Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
2 Chronicles 6:41

Clarke's Commentary

Verse 41. Let thy saints rejoice in goodness — "In the abundance of the tithes and other goods which shall be given to the Levites, as their reward for keeping the ark, and singing before it." - Jarchi.

Bridgeway Bible Commentary

Construction of the temple (2:1-7:22)

With the help of King Hiram of Tyre, Solomon prepared materials and arranged a workforce to build the planned temple (2:1-18; see notes on 1 Kings 5:1-18). Construction went on for seven years, until the temple, its furniture, its courtyard, and all other articles and decorations connected with it were completed according to plan (3:1-5:1; see notes on 1 Kings 6:1-51). The temple was then dedicated to God (5:2-7:22; see notes on 1 Kings 8:1-9).

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

A.    Conclusion of Solomon's dedicatory prayer:

"Now, O my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attentive unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore, arise, O Jehovah God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O Jehovah God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness. O Jehovah God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember thy lovingkindness to David thy servant."

The theology of this prayer is glorious indeed. (a) God dwells not in any earthly place, "the heaven of heavens cannot contain him." (b) Forgiveness of sins is available only for those who repent (turn again), confess, and pray. (c) The blessing of God is not for any race alone, not even for Israel; but it is also for those who are not of Israel. (d) All have sinned. (e) Disasters of various kinds come upon men because of their wickedness. (e) The great need of every man is forgiveness. Note how often the plea for God to forgive is uttered. (f) The omniscience of God who knows the hearts of all men, etc.

No fault may be found in this magnificent prayer. It probably represents the very zenith of Solomon's spiritual life. What a pity that the great man who prayed this prayer became the prime builder of pagan temples in his generation! We shall not attempt to make excuse for Solomon's disastrous failure, other than to point out that the ancient proverb, namely, that POWER CORRUPTS, AND TOTAL POWER CORRUPTS TOTALLY, was amazingly verified in the life of Solomon.

As we have already pointed out, these chapters are virtually identical with the account in First Kings, where what comments we have on this are written.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

In Kings, a different conclusion takes the place of these verses. The document from which both writers copied contained the full prayer of dedication, which each givcs in a somewhat abbreviated form.

2 Chronicles 6:41

Thy resting place - i. e., the holy of holies. Solomon follows closely the words of David his father, spoken probably when he brought the ark into Jerusalem. See the marginal references.

2 Chronicles 6:42

Turn not away the face of thine anointed - i. e., make him not to hide his face through shame at having his prayers rejected (compare the 1 Kings 2:16 note).

The mercies of David - i. e., “God’s mercies toward David.”

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 6

Then said Solomon, The LORD hath said that he would dwell in the thick darkness ( 2 Chronicles 6:1 ).

Now Solomon, at this point, preached the sermon to the people. All of Israel, you remember, all the chief people had gathered and out in the courtyard he had built this little brass platform seven and a half feet square, and it was about four and a half feet high. And so he stood up on this little platform so that he could address all of the congregation of Israel. And his sermon to them is a sermon on the faithfulness of God. And the very fact that, here is the temple, it is completed, it is built, it testifies to the faithfulness of God's promise.

For it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And Jehovah said unto David my father, Forasmuch as it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well in that it was in your heart: notwithstanding you shall not build it ( 2 Chronicles 6:7-9 );

Now this to me is very interesting. God said, "David, inasmuch as it was in your heart to do it, you did well. That's fine. That's good." God reckons the things of man's heart. Now it is interesting, a lot of people have a real heart to give to God, but they have nothing to give. Inasmuch as it is in their heart to give, God counts that. Some people have a lot to give to God, but they don't give with their hearts. God doesn't count that. God is interested in your heart. What is in your heart to do for God? Now, you may not always be able to accomplish that which is in your heart to do. But God takes consideration of the fact that it's in your heart to do it for the Lord.

Now, within a lot of you, it is within your heart to serve God in some capacity. It's in your heart to be in the ministry. And inasmuch as it is in your heart to serve the Lord, God acknowledges it. That's good. It may be that you will never be actively engaged in a pulpit kind of a ministry. I cannot believe that you'll never be engaged in a ministry. I believe that all of us have a ministry and some of us have the misfortune of having a pulpit ministry. And I really feel that the rewards for the ministries that are done, more or less, in a secret or a quiet way are greater than those public kind of ministries where you get so much feedback and all from the actual ministry itself.

It is interesting how so many pray that God will give them sort of a pulpit ministry or public ministry, and I prayed for years that God would give me some quiet ministry. For years I prayed that God would help me and call me just to be a Christian businessman. I wanted to prove that you could be gung-ho for Jesus Christ and be involved in business. I've heard people say, "Oh, it's so hard to be a businessman and be a Christian." I don't believe that. And I've always wanted God to call me to be a businessman so I could prove that you can be a sold-out, gung-ho Christian working in the business world.

What is in your heart to do for God? God sees your heart. God knows your heart, and not only that, God accounts what's in your heart to do. And when God finally measures the things that are done, we must all stand before the judgment seat of Christ to receive the reward for the things that we have done in our body, whether it be good or evil, and all of our works are going to be judged by fire, "what manner or sort they are" ( 1 Corinthians 3:13 ). And if your works for the Lord endure this fiery judgment, you'll receive a reward. But many of the works are as wood, hay, and stubble, and will be consumed in that day of judgment. And you've come and offer all your works before God and is tested by God's fire, and poof! There went all your works.

"But Lord, where is my reward?" You had it! You were doing your works in such an ostensible way that everybody recognized and knew what you were doing. When you pray, don't sound a trumpet before you and all, or don't go out in the street corners and don't make a big fanfare. Go into your closet, shut the door. Your Father which sees in secret will reward you. When you give, don't make a big to-do over the amount you're giving in a big parade over the thing, but just don't even let your right hand know what your left hand does. "Give to the Father in secret and your Father which seest in secret will reward you" ( Matthew 6:4 ).

When you fast, don't make a big deal over your fasting and go around with a long face and a hungry look so that everybody knows you're fasting. But wash and anoint your face. Look happy and fast and your Father which sees in secret will reward you.

Your works will be tested. What was the motivation? Was I desiring to appear righteous before people? Was I desiring feedback from people? Or was I taking the position that I had to feed my own egoistic needs? If so, those works will all go up in the smoke of the fire by which my works are to be judged. And I will lose the reward for any work that I may have done for vain, glory sake. God is going to judge the things of the heart. What was the motivation? And that is why it is so important that we be motivated by the constraining love of Jesus Christ. As Paul said, "For the love of Christ constrains me. For I thus judge, if one died for all, then are all dead" ( 2 Corinthians 5:14 ). And it's important that I get out the message of life to those who are dead. And God, pressure on me. Woe is me if I preach not the gospel of Jesus Christ that burns within. Do the work of God with that great compassion. "I could wish myself accursed from Christ for my brethren's sake according to the flesh" ( Romans 9:3 ). The Jews.

So it was in my father's heart, David, to build a house unto the Lord. And the Lord said, Inasmuch as it was in your heart, that's good. But you can't do it. It's good it's in your heart to do it. I'll account that. But David, you can't do it.

But your son which shall come forth out of your loins, he shall build the house for my name ( 2 Chronicles 6:9 ).

And so God's promise to David is, "You can't build a house, but your son that will come out of your loins, he will build a house." And so Solomon is now preaching his sermon, the faithfulness of God's work. And he said,

The LORD therefore hath performed his word that he has spoken: for I am risen up in the place of David my father, and I am set upon the throne of Israel, as the LORD promised, and I have built the house for the name of the LORD God of Israel. And in it I have put the ark, wherein is the covenant of the LORD, that he made with the children of Israel ( 2 Chronicles 6:10-11 ).

And so the message of Solomon to the people was a message of the faithfulness of God.

Now he then knelt on this little brass altar or platform that he had built in the presence of the congregation of Israel, and he spread forth his hands toward heaven: and he said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in heaven, or in earth; which keeps your covenant, and shows the mercy to your servants, that walk before you with all your hearts ( 2 Chronicles 6:12-14 ):

No God in all the world that keeps His promises and shows mercy as You do.

Which has kept with thy servant David my father that which you have promised him; you fulfilled even as we can see today. Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which you have promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as you have walked before me. Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let Your word be verified, which You have spoken unto thy servant David. But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? Behold, the heaven of heavens cannot contain you; how much less this house which I have built! Have respect therefore to the prayer of your servant, and to his supplications, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which your servant prayed before thee: That your eyes ( 2 Chronicles 6:15-20 )

Now Lord, I know that isn't a place for You to dwell in. I know that can't hold You. But let Your eyes,

be open upon this house day and night ( 2 Chronicles 6:20 ),

In other words, just watch it.

And on the place where you have said that you would put your name there; to hearken to the prayer which your servant prays toward this place ( 2 Chronicles 6:20 ).

So Lord, this isn't a place for You to dwell. Heavens can't contain You. But this is a place where men can come and meet You. So Lord, watch this place and keep Your ear open to the prayers that come forth to You from this place.

Hearken to the supplications of thy servant, and of the people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: and hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when you hear, forgive ( 2 Chronicles 6:21 ).

So Lord, not a place for You to live. You dwell in heaven. But when we offer our prayers here, hear the prayers. "Hearken to the prayers of your servants: and hear from Your dwelling place in heaven; and when you hear, O God, forgive."

And now he foresees situations that may arise. The broken covenants.

If a man sins against his neighbor, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house; then hear from heaven, and do, and judge your servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his ways upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous ( 2 Chronicles 6:22-23 ).

Let there be, Lord, righteousness judgment proceeding.

And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before their enemies, because they have sinned against thee ( 2 Chronicles 6:24 );

And he now foresees these things that would transpire to the nation for sinning against God. And the first that they see, that he sees is that they would be put to the worst before their enemies.

but if they shall return and confess your name, and pray and make supplication in this house; Then hear thou from heaven, forgive thy people Israel, bring them again unto the land which you gave to their fathers. Now when the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, then hear from heaven. If there be dearth in the land, if there be a pestilence, if there be a blasting, or mildew, or locusts, or caterpillars; or if their enemies besiege their cities; or whatsoever sore or sickness there may be ( 2 Chronicles 6:24-28 ):

Whatever plague might go through.

Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people of Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house: then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men;) ( 2 Chronicles 6:29-30 )

How many times we think we know what's in the heart of the children. But we really don't. We are so guilty of misjudging people's motives. Some people are very gifted and talented in discerning the motives of others, they think. And they oftentimes read wrong motivation into a person's actions. And they are always looking for some ulterior kind of motive.

I had a lady in one of the churches I pastored. If you would say, "Good morning. How are you today?" She'd say, "Now just what did you mean 'Good morning'? And what are you really trying to say?" And always looking for some kind of an ulterior motive or hidden message or something. Thinking that you're trying to talk in double-entendres or something. Using innuendoes and all. And I've never been sophisticated enough to use double-entendres. So it's one of those things that only God really knows the heart and what's in the heart of the children of men.

If the strangers come in and they come into this place and they stretch out their arms and pray; then hear from heaven. If your people go out to war against their enemies, and they shall pray toward this city; then hear from heaven and answer their supplications, maintain their cause. If they sin against thee, [and then he said] (for there is no man which sinneth not,) ( 2 Chronicles 6:32-36 ).

The Bible says, "All have sinned, and come short of the glory of God" ( Romans 3:23 ). "There is none righteous, no, not one" ( Romans 3:10 ). And Solomon, a wise man, said, "For there is no man that sinneth not."

and you be angry with them, and deliver them before their enemies, and they are carried away as hostages into a land that is far off or near; yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and they turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have dealt wickedly; if they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have been carried captives, and they pray toward this land, that you gave to their fathers, and toward this city which you have chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name: Hear thou from heaven, even thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee ( 2 Chronicles 6:36-39 ).

Now in this, "being carried away captive and turning towards Jerusalem and praying," who does this remind you of? Daniel. You remember when he was in captivity in Babylon that he prayed three times daily. He'd open the windows towards Jerusalem and pray. And even the prayer of Daniel was what? The confession of sin. And it's following, really, the pattern that he was praying according to the pattern that Solomon had given here. If they confess their sins, and say, "We have done amiss. We have dealt wickedly," and you read the prayer of Daniel in captivity, and you know that he was familiar with this prayer of Solomon. Because he was doing exactly what Solomon had foreseen them doing in the future when carried into captivity. And so Daniel followed the pattern in his prayer.

Now, my God, I beseech thee, that thine eyes be open, thy ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice with goodness ( 2 Chronicles 6:40-41 ).

What a beautiful sight. The priests clothed with salvation and the saints of God rejoicing in the goodness of God.

O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant ( 2 Chronicles 6:42 ). "

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

3. Solomon’s prayer 6:12-42

In his prayer, Solomon explained the significance of God coming to indwell His temple. God had come to empower, to have fellowship, and to judge, if necessary. God was present among His people, and He would hear their prayers when they obediently called out to Him.

Solomon acknowledged that God had fulfilled some of the promises of the Davidic Covenant already (2 Chronicles 6:15), but he also saw that there were others yet unfulfilled. He called on God to grant them (2 Chronicles 6:16). Solomon’s view of God was that He was both transcendent and immanent (2 Chronicles 6:18). Even though God is everywhere at once, He can and does localize (not limit) His presence as well (e.g., the incarnate Christ, cf. John 2:20-21). At this period in history He localized His presence in the temple. Nevertheless, in heaven, He would hear the prayers of His people, wherever they might be when they called out to Him (2 Chronicles 6:38-39).

Solomon specified seven specific situations in which he asked the Lord to intervene in answer to prayer. These were when the people swore an oath in the temple (2 Chronicles 6:22-23), suffered defeat and exile from an enemy (2 Chronicles 6:24-25), and lacked rain (2 Chronicles 6:26-27). They were also when they experienced disease or other disasters (2 Chronicles 6:28-31), and when foreigners would come to pray toward the temple (2 Chronicles 6:32-33). The final two situations were when Israel was at war (2 Chronicles 6:34-35), and when Israel was in captivity due to sin (2 Chronicles 6:36-39).

This prayer is similar in its structure to Abraham’s prayer recorded in Genesis 18:22-33. It also recalls Elijah’s prayer on Mount Carmel in that God responded to both of these prayers with fire from heaven (2 Chronicles 7:1; cf. 1 Kings 18:38-39).

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

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Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

      12 And he stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands:   13 For Solomon had made a brasen scaffold, of five cubits long, and five cubits broad, and three cubits high, and had set it in the midst of the court: and upon it he stood, and kneeled down upon his knees before all the congregation of Israel, and spread forth his hands toward heaven,   14 And said, O LORD God of Israel, there is no God like thee in the heaven, nor in the earth; which keepest covenant, and showest mercy unto thy servants, that walk before thee with all their hearts:   15 Thou which hast kept with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him; and spakest with thy mouth, and hast fulfilled it with thine hand, as it is this day.   16 Now therefore, O LORD God of Israel, keep with thy servant David my father that which thou hast promised him, saying, There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit upon the throne of Israel; yet so that thy children take heed to their way to walk in my law, as thou hast walked before me.   17 Now then, O LORD God of Israel, let thy word be verified, which thou hast spoken unto thy servant David.   18 But will God in very deed dwell with men on the earth? behold, heaven and the heaven of heavens cannot contain thee; how much less this house which I have built!   19 Have respect therefore to the prayer of thy servant, and to his supplication, O LORD my God, to hearken unto the cry and the prayer which thy servant prayeth before thee:   20 That thine eyes may be open upon this house day and night, upon the place whereof thou hast said that thou wouldest put thy name there; to hearken unto the prayer which thy servant prayeth toward this place.   21 Hearken therefore unto the supplications of thy servant, and of thy people Israel, which they shall make toward this place: hear thou from thy dwelling place, even from heaven; and when thou hearest, forgive.   22 If a man sin against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to make him swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house;   23 Then hear thou from heaven, and do, and judge thy servants, by requiting the wicked, by recompensing his way upon his own head; and by justifying the righteous, by giving him according to his righteousness.   24 And if thy people Israel be put to the worse before the enemy, because they have sinned against thee; and shall return and confess thy name, and pray and make supplication before thee in this house;   25 Then hear thou from the heavens, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel, and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest to them and to their fathers.   26 When the heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; yet if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou dost afflict them;   27 Then hear thou from heaven, and forgive the sin of thy servants, and of thy people Israel, when thou hast taught them the good way, wherein they should walk; and send rain upon thy land, which thou hast given unto thy people for an inheritance.   28 If there be dearth in the land, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting, or mildew, locusts, or caterpillars; if their enemies besiege them in the cities of their land; whatsoever sore or whatsoever sickness there be:   29 Then what prayer or what supplication soever shall be made of any man, or of all thy people Israel, when every one shall know his own sore and his own grief, and shall spread forth his hands in this house:   30 Then hear thou from heaven thy dwelling place, and forgive, and render unto every man according unto all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou only knowest the hearts of the children of men:)   31 That they may fear thee, to walk in thy ways, so long as they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.   32 Moreover concerning the stranger, which is not of thy people Israel, but is come from a far country for thy great name's sake, and thy mighty hand, and thy stretched out arm; if they come and pray in this house;   33 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from 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, and fear thee, as doth thy people Israel, and may know that this house which I have built is called by thy name.   34 If thy people go out to war against their enemies by the way that thou shalt send them, and they pray unto thee toward this city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name;   35 Then hear thou from the heavens their prayer and their supplication, and maintain their cause.   36 If they sin against thee, (for there is no man which sinneth not,) and thou be angry with them, and deliver them over before their enemies, and they carry them away captives unto a land far off or near;   37 Yet if they bethink themselves in the land whither they are carried captive, and turn and pray unto thee in the land of their captivity, saying, We have sinned, we have done amiss, and have dealt wickedly;   38 If they return to thee with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their captivity, whither they have carried them captives, and pray toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, and toward the city which thou hast chosen, and toward the house which I have built for thy name:   39 Then hear thou from the heavens, even from thy dwelling place, their prayer and their supplications, and maintain their cause, and forgive thy people which have sinned against thee.   40 Now, my God, let, I beseech thee, thine eyes be open, and let thine ears be attent unto the prayer that is made in this place.   41 Now therefore arise, O LORD God, into thy resting place, thou, and the ark of thy strength: let thy priests, O LORD God, be clothed with salvation, and let thy saints rejoice in goodness.   42 O LORD God, turn not away the face of thine anointed: remember the mercies of David thy servant.

      Solomon had, in the foregoing verses, signed and sealed, as it were, the deed of dedication, by which the temple was appropriated to the honour and service of God. Now here he prays the consecration-prayer, by which it was made a figure of Christ, the great Mediator, through whom we are to offer all our prayers, and to expect all God's favours, and to whom we are to have an eye in every thing where we have to do with God. We have opened the particulars of this prayer (1 Kings 8:12-53) and therefore shall now only glean up some few passages in it which may be the proper subjects of our meditation.

      I. Here are some doctrinal truths occasionally laid down. As, 1. That the God of Israel is a being of incomparable perfection. We cannot describe him; but this we know, there is none like him in heaven or in earth,2 Chronicles 6:14; 2 Chronicles 6:14. All the creatures have their fellow-creatures, but the Creator has not his peer. He is infinitely above all, and over all, God blessed for ever. 2. That he is, and will be, true to every word that he has spoken; and all that serve him in sincerity shall certainly find him both faithful and kind. Those that set God always before them, and walk before him with all their hearts, shall find him as good as his word and better; he will both keep covenant with them and show mercy to them, 2 Chronicles 6:14; 2 Chronicles 6:14. 3. That he is a being infinite and immense, whom the heaven, and heaven of heavens, cannot contain, and to whose felicity nothing is added by the utmost we can do in his service, 2 Chronicles 6:18; 2 Chronicles 6:18. He is infinitely beyond the bounds of the creation and infinitely above the praises of all intelligent creatures. 4. That he, and he only, knows the hearts of the children of men,2 Chronicles 6:30; 2 Chronicles 6:30. All men's thoughts, aims, and affections, are naked and open before him; and, however the imaginations and intents of our hearts may be concealed from men, angels, and devils, they cannot be hidden from God, who knows not only what is in the heart, but the heart itself and all the beatings of it. 5. That there is no such thing as a sinless perfection to be found in this life (2 Chronicles 6:36; 2 Chronicles 6:36): There is no man who sinneth not; nay, who doeth good and sinneth not; so he writes, agreeable to what he here says, Ecclesiastes 7:20.

      II. Here are some suppositions or cases put which are to be taken notice of. 1. He supposed that if doubts and controversies arose between man and man both sides would agree to appeal to God, and lay an oath upon the person whose testimony must decide the matter, 2 Chronicles 6:22; 2 Chronicles 6:22. The religious reverence of an oath, as it was ancient, so, it may be presumed, it will continue as long as there are any remains of conscience and right reason among men. 2. He supposed that, though Israel enjoyed a profound peace and tranquillity, yet troublesome times would come. He did not think the mountain of their prosperity stood so strong but that it might be moved; nay, he expected sin would move it. 3. He supposed that those who had not called upon God at other times, yet, in their affliction, would seek him early and earnestly. "When they are in distress they will confess their sins, and confess thy name, and make supplication to thee." Trouble will drive those to God who have said to him, Depart, 2 Chronicles 6:24; 2 Chronicles 6:26; 2 Chronicles 6:28. 4. He supposed that strangers would come from afar to worship the God of Israel and to pay homage to him; and this also might reasonably be expected, considering what worthless things the gods of the nations were, and what proofs the God of Israel had given of his being Lord of the whole earth.

      III. Here are petitions very pertinent. 1. That God would own this house, and have an eye to it, as the place of which he had said that he would put his name there, 2 Chronicles 6:20; 2 Chronicles 6:20. He could not, in faith, have asked God to show such peculiar favour to this house above any other if he himself had not said that it should be his rest for ever. The prayer that will speed must be warranted by the word. We may with humble confidence pray to God to be well pleased with us in Jesus Christ, because he had declared himself well pleased in him--This is my beloved Son; but he says not now of any house, "This is my beloved place." 2. That God would hear and accept the prayers which should be made in or towards that place, 2 Chronicles 6:21; 2 Chronicles 6:21. He asked not that God should help them whether they prayed for themselves or no, but that God would help them in answer to their prayers. Even Christ's intercessions do not supersede but encourage our supplications. He prayed that God would hear from his dwelling-place, even from heaven. Heaven in his dwelling-place still, not this temple; and thence help must come. When thou hearest forgive. Note, The forgiveness of our sins is that which makes way for all the other answers to our prayers, Removendo prohibens--The evil which it drives away it keeps away. 3. That God would give judgment according to equity upon all the appeals that should be made to him, 2 Chronicles 6:23; 2 Chronicles 6:30. This we may, in faith, pray for, for we are sure it shall be done. God sitteth on the throne judging right. 4. That God would return in mercy to his people when they repented, and reformed, and sought unto him, 2 Chronicles 6:25; 2 Chronicles 6:27; 2 Chronicles 6:38; 2 Chronicles 6:39. This we also may, in faith, pray for, building upon the repeated declarations God has made of his readiness to accepts penitents. 5. That God would bid the strangers welcome to this house, and answer their prayers (2 Chronicles 6:33; 2 Chronicles 6:33); for, if there be in duty, why should there not be in privilege one law for the stranger and for one born in the land? Leviticus 24:22. 6. That God would, upon all occasions, own and plead the cause of his people Israel, against all the opposers of it (2 Chronicles 6:35; 2 Chronicles 6:35): Maintain their cause; and again, 2 Chronicles 6:39; 2 Chronicles 6:39. If they be the Israel of God, their cause is the cause of God, and he would espouse it. 7. He concludes this prayer with some expressions which he had learned of his good father, and borrowed from one of his psalms. We had then not in the Kings, but here we have them, 2 Chronicles 6:41; 2 Chronicles 6:42. The whole word of God is of use to direct us in prayer; and how can we express ourselves in better language to God than that of his own Spirit? But these words were of use, in a special manner, to direct Solomon, because they had reference to this very work that he was now doing. We have them, Psalms 132:8-10. He prayer (2 Chronicles 6:41; 2 Chronicles 6:41), (1.) That God would take possession of the temple, and keep possession, that he would make it his resting-place: Thou and the ark; what will the ark do without the God of the ark-ordinances without the God of the ordinances? (2.) That he would make the ministers of the temple public blessings: Clothe them with salvation, that is, not only save them, but make them instrumental to save others, by offering the sacrifices of righteousness. (3.) That the service of the temple might turn abundantly to the joy and satisfaction of all the Lord's people: Let thy saints rejoice in goodness, that is, in the goodness of thy house,Psalms 65:4. "Let all that come hither to worship, like the eunuch, go away rejoicing." He pleads two things, 2 Chronicles 6:42; 2 Chronicles 6:42. [1.] His own relation to God: "Turn not away the face of thy anointed. Lord, thou hast appointed me to be king, and wilt not thou own me?" [2.] God's covenant with his father: Remember thy mercies of David thy servant--the piety of David towards God (so some understand it and so the word sometimes signifies), his pious care of the ark, and concern for it (see Psalms 132:1; Psalms 132:2, c.), or the promises of God to David, which were mercies to him, his great support and comforts in all his troubles. We may plead, as Solomon does here, with an eye to Christ:--"We deserve that God should turn away our face, that he should reject us and our prayers but we come in the name of the Lord Jesus, thy anointed, thy Messiah (so the word is), thy Christ, so the LXX. Him thou hearest always, and wilt never turn away his face. We have no righteousness of our own to plead, but, Lord, remember the mercies of David thy servant." Christ is God's servant (Isaiah 42:1), and is called David,Hosea 3:5. "Lord, remember his mercies, and accept us on the account of them. Remember his tender concern for his Father's honour and man's salvation, and what he did and suffered from that principle. Remember the promises of the everlasting covenant, which free grace has made to us in Christ, and which are called the sure mercies of David," Isaiah 55:3; Acts 13:34. This must be all our desire and all our hope, all our prayer and all our plea; for it is all our salvation.