Ver. 1. Then Solomon assembled, &c.] “Then,” when he had finished all the work for the house of the Lord. (1 Kings 7:51) Solomon decked and garnished his temple before he prayed in it: so, saith one, before thou prayest prepare thy heart, which is the true temple of him who is greater than Solomon. And as that woman that sought her groat, swept over all the whole house, so when thou seekest anything of God, sweep over the whole house of thy heart; sweep it by repentance, wash the pavement of it with tears, beautify it with holiness, perfume it with prayers, deck it with humility, hang it with sincerity. Out of the city of David, which is Zion.] Into Mount Moriah: for there stood the temple. (2 Chronicles 3:1)
Ver. 2. In the month Ethanim.] Which signifieth ripeness or strengh: either because the fruits were then ripe, sc., in September, and strengthened the heart of man; or else, by this festival month men’s hearts were filled with the joy of the Lord, which was their strength, (Nehemiah 8:10) and lifted up in the ways of his precepts.
Ver. 3. And all the elders of Israel came.] Heads of tribes, and fathers of families: bringing with them multitudes of common people, who cheerfully and voluntarily flocked to this feast, quod ob hanc dedicationem magnificentissimam fuit solemnissimum, saith A. Lapide. And the priests took up the ark.] Setting it on the Levites’ shoulders. (Numbers 4:5 2 Chronicles 5:4)
Ver. 4. And the tabenacle of the congregation.] Made by Moses, and hitherto transportative, and for many years severed from the ark, but now to be reunited and settled in the temple; as the saints, here tossed up and down, shall one day be in heaven, that habitation of God’s holiness.
Ver. 5. Sacrificing sheep and oxen.] At every six paces likely, as 2 Samuel 6:13, but far more liberally.
Ver. 6. And the priests brought in the ark.] Which they had taken off the Levites’ shoulders, to bring it into the place appointed for it, even the midst of the Most Holy.
Ver. 7. And the cherubims covered the ark] Which had the law within it, and the mercy seat upon it: to set forth Christ’s covering the curses of the law, in whom is the ground of all mercy: which things the angels desire to pry into, as into the pattern of God’s deep wisdom.
Ver. 8. That the ends of the staves were seen.] These made a lane, as it were, for the high priest when he entered into the most holy place: and showed that there was an ark, though covered. And there they are unto this day,] i.e., Till the captivity of Babylon.
Ver. 9. There was nothing in the ark save the two tables.] That is, Nothing of the book of the law, saith Vatablus, but the decalogue: the pot of manna and Aaron’s rod were also in the ark, (Hebrews 9:4) though Junius holdeth that εν η there relateth not to κιβωτου the ark, but to σκηνη the tabernacle.
Ver. 10. That the cloud filled.] By a cloud did God oft both represent his glory and cover it: signifying thereby that it was both invisible and unapproachable. But as a man that heareth a preacher in a dark night, knoweth that he is there though he seeth him not: so here.
Ver. 11. So that the priests could not stand,] sc., With the safeguard of their lives, their eyes at least. The holy angels clap their wings upon their faces, as it were a double scarf, -or as a man doth his hands before his eyes, when he beholdeth an exceeding great light, -before the brightness of God’s presence, that would put out their eyes else. (Isaiah 6:2,3) Pellican saith, by the priests being driven out by this cloud appearing, was showed that the time should come when this priesthood should minister no more by carnal rites in this place.
Ver. 12. The Lord hath said that he would dwell.] (Leviticus 16:1,2 Psalms 18:11,12 97:2) He hath said it, and he hath often done it, for man’s sake, who can far less look upon God in his excellency, than he can upon the sun in rota, in the circle wherein it runneth. These words therefore Solomon uttereth in the rapture of his joy for that glorious sight of God which he beheld from the brazen scaffold that was built for him in the outward court. (2 Chronicles 6:13)
Ver. 13. I have surely built thee.] His great joy breaketh forth into a prayer. A settled place for thee to abide in.] Some render it, Directionem ad solium tuum, a direction to thine eternal throne—viz., to heaven; whither this temple pointed men, saith Cajetan.
Ver. 14. And the king turned his face about,] viz., Fromward the altar and mercy seat, whither they looked when they prayed in the temple, as when otherwise they looked toward the temple, i.e., Christ. And blessed all the congregation.] Or, Blessed God together with all the congregation of Israel, as Junius rendereth it. And all the congregation stood.] To testify their reverence, attention, and observation. See on Judges 3:20.
Ver. 15. And hath with his hand fulfilled.] He hath powerfully performed his promise to David. Solomon is thankful as well for the promise to his father as the performance to himself. And well he might, for the promises are precious things, (2 Peter 1:4) the unsearchable riches of Christ. (Ephesians 3:8) The patriarchs “saw the promises afar off, and embraced them.” (Hebrews 11:13) Manu, i.e., liberalitate sua, vel potentia sua -Vatab. “ασπασαμενοι. ”
Ver. 16. I brought forth Israel out of Egypt.] This memorable mercy is often mentioned as a motive to real thankfulness. Deliverance commandeth obedience. But what was Egypt to hell? Pharaoh to the devil? &c. Oh, blessed be God for a Christ!
Ver. 17. And it was in the heart of David my father.] Happy Solomon in such a father! and no less happy David in such a son! For his father’s honour, and his own also, he so often mentioneth this relation.
Ver. 18. Thou didst well, that it was in thine heart.] It is God’s revealed will that men should be “ready to every good work.” David was so to this of building the temple, but God had otherwise determined it. Howbeit David’s desire and intent is accepted. (2 Samuel 7:11, &c.) Surely as wicked men are condemned because they act against God’s command, though according to his decree: so believers are approved, not because they obey God’s decree, but his command.
Ver. 19. Unto my name,] i.e., For mine honour and service. See on 1 Kings 8:18.
Ver. 20. And the Lord hath performed his word.] He never yet “suffered his faithfulness to fail, nor altered the thing that went out of his mouth.” (Psalms 89:33) Witness the constant and concurrent experience of saints in all ages; not one instance to the contrary.
Ver. 21. A place for the ark.] Even the best and innermost part of the temple, because it was the chiefest evidence of God’s presence, and is called God’s face, (Psalms 105:4) yea, even God himself. (Psalms 132:5)
Ver. 22. And spread forth his hands towards heaven.] In prayer the ancients used to spread out the palms of their hands, as it were to receive a blessing from God. (Exodus 9:29 Psalms 44:20 143:6)
Ver. 23. And he said, Lord God of Israel.] This was a worthy precedent for princes, who, if they would imitate Solomon in devotion, might likewise share with him in the blessing. This is a very long prayer, and full of affection to the end. So to pray is hard and happy. It is a precedental prayer, as one calleth it. Lord God of Israel, there is no God like thee, &c.] This is a very august preface to his prayer. To begin on this sort doth notably strengthen faith, and stir up devotion.
Ver. 24. Who hast kept with thy servant David.] See 1 Kings 8:15. We may pray to good purpose, though in the selfsame words as before. Christ himself did so in his agony when he prayed most earnestly. Let this comfort those who complain that they cannot vary their petitions.
Ver. 25. Keep with thy servant David.] Solomon knew well that such as would obtain the accomplishment of the promises, must put them in suit, as Jacob did, (Genesis 32:9, &c.) and David, (Psalms 119:49) and Elijah. (1 Kings 18:41) Note here how Solomon pleadeth the performance of one promise, that he may prevail for another. Let us learn in this holy manner to encroach upon God.
Ver. 26. And now let thy word, I pray thee, be verified.] He reiterateth and reinforceth his former request: this evinceth his holy importunity. This he learned of his father. Compare Proverbs 4:4.
Ver. 27. Will God indeed dwell on the earth?] Mirabundus ita exclamat, saith Vatablus, who further observeth here, that the Hebrew words are preposterously put together, as importing an ecstasy of admiration. Behold, the heaven.] The visible heaven. And heaven of heavens.] The third heaven, the place of the blessed. (Genesis 14:19 Psalms 115:16) Cannot contain thee.] Such is thine immensity: thou fillest all places, and art comprehended of no place. God is a circle, said Empedocles, whose centre is everywhere, whose circumference is nowhere. Orpheus, Aratus, and Aeschylus say the same in effect. God is higher than the heaven, saith a father, deeper than hell, broader than the earth, more diffuse than the sea. He is nowhere, and yet everywhere, quia nec abest illi, nec ullo capitur loco. Neither yet must we conceive that God is commensurable by the place; for he is everywhere all-present. The heavens have a large place, but they have one part here and another there; but the Lord is totally present, wheresoever present. Oh, wonderful! Bernard.
Ver. 28. Yet have thou respect,] q.d., Though thou art immense and infinite in thine own nature, yet, &c. And to his supplication.] Or, Deprecation.
Ver. 29. That thine eyes may be open.] See Psalms 34:15. [See Trapp on “Ps 34:15”]
Ver. 30. And hearken thou, &c.] These repetitions of the selfsame petitions, argue greatest earnestness. And when thou hearest, forgive,] q.d., Whatever else thou deniest us, grant us pardon; yea, forgive the sin of our prayers; for when we have prayed for the forgiveness of sins, we had need pray again for the forgiveness of our prayers; such a spring and sink of sin there is within us.
Ver. 31. And an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear.] An oath may lawfully be taken for the help of truth in necessity, and not else. Hence the Hebrew word Nishbang is a passive, and signifieth rather to be sworn, than to swear. And the oath come before thine altar.] That sign of God’s presence there. Amongst us, he that sweareth, layeth his hand on a Bible, for like cause.
Ver. 32. Condemning the wicked, to bring his way upon his head.] This God hath done on those who have taken false oaths of execration, as were easy to instance in the three false accusers of Narcissus, bishop of Jerusalem; in Earl Godwin; and in Anne Averies, who, forswearing herself, A.D. 1575, Feb. 11, at a shop of Wood Street in London, praying God she might sink where she stood if she had not paid for the wares she took, fell down presently speechless, and with horrible stink died. Euseb.
Ver. 33. And confess thy name.] Submit to thy justice, and implore thy mercy.
Ver. 34. And forgive the sin of thy people.] For else, if thou shouldst turn again their captivity, they could have no great comfort. Pardon of sin is a principal mercy, and chiefly to be sought for.
Ver. 35. When heaven is shut up.] These bottles of the sky stopped. And confess thy name.] As 1 Kings 8:33. Or, Confess to thy name, that is, praise thee, even in this adversity. When thou aflictest them.] And so whippest them home. Or, When thou has testified against them—viz., by thy prophets.
Ver. 36. That thou teach them the good way.] By causing them to hear thy word, or thy rod, and setting it home upon their hearts. See Psalms 94:12. [See Trapp on “Ps 94:12”]
Ver. 37. If blasting mildew, &c.] These, the very heathens acknowledged to be God’s judgments upon a land, and therefore had their feasts called Rubigalia and Floralia, to prevent them. Whatsoever sickness there be.] Physicians reckon up two thousand, and more. Plin., lib. xviii,
Ver. 38. Which shall know every man the plague of his own heart.] His own iniquity; (Psalms 18:23) the cause of his calamity; as he well understandeth, when sin and wrath meet in the soul, and make a wound in it: the cure whereof he seeketh of God by prayer, which hath a pacifying property, and fetcheth out the stain and sting of sin.
Ver. 39. And give to every man according to his ways.] “Do good, O Lord, unto those that be good, and to them that are upright in their hearts. As for such as turn aside unto their crooked ways, do thou lead them forth with the workers of iniquity,” &c. (Psalms 125:4,5) For thou only knowest.] As the watchmaker knoweth all the turnings and windings in the watch.
Ver. 40. That they may fear thee.] For thy just judgments on hypocrites, and mercies to the sincere. (Psalms 130:4 Hosea 3:5)
Ver. 41. Moreover, concerning a stranger.] A proselyte, such as was the eunuch, (Acts 8:27) Cornelius. (Acts 10:1)
Ver. 42. And of thy strong hand and stretchedout arm.] Thy great power and readiness to relieve and supply the wants of all thy suppliants, of all nations.
Ver. 43. That all people of the earth.] “O thou that hearest prayer, unto thee shall all flesh come.” (Psalms 65:2) [See Trapp on “Ps 65:2”] As do thy people Israel.] Either they do, or should do, for the good example of others. Aliter deteriores quidem sunt quia meliores esse deberent: else they are so much the worse, because they ought to be better than others. Salvian.
Ver. 44. If thy people go out to battle.] Upon a necessary justice, or a just necessity. For that soldier can never answer it to God that strikes not more as a justicer, than as any enemy. And shall pray unto the Lord.] Soldiers must fight and pray, and pray and fight, as did the late king of Sweden.
Ver. 45. And maintain their cause.] By appearing for them in the high places of the field, and fighting their battles.
Ver. 46. For there is no man that sinneth not.] This is triste mortalitatis privilegium. And thou be angry with them.] As thou canst not but be so, (Habakkuk 1:13) and as the effects of thy just anger thou chide them, and smite them, either with thine own bare hand or by those men of thy band, their enemies.
Ver. 47. Yet if they shall bethink themselves.] Heb., Bring back to their heart; turn short again upon themselves, and see what an “evil and a bitter thing sin is.” This is the first thing in true repentance, as is to be seen in Ephraim, (Jeremiah 31:19) and the prodigal, who “came to himself,” and then resolved to return to his father. (Luke 15:17,18) We have sinned, and have done perversely.] Sin must be confessed with utmost aggravation, -load must be laid upon it, and the worst made of it.
Ver. 48. And pray unto thee toward their land.] The Turks, in a foolish imitation hereof, pray in their mosques or temples toward Mecca, where their Mohammed lieth entombed, turning their faces southward for the purpose.
Ver. 49. And maintain their cause.] Or, Right. Vindicate them out of the hands of their oppressors, who cannot do, but they must overdo. (Zechariah 1:15)
Ver. 50. And give them compassion.] This prayer was answered for the good of God’s poor people in Babylon, where they found much favour, and had at length leave to return; like as Jacob’s prayer (Genesis 43:14) was abundantly answered when Joseph fell upon Benjamin’s neck weeping, &c.
Ver. 51. For they be thy people.] Culled and called out of the rest of the world. Thou hast avouched them for thine; and they have avouched thee for their God. From the midst of the furnace of iron.] Where they were grievously afflicted, and by those afflictions melted and made more malleable.
Ver. 52. In all that they call for unto thee.] Lawful petitions and honest hearts is all that God calleth for: bring these, and be sure to speed.
Ver. 53. As thou spakest by the hand of Moses,] q.d., Huius rei habeo authorem gravissimum et testimonium, I have very good authority for what I say.
Ver. 54. When Solomon had made an end of praying.] See 2 Chronicles 6:41, where something more is added, and God’s answer—by fire from heaven consuming the sacrifices—recorded. From kneeling on his knees.] Notent hoc nobiles delicatuli et gloriosuli, saith A Lapide here, qui orant uno genu in terra fixo, alterio elevato quasi pugnaturi cum Deo, sin concedat; Let this be noted by our stout and stiff gentry, who use to pray kneeling on one knee only, as if they would fight with God, unless they may have what they would of him.
Ver. 55. And he stood and blessed all the congregation.] Praying for them, and praising God for his mercy to them.
Ver. 56. Blessed be the Lord.] Praemittit gratiarum actionem benedictioni.
Ver. 57. Let him not leave us, nor forsake us.] Or, If he leave us for a time, let him not forsake us utterly.
Ver. 58. That he may incline our hearts.] Cause us to keep his commandments, (Ezekiel 36:26,27) bend us to the obedience of his will. Lex iubet, gratia iuvat.
Ver. 59. Be nigh unto the Lord our God.] Hang ever upon the file, as it were, before him. At all times.] Heb., The thing of a day in his day; i.e., Ut singula fiant suo tempore, that we may have mercies seasonable and suitable to our necessities.
Ver. 60. That all the people, &c.] It is the ingenuity of saints, in all their desired and expected mercies, to study and to promote God’s ends more than their own.
Ver. 61. As at this day.] Keep up your affections as much as may be, in this float wherein now you find them.
Ver. 62. Offered sacrifice before the Lord.] Peace offerings especially; for these were never omitted. “In everything give thanks.”
Ver. 63. And Solomon offered.] This was the greatest sacrifice that we anywhere read of. Those hypocrites in Micah 6:7 made an overture of great cost, so they might thereby have purchased a dispensation to live in sin. Lycurgus forbade costly sacrifices, lest men should grow weary of the charge, and give over their devotion.
Ver. 64. The king hallowed,] i.e., saith Lyra, He caused the high priest to sanctify the pavement of that court near unto the altar, by reason of the multitude of the sacrifices, and incapacity of the altar.
Ver. 65. From the entering in of Hamath,] i.e., From north to south. Understand also from east to west. Seven days and seven days.] The first seven were for the dedication, εγκαινια, the priests, Levites, and one hundred and twenty singers making all manner of music; (2 Chronicles 5:11) the second seven for the feast of tabernacles. Within the first seven days, viz., on the tenth day, fell out their yearly public fast, (Leviticus 23:27) which was dispensed with, as some think. Others hold that they killed their sacrifices on that day also, but ate not of them till the evening, or till the next day, haply.
Ver. 66. He sent the people away.] Blessing their good king, and congratulating their own great happiness.