1 Kings 8:1-66

The Dedication of the Temple and its Teaching.

The eighth day of the seventh month of the year 1004 B.C or, according to some, B.C. 1000, was one of the brightest days of Jewish history—

"a day in golden letters to be set

Among the high tides of the calendar;"

for on that day the holy and beautiful house, which had been seven and a half years in building, for which preparations had been made for a much longer period (1 Chronicles 22:5), and on which a force of some one hundred and sixty thousand workmen had been in different ways employed; on that day of days this house of houses was solemnly dedicated to the service of Almighty God. Let us carry our thoughts back to that day; let us join the procession; let us try to realize the scene, for we may learn a lesson thence, first, as to the consecration of our churches, and secondly, as to the dedication of our souls and bodies to God.

It is an enormous concourse that is gathered in and about the holy city. From "the entering in of Hamath to the river of Egypt" (1 Kings 8:65) every town and hamlet had sent up its tale of men. No Israelite who could be present—and in the seventh month the labours of the field were well nigh over—would be absent. We must not think of the heads of the tribes alone; it is a nation keeps festival today. And such a nation, with such a history! And its glory culminates today in the dedication of its temple. What child of Israel, then, but would be there?

With early morning all Jerusalem, and its neighbouring hills and valleys (Psalms 125:2), was instinct with life. The Easterns always rise early, and that day was a high day. It is still early when the great procession is marshalled. At its head is "Solomon in all his glory." The dignitaries of the State, of the Church (1 Kings 4:1-19); all are there. Their rendezvous is the Mount Zion; their object to escort the ark of God, with all the honour they can render it, on its last journey, to its last resting place. And so the white robed priests (2 Chronicles 5:12) take up the consecrated structure and bear it tenderly, yet proudly, to its home. Today the Levites may not carry it. As at the Jordan (Joshua 4:10), as at Jericho (Joshua 6:4), as in Mount Ebal (Joshua 8:33), so on its last journey it must be borne on the shoulders of priests. The procession—we cannot follow its course, for it is probable that, for the sake of effect, it would make a considerable detour, perhaps a circuit of the city; nor can we speak of its psalms—and we may be sure if psalms (Psalms 15:1-5, Psalms 29:1-11; 1 Chronicles 17:7 -36) were chanted at the removal of the ark, they would not be wanting at the dedication of the temple—or its sacrifices (1 Kings 8:5)—the procession (cf. 1 Kings 1:38) at last reaches the temple precinct; it passes through the gate; here the crowd is checked, but the priests and princes pass on; they reach the inner court; here the princes stop, but the priests pass on. The whole temple platform is now choked with worshippers, while thousands who cannot gain admittance witness the august ceremonial from without, many, no doubt, having found a coign of vantage on the Mount of Olives. The priests, with their precious burden, pass through the porch, pass through the holy place, pass through the veil into the thick darkness of the oracle. There they lay down the ark, the outward and visible sign of the covenant, under the overshadowing wings of the colossal cherubim. They leave it wrapped in darkness; they leave it to begin at once their ministrations before the new shrine. At this point of the ceremonial it had been arranged that priests and Levites, singers, trumpeters, and harpists should burst into a song of praise (2 Chronicles 5:12, 18). But ere they can fully accomplish their purpose, the dedication has become a true consecration, for the awful cloud, the token of the Divine presence, the cloud which retied" the glory of the Lord" has filled the house, and the priests cannot stand to minister. As at the dedication of the tabernacle (Exodus 40:34) so now, the incommunicable Godhead has "come in a thick cloud" (Exodus 19:8), and has driven them, as it drove Moses, from the sanctuary. The king, who sees the portent from without, recognizes at once that his and his father's hope is realized; that his and his people's offering is accepted; that his and their projects and labours are now crowned; and, overcome with joy, he cries, "I have surely built thee a house to dwell in, a settled place," etc.

"Majestic silence! then the harp awoke,

The cymbal clanged, the deep-voiced trumpet spoke,

And Salem spread her suppliant hands abroad,

Viewed the descending flame, and blessed the present God."

Such, in brief, was the dedication of this house. It is true prayers and sacrifices followed, but of these we cannot now speak particularly. The essential parts of the consecration were

So that in this service, as in all true services, there were two parts, man's and God's. It was man's part to offer the house with appropriate ceremonial to the Most High; it was God's part to accept it with appropriate signs. Now both of these are commonly and correctly called consecration. It will be for our convenience, however, if we now call the first of these dedication and restrict the term consecration to the second. And, using the words in these senses, let us see in this imposing ceremonial a lesson, first, as to our churches. As to which, we learn:

I. THAT CHURCHES SHOULD BE FORMALLY DEDICATED TO GOD. For if a formal service of dedication was fitting in the case of the temple, how can it be inappropriate in the case of the church? Is the latter less worthy of care and reverent regard than the former? Is it built for objects of less importance, or objects less Divine? Is it less dear to God, or less truly "God's house," because man is admitted to a place therein? Or may men build houses for God and retain the ownership for themselves? "Can we judge it a thing seemly for any man to go about the building of an house to the God of heaven with no other appearances than if his end Were to rear up a kitchen or parlour for his own use? Or, when a work of such a nature is finished, remaineth there nothing but presently to use it and so an end?" (Hooker.) Alas, that churches and chapels should ever have been offered—sometimes by public auction—to the pewholders, or dedicated by brass plates, etc; to the service of opulent parishioners. Too often have they become congeries of petty freeholds, temples of exclusiveness, God's house in nothing but name. But this could not have been if the true idea of dedication had not been obscured or lost.

II. HOW CHURCHES SHOULD BE DEDICATED TO GOD. This history tells us that it should be with all possible solemnity and stateliness. There may surely be a procession. If this was right for the Jew, it cannot be wrong for us. There may be processional hymns—the psalm which was acceptable in their lips cannot be unbecoming in ours; the dignitaries of the State may join the ranks, even "kings of the earth" may "bring their glory and honour into it" (Revelation 21:24); in fact, it cannot be too stately, provided it be done not for self glorification but for the glory of God. For is not God the same now as then; is He not still a great king? And is not man the same? Does he not still owe the profoundest homage he can render to his Maker? And if it be heartfelt, why may it not be public? The history teaches that an august ritual befits the dedication of a church, and that, inter alia, there should be sacrifices (1 Kings 8:5, 1 Kings 8:62; cf. 2 Samuel 24:24—we should not come before the Lord empty), music (2 Chronicles 5:12, 2 Chronicles 5:13—the language of heaven, the one tongue that escaped confusion at the building of Babel), and that the book of the covenant should be borne (as it is in Germany, and as the ark was) in procession to its place. "These things the wisdom of Solomon did not account superfluous" (Hooker).

It is to be remembered here that our Lord by His presence sanctioned the observance of a feast of dedication (John 10:22).

III. THAT CHURCHES MUST BE CONSECRATED BY GOD. The bishop, or other officer, can only consecrate in the sense of dedicating—of setting apart from profane uses. And this is what the consecration of churches and churchyards really means—no more and no less (see Hooker, Eccles. Pol. 5.12. 6), If either is to be "hallowed" (1 Kings 9:2), it must be by the Divine presence. The Moslems say that wherever their great Caliph Omar prayed is consecrated ground. We hold that holy ground (Exodus 3:5) must derive its sanctity from the All-Holy. The God who filled the temple must also hallow the church.

IV. THAT CHURCHES SINCERELY DEDICATED TO GOD WILL BE CONSECRATED BY GOD. Was the Ineffable Presence granted to the temple? Then why not to the church also? God has no favourites, nor is His arm shortened. The Presence will not be revealed, but it will be there; none the less real, all the more real, because it is spiritual. It would be strange if, in the dispensation of the Spirit, we disbelieved in the presence of Him who fills heaven and earth, who is "in the midst of the seven candlesticks" (Revelation 1:13), and who has promised His presence to companies of "two or three" sincere souls (Matthew 18:20, Ubi tres, ibi ecclesia). Our churches indeed are "sanctified by the word of God and prayer" (1 Timothy 4:5), and if there is no cloud, yet we may "behold the glory of the Lord" (2 Corinthians 3:18); but they receive their full and perfect consecration in the κοινωνία of Christ's body and blood (1 Corinthians 10:16). Men forget that if there is not a Real Presence then there must be a real absence. Some will allow God to be present everywhere—except in His church and sacraments.

As to the Christian life, this dedication of the temple reminds us—

I. THAT OUR BODIES ARE TEMPLES OF THE HOLY GHOST (1 Corinthians 6:19; 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 3:17; 2 Corinthians 6:16). "God has built" the "temple of the body" (John 2:21) to be His shrine (Romans 8:9, Romans 8:11; 2 Corinthians 6:16; Ephesians 3:17).

II. THAT WE SHOULD DEDICATE THEM TO GOD (Romans 6:13, Romans 6:19; Romans 12:1; 1 Corinthians 6:13 -29; Matthew 22:21). This is done in baptism, may be done in confirmation, and must be done in conversion (the turning to God).

III. THAT IF WE DEDICATE THEM, GOD WILL CONSECRATE THEM. If we "open the door" (Revelation 3:20; John 14:23) He will enter in and dwell there. We have but to give the heart—the innermost recess of the house, the adytum—to Him, and He will possess and glorify the whole body (Luke 11:34, Luke 11:36).

1 Kings 6:1-38. 1 Kings 6:7, and 1 Kings 8:1-66. 1 Kings 8:12

The Silence and the Darkness.

In the first of these passages we are told that the house, built for the habitation of the Most High, was reared in profound silence; in the second, that the Most High Himself dwelleth in the thick darkness.

Now observe, first, that darkness stands in the same relation to sight that silence does to hearing. In the one, nothing is seen; in the other, nothing is heard. And, secondly, that the cloud and the house were alike the shrine and the dwelling place of Deity: the cloud the inner, the temple the outer abode. We learn, therefore, that the God who appears in the cloud (Le 1 Kings 16:2), and dwells in the thick gloom of the oracle, is One who shrouds Himself in silence and darkness. Hence, let us learn—

I. THAT HE IS A GOD THAT HIDETH HIMSELF (Isaiah 45:15). "No man hath seen God at any time" (John 1:18; Matthew 11:27; Deuteronomy 4:12). "Thick darkness is under his feet" (Psalms 18:9, Hebrews) "Darkness is his secret place; dark waters and thick clouds his pavilion" (1 Kings 8:11; of. Psalms 97:2). And He hides Himself, not as Eastern kings have done (comp. Esther 1:14, and Herod. 3:84), to enhance their renown and dignity, and to increase the awe and reverence of their subjects—omne ignotum pro magnifico—but because we cannot see His face and live (Exodus 33:20). "Whom no man hath seen or can see" (1 Timothy 6:16). "Dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto" (ib.) Cf. Acts 22:11.

II. THAT WE CANNOT BY SEARCHING FIND OUT GOD (Job 11:7). In one sense those are not so far wrong who speak of Him as "the Unknowable." The Quicunque vult describes Him as "Incomprehensible" (Latin, immensus, i.e; immeasureable). Man cannot understand the mysteries of his own existence, how much less the being of the Godhead. If we could understand God, we should be intellectually equal with God (Genesis 3:22). It is no argument against the doctrine of the Trinity, or the eternal generation of the Son, or the procession of the Holy Ghost, that each is a mystery. How could it be otherwise? We have "nothing to draw with, and the well is deep."

III. THAT HIS WAYS ARE WRAPPED IS DARKNESS. See Romans 2:1-29:33; Deuteronomy 29:29; Ecclesiastes 11:5. His judgments are an abyss of which we cannot see the bottom (Psalms 36:6). His footsteps are not known (Psalms 77:19). As He dwells in the thick cloud, so are His judgments far above out of sight (Psalms 10:5). "It is the glory of God to conceal a thing" (Proverbs 25:2). Hence it is that His dealings are often so mysterious and painful, because what He does we know not now (John 13:7). The disciples" feared when they entered into the cloud" (Luke 9:1-62:84). "Now we know in part." We only see, it has been said, as it were, the underside of the carpet, and so life is a confused and meaningless mixture. It is not God's will that we should see the plan and pattern yet. (Cf. Colossians 1:26; Ephesians 3:9.)

IV. THAT HIS WORKS ARE WROUGHT IN SILENCE. He is Himself a God that keepeth silence; Psalms 1:3, 21 recognizes this. If silence be golden, the Eternal has observed this golden rule. Men blaspheme Him, defy Him, challenge Him to smite them dead—as a well known atheist is said to have done—etc; and He keeps silence. Amid "earth's many voices," amid its everlasting Babel, His voice is never heard. Similarly, He works in the silence. At the creation, "He spake and it was done." "God said, Let there be light, and there was light." Creation moves in silence. We speak of "the music of the spheres; but it is buts beautiful conceit. On the contrary, "there is no speech, no language; their voice is not heard" (Psalms 19:8, Heb.) Much truer is that exquisite conception—

"And nightly to the listening earth

Repeats the story of her birth."

The fact is that,

"In solemn silence, all

Move round this dark terrestrial ball."

And in silence, too, is this planet sustained and ordered. How

"silently the springtime

Her crown of verdure weaves,

And all the trees on all the hills

Open their thousand leaves."

Or as another, not less beautifully, puts it—

"Soundless as chariots on the snow

The saplings of the forest grow

To trees of mighty girth:

Each nightly star in silence burns,

And every day in silence turns

The axle of the earth.

"The silent frost, with mighty hand,

Fetters the rivers and the land

With universal chain;

And, smitten by the silent sun,

The chain is loosed, the rivers run,

The lands are free again."

But for the discordant din of men, and but for the voices of beasts and birds, this earth would be a temple of silence. And it is in the silence that God reveals Himself. Not in the great and strong wind, not in the earthquake, not in the fire, but in the still small voice (1 Kings 19:12, 1 Kings 19:18). "Let us be silent," says one, "that we may hear the whispers of the gods." In the silence, too, His Church has grown. His kingdom "cometh not with observation" (Luke 17:20). As silently as the seed grows, day and night, in the soil; as silently as the leaven works in the meal. And in the silence our Holy Lord will come again—as a thief in the night, as a snare, as the lightning.

V. THAT ALL THE EARTH SHOULD KEEP SILENCE BEFORE HIM (Habakkuk 2:20). It is not meant to preach here "the eternal duty of silence," nor that all worship should be "of the silent sort;" but that, in realizing the awful presence of God, men should be hushed into the profoundest awe. When we do "take upon ourselves to speak unto our Lord," we should remember that "we are but dust and ashes" (Genesis 18:27). Our finger on our lips, our lips in the dust. It was this feeling, in part, led Solomon to build the temple in silence. And the feeling which found this expression in act he has elsewhere translated in words (see Ecclesiastes 5:1, Ecclesiastes 5:2). It was with a similar feeling that our Lord acted (Mark 11:16). And it is significant that we read of "silence in heaven" (Revelation 8:1).

VI. THAT GOD'S WORK MUST BE DONE IN SILENCE. "All real work is quiet work. It must be unobtrusive if it is to be fruitful. "The temple was thrown down with axes and hammers, and they that did it roared in the midst of the congregation (Psalms 74:4, Psalms 74:6), but it was built up in silence" (M. Henry). A temple of the Lord, a temple of "living stones," is now being built. "O God, that the axes of schism or the hammers of furious contention should be heard within Thy sanctuary" (Hall). It is because of our unseemly cries and wranglings, because of the clash of controversy and the shouts of heated partizans, that this temple has made such poor progress. Not until we have been first hushed into silence can the headstone be brought forth with shouting (Zechariah 4:7).

1 Kings 8:2; cf. 1 Kings 6:16

The Holy of Holies and the Heaven of Heavens.

Elsewhere we have spoken of the correspondence of the Jewish temple with the Christian Church. But let us now trace a truer and higher resemblance. For the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us that the "holy places made with hands" are "the figures ( ἀντίτυπα, i.e; copies) of the true" (Hebrews 9:24). The temple of Solomon, therefore, must correspond to things in the heavens. It does this, first, in its structure; secondly, in its furniture; thirdly, in its services.

I. IN ITS STRUCTURE. The temple, we have seen, was a reproduction, on an enlarged scale, and in a more permanent form, of the tabernacle. And the tabernacle was fashioned after a heavenly pattern (Exodus 25:40; Exodus 26:30; Exodus 27:8; Hebrews 8:5). Thrice was Moses admonished to make it "according to the fashion which was showed him in the mount." It has been well said that earth is

"But the shadow of heaven, and things therein

Are to each other like."

But this is true in a special sense of the earthly and heavenly temples. Their resemblance is recognized in the very language used of the temple. "Heaven thy dwelling place" is constantly found in close connexion with "this house" (1 Kings 8:30, 1 Kings 8:34, 1 Kings 8:39, 1 Kings 8:43). The same word—Zebul—used of the temple in 1 Kings 8:13 is used of heaven in Isaiah 63:15. Compare also Isaiah 63:18, "a settled place for thee to dwell in," etc; with verses 30, 39, 48, etc. (Hebrews) The same word—Haycal—again, used of the temple in 1 Kings 6:5, 83; 1 Kings 7:50; 2 Kings 24:13, is elsewhere used of heaven (Psalms 11:4; Psalms 18:7; Psalms 29:9, etc.) But can we trace the resemblance? Can we suggest any points of contact? Let us try, premising, first, that a "general analogy is all that we can look for" (Alford on Revelation 8:8).

1. The temple was tripartite (see 2 Kings 6:1-33. Introduction). It was composed of porch, holy place, and oracle (the side chambers were hardly integral parts of the structure; see note on 1 Kings 6:6). Now it is remarkable that though the Jewish fathers spoke of "seven heavens"—some held that there were two—Holy Scripture speaks of three, and three only. When St. Paul would describe the very dwelling place of Deity, he calls it "the third heaven" (2 Corinthians 12:2). What are the three heavens—whether atmospheric (nubiferum), sidereal (astriferum), and angelic (angeliferum), or what—it does not concern us to say; it is enough for our purpose that there are three. And three, it must be remembered, is the number and signature of God.

2. All the temple was God's dwelling place. It is a mistake to suppose that the oracle was the abode of God, the holy place the abode of the people. In the temple the people had no place. It was the "house of the great God" (Ezra 5:8); a palace for God, and not for man (1 Chronicles 29:1). "As the whole house, so also each compartment… is called 'the dwelling place'" (Bähr). Again, the holy place, as well as the entire sanctuary, is called the palace (1 Kings 6:5 with 2 Kings 24:13). The primary design of the temple, as of the tabernacle, was to afford a habitation for the ark and for Him whose covenant it contained.

3. But the inner temple was God's shrine. In the holy of holies, He was revealed. He dwelt "between the cherubim" (Exodus 25:22; 1 Samuel 4:4; 2 Kings 19:15, etc.) The word Shechinah, which is used to denote the Presence, is derived from shachan, "he dwelt." So it is in heaven. Heaven is God's throne (Isaiah 66:1; Acts 7:49); but there is a "heaven of heavens," where He is revealed. True "the heaven and heaven of heavens" cannot contain Him, any more than the holy and the holy of holies, but in each He has His special habitation. Here again temple and temple not built with hands are alike.

4. The temple blazed with gold and gems. It was "exceeding magnifical" as the palace of the Godhead. Everything was appropriate to a great king. "Pure gold," "gold of Uphaz," cedar, olive wood, all was "for glory and beauty" (Exodus 28:2). Compare the description of heaven in Revelation 21:9 sqq. Like a jasper stone (Revelation 21:11); pure gold (Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21); precious stones (Revelation 21:19, Revelation 21:20); twelve pearls (Revelation 21:21).

II. IN ITS FURNITURE. Observe: the furniture and appointments outside the house, in the court of the priests—brazen altar, molten sea, layers, etc.—have no counterparts in heaven. They are "of the earth, earthy." In the holy place were the altar of incense, the table of shewbread, the ten candlesticks, etc. (1 Kings 7:48-50). In the most holy place were the mercy seat, the cherubim of glory, the ark, the golden censer, etc. And heaven has its golden altar (Revelation 6:9; Revelation 8:8; Revelation 9:18), its incense (Revelation 8:8, Revelation 8:4), its seven lamps (Revelation 4:5; cf. Exodus 27:1-21:23; Zechariah 4:2). And for the table of shewbread, see Revelation 22:2. Or if it be said that the "table of the face" has no counterpart in heaven, we may reply that it is not needed, because His servants "see his face" and feast upon His presence (Revelation 24:4). Similarly heaven has its mercy seat—the Fount of Mercy dwells there—its cherubim and seraphim (Isaiah 6:2; Revelation 4:7; cf. Ezekiel 1:10), and its golden censer (Revelation 8:3, Revelation 8:5). It has no ark—the covenant is writ in the heart of the Eternal, as He now writes it on the hearts of men (Hebrews 8:10). But it has its throne (Revelation 4:2 et passim), and the ark was the throne of God (cf. Isaiah 6:2).

III. IN ITS SERVICES. Here we must distinguish between

As to the former, it must here suffice to say that it centred round the altar of incense. Morning and evening, year in, year out, incense was burnt upon the golden altar. And we have already seen that incense is offered in heaven. As to its meaning, lessons, etc; we have spoken elsewhere. Let us turn, therefore, to the worship of the most holy place. And here we observe—

1. The cherubim of glory overshadowed the mercy seat (Hebrews 9:5). They were, as it were, choirs on either side of the place of the Presence. Now the cherubim were symbolical representations of all created existences (see note on 1 Kings 6:29) from the highest to the lowest. But especially did they shadow forth the highest forms of intelligence, the celestial beings who surround the Lord of glory; they were earthly counterparts of the heavenly seraphim (Isaiah 6:2), and so they pourtrayed, as far as was possible, the worship of the heavenly hosts. It is true they were silent—they could not be otherwise—but still they conveyed the idea of ceaseless contemplation, of the most profound and reverent homage, of awestruck adoration. Indeed, we only understand what they symbolized by comparing the shadow with the substance. For we find that heaven has its cherubim. The "four beasts ( ζῶα) round about the throne, full of eyes before and behind" (Revelation 4:6-8), are clearly the "very substance" of those things of which Isaiah's and Ezekiel's winged creatures (Isaiah 6:2; Ezekiel 1:10; Ezekiel 10:14) were the likeness, and of which Solomon's cherubim were the copies. The silent, stately cherubim consequently were adumbrations of the mysterious hierarchy who ceaselessly praise the Uncreated Light and lead the worship of the skies (Revelation 4:8-11; Revelation 5:8, Revelation 5:9, Revelation 5:14), "raising their Trisagion ever and aye."

2. The high priest entered the most holy place once a year. The ceremonial of the day of atonement (Leviticus 16:1-34.) foreshadowed, as we are expressly told in Hebrews 9:1-28; the entry of our great High Priest into heaven itself. The Jewish high priest, robed in spotless white vestments, passed through the veil of blue and purple and scarlet (Exodus 26:31) into the holy oracle, with the blood of calves and goats, etc. Even so our unspotted Lord, "the High Priest of our profession" (Hebrews 2:1), passed through (not into, διεληλυθότα) the blue heavens (Hebrews 4:14) into the presence of the Eternal, with His own blood (Hebrews 9:12). And as the high priest presented the tokens of death—as he sprinkled the blood (which is the life of the flesh) seven times before the mercy seat eastward (Le 16:15), and so in figure pleaded the meritorious death of Him who should come to put away sin, so does our great High Priest present his pierced and wounded form—He stands before the throne as a "Lamb as it had been slain" (Revelation 5:6)—and pleads His passion, the death of One who has come, for the salvation and life of the world. It may be that, like the high priest, He utters no articulate words; it may be that, like him, He simply appears as the representative of man to show the tokens and pledges of atonement; or it may be that as the incense was burned when the blood was sprinkled, so His powerful intercession, of which the incense was a type, is joined to the silent pleading of His wounds. But whichever way it is, it is clear that the ritual of the holy of holies has its blessed counterpart in the ritual of the heaven of heavens.

1 Kings 8:23-53

The Prayer of Dedication.

In how many and varied ways is Solomon a type of the Divine Solomon, the true Son of David Even in this respect they are alike—that each has "taught us how to pray" (Luke 11:1 sqq.) For we may be sure that the Prayer of Dedication is for our instruction and imitation, otherwise it would hardly have been recorded, and recorded at such length, in Scripture. "After this manner therefore pray ye" (Matthew 6:9).

I. LAYMEN MAY OFFER PUBLIC PRAYER. This is no monopoly of priests. The Hebrew king might not sacrifice or burn incense (2 Chronicles 26:18), but he might lead the prayers both of priests and people, and that on the greatest day in the history of Israel. Even so, though "we give not to our princes the ministering either of God's word or of the sacraments" (Art. 37.), still we do not deny them any "prerogative which we see to have been given always to all godly princes in Holy Scripture" (ib.), and least of all the prerogative of prayer exercised by David, Solomon, Asa (2 Chronicles 14:11), Jehoshaphat (ib; 1 Kings 20:5-12), and Hezekiah (ib; 30:18-20). It was Constantine, a layman, presided at the Council of Nice.

II. KINGS SHOULD BE PROUD TO TAKE PART IN RELIGIOUS FUNCTIONS. Whatever divinity doth hedge them about, they are not greater or wiser than Solomon, and the proudest moment of his life was when he led the ark to its resting place; the happiest, when he "blessed all the congregation of Israel" (1 Kings 8:14). Never is king so great as when he takes his proper place before God. Alas! that religion should have ever been brought into such contempt that kings should be ashamed or afraid to be the "nursing fathers" of the Church (Isaiah 49:23). Solomon's prayer is "a testimony that a wisdom which can no longer pray is folly" (Bähr).

III. PRAYER SHOULD BE PRECEDED BY PRAISE. It was not until Solomon had "blessed God" (1 Kings 8:15) that he prayed to God (1 Kings 8:23-53). "praemissa laude, invocatio sequi solet." This was the rule of the early Church (see Psalms 65:1, Psalms 65:2 for the scriptural order; cf. Philippians 1:3, Philippians 1:4; Philippians 4:6, and see Howson's Hulsean Lectures, No. 4; for the combination of thanksgiving and prayer in St. Paul's Epistles). And Solomon not only began but ended with blessing (1 Kings 8:56).

IV. TRUE PRAYER IS ASKING GOD FOR WHAT WE NEED. Not rhetorical display, not sesquepedalia verba, not a mere string of texts and hymns, but the simplest, humblest cry of the heart. Which of us has not heard prayers like the Pharisee's—without one word of prayer (i.e; petition) in them? And how many prayers are made painful by their pretentiousness. Perhaps a child has been ordained our pattern (Matthew 18:2-4), that from it we should learn to pray. "In prayer it is better to have a heart without words than words without a heart" (Bunyan).

V. PRAYER SHOULD BE OFFERED FOR ALL SORTS AND CONDITIONS OF MEN. Not for self only. It is not "my Father," but "our Father." Perhaps selfishness is nowhere more conspicuous or more hateful than in our prayers. We are members one of another. It is in the Pharisee's prayer that we find so much "I." Notice how varied were Solomon's petitions, and cf. 1 Timothy 2:1, 1 Timothy 2:2, 1 Timothy 2:3. Tennyson says—

"For what are men better than sheep or goats

That nourish a blind life within the brain,

If, knowing God, they lift not hands in prayer

Both for themselves and those who call them friend?"

And he does not stop there, but adds that thus

"the whole round world

Is bound by golden chains around the feet of God."

This prayer of dedication was a veritable Litany (verses 31, 33, 37, 41, 44, etc.)

VI. PRAYER SHOULD BE SCRIPTURAL, i.e; conceived in the spirit and expressed in the words of Scripture. This prayer was pre-eminently so What St. Cyprian says of the Lord's prayer, "Quanto efficacius impetramus quod petimus in Christi nomine, si petamus ipsius oratione," may suggest to us that that prayer is most likely to move God's hand which is based on God's Word. Supplication should be shaped by revelation.

VII. PRAYERS MAY BE LITURGICAL. The Scripture references, its artificial structure, and indeed, its very preservation, prove that this prayer was a precomposed form. A form need not involve formalism. All Christians use forms of praise; why not forms of prayer? (See Hooker, V. 26.2. 3.)

VIII. OUTWARD FORMS ARE NOT TO BE DESPISED. Solomon "kneeled upon his knees, with his hands stretched out towards heaven" (cf. Daniel 6:10; Acts 7:60; Acts 9:40; Acts 20:1-38:86; Acts 21:5; Ephesians 3:14, and, above all, Luke 22:41 and Luke 24:50. Also Psalms 28:2; Psalms 63:4; Psalms 134:2). Ritualism is a question of degree, for we all use some rites. So long as we have bodies, we can never have a purely spiritual religion, but must "glorify God in our bodies and spirits" (1 Corinthians 6:20). That forms have their foundation in human nature, and may be impressive and edifying, is proved by the fact that "no nation under heaven either doth or ever did suffer public actions which are of weight to pass without some visible solemnity" (Hooker, IV. 1.8), and for this reason, that

"Sounds which address the ear are lost and die

In one short hour; while that which strikes the eye

Lives long upon the mind: the faithful sight

Graves on the memory with a beam of light."

It is only when forms usurp the place, or mar the reality, of spiritual worship (John 4:24) that they are really reprehensible.

1 Kings 8:62-66

The Feast on the Sacrifices.

In this prodigious number of sacrifices—in round numbers 150,000 victims—3,000 oxen and 18,000 sheep forevery day of the festival (Keil); five oxen and twenty-five sheep forevery minute of each day (Thenius)—in this wholesale slaughter, which converted the court of the priests into one great shambles, and almost choked the sewers of the temple with blood, one feature is liable to be overlooked (note on 1 Kings 8:64), namely, that all these sacrifices were "peace offerings," with the exception, of course, of the usual burnt offerings. In all these—and king and princes and people alike brought their thousands—all was first given to God, but the bulk was given back by God to the sacrificers. With the exception of the fat, etc; burnt on the altar, and the blood (which was the life), poured out at its base, and the customary portion of the priests (Le 1 Kings 7:14, 1 Kings 7:21; 1 Corinthians 9:13), all the rest was carried home by the offerer to provide a feast for him and his family. The peace offering was thus a social festival And the same remark applies to the still greater number—a quarter of a million—of paschal lambs offered year by year in later times. The blood was sprinkled as a memorial before God, but the lamb was roasted entire to provide a supper for the household (Deuteronomy 16:1-7). In all these sacrifices God graciously entertained those who offered them with their own oblations—which He had first given them—at His own table. And herein we have an illustration of God's gracious way of dealing with our gifts and offerings. He accepts them at our hands, but gives them back for our use and enjoyment. We present our sacrifice, and He spreads banquet for our souls. It is a curious circumstance, and one that shows how entirely this principle has been overlooked, that "sacrifice," which properly means "something made sacred," "consecrated," has come to be a synonym for "loss," "privation." But this a true sacrifice can never be. There is no such thing as giving at a loss to the Lord of all. He insists on paying us back a hundred fold. All our offerings are in this sense peace offerings. He sends us away laden with our own gifts, "joyful and glad of heart for all the goodness of the Lord" (1 Kings 8:66). Let us now see how this holds good.