The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 73

at tho mercy of o.ny tyrannous ha.bit we may have contracted I We are in the land of tbo enemy; his bonds are upon our soul. III. Oun nEPENTANOE AND RETURN. 1. Distress leads to thoughtfulness. "They bethink themselves." We "come to ourselves" (Luke xv. 17), as those who were created to consider and net reasonably ; we weigh our condition and our proHpects. 2. 'fhougbtfulness loads to self-rebuke. We reprove ourselves for our folly. We compare or contrast the present with tho past, the land whither we have been" carried away captive" with the home of freedom and of sacred joy. We reproach ourselves with our guilt. We ore pained and ashamed that we have left him, who is worthy of the riches of our strength, for all that is unworthy; him, to whom we owe everything, for that or for those to whom we owe nothing. We repent of our decision and our deed. 3. Repentance leads to return. We return unto God" with all our heart and with all our soul." We come with confession; we say freely and sincerely, "We have sinned" (ver. 38). We come with consecration; we offer ourselves, our hearts and lives, unto God, that henceforth we may walk in his ways with a perfect heart. We come in faith; we have hope in his mercy, for we know what will be- IV. His RECEPTION OF us. He will '' forgive his people that have sinned against him" (ver. 39). He will cordially welcome; he will immediately and magnanimously restore (see Luke xv. 20-24).-C. Vera. 1-11.-The dedication of the temple: 2. The address of Solomon. I. To JEHOVAH. (Vera. 1, 2.) On beholding the cloud which filled the temple (ver. 13), Solomon uttered words which expressed: 1. Recognition of Jehovah's presence. "The Lord hath sa.id that he would dwell in the thick darkness." Though nowhere occurring in Old Testament Scripture, this promise accorded substantially with the declarations Jehovah had often made (Exod. xiii. 21; xvi. 9; xix. 9; xx. 21; xxiv. 16; Lev. xvi. 2; Numb. xii. 5; Deut. xxxi.15). In speaking as he did, Solomon both intimated his faith in the Divine promise, and his belief that in the cloud which filled the temple that promise had been implemented; in the thick darkness he recognized the dwelling• place of God. 2. Belief in Jehovah's acceptance of the temple. The phenomenon looked upon must have called to his mind the similar occurrence on the completion of the tabernacle, and led him to interpret this as Moses did that, as an intimation that Jehovah was pleased to accept the finished structure, and designed to make of it nut simply "a lodgi □ g for a wayfaring man," but "a house of habitation," and "a place of dwelling for ever." 3. Welcome of Jehovah to his house. .Addressing himself directly to Jehovah, the king in effect says," Lord, I have built a house of habitation for thee, and a place for thy dwelling for ever; and now that thou hast graciously condescended to come to us, according to thy promise, in 'a thick cloud,' in the name of thy people I give thee joyous welcome, and humbly invite thee to enter and take possession." 4. A sense of the honour done by Jehovah to himself and his people in permitting them to build him a permanent habitation in their midst. It is hardly doubtful that Solomon at the moment realized the antithesis expressed by the words" I" and "thee" -" I, a sinful as well as puny creature, have built for thee, whom the heaven of heavens cannot contain, a house of habitation. Who am I, 0 Lord, that thou shouldest set such honour upon me?" Similar emotions rise in gracious souls at the thought of God taking up abode within them (Ps. viii. 4; cxliv. 3; Luke vii. 6), or accepting the work of their hands (1 Chron. xxix. 14; 2 Cor. ii. 14). II. To THE PEOPLE. (Vera. 3-11.) Facing round upon the congregat.ion, which at a signal rose to its feet, the pious monarch (probably with uplifted hands) supplicated for his subjects the Divine blessing, and in their hearing rendered thanks to God for the work that day finished. In particulal'~he acknowledged that the temple had been built by Jehovah: 1. Rather than by hi Solomon. Noteworthy is the emphasis laid upon the fact that "the Lord God of Isra l had with his hands fulfilled that which he had spoken with his mouth." Quifacit per aliumfacit per se. Solomon esteemed himself the builder of the temple (ver. 10), though not a beam of timber had been felled, or a stone quarried, or a pillar cast, or a knop fashioned by himself, but all had been executed at and in accordance with his instructions by workmen and artisans; and in like manner he regarded Jehovah as the prime Architect, inasmuch as without Jehovah's permission the work had never been begun, and without Jehovab's aid it had never  'i4 THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES. [mr. VI. 1-42.