”Then Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel, and spread out his hands toward heaven; and he said: “Lord God of Israel, there is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You, who keep Your covenant and mercy with Your servants who walk before You with all their hearts.“ I Kings 8:22-23 NKJV
a. Stood before the altar of the LORD: Solomon did not dedicate the temple from within the temple. It would be inappropriate for him to do so, because he was a king and not a priest. The Holy Place and Most Holy Place were only for chosen descendants of the High Priest.
b. And spread out his hands toward heaven: This was the most common posture of prayer in the Old Testament. Many modern people close their eyes, bow their head, and fold their hands as they pray; but the Old Testament tradition was to spread out the hands toward heaven in a gesture of surrender, openness, and ready reception.
i. “It is worthy of remark concerning this prayer that it is as full and comprehensive as if it were meant to be the summary of all future prayers offered in the temple.” (Spurgeon)
ii. “One is struck, moreover, with the fact that the language is far from new, and is full of quotations from the Pentateuch, some of which are almost word for word, while the sense of the whole may be found in those memorable passages in Leviticus and Deuteronomy.” (Spurgeon)
c. There is no God in heaven above or on earth below like You: Solomon recognized that God was completely unique. The pretended gods of the other nations could not compare to Him in any way. (Guzik)
God in Heaven!
I’m reminded what Jesus said to Satan when He was tempted by the devil!
“Then Jesus said to him, “Away with you, Satan! For it is written, ‘You shall worship the Lord your God, and Him only you shall serve.’ ””
Matthew 4:10 NKJV
Are you serving God in heaven?
Blessings
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