, then, that, wanting in wonderfulness, the
Divine manifestation would have been wanting in analogy with creation and
providence--wanting in the very means of authentication as a Divine act? It
only stands in a line with other wonders. But the end to be obtained by it is
incomparably greater. Creation and providence are but introductory and
preparatory to it.
3. Nor let the mere formalist limit the displays of Divine
condescension to the past. The ordinances of religion are with him memorials of
past rather than means of present grace--tombs rather than temples. True, God
has been in the past, and will be in the future, as we do not look for Him in
the present. Looking back, Shekinah and vision are there, miracle, prophecy,
and inspiration, an incarnate Saviour and a descending Spirit. We expect not
now a repetition of such scenes. Looking forwards, we regard the future as
stored with supernatural events. “Wherever two or three are gathered together
in My name, there am I in the midst of them.” The history and the prophecy are
only for limited times, the promise is for all time, large as the heart of God,
and the fullest utterance of it. And is not every truly Christian Church a
proof that the manifestation of God is still in process, and His condescension
unabated? Wonderful as that condescension is, they can dispense with all formal
proof of it.
V. What, then, are
the means of securing the Divine presence, and the emotions suitable to it? (J.
Harris, D.D.)
The condescension, of God
The temple which Solomon built may be viewed as a type of the body
of our Redeemer. It pleased Him to tabernacle amongst us. This is a truth that
seems to enter into the very rudiments of our religious knowledge; and we are
ready to give immediate assent to the truth that Jesus took our nature upon
Him. The more we dwell on this great truth, the more inclined are we to exclaim
with something like the astonishment of Solomon, “Is this true? Will God indeed
dwell with men on the earth?” In order that our examination may have its full
weight on the mind, and lead to profitable thought and action, I appeal--
I. To the answer
that would be prompted by natural fear. Think of the majesty of God--think of
His holiness! The only thought which the fear of man’s natural heart suggests
when he hears of God visiting the earth is the thought of wrath and judgment.
There can be no breathing freely in the presence of God when there is the sense
of unpardoned sin on the conscience.
II. To the answer
brought to this question by the gospel of grace and salvation.
III. To the
experience of God’s believing people. “The secret of the Lord is with them that
fear Him” (Isaiah 57:15-19; Psalms 68:18).
IV. To the hopes of
Christ’s waiting Church. All that hath been manifested as yet of the Divine
condescension and glory is but a sample of the manifestations which this world
is destined to receive.
V. Practical
thoughts suggested.
1. What would be our deserving if God were to visit us according to
our iniquities?
2. Will you not seek to experience the wondrous grace of God our
Saviour? (W. Cadman, M.A.)
God manifest in the flesh
1. The mightiest monarch of his time hesitates not to appear in the
midst of his subjects in the attitude of supplication, to lead the devotions of
his people and to put himself on a level with the humblest individual in the
congregation of Israel.
2. That the exclamation of the text primarily referred to the
permanent abode of the cloud of glory over the mercy-seat in the temple is
evident from the circumstances in which it was uttered, but though the words
had never been intended to be otherwise applied, there was enough of the Divine
condescension manifested even in that dispensation to call forth the tribute of
admiration here offered by the King of Israel.
3. Of the state of the heathen world, and of the propensities of his
own subjects, Solomon could not be ignorant; and when he reflected how little the
character both of one and the other corresponded with the forbearance which
they had experienced, and the revelations of the Divine will by which they
might have profited, he had good reason to stand astonished at the Divine
condescension, and to say, “But will God in very deed dwell with men on the
earth?”
4. To what extent the mind of Solomon was enabled to foresee or
understand the mystery of the Incarnation
we do not venture to determine. But Christians cannot fail to perceive that if
the whole scheme of redemption had been fully unfolded to him, he could not
have more emphatically expressed the sentiments which that event was fitted to
awaken than in the words which he has here applied to the appearance of the
Divine glory in the temple.
5. Whatever might be the amount of the revelation granted to Solomon,
we can be in no doubt about the practical application which it becomes us to
make of the text. It was dictated by the Spirit of God, to be put on record as
a portion of those Scriptures that testify of Christ. I would advert--
I. To the simple
fact that the glorious event contemplated in the text has actually been
realised in the appearance of the Lord Jesus Christ in the likeness of our
sinful flesh; and that in His person “God has in very deed dwelt with men on
the earth.” The symbol by which God gave intimation of His presence in the Old
Testament Church, though fitted to keep alive in their minds an habitual
impression of His being and supremacy, and to furnish to them a permanent
pledge of security and protection, so long as they adhered steadfastly to His
covenant, yet did not immediately address itself to the sympathies and
affections of their nature. They were reminded in every act of religious
worship of the infinite distance at which they stood removed from the High and
Holy One of Israel. But when He condescended to appear in the likeness of
sinful flesh, the barriers which had formerly shut up the way of approach were
broken down; mankind were permitted to hold intimate converse with Him in the
same way, and through the same medium, by which they hold intercourse with one
another.
II. To the purpose
for which God was manifested in the flesh. It was not only that, through the
medium of human nature, He might convey to mankind a more distinct conception,
and leave upon them a more vivid impression of the Divine character; but that
He might take away sin by the sacrifice of Himself. (R. Gordon, D.D.)
Divine condescension
I. To the
certainty and evidence of the fact that God has dwelt, and still dwells with
men on the earth. We cannot doubt the fact when we reflect--
1. On the essential omnipresence and universal agency of God.
2. That God has thus spiritually dwelt, and still does dwell with men
on the earth.
II. To the
greatness of His condescension and grace in this respect. (D.
Dickinson, D.D.)
God dwelling with men
(for the opening of a place of worship):--We should make the
erection of a house for God’s worship, and our first services therein to invite
His presence, an occasion for contemplating the grandeur of His majesty, the
wonders of His condescension, and
bowing down our souls in profound abasement before Him.
I. The benevolent
condescension of God. This is illustrated in the text, which suggests--
1. The type: Solomon’s temple.
2. The antitype: the body of Christ.
3. The consequence: God dwelling in the Church.
What is a Church? “A congregation of faithful men.” As if so many
temples were placed together, window opening to window, and door to door; light
answering to light, and warmth generating warmth, and the perfume of one apartment mingling with
another, and songs responding to songs; so Christians, dwelling together,
become one great temple, which we call a Church of the living God. Just as many
single drops run into a mighty stream, so many believers, pardoned and
regenerated and animated by the Spirit of God, become one glorious Church; and
Christ is its Head, and He will dwell in it even while the world stands.
II. The prostration
and humiliation of soul which so become us before this glorious God. When we
contemplate the God whom we adore, we may justly ask--
1. What can we think of this building? It is a place for prayer,
praise, and the preaching of the gospel.
2. What of the worshippers? We ought to have an ardent desire to become
more fit for His abode, more enlarged, more heavenly, more intellectual, more
spiritual, more fervent, more consecrated to Him.
3. What of the worship? (James Bennett, D.D.)
God dwelling with men
The whole Jewish dispensation was typical. Everywhere throughout
the system things seen and temporal were employed as premonitory emblems of
things not seen and eternal. It thus foreshadowed coming revelations at once by
events, by offices, and by rites. The offices of the high priest, prophets,
judges, and kings, with the extraordinary powers attached to them, all foretold
the supreme authority of that Saviour in whom they terminated. And, as regards,
finally, prefigurative rites, I need point only to the countless sacrifices
which exhibited, by anticipation, Jesus, our passover, sacrificed for us.
I. We are to
inquire what is implied in God dwelling with men.
1. The language is expressive of loving fellowship. When we traverse
a country, and amid the rivers, and forests, and mountains, of the landscape,
descry a human dwelling, we spontaneously ascribe reciprocal affection to its
inmates, a harmony far more beautiful than that of Nature’s scenery by which it
is surrounded. Besides, though one may dwell with another whom he disregards or
even hates, because separation is not practicable or not convenient in the
circumstances, it cannot be so with God, who is infinitely superior to all such
restraints. When He takes up His abode with any, it must be in affection; for
in all He does He consults exclusively His own good pleasure. The capacity in
which He dwells with His people is that of a Father; and where He occupies this
footing He will entertain its sympathies regarding those with whom He
associates with more than the tenderness of paternal endearment
2. This phraseology is expressive of intimate fellowship. Now,
affection necessarily prompts to fellowship. The objects of complacent regard
engage the outgoings of the loving mind, and heart unbosoms itself to heart
with freedom and confidence.
Unless, then, God revealed Himself graciously to us, and heard our
supplications to Him, and all this not coldly and formally, but kindly and familiarly, the
language of the text would be inappropriate, and He could not be said to dwell
with men on the earth.
3. The language is expressive of prolonged fellowship. A passing
interview does not constitute dwelling. The designation is not applied even to
frequent visits. And so for God to dwell with us is to be with us not now and
then merely, but always--in the day to direct our steps, in the night to guard
our slumbers, in prosperity to dispel forgetfulness, and in distress to avert
despair--when youth impels and manhood invigorates and age enfeebles.
II. The apparent
unlikelihood of God thus dwelling with men.
1. Men are insignificant before God. Viewed relatively to
fellow-creatures, the human race occupies an elevated position in the scale of being. But
all this elevation vanishes when we think of God. If we were to compare God and
men by comparing their works, we would not easily find any accomplishment more
commendatory of human resources than this same temple of Solomon, in all its
magnificence and splendour. And whence, then, were its materials drawn? They
were brought from the storehouses of Jehovah. He furnished every stone and
timber; and if He had not they might have sought for them in vain. All the
elements of this edifice they received from God--and whence did He derive them?
He called them out of nothingness. Again, how many were engaged in building
this temple? We learn from Scripture that there were about a hundred and eighty
three thousand six hundred men. But where were these when God laid the
foundations of the earth? Once more, how long was this temple in being built?
After every stone was hewn and ready for its place seven years were still
occupied, as we learn from Scripture, in rearing and finishing the sacred
fabric. The period may have been requisite for the performance in the hands of
feeble man; but, oh! how different from the achievements of Him whose mightiest
deed follows instant on His word--“who says, and it is done--commands, and it
stands fast”! But, finally, what were the dimensions of that erection on which
the skill and toil of such vast multitudes were so long expended? Compared with
the neighbouring dwellings of Jacob, it would, doubtless, appear vast and
majestic. But measure the width of it, and say if it be as broad as the earth:
stretch a line to its loftiest summit, and say if it be high as heaven. What
proportion bears this capacious abode to the temple of the visible creation? As
man enters its gates he seems, beside its massive pillars, and under its
exalted canopy, to sink into less than his usual littleness. But think of
placing God in it, and how diminutive it appears!
2. On the wickedness of men. And, after all, shall He love these
persons? What can He love in them?
III. That, unlikely
as it may seem, in some views, God wills to dwell with men on the earth.
1. God has dwelt with men in the person of Christ.
2. God dwells with men
by the mission of His Spirit. (D. King.)
The dwelling-place of God
The temple of King Solomon has sown its seeds all over the world;
has reproduced itself in every latitude and zone. “But will God in every deed
dwell with men upon the earth?” Do we want the temple now? There are many men
living today who could with truth make answer, “As far as we ourselves and our
spiritual life are concerned, “No! We have outgrown the Testament; Christ is
our temple, our way
to God. Through the great mercy and grace of God, and His perpetual help, we
have risen to that constancy and closeness of fellowship with Him that every
place is holy ground; and we often find, in our solitude, a sweetness and depth
of joyful communing that we never find amid the distraction of a public assembly.”
To them God does indeed “dwell with men upon the earth,” but not in temples
made with hands; they walk in the Spirit, and live in the Spirit. But was it
always so with them? Did they never want the temple? Was it always as easy to
them to find God in the street as it is now? Who of us, that can rejoice in
this as his portion to-day, can tell how much he owes of his present
realisation of God at all times, and in all places, to those temple walls which
now have vanished from his spiritual sight? As in learning our first lessons,
our letters, and the like, we are
learning things whose use we know not yet, though by and by the alphabet and
spelling-book are laid aside, so in the beginning of our spiritual life this
temple is our alphabet and primer, where we do things that are not always full
of our spirit, nor of our intelligence; but in process of time we grow up to
them; we rise up to the spirit and comprehension of our own deed; and by and by
the temple is not necessary to us for our own sakes, save as the voice of truth
shall sound within its walls, and we go on learning the things which are our
life. But are these the men who forsake the assembling of themselves together,
“as the manner of some is”? No! They know that the temple wants them, if they
do not want the temple; that they are the spiritual material of which the
temple is composed; and that their presence and part in its worship is
essential to the fulfilment of its end. Their hearts make the atmosphere that
infects all weaker souls; their songs are the wings on which the younger and feebler ones rise up
to God. They, with their temple and service of song, and their lowly prayers,
are mighty antidotes--how mighty, God only knows!--to that perilous movement of
the world’s life that would soon drag humanity down to the level of the dust,
and blend our godless life with that of the beasts of the earth. (G.
W. Conder.)
Will God dwell with men?
The human soul in its better moments longs for the
knowledge and the friendship of God; and to many a heart the question comes as it did to
Solomon, “Will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?” I
understand this question to have its own answer, and that answer to be, “God
will indeed, most assuredly, dwell with men on the earth.”
I. The
circumstances under which the words were spoken are full of interest.
II. In the whole
history of revelation we have answers to this question.
1. The context.
2. The Incarnation of Christ.
3. The effusion of the Holy Spirit on the day of Pentecost.
III. How can we know
that God dwells with men?
1. We may know this, as a matter of reason, by what we perceive of
wisdom and design in the material world.
2. We may know this from what we find in His Word, and in the events
of history of the fulfilment of prophecy, showing that a governor must
evidently be present carrying out His own great plans.
3. The consciousness of His spiritual presence with us as
individuals.
IV. God dwelling
with us is marked in various ways.
1. He who has God dwelling in him will manifest externally the Spirit
of God. He that dwelleth in love dwelleth in God and God in him.
2. We recognise God ofttimes in what we term special providences--the
special care which He exercises over us. I know when I speak of a special
providence there may be some who at once revert to the feint of universal and
immutable law, and say, “May I expect the laws of nature to be changed for me?”
I do not so understand the special providence of God. There is in this
immutability of natural law a spiritual influence that is over and above and
beyond all that law. The mountain may tremble; its fall is not suspended
because I go by; but just before I come and the mountain is about to fall I may
be led to think of gathering some beautiful flower, or turning aside to see
some peculiar formation of rock, and I stop to examine, and the mountain falls.
No violation of law, and yet I am saved. I am saved because God touches my
heart, because the Spirit of God communicates with the heart of man. There is
no conflict here, there need be none thought of. God’s hand guides me safely
through, by an influence simply on this heart of mine. And yet I may not be
conscious of this influence. He leads me simply because He has me in His heart;
He is dwelling with me; He knows all things and governs all things, and He
knows how to guide me safely. Man is acted on in every part of his nature by
the unseen. He steps off the roof of a house, and he will be dashed to pieces.
What is it? A strange something you call gravitation, that holds him to the
earth. This earth, the moon, the planets, we know, are so held; and yet no man
ever saw the chain that binds the earth to the sun. If God binds every particle
of matter in my body to the sun, the great centre a hundred millions of miles
away, can He not bind my spirit to Himself? If the sun attracts every particle
of matter in my frame, may not God attract me? Is there anything unreasonable
here? Then, again, I go to the sea. I put my family on board the vessel. I am
not at all disturbed; I know there may be storms; but the ship is staunch, and
then the pilot knows where he is going. He is not going on rocks; the ocean has
been sounded. He is not going to the wrong port; there is a needle in the
compass that guides him. And what is that needle? A little piece of steel, that
has no thought and no power of any kind, but it has been touched with a magnet,
and now it turns northward. And relying on that which no man has ever seen, it
sends its company safely across the sea. What is that power? It is invisible.
And if God can touch a piece of steel that can neither see nor feel nor think,
and it responds to the influence, may He not touch may mind, my soul, my
thought, by His Holy Spirit, and make it respond to His mill? Is there anything
unreasonable in it?
V. What are the
effects that are to follow from our recognising God as dwelling with men? The
erection of churches. Public worship. Hearts divinely prepared to hear.
Divinely inspired preachers. (Bp. Matthew Simpson.)
When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain.
Perils to agriculture
I. A rebuke to
rationalism in natural evils. All meteorological phenomena are under God’s
control. In all afflictive events God speaks to cities and nations.
II. A moral design
in the infliction of natural evils.
1. To requite justice.
2. To lead to God.
III. A place for
prayer in the removing natural evils. This denied by many. Prayer may be
necessary for man’s highest culture. We do not classify with powers in physical
nature. It is not a natural but a moral power. The ordination of God leaves
room for prayer. Prayer may be one of the laws of the universe as certain in
its sphere as the laws of heat or of gravitation in their peculiar realms.
Neither history, Scripture, nor experience forbid us to pray in times of
national distress. (J. Wolfendale.)
Pardon and punishment
(2 Chronicles 6:27, with 2 Samuel 7:14 and 1 Corinthians 11:32):--I take these
passages in a group because they all set forth a similar view of a great
subject. They all take a natural and what we may can an untechnical view of the
subject of Divine forgiveness. The prophet Nathan and Solomon and the apostle
Paul all saw that sin produced its natural consequences of pain and penalty in
good men and bad men alike, and though all believed in the reality and triumph
of mercy, and were quite sure of God’s readiness to forgive, yet they perceived
that Divine forgiveness did not remove those consequences, at least in this
life. Pardon does not mean immunity from punishment.
I. What is
punishment?
1. “Behold,” says the apostle Paul, “the goodness and severity of
God.” That there is an element of righteous indignation in God the whole frame
of Nature testifies; the Scriptures frequently declare; and our own moral sense
demands that it should be so. We cannot conceive of a perfect Being without the
capacity of such indignation. The very methods of the Divine rule absolutely
involve pain. But there are things in the world more to be dreaded than pain.
There are evils so great--so great in themselves--that it is worth while
enduring all the pain we can conceive in order to get rid of them.
Righteousness is the one ruling principle of all life. In the interests of
righteousness the universe is governed. Character, now and always, owes all its
moral worth to the acknowledgment of the supreme majesty of the law of
righteousness.
2. Now perhaps we can understand something of the meaning of
punishment. It is--
II. When we have
sought pardon and found mercy we may still have to suffer the consequences of
past sin. Pardon consists of two parts--
1. The cessation of resentment.
2. The removal of consequences. These two parts are not always united
in time. I may cease from anger, cease to feel resentment against my erring,
disobedient child when he repents, and yet may allow him to suffer the natural
consequences of his wrong doing. My love may be so deep and tender that I
suffer in his suffering, and even more poignantly than he, but I let it go on.
And God does so. Our duty is to bow submissively, to recognise Divine love, and
to endure patiently the chastisement that seeks to cure us of our faults. (Philip
W. Darnton, B.A.)
If Thy people go out to war.
The lawfulness of war
I shall take these words as a political maxim and moral precept
comprehending these two propositions.
I. That here is
couched a supposition, that upon just grounds and lawful causes any nation may declare
and make war upon another, implied in the expression, “If they go out to war
against their enemies, by the way that God should send them.” The just grounds
of war according to the Laws of Nations and Arms are--
1. Those that concern the maintaining the public faith.
2. Those that respect the vindication of the honour of the Crown.
3. Those that relate to the prevention of the great and apparent
dangers that threaten the general peace.
II. The positive
duty and obligation that all nations lie under, in case of the declaration of
such a war, to seek God with a solemn humiliation and repentance, for His
assistance and succour to maintain their cause or right.
1. Because war is an appeal to God for the justice of a national
cause.
2. Because of the great dangers and uncertainties that attend war.
How many armies have their designs and themselves ruined by the little
advantage of ground, the pass of a river, a sudden surprise, an undermining
stratagem, the alteration of the weather, the fall of snow or rain, the
misunderstanding of a word given, the spreading a false rumour or alarm; nay,
the start of a horse, the mere error of the eye, or the information of a
deserter! Which has overturned all policy, made power impotent, and victory
unexpected. How many fleets have been dissipated with a mist, broken and sunk
with a storm, and blown up with a spark of fire! (Ecclesiastes 9:11; chap, 14:11; Leviticus 26:8).
3. Because it will engage God to be on our side, and to vindicate our
cause.
4. Because this solemn invocation of the Divine assistance, joined
with a public humiliation and repentance, will be a means to avert those
judgments that were otherwise due to our sins, and which we should have reason
to fear might prevent the success of our arms, and provoke God to give us up to
the will of our enemies.
5. Because prayer is an absolutely necessary and conditional means to
success in war. (Henry Sacheverell, D. D.)
The wise man’s prayer for the warrior
(preached on a day of general humiliation on account of
war):--Under most of the ordinary occurrences of life, there is the strongest
tendency to overlook the relationship subsisting between ourselves as human
beings and the providence of God. In many instances it is only on extraordinary
occasions that individuals are first led to a practical recognition of the
supremacy of God. It is when sickness produces its enfeebling effects on the
frame; or when the angel of death gains admittance to their dwellings; or when
adversity demonstrates to them the vanity of centring their affections on
earthly treasures; or when pestilence extends its ravages throughout the land,
or when war, with its horrors, thins their armies at home or abroad; it is
often under such circumstances that men are primarily led to think of their
souls and their Maker. An occurrence which shall generate in the minds of any a
fitting sense of their dependence for succour on the Lord of heaven and earth,
in whatever way that occurrence may have originated, must at least be,
overruled by Providence for good.
I. That when a
people are engaged in the chastisement of their enemies it is required that
they should have recourse to united supplication, that their efforts might be
crowned with victory. Men are as much bound as ever to make national entreaties
for the bestowal of national mercies, and for the successful issue of
legitimate national movements.
II. The spirit in
which our united supplications should be offered. We should pray, as penitents
for pardon; as sinners for salvation; as patriots for our country; and as
followers of Him who has taught us to love our enemies, for those enemies
themselves. (H. B. Moffat, M.A.)
Now, my God, let, I beseech Thee, Thine eyes be open, and let
Thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.
The dedication of the Temple
(a dedication sermon):--The text is a prayer to God--
I. For the notice
of His eye. “Let Thine eyes be open towards this house.” That you may worship
under His approving eye.
1. Your worship must be spiritual.
2. Your worship must be that of faith.
3. You must come with purity.
II. For the
attention of His ear. “Let Thine ear be attent unto the prayer that is made in
this place.” What prayers will be made here?
1. Personal prayers.
2. Prayers for ministers.
3. Prayers for the inhabitants of this town.
4. Prayers for our country.
5. Prayers for the extension of Christ’s kingdom.
III. For the
instructions of His word. “Arise Thou and the ark of Thy strength.” We consider
this part of the text a prayer for the administration of instruction; because
the ark contained the tables of the ten commandments and a copy of the whole
law, which the priests were appointed to teach.
IV. For a holy and
successful priesthood. “Let Thy priests, O Lord God, be clothed with salvation,
and let Thy
saints rejoice in goodness.”
1. No minister can fully know the truth but by experience, and
therefore cannot teach it.
2. No minister can conduct his office with a proper feeling, without
experience, and that experience constant.
3. Success is promised to no unconverted man. (R. Watson.)
Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple
There are two things of which we are here reminded.
I. Our own
sanctuary. “Let Thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.” We
must carry a home-feeling with us into the sanctuary, if we wish it to be to us
the house of God and the gate of heaven. There are some who are utter strangers
to this home-feeling; they have no place of worship which they can call their own. A
wandering spirit in religion is destructive to vital religion in the heart.
II. Our earnest
supplication. “Arise, O Lord God,” etc. This prayer is extremely
suitable in the exercises of public worship, because it includes all that can
be included both for minister and people. (R. C. Dillon, A.M.)
The dedication of the temple
I. An unequivocal
recognition of the necessity of the Divine presence in order that a Church may
be a source of real benefit to the people.
II. The
indispensable necessity that ministers should have a Divine commission and
suitable personal qualifications.
III. The paramount
object as identified with the glory of God, worthy of the mighty apparatus
provided and brought into action--the eternal benefit of the people. (J.
Davies, D. D.)
God in His temple
I. A description
of God’s house. “Thy resting place.” Rest is not used here in the sense of
ceasing from labour, but in the sense of remaining or staying. Here we have the
outward building for the worship of God represented.
1. As the heart of national life.
2. As the special place where God meets His people.
II. A prayer foe
Christian ministers. Some look upon a preacher as a social reformer. Some as a
lecturer on morality. Some as a well-directed pattern of propriety to keep up
appearance and show. The true light in which to regard a preacher is that of a
messenger o! salvation.
III. A petition for
the people. “Let Thy saints rejoice,” etc.
1. An important state. A condition of joy.
2. A necessary condition. The only true ground of rejoicing is
goodness. (Homilist.)
Solomon’s prayer for the sanctuary
I. Explain
Solomon’s views of the sanctuary. He here represents it as the resting-place of God. Solomon was
fully justified in this view by Psalms 132:1-18., which was supposed to
have been composed in reference to the erection of the temple. There his father
prays, “Enter Thou into Thy rest,” and affirms--“For the Lord hath chosen Zion,
He hath desired it for His habitation: here will I dwell for ever, for I have
desired it.” And further than this, the Divine presence had dwelt in the cloud
that overshadowed the mercy-seat in the tabernacle. The presence of God was
manifested in the temple, differently from everywhere beside. In hell, it is
displayed by His frown--in heaven, by the unveiling of His glory--throughout
the earth, in the exuberance of His goodness; but in the sanctuary, by the
manifestation of His grace and compassion. It is called His “resting-place,”
because He regards it with complacency and delight. This delight, however, did
not arise from the splendour with which Solomon’s temple was adorned, for the
Infinite Mind, which from its own vast resources could call into existence the
temple of the universe, must be far superior to delight in any mere material
edifice. God does not now dwell visibly in the midst of His people, nor does He
confine the manifestation of His presence to one temple, as in the times of
Solomon; for the resting-place of God is wherever His people meet together,
whether in the mountain, den, cave, cottage, cathedral.
1. The sanctuary is the scene of the manifestation of His character
as a God of grace. In the temple this was taught by God appearing reconciled by
the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifice on the mercy-seat. This appears
more clearly in the Christian sanctuary, where God appears in Christ,
reconciling the world unto Himself by Jesus Christ, through the blood of the
everlasting covenant.
2. The sanctuary is the scene of the worship of His people. The
temple of old was thus distinguished.
3. The sanctuary is the sphere of the accomplishment of the purposes
of Divine grace in reference to man. It was one great means of keeping alive
the worship of the true God, and of preserving the existence of religion
amongst them. Thus, on a limited scale, every Christian sanctuary is exerting a
most salutary influence upon the present and eternal destinies of the children
of men. These were reasons which induced so much delight in the mind of God in
reference to the temple of Solomon, and in the scene of His people’s assembling
now. These are objects worthy of affording delight even to the mind of the
eternal God. Is the sanctuary His resting-place? We see the propriety of our
being anxious that this house of prayer should be distinguished by attention to
its external appearance. Is the sanctuary His resting-place? It ought to be the
object of our warm affection. Is the sanctuary His resting-place? Then it ought
to be the scene of our constant resort.
II. Solomon’s
desires on behalf of the sanctuary. The blessings which true religion required
in the days of Solomon for its extension and perpetuity are essentially necessary
at the present time and will be through every age.
1. Solomon implores the Divine presence. He desires that the ark should
occupy its appointed place in the temple. This was the appointed medium of
Divine manifestation, and therefore he desired the entrance of the ark. But he
is also anxious for the Divine presence, without which all external symbols
would be in vain. He desires His presence as a God of mercy, from off the mercy
seat; for this only is suitable to us as fallen creatures. A God of pure
justice and immaculate purity would fill us with terror and insure destruction.
Under the Gospel, the mercy seat is more distinctly revealed than under the
law, and the blood of atonement is more precious. The Divine presence as a God
of grace and mercy is absolutely necessary. The temple of Solomon would have
been as worthless as a heap of ruins, as to any moral power and influence,
without the Divine presence. This is equally necessary now; for we may have
every part of sanctuary worship complete--the ordinances, the ministry, the
assembly--but without the presence of God totally inefficient. It is the altar,
the wood, and the sacrifice, without the holy fire. It is the Bethesda, the
house of mercy, without the descending angel to impart efficacy to the waters.
While we seek it, let us remember, that though it is thus essential to the
power and efficiency of ordinances, it is graciously promised. He says, “In all
places where I record My name, I will come unto you and will bless you.”
2. The efficiency of the ministry.
3. The benefit of the Church of God. One of the great designs of
Christian ordinances is the advancing improvement of true believers as well as
the conversion of sinners.
In conclusion--
1. Let us be thankful for the institution and possession of Divine
ordinances. The wisdom and grace of God has given existence to these
ordinances, as the channel of His grace to the souls of men. “There is a river,
the streams whereof” etc.
2. Let us learn our dependence upon the Divine blessing for the
efficiency of ordinances.
3. Let us cultivate a deep anxiety for the Divine blessing. (C.
Gilbert.)
The Divine presence entreated, for the efficiency of the ministry
and the prosperity of the people of God
Throughout the inspired volume one uniform representation prevails
touching the dignity, importance, and responsibility of the sacred ministry;
Moses (Exodus 33:15); Elijah (1 Kings 19:4-14); Paul (2 Corinthians 5:18-20; 1 Timothy 1:11-12; 2 Timothy 1:11); and Isaiah,
Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and other “watchmen of Israel” were keenly alive to the
weight of the “burden of the Lord” which was laid upon them. If we would be
upheld in our work, and labour for the Divine glory and the welfare of the
Church of Christ, let us enter into the prayer of Solomon at the consecration of
the temple.
I. The invocation
of the Lord’s presence suggests how necessary that presence is for the
prosperity of His Church.
1. It was manifested in those times by a visible symbol.
2. If the ark be regarded as typical of the Lord Jesus, as
undoubtedly it is to be, then we may identify Christ with Jehovah and we may
see in the entrance of the ark of God’s strength into the temple and into its
most holy place a prefiguration of the abode of Christ in His Church, and of
His entrance as our Great High Priest into the most holy place in the heavens,
from which He manifests Himself to His people by His Spirit (Psalms 68:18).
3. This is the presence of God for which we are to look in the present
state of the Church. All our endeavours will be in vain, all our labours abortive,
unless attended by the grace and influence of the Spirit. “It is necessary,”
says Augustine, “that the Holy Spirit should work inwardly, that the medicine
that is applied from without may take effect. Unless He be present to the heart
of the hearer, the word of the preacher is idle and vain.” “I once,” observes
Cecil, “said to myself, in the foolishness of my heart, what sort of sermon
must that have been which was preached by Peter when three thousand souls were
converted at once? What sort of sermon? Such as other sermons. There is nothing
to be found in it extraordinary. The effect was not produced by his eloquence,
but by the mighty power of God present with His Word.
II. In connection
with this blessing, and dependent upon it, we should fray for ministerial
qualification. “Let Thy priests be clothed with salvation,” or “righteousness” (Psalms 132:9).
1. The beautiful garments of the sanctuary would not be sufficient
without the inward endowment of truth and holiness. Still more should the
ministers of the gospel be qualified for their office by an experimental
knowledge of the great salvation and the adornment of a holy life (2 Corinthians 6:4-7; 1 John 1:3). It is a striking
observation of Bishop Bull: “The priest who is not clothed with righteousness,
though otherwise richly adorned with all the ornaments of human and Divine
literature, and those gilded over with the rays of seraphic prudence, is yet
but a naked, beggarly, despicable creature, of no authority, no use, no service
in the Church of God.” “I will be sure to live well,” was the remark of G.
Herbert when he entered upon his living at Bemerton, “because the virtuous life
of a clergyman is the most persuasive eloquence to persuade all that see it to
reverence and love.”
2. To be thus “clothed with salvation” will most effectually fit the
Christian minister for the various departments of labour and trial through
which he will have to pass (2 Corinthians 4:1-2; 2 Corinthians 4:5-7).
3. The habitual clothing of salvation and righteousness, for which we
should pray, will indeed conduce to ministerial efficiency. Putting on Christ,
arrayed in the garments of purity and truth, of meekness and love, we shall
best “magnify our office.” Cecil says: “The zeal of some men is of a haughty,
unbending, ferocious character. They have the letter of truth, but they mount
the pulpit like prizefighters. It is with them a perpetual scold. This spirit
is a reproach to the gospel; it is not the spirit of Jesus Christ. He seems to
have laboured to win men. But there is an opposite extreme: the love of some
men is all milk and mildness; there is so much delicacy and so much
fastidiousness--they touch with so much tenderness; and, if the patient
shrinks, they will touch no more. The times are too flagrant for such a
disposition. The gospel is sometimes preached in this way till all the people
agree with the preacher: he gives no offence; he does no good.” In “speaking
the truth” we should do it “in love,” yet always maintaining its supremacy end
never sparing the sin in our desire to spare the sinner.
III. The efficiency
of the ministry will conduce to the prosperity and joy of the Church and people
of God. (J. T. Broad, M.A.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》