The Pulpit Commentary — 2 Chronicles — Section 76

(Heh. ix. 7). It is now true that only through the blood of Jesus can one dn,v near to God (l'kb. x. 19). r,_. THE coNTENTS oF THE PRAYER. A fourfold petition. 1. For DatJid's house- tb~t 1t sh?~ld never want a man to sit upon the throne (ver. 16). Jehovah bad promised this ~ond_1t1onally on David's children provin!I: faithful to their covenant obligations, and walkmg m the ways of righteousness and truth (2 Sam, vii. 12-16). Solomon requests ~hat t_his pro~)se ll?ay be fulfilled, not provisionally merely, but absolutely, by God denl- rng with Da-v1d !tch1ldren so that they shall take heed to their way, and walk in God's Law as David had done before them. To suppose Solomon only mel\nt that Jehovah should stand to his word and maintain the Davidio dynasty, should it eventually prove worth maintaining, he, Jehovah, all the while severely leaving it alone, is as incorrect as to imagine that Solomon desired God to establish David's throne for ever, irrespective of the character of its occupants. What Solomon craved was the two things together-the perpetuity ofDa~id's house through the never--failing moral and spiritual worth of David's successors. 2. For the temple-that it might continue to be a dwelling-place for God on earth, and in the midst of men (ver. 18). Solomon saw that, without this, his magnifi- cent edifice would tum out a comparatively worthless structure, as modern cathedrals and churches, however imposing their appearance, elaborate their ornamentation, or gi~antic their dimensions, are nothing more than piles of masonry if God is absent from their aisles. Yet, so overpowered was his imagination with the bare idea of God's immensity-" Behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee "-that it seemed to him doubtful if it were not the merest vanity to dream that an infinite and omnipresent Deity could inhabit even a palace such as he had erected-" how much less this house which I have built?" And in any case the condescension of it appeared so strange as to fill him with wonder and doubtful joy. "But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth?" The feelings here expressed have their counterparts in those kindled in believing hearts by the contemplation of that mystery of mysteries, the incarnation of the Eternal Son, and of that almost equally amazing fact, the inhabi- tation of the human heart by the Holy Ghost (1 Cor. iii. 16). (See next homily on ver. 18.) 3. For himself-that his present supplication might be answered (ver. 19). The special burden of his supplication was that Jehovah's eyes might be open upon the temple day and night, not so much for protection-though that idea must not be excluded (Ps. cxx:i. 3)-as for observation; to note when any worshipper should be directing thitherward his prayer (ver. 20), lest for want of being observed such petitioner should go without an answer. The earnestness with which Solomon ''cried" unto Jehovah concerning this thing was an attestation of the importance he attached to it. So far from doubting whether God could answer prayer, it seemed to him that, if God could not, his entire reputation and character as a God would be gone. 4. For all future 6uppliants-that their prayers might be heard (ver. 21). Solomon believed that his people would in after-years retain such a faith in Jehovah as to lead them to direct their supplications towards his earthly dwelling-place. Yet Solomon confounded not Jehovah's earthly habitation with his true dwelling-place in heaven,or expected responses from the lower sbrioe after the manner of a heathen oracle, instead of from the upper temple where Jehovah sat enthroned in unveiled glory. Jehovah's symbolic presence. might be behind the screen that concealed the holy of holies; his real presence_ was beyond the curtain of the sky. Thence accordingly should all answers come, as thither would all petitions go. The coming of such answers would be a fruit and a sign of forgiveness. Learn: I. The duty of intercessory prayer (1 Tim. ii. 1). 2. The pr?priety of publio devotion (Heh. x. 25). 3. The reverential spirit of prayer (Heb. xu. 28). 4. The feal!onableness of expecting answers to prayer (Ps. v. 3).-W. Ver.18.-" Will God in wry deed dwell with men!" I. REASON BAYS, Nol 1. The greatneBs of God forbids it. The heaven of heavens cannot contain him; how much less any house which man might bund ! or, even man's heart, which at the best is narrow and mean I The insignificance of man in comparison with the transcendent majesty of the Supreme has always been a difficulty in the way of accepting the reli· jrlon or the Bible. 2. The 6infulness of man opposes it. Had the thin~ itself-the fellowship of God with man-been ill reason's eyes conceivable, it would still have 011. vr. 1-42.] THE SECOND BOOK OF THE CHRONICLES, 77