Well, as it may please almighty gods to bless us together again this evening, we'll continue our meditation in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple. And this evening we'll read in the first book of Kings in the eighth chapter, and we'll read verses 31 to 43. So the first book of the Kings, chapter 8, and reading verse 31 to 43. First Book of Kings, chapter 8, 31 to 43.

If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him, to cause him to swear and the oath come before thine altar in this house. Then, hear thou in heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, condemning the wicked to bring his way upon his head, and justifying the righteous to give him according to his righteousness.

When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee, and shall turn again to thee, and confess thy name, and pray, and make supplication unto thee in this house, then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel. and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee, if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou afflictest them, then hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk, and give rain upon thy land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be, what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all the people of Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house. Then, here thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and forgive, and do, and give to every man according to his ways, whose heart thou knowest. For thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men, that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

Moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake. For they shall hear thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and of thy stretched out arm. When he shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for, that all people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee, as do thy people Israel, and that they may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.

So just to remember that, of course, this was an amazing occasion in the history of Israel. It was an amazing occasion in the life of King Solomon. And he spent many years organizing the building of the temple. And now it was complete. And to bring about that total completion, the Ark of the Covenant of God had been brought and placed in the most holy place. When that had been done, a cloud descended upon the temple and a magnificent light shone forth, the power of God. It must have been an amazing occasion.

And Solomon now, the king, stands up, and having addressed the people, he then prays to God. And it's just worth noting that he never refers to himself as the king or any high and mighty. He refers to himself really as a servant. And how good it is for each one of us to realize that however eminent we may be, we are just servants and what a privilege it is to be a servant of the ever-living and high God.

Well we commenced this prayer last Tuesday and tonight we'll just consider these few verses and in these verses there are really five requests and it's interesting that there are the requests and when you and I come to God in prayer we are to bring our requests and to bring our requests believing that our great God will have mercy upon us and bless us indeed.

And so he starts off in the 31st verse by saying, if any man trespass against his neighbor and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear and the oath come before thine altar in this house. So that was the position if there was someone who was for an oath for something, then they were before the altar and in the sight and hearing of Almighty God. And so Solomon says and requests then, then hear thou in heaven and do and judge thy servants condemning the wicked to bring his way upon his head and justifying the righteous to give him according to his righteousness.

Well, it was a simple request and a simple answer to that request before God. And then the second request is, when thy people, Israel, be smitten down before the enemy. And we know that that occurred many times because they have sinned against thee. That's worth noting, isn't it? God is a just and faithful God. Israel had been told how they should act, how they should react, how they should serve the Lord. And often they departed the clear testimony of God and therefore Solomon tells them when thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy because they have sinned against thee and then shall turn again to thee and confess thy name and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house that's good instruction for us today isn't it in in the way that these things were done so he says those who have sinned and they then desire to change and confess their sins and they come and they confess the name of the Lord and pray and make supplication unto thee in this house then he requests hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy people Israel and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers. Well, we see the need, we see the request. Again, we have a wonderful pattern before us for us to follow in the day and age in which we live.

And then the third request is this. When heaven is shut up and there is no rain, Because they have sinned against thee, if they pray towards this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them, a complete confession. And that's not easy. We're proud people.

And it's good to be able to come before our God and confess our sins. and confess our shortcomings and testify of what we have suffered because here Solomon says and confess thy name and turn from their sin when thou afflictest them you see they were afflicted afflicted in a physical way God deals with his children in love to their souls but we do have to find sometimes there are these things which God brings into our lives to remind us of the error of our ways. And so he says, he then requests, then, having made that confession, then, hear thou in heaven and forgive the sin of thy servants and of thy people Israel, that thou teach them the good way wherein they should walk and give rain upon the land which thou hast given to thy people for an inheritance. Well, he reminds God. He comes to God.

It's good sometimes for us as we come in prayer, if God has directed and led us and spoken to us, we can remind God of his promises and to believe, therefore, that he will uphold his word to us and bless us. And then we come to the fourth request. If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, or if there be caterpillar, if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities, whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be, what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man or by all the people of Israel there may have been sometimes that common need that common realization they've offended God and they've sinned and walked contrary to His way or by all the people of Israel which shall know every man the plague of his own heart that means when God comes and touches us and we realize how we've sinned. We realise the plague that we have, the plague of sinful propensity.

And so what a blessing it is to recognise this. And spread forth thy hands toward this house. Pray to God. Then hear thou in heaven, thy dwelling place, and forgive. You see, there wasn't just a request that God might hear. It's a request that God would then forgive and do and give to every man according to his ways whose heart thou knowest. For thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men. See, God knows our hearts. God knows our thoughts. People don't. People don't know what you're thinking. People don't know what you thought of when you've been here in chapel tonight. But God knows. And therefore Solomon was able to come with that understanding which clearly God had given to him. That God knew all about them and their hearts.

And the request was that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers. And then finally, moreover, concerning a stranger that is not of thy people Israel, but cometh out of a far country for thy name's sake, for they shall hear of thy great name that's good isn't it to think that such people hear of the Lord's great name and they've heard the Lord's great name because that's been spread abroad Israel would have told and spoken of what God had done for them and so here there is the evidence of this work going forth For they shall hear of thy great name, and of thy strong hand, and thy stretched out arm. Well, what does it mean? It means they've heard about the mercy, and the love, and the favor of the great God. And then he requests, when ye shall come and pray toward this house, hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for. So there we have a stranger from a foreign land heard about what had occurred, how God had blessed his people, and he come now and joined with Israel and sought for his blessing and his favour and now Solomon's asking those prayers might be answered.

And do according to all the stranger calleth to thee for that all people of the earth may know thy name to fear thee as do thy people Israel and that they may know that this house which I have built it is called by thy name. Well there's a lot of instruction in this prayer that Solomon was able to put up to his God and it's good for us to realize the sincerity and the simplicity of those requests and how they were formulated and to realize that today we come to the same Almighty God. We don't have to go to the temple now. No need for a temple because that passed away after Christ was crucified and finished the work. But we can still come to that great and merciful God.