READ: 1 Kings 8-9
Verses
chosen for meditation: 1 Kings 8:27-30
27 “But will God indeed
dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you;
how much less this house that I have built! 28 Yet have
regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O Lord my God, listening
to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, 29
that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which
you have said, ‘My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that
your servant offers toward this place. 30 And listen to the
plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this
place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.
REFLECT
The
temple’s finished and all was ready for the ark to be brought in. Only then could
the temple be dedicated. In this dedication, Solomon addressed the people and
gave thanks to God for keeping His promises to David. He then proceeded with
his prayer of dedication.
In
the prayer, it is good what Solomon affirmed in v27, that no building can
contain God. The idea that God and His promise-keeping nature are not tied to
the temple was particularly relevant and encouraging for the exiles, who get no
access to the temple. It is from heaven that God hears and answers our prayers.
Nevertheless, God allows the blessing of certain places where He is honoured,
as we see here, but no building should be a substitute for true witness to God’s
character. Buildings are useful and
will be blessed by God if they enhance, rather than hinder the worship of God.
Solomon
proceeded with several petitions for the people, including foreigners and those
in exile. He was aware of the human condition of Israel which will turn them against
God, so he prayed for justice in judgement, but also for mercy and forgiveness if the
people repented.
RELATE
I
get several questions about prayer from time to time, ranging from “how to
pray?” to “how do I know if prayer works?”
Though Solomon’s prayer was a corporate one, we can learn some things for our
own personal prayers. For instance, how Solomon petitions for his people. If we
scour through the Bible, we find many prayers are cries for others. Even with
prayers for self, it was asking for deliverance or for strength to go
through an ordeal.
This
is in stark contrast with many prayers of my younger days where I mainly ask for
material things or good results in my endeavours. How much time one spends
praying for himself or others may indicate how self-centred one may be. That’s
not to say we can never ask for things for ourselves, but in those things, how
much of it has to do with nurturing our inner life? If I ask for good exam
results, does getting it make me a better person? Would I use the outcome for
the good of others?
When
answering questions about what makes a good prayer (if there’s such a thing), whether
it’s structure or content, I often respond with another question: Why do we
pray? Do you even believe in prayer? It’s important to revisit these questions sometimes,
no matter what spiritual maturity we perceive ourselves to be. Some may view
prayer as a duty. It took me many years to perceive prayer as a privilege rather
than a duty, much like how it took me a long time to see Bible reading as a
source of life rather than an obligation.
I
started believing in the power of prayer because of the hope I found in God’s promise-keeping
nature, convinced he does hear me and respond. There was a time when I
wondered if prayer ever worked. In my rebellious years, I was often annoyed at
how people conveniently attributed all answered prayers (even the selfish ones!)
to God and explain away unanswered ones like how “God has a plan we may not
understand”. These words are not exactly wrong, but not compelling for a young
chap grasping for evidence of God. Some of you may still be feeling this way
today, doubting if prayer works, especially when you’re in pain, and your world
is crumbling around you.
I
wish I could promise people that their pain will go away but I can’t. Sometimes,
the pain never goes. It may lessen, then come back again in a wave. What hope
is there for those in pain? There is. This is not a world that God wants as it
has fallen from the good world he created. Thus, He promised a time when evil
will be defeated, and even the scars we accumulate on earth will be redeemed.
There is light, at the end of the tunnel.
How
reliable is this promise? We look at how Solomon attested to God’s
promise-keeping. If the Bible, with all its evidence is not enough, there are many
sufferers who stand by this. They met God at their misery, with their
redemption a foretaste of a restored world. We Christians have hope. This
world, no matter how ugly in its state, will be redeemed. Our suffering is
temporary, but our celebration of a redeemed world will be eternal. A good
ending is waiting for us.
REST
Father, thank you for offering a way to go to you
freely, to pour our burdens, to petition for others we care for. Thank you for
hearing. Even when things don’t seem to go the way I pray for, I have peace in
the hope that all things work together for your good will. Amen.
Chris
Chong
Comments
Post a Comment