Solomon's Prayer Requests (2 Chronicles 6:22-42)

WEBVTT 1 00:00:00.640 --> 00:00:07.389 Let's turn now to second chronicles chapter six. Second Chronicles six, I'll be 2 00:00:07.469 --> 00:00:17.589 reading verses twenty two through forty two. These verses conclude Solomon's prayer. So 3 00:00:17.789 --> 00:00:22.620 second chronicles chapter six, starting at Verse Twenty Two, here we have several 4 00:00:22.739 --> 00:00:31.140 petitions, requests, prayer, requests that Solomon Asks of God. Let's go 5 00:00:31.260 --> 00:00:36.170 our attention to God's word. If a man sins against his neighbor and is 6 00:00:36.289 --> 00:00:40.649 made to take an oath and comes and sweares his oath before your altar in 7 00:00:40.729 --> 00:00:45.929 this house, then hear from Heaven and act and Judge Your servants, repaying 8 00:00:45.969 --> 00:00:51.759 the guilty by bringing his conduct on his own head and vindicating the righteous by 9 00:00:51.840 --> 00:00:58.560 rewarding him according to his righteousness. If your people, Israel, are defeated 10 00:00:58.640 --> 00:01:03.200 before the enemy because they have sinned against you, and they turn again and 11 00:01:03.520 --> 00:01:07.750 acknowledge your name and pray and plead with you in this house, then hear 12 00:01:07.870 --> 00:01:12.510 from Heaven and forgive the sin of your people, Israel and bring them again 13 00:01:12.590 --> 00:01:19.060 to the land that you gave to them and to their fathers, when heaven 14 00:01:19.099 --> 00:01:22.340 is shut up and there is no rain, because they have sinned against you. 15 00:01:23.140 --> 00:01:26.340 If they pray towards this place and acknowledge that your name and turn from 16 00:01:26.379 --> 00:01:30.579 their sin. When you afflict them, then here in heaven, in Heaven, 17 00:01:30.980 --> 00:01:36.689 and forgive the sin of your servants, your people Israel, when you 18 00:01:36.810 --> 00:01:40.849 teach them the good way in which they should walk, and grant reign upon 19 00:01:40.969 --> 00:01:46.689 your land, which you have given to your people as an inheritance, if 20 00:01:46.730 --> 00:01:51.159 there is famine in the land, if there is pestilence or blight or mildew 21 00:01:51.239 --> 00:01:55.640 or locust or Caterpillar, if their enemies besieged them in the land at their 22 00:01:55.680 --> 00:02:00.640 gates, whatever plague, whatever sickness there is, whatever proud prayer, whatever 23 00:02:00.840 --> 00:02:06.469 plea is made by any man or by all your people, Israel, each 24 00:02:06.629 --> 00:02:10.990 knowing his own affliction and his own sorrow and stretching out his hands towards this 25 00:02:12.150 --> 00:02:17.419 house, then here from your heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive and 26 00:02:17.620 --> 00:02:23.300 render to each whose heart you know, according to all his ways. For 27 00:02:23.460 --> 00:02:27.500 you, you only know the hearts of the children of mankind, that they 28 00:02:27.539 --> 00:02:31.050 may fear you and walk in your ways all the days that they live in 29 00:02:31.449 --> 00:02:38.169 the land that you gave to our fathers. Likewise, when a foreigner who 30 00:02:38.289 --> 00:02:40.569 is not of your people, Israel, comes from a far country, for 31 00:02:40.729 --> 00:02:46.159 the sake of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm, 32 00:02:46.759 --> 00:02:51.120 when he comes and prays toward this House here from heaven, your dwelling place, 33 00:02:51.479 --> 00:02:54.080 and do all do according to all for which the foreigner calls to you, 34 00:02:54.800 --> 00:02:58.710 in order that all the peoples of the Earth May know your name and 35 00:02:58.870 --> 00:03:02.229 fear you, as do your people Israel, and that they may know that 36 00:03:02.349 --> 00:03:07.509 this House that I have built is called by your name. If your people 37 00:03:07.550 --> 00:03:12.469 go out to battle against their enemies, by whatever way you shall send them, 38 00:03:13.060 --> 00:03:15.500 and they pray to you toward this city that you have chosen and the 39 00:03:15.580 --> 00:03:20.340 House that I have built for your name, then hear from heaven their prayer 40 00:03:20.539 --> 00:03:25.500 and their plea and maintain their cause. If they sin against you, for 41 00:03:25.620 --> 00:03:30.129 there is no one who does not sin, and you are angry with them 42 00:03:30.210 --> 00:03:34.129 and give them to an enemy so that they are carried away captive to a 43 00:03:34.210 --> 00:03:38.129 land far or near. Yet, if they turned their heart in the land 44 00:03:38.650 --> 00:03:42.759 to which they have been carried captive and repent and plead with you in the 45 00:03:42.800 --> 00:03:46.719 land of their captivity, saying we have sinned and acted perversely and wickedly, 46 00:03:47.719 --> 00:03:51.840 if they repent with all their mind and with all their heart, in the 47 00:03:51.879 --> 00:03:55.669 land of their captivity, to which they were carried captive, and pray toward 48 00:03:55.750 --> 00:04:00.590 their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city which you have 49 00:04:00.669 --> 00:04:03.229 chosen, in the House that I have built for your name. Then here 50 00:04:03.389 --> 00:04:09.189 from heaven, your dwelling place, their prayer and their please and maintain their 51 00:04:09.310 --> 00:04:14.659 cause and forgive your people who've sinned against you. Now, Oh my God, 52 00:04:14.900 --> 00:04:17.939 let your eyes be open and your ears attentive to the prayer of this 53 00:04:18.220 --> 00:04:23.540 place. And now arise, oh Lord God, and go to your resting 54 00:04:23.579 --> 00:04:27.250 place, you and the Ark of your might. Let your priests, so 55 00:04:27.410 --> 00:04:30.649 Lord God, be clothed with salvation and let your saints rejoice in your goodness. 56 00:04:31.410 --> 00:04:34.529 Oh Lord God, do not turn away the face of your anointed one. 57 00:04:35.209 --> 00:04:43.199 Remember your steadfast love for David, your servant. This ends the reading 58 00:04:43.279 --> 00:04:47.240 of God's word. May Be seated. Well, a few things to note 59 00:04:47.480 --> 00:04:56.389 and remember before we get going and focus on the content of Solomon's prayer. 60 00:04:56.829 --> 00:05:00.629 Are these. There's lots and lots of phrases. That will be confusing, 61 00:05:00.670 --> 00:05:05.430 I think, unless you remember where Solomon is. You notice throughout his prayer 62 00:05:05.509 --> 00:05:13.180 he keeps referencing this place this land, this house. So in your mind's 63 00:05:13.220 --> 00:05:18.060 eye, if you can just position yourself in Israel, in this land and 64 00:05:18.339 --> 00:05:24.970 look at Solomon, he's there in the city of Jerusalem, by the top, 65 00:05:25.129 --> 00:05:28.730 by the temple that he is just built, and he's praying in front 66 00:05:28.769 --> 00:05:32.009 of the in front of the temple, and he's talking about that place, 67 00:05:32.730 --> 00:05:38.319 that house, that city, that land. But he has in his mind's 68 00:05:38.360 --> 00:05:42.240 eye not just the place that they are in, but two others. One 69 00:05:43.160 --> 00:05:47.120 not a physic coal place, but a heavenly place. He prays to God, 70 00:05:47.240 --> 00:05:51.870 who has promised to dwell with the people in this temple. But he 71 00:05:53.029 --> 00:05:58.029 also you remember him saying earlier, that God does not is not confined to 72 00:05:58.069 --> 00:06:02.149 a places like this, but it need. God dwells everywhere and in heaven 73 00:06:02.189 --> 00:06:05.379 itself, and so he prays to God, who is in heaven. He 74 00:06:06.180 --> 00:06:14.620 Asks God to answer from there. The second place Solomon has in mind is 75 00:06:15.459 --> 00:06:19.930 outside of Israel, foreign lands, foreign places, and he anticipates a time 76 00:06:20.370 --> 00:06:26.250 when the people will be led away to a foreign place and will desire to 77 00:06:26.370 --> 00:06:31.089 come back in. Also, he anticipates people who come from foreign places to 78 00:06:31.250 --> 00:06:36.519 be close to God, to draw near to him. So, as we 79 00:06:36.639 --> 00:06:42.040 consider this. As we consider Solomon's prayers, he asks these for these various 80 00:06:42.079 --> 00:06:46.790 things, we come to understand something about our own prayers. So, just 81 00:06:46.870 --> 00:06:50.310 as we did last time, I want to give our attention to Solomon's prayer 82 00:06:50.350 --> 00:06:56.189 and see what we might learn of God and the kinds of prayers that please 83 00:06:56.269 --> 00:07:03.019 him. Last time we considered particularly the how we address God. Tonight we 84 00:07:03.139 --> 00:07:10.579 consider what we ask of him. Solomon makes several prayer requests, or sometimes 85 00:07:10.620 --> 00:07:15.370 they're called petitions, or he Solomon, uses the word plea. So when 86 00:07:15.410 --> 00:07:18.889 you heard the word please, that's not as in May I please, but 87 00:07:19.050 --> 00:07:26.050 a please is another word to say a request, a asking for something. 88 00:07:26.089 --> 00:07:30.959 I please, and that's what I want to focus on tonight, to consider 89 00:07:30.000 --> 00:07:36.199 our prayers of repentance and petition, to consider our plea before God and asking 90 00:07:38.160 --> 00:07:43.120 things of him. And as we look at this prayer, this last part 91 00:07:43.160 --> 00:07:46.230 of this prayer, what will come to learn is that for anything we need, 92 00:07:46.509 --> 00:07:51.509 particularly for the forgiveness of sins, because of Jesus, we can find 93 00:07:51.629 --> 00:07:57.110 favor with God. Or, to put it even more simply, or rather 94 00:07:57.310 --> 00:08:01.339 simply to put it simply, because of Jesus, if you draw near to 95 00:08:01.459 --> 00:08:07.379 God, he will draw near to you. So let's think about Solomon's prayer. 96 00:08:09.660 --> 00:08:13.129 You notice that it's divided up into these several requests, many of them 97 00:08:13.329 --> 00:08:20.329 beginning with the word if. In each of these situations, he anticipates something 98 00:08:20.490 --> 00:08:24.089 that might happen in the future. If this happens, then do this Lord. 99 00:08:24.449 --> 00:08:28.439 If this happens, then do this. And in almost all of these 100 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:33.440 requests, that is he that he asks, if not all of them, 101 00:08:33.960 --> 00:08:39.840 he's essentially saying, when this bad thing happens, please bring about a good 102 00:08:39.039 --> 00:08:43.470 thing. When this bad thing happens, bring about a good thing, and 103 00:08:43.629 --> 00:08:48.309 he speaks about that both in a corporate sense, meaning all of Israel, 104 00:08:48.909 --> 00:08:54.629 and in an individual sense. You get that particularly in verse is to the 105 00:08:54.710 --> 00:09:00.980 Paragraph of Verse Twenty Eight, where he says whatever sickness there is, or 106 00:09:01.059 --> 00:09:05.139 whatever prayer, whatever plea is made by any man or by all your people, 107 00:09:05.340 --> 00:09:11.649 Israel, Psalomon has a sense that the people will be praying together as 108 00:09:11.690 --> 00:09:16.610 a group. They will be addressing the Lord in a corporate way but also 109 00:09:16.769 --> 00:09:22.049 in an individual ways. In our own time, you could think about it 110 00:09:22.169 --> 00:09:26.080 like this. We don't just pray at Church together, but we also pray 111 00:09:26.120 --> 00:09:33.279 at home by ourselves. And in any of these situations, whether corporately together 112 00:09:33.480 --> 00:09:37.120 or at home by ourselves, when there are bad things that happen, Plomon 113 00:09:37.279 --> 00:09:43.070 asks that God would bring good things about. So in the first paragraph he 114 00:09:43.470 --> 00:09:46.629 says that when there is a sin that happens, he asked that God would 115 00:09:46.669 --> 00:09:52.110 bring justice. In the next paragraph he asks that when there is a defeat, 116 00:09:52.940 --> 00:09:56.860 that God would bring victory, and then, paragraph after that, he 117 00:09:56.940 --> 00:10:01.379 asks that when there's no rain, God would bring rain. In the paragraph 118 00:10:01.419 --> 00:10:05.340 after that he says when there is famine, blight, enemies, anything, 119 00:10:05.419 --> 00:10:09.009 if there's anything that a person needs, any sorrow in his own heart, 120 00:10:11.129 --> 00:10:13.370 when his hands stretch out to you, that the your house, this House, 121 00:10:13.490 --> 00:10:18.730 then here from heaven, your dwelling place, and forgive and render that 122 00:10:18.889 --> 00:10:24.840 word forgive is important and we've seen it appear several times and nearly every paragraph 123 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:31.120 this comes up, and here we are reminded that these bad things that are 124 00:10:31.240 --> 00:10:35.190 happening are not just bad things that happen, but there are the curses of 125 00:10:35.230 --> 00:10:39.629 the Lord. They are connected with the sins. So, in other words, 126 00:10:39.669 --> 00:10:46.509 when a person sins, these bad things happen and he and he's asking 127 00:10:46.590 --> 00:10:50.539 that when they happen, as the God has promised, they will happen. 128 00:10:50.220 --> 00:10:54.700 God, will you please, when people repent and turn from their sins, 129 00:10:54.539 --> 00:11:00.500 forgive them. This includes not only Israel, but in the next paragraph he 130 00:11:00.620 --> 00:11:09.929 mentions foreigners, a wonderful promise anticipating the coming in of the gentiles. Solomon 131 00:11:09.009 --> 00:11:13.730 asks that even when a foreigner who is not of your people, Israel, 132 00:11:13.049 --> 00:11:18.169 who is not belong to the Covenant, who does not belong to the promises, 133 00:11:18.529 --> 00:11:22.039 when he comes from a far country, for the sake of God or 134 00:11:22.200 --> 00:11:26.279 is he puts it your great name, in your mighty hand and your outstretched 135 00:11:26.519 --> 00:11:33.149 arm, give him what he asks, forgive his sins. And he asks 136 00:11:33.190 --> 00:11:37.750 it and and and and, and that you would bless bless him. Essentially, 137 00:11:37.750 --> 00:11:41.909 he's asking that you would would that, as a foreigner, praise, 138 00:11:41.549 --> 00:11:46.110 he would no longer be a foreigner but come to enjoy the blessings of God 139 00:11:46.259 --> 00:11:50.740 and his people. In the paragraph after that, he again mentions war and 140 00:11:50.779 --> 00:11:56.059 victory and then, finally, in the last one, sin and exile. 141 00:11:56.779 --> 00:12:03.889 When these things happen, he asks again for forgiveness and return. Sin, 142 00:12:03.169 --> 00:12:07.850 defeat, reign, famine, blight, enemies, foreigners, worse, thin, 143 00:12:09.370 --> 00:12:20.240 all resulting in good things justice, victory, reign responding and forgiveness belonging 144 00:12:20.480 --> 00:12:28.360 to the people of God. Victory, forgiveness return. What do we learn 145 00:12:28.480 --> 00:12:33.509 from all of this? Well, in some ways, Solomon's situation was unique. 146 00:12:33.549 --> 00:12:37.269 As I say, these are curses for a covenant that we no longer 147 00:12:37.309 --> 00:12:43.860 are under, but certainly we do experience, as Christians, God's displeasure for 148 00:12:43.980 --> 00:12:50.860 us when we sin, and this teaches us not merely to endure the things 149 00:12:50.940 --> 00:12:56.899 that we suffer as a result of our sins, but to seek God, 150 00:12:58.889 --> 00:13:01.889 to turn from our sins, not merely to endure them, but to repent 151 00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:07.370 of them. We are to go to God, recognizing our sin and our 152 00:13:07.450 --> 00:13:11.730 weakness, and that is why we sure we should call to him and seek 153 00:13:11.730 --> 00:13:16.120 him out. This is a good reminder that assalomon praise, he doesn't pray 154 00:13:16.200 --> 00:13:20.480 to God, who is his equal. Solomon doesn't go to God and sort 155 00:13:20.519 --> 00:13:26.230 of work out a deal with him. Solomon goes to God as one who 156 00:13:26.389 --> 00:13:31.429 is holy and who is just, who brings about the curses as well as 157 00:13:31.470 --> 00:13:37.669 the blessings who could, but who also gives forgiveness to those who ask. 158 00:13:39.710 --> 00:13:43.899 So the simple truth is this. When we sin, God says that we 159 00:13:43.940 --> 00:13:50.500 can repent of our sins and be forgiven. It's really that simple. But 160 00:13:50.580 --> 00:13:56.450 I realized that in saying this, some of you will feel that this is 161 00:13:56.529 --> 00:14:03.490 not enough, because you know, and I know how easily our commitment to 162 00:14:03.610 --> 00:14:09.039 this truth gets washed away. We stand here or sit here now and think, 163 00:14:09.080 --> 00:14:13.200 yes, God forgives our sins. Yes, he says that when we 164 00:14:13.440 --> 00:14:16.639 go to him and repentance and ask for mercy, that he will forgive us. 165 00:14:18.720 --> 00:14:22.960 But then when we sin, when doubts creep in, when the devil 166 00:14:24.159 --> 00:14:28.190 whispers in our ears, we find that sometimes the foundation that we've built on 167 00:14:30.389 --> 00:14:35.909 is but s and and so, from Solomon's prayer I want to consider three 168 00:14:35.110 --> 00:14:39.779 reasons why, why we can seek the Lord in this way, three reasons 169 00:14:39.860 --> 00:14:46.820 Solomon gives why we can repent and trust him for this, that we might 170 00:14:46.899 --> 00:14:52.210 have a more sure foundation. Well, the first one is that Solomon asks 171 00:14:52.330 --> 00:14:58.009 boldly for forgiveness and repentance, and we should too, because of his faith 172 00:14:58.129 --> 00:15:05.690 in God's Covenant Of Grace, Solomon is trusting not his own imaginations. He's 173 00:15:05.769 --> 00:15:11.039 not merely wish wishfully hoping that God will forgive his sins, but he's standing 174 00:15:11.279 --> 00:15:18.639 on something strong as he asks, and that's God's covenant. So, for 175 00:15:18.759 --> 00:15:24.669 example, in verse Seventeen of this chapter, which I didn't read but read 176 00:15:24.710 --> 00:15:28.309 last time, Solomon says now, therefore, oh Lord, God of Israel, 177 00:15:28.309 --> 00:15:33.190 let your word be confirmed, which you have spoken to your servant, 178 00:15:33.230 --> 00:15:37.419 David. This comes up again in verse forty two, the last verse of 179 00:15:37.460 --> 00:15:43.899 this chapter. Oh Lord God, Oh Jehovah, God, do not turn 180 00:15:43.940 --> 00:15:50.330 away the face of or anointed one. Remember your steadfast love for David, 181 00:15:50.370 --> 00:15:56.370 your servant. You See, what Solomon is trusting him is not his own 182 00:15:56.409 --> 00:16:03.970 ability to repent, but in God's promise to forgive. Solomon's not saying, 183 00:16:03.360 --> 00:16:07.480 oh Lord, when you see this good thing in me, this spiritual thing 184 00:16:07.519 --> 00:16:14.399 I'm doing, be pleased with it and save me. He's saying, act 185 00:16:14.399 --> 00:16:18.830 according to the promises you've made. I'm repenting because you've promised things to us. 186 00:16:21.029 --> 00:16:26.110 Freedom from enemies, the blessings of the earth, the forgiveness of sins. 187 00:16:26.029 --> 00:16:32.549 These are things that God promised Abraham and then again promised David, and 188 00:16:32.789 --> 00:16:37.500 Solomon is relying on them, and and we should too. When we ask 189 00:16:37.059 --> 00:16:41.620 for God to forgive us our sins, we ask not because we think it 190 00:16:41.899 --> 00:16:45.860 just might work. But we ask because God has promised to forgive us our 191 00:16:45.899 --> 00:16:52.049 sins, to give us good things, to bless us with wonderful things, 192 00:16:52.090 --> 00:16:56.649 both in this life and, even more importantly, in the next. A 193 00:16:59.090 --> 00:17:04.680 second thing to note is that when we pray these things and God uses our 194 00:17:04.799 --> 00:17:11.759 prayers to accomplish his will. So notice, for example, in Verse Thirty 195 00:17:11.799 --> 00:17:18.230 One of this chapter. In Verse Thirty One, this is the paragraph about 196 00:17:18.349 --> 00:17:23.470 forgiving. He says, please forgive, that they may fear you and walk 197 00:17:23.589 --> 00:17:27.509 in your ways all the days, that you live in the land, or 198 00:17:27.710 --> 00:17:32.900 that they live in the land that you gave to our fathers. You see, 199 00:17:32.900 --> 00:17:36.579 again, this is depending on God's Covenant Promise. There's this goal that 200 00:17:36.700 --> 00:17:38.420 the people live in the land, that they enjoy it, that they are 201 00:17:38.539 --> 00:17:41.140 blessed by it, that they are walking in the ways of the Lord. 202 00:17:41.539 --> 00:17:45.490 That's what Psalomon wants, and he wants that because that's what God wants, 203 00:17:47.210 --> 00:17:52.009 and God uses our prayers of repentance to get us to that end. It's 204 00:17:52.289 --> 00:17:56.890 the mechanism, so to speak, or one of them anyways, that God 205 00:17:56.009 --> 00:18:02.960 uses to accomplish his will. Here's another one in in verse thirty three. 206 00:18:03.839 --> 00:18:07.799 It's the passage about the foreigner, he says when he ain't, when he 207 00:18:07.920 --> 00:18:11.559 comes from a far country and seeks you, hear from Your Heaven, here, 208 00:18:11.640 --> 00:18:15.349 from Heaven, your dwelling place, and do according to all for which 209 00:18:15.390 --> 00:18:19.470 the foreigner calls you, in order that, see, here's the goal, 210 00:18:21.029 --> 00:18:25.829 in order that all the peoples of the Earth May know your name and fear 211 00:18:25.990 --> 00:18:30.380 you and do as as do your people Israel, that they may know that 212 00:18:30.539 --> 00:18:36.539 this House that I have built is called by your name. You see what 213 00:18:36.619 --> 00:18:41.410 he's saying? You saying by the prayers that this foreigner gives and the prayers 214 00:18:41.849 --> 00:18:49.329 that God answers, something else is accomplished. Not only is these foreigner blessed, 215 00:18:49.529 --> 00:18:56.880 this non Israelite, but something of God's name is spread. You often 216 00:18:56.079 --> 00:19:02.599 hear me pray that God would do things for our good and for his glory. 217 00:19:03.720 --> 00:19:06.960 This is the pattern that we see here. This foreigner is praying for 218 00:19:07.359 --> 00:19:11.430 good things, at least pass at least in part for himself. But in 219 00:19:11.589 --> 00:19:17.430 that Solomon recognizes that as the Lord answers those prayers, he works through it 220 00:19:17.670 --> 00:19:23.859 and God's glory spreads. So you see what I'm saying. God uses our 221 00:19:25.019 --> 00:19:30.819 prayers to glorify himself, to do his will to spread his word. By 222 00:19:30.980 --> 00:19:36.819 faith we receive the blessings that are promised in the covenant of Grace, but 223 00:19:37.019 --> 00:19:41.369 also by these prayers of faith, God works out the Covenant of Grace in 224 00:19:41.569 --> 00:19:48.529 history. This is an amazing thing. God hears our prayers and he uses 225 00:19:48.650 --> 00:19:56.400 them to work according to his will. The last reason we ought to pray 226 00:19:56.559 --> 00:20:00.680 and and repent in these ways is, first was because of his covenant of 227 00:20:00.759 --> 00:20:06.720 Grace and his promises to forgive and to bless. Secondly, because his prayers 228 00:20:06.759 --> 00:20:11.549 accomplish his our prayers and his answering of them God uses to accomplish his will 229 00:20:12.470 --> 00:20:18.789 and third because God approves of and agrees with Solomon's prayer. So if we 230 00:20:18.869 --> 00:20:22.140 have any doubt that there is goodness in here or there at this is a 231 00:20:22.380 --> 00:20:27.980 model to follow. We need not because, as he says in verse set, 232 00:20:29.099 --> 00:20:34.099 in Chapter Seven, verse one, as soon as Solomon finished his prayer, 233 00:20:34.619 --> 00:20:41.210 fire came down from heaven and consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifices, 234 00:20:41.690 --> 00:20:47.089 and the glory of Jehovah filled the Temple and the priests could not enter the 235 00:20:47.170 --> 00:20:52.240 House of Jehovah Because the glory of Jehovah Filled Jehovah's House. When all the 236 00:20:52.319 --> 00:20:56.480 people of Israel saw the fire come down and the glory of Jehovah on the 237 00:20:56.599 --> 00:21:00.599 Temple, they bow down with their faces to the ground on the pavement and 238 00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:04.549 worshiped and give thanks to Jehovah, saying for he is good, for his 239 00:21:04.630 --> 00:21:12.630 steadfast love endures forever. And then in verse twelve of this chapter, Chapter 240 00:21:12.829 --> 00:21:18.859 Seven, we read that God appears to Solemnon at night and says to him 241 00:21:18.900 --> 00:21:25.059 I have heard your prayer and have chosen this place for myself as a house 242 00:21:25.140 --> 00:21:29.220 of sacrifice. I'm not going to read all of the rest of this, 243 00:21:29.299 --> 00:21:32.140 but let me read just one verse and you'll see what's coming. In the 244 00:21:32.220 --> 00:21:34.769 rest of them, God says, when I shut up to heaven so that 245 00:21:34.890 --> 00:21:38.650 there is no rain, or command the locust to devour the land, or 246 00:21:38.690 --> 00:21:42.970 send pestilence among my people, if my people who are called by a name, 247 00:21:44.410 --> 00:21:47.480 and he goes on listing all the things. That's all'man prayed for and 248 00:21:47.559 --> 00:21:51.279 goes on to say, he concludes, then I will hear from Heaven and 249 00:21:51.480 --> 00:21:56.480 forgive their sin and heal their land. This amazing, the things that Solomon 250 00:21:56.599 --> 00:22:03.109 Prays for for the Nation of Israel. God says he will answer them when 251 00:22:03.190 --> 00:22:10.150 his people turn and repent. This is an amazing promise and it should encourage 252 00:22:10.150 --> 00:22:14.829 us in our prayers of repentance that when we turn and repent to God, 253 00:22:15.230 --> 00:22:23.619 he hears us and he answers our prayers. Now, Solomon, well, 254 00:22:23.740 --> 00:22:30.930 I do need to read one more verse at the end here in Chapter Seven, 255 00:22:33.450 --> 00:22:37.890 God says to him in verse Seventeen. And as for you, if 256 00:22:37.930 --> 00:22:41.049 you will walk before me as David Your father walked, doing according to all 257 00:22:41.130 --> 00:22:45.200 that I have command you you and keeping my statutes in my rules, then 258 00:22:45.240 --> 00:22:48.480 I will establish your throne, as I have covenanted with David Your father, 259 00:22:48.720 --> 00:22:52.960 saying you shall not lack a man to rule Israel. Verse Nineteen. But 260 00:22:53.079 --> 00:22:56.920 if you turn aside and forsake my statutes, in my commandments that I have 261 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:00.869 set before you, and go and serve other Gods and worship them, then 262 00:23:00.869 --> 00:23:03.789 I will pluck you up from my land that I have given you and this 263 00:23:03.990 --> 00:23:07.910 House that I have constructed for my name, I will cast out of my 264 00:23:08.109 --> 00:23:11.509 sight and I will make it a proverb and a by word among all the 265 00:23:11.670 --> 00:23:18.900 people's. And he goes on along those similar thoughts. Now this is important 266 00:23:18.900 --> 00:23:23.339 to know, because notice what God is saying. There is a condition to 267 00:23:23.539 --> 00:23:27.130 his promises. He says, I will bless you, Solomon, I will 268 00:23:27.250 --> 00:23:33.569 answer your prayers for forgiveness if, Solomon, you obey as I've called you 269 00:23:33.609 --> 00:23:37.650 to do. If you don't, however, the all the things that you 270 00:23:37.730 --> 00:23:41.680 fear will indeed come to pass. And I love how God says here and 271 00:23:41.880 --> 00:23:47.680 this House that I have constructed for my name, I will cast out of 272 00:23:47.799 --> 00:23:52.240 my sight. You See, says to Solomon, this isn't your house, 273 00:23:52.839 --> 00:23:56.430 you did not build this. This is my work and I will bring it 274 00:23:56.549 --> 00:24:00.750 to an end now. The reason this is important to note is that, 275 00:24:00.869 --> 00:24:04.990 because you might have an objection at this point, the word clearly teaches that 276 00:24:06.269 --> 00:24:11.420 God's response to these prayers depends very much on the king's on Solomon and those 277 00:24:11.460 --> 00:24:15.660 who come after him, those who act as David Sun. Will they keep 278 00:24:15.779 --> 00:24:18.579 the Covenant? Will they walk in the ways of the Lorder? Will they 279 00:24:18.619 --> 00:24:26.769 not? And the truth is they did not. Solomon did fail, even 280 00:24:26.809 --> 00:24:33.809 if he was perfect, which he wasn't. He didn't live forever. Solomon's 281 00:24:33.809 --> 00:24:40.400 own prayer anticipates future time, such as the exile and the return. So 282 00:24:40.759 --> 00:24:44.680 my question to you is, how can we pray these same prayers? How 283 00:24:44.759 --> 00:24:48.160 can what I've been saying to you all along be true? If God promises 284 00:24:48.240 --> 00:24:52.750 to forgive but are but forgiveness is based on the obedience of the king, 285 00:24:55.069 --> 00:24:57.829 well then what hope do we have? Because of source? Of course, 286 00:24:57.950 --> 00:25:07.259 Solomon Sinned and Solomon died and we have no Solomon today. But it is 287 00:25:07.420 --> 00:25:12.059 right there at that last clause that this objection that I'm bringing forward goes wrong. 288 00:25:14.539 --> 00:25:18.779 True enough about Solomon that he wasn't perfect, true enough that he died, 289 00:25:19.859 --> 00:25:25.089 but he does live. He does live, of course, by believing 290 00:25:25.210 --> 00:25:29.690 and trusting in the promises of God as one of God's own sons. But 291 00:25:29.809 --> 00:25:33.809 he also lives in the way that he foreshadowed and typified another son of David, 292 00:25:33.809 --> 00:25:41.599 Jesus of Nazareth. God would send and did send another king who, 293 00:25:41.640 --> 00:25:48.680 unlike Solomon, never sinned and fulfilled the terms of the divid a covenant perfectly 294 00:25:48.519 --> 00:25:53.109 for himself and for all who are under him. Jesus, like Solomon, 295 00:25:53.269 --> 00:25:57.109 died, but his body rose from the dead by the power of the spirit, 296 00:25:57.150 --> 00:26:03.470 vindicating that the life he lived he lived perfectly, and the evil death 297 00:26:03.670 --> 00:26:10.980 that he was dealt was overcome, he rose again and he continues to live 298 00:26:11.180 --> 00:26:15.740 and to reign as our king, as we've pointed out various times throughout this 299 00:26:15.819 --> 00:26:19.410 book and will continue to reflect on and meditate on, we are not waiting 300 00:26:19.529 --> 00:26:25.809 for another king, we're not waiting for another Solomon. We're not waiting and 301 00:26:26.009 --> 00:26:30.849 hoping that some president of our country will finally rise up into Solomon's place. 302 00:26:30.450 --> 00:26:36.119 We have our king. We have the one that we need, the one 303 00:26:36.240 --> 00:26:41.039 who has obeyed God, the one who lives in the resurrection life because of 304 00:26:41.200 --> 00:26:48.230 his obedience and is conquering over death. What does this mean? This means 305 00:26:48.269 --> 00:26:52.869 that we can pray the prayers of Solomon. We can pray and ask that, 306 00:26:52.029 --> 00:26:56.470 when we turn from our sin, that we can have forgiveness, because 307 00:26:56.549 --> 00:27:06.099 our hope for forgiveness rests not on a man, but on the God man, 308 00:27:07.380 --> 00:27:12.380 on Jesus. It means that Jesus fulfilled the covenant that God God made 309 00:27:12.460 --> 00:27:18.210 with David, that Jesus made with David. It means that we, who 310 00:27:18.250 --> 00:27:22.410 belong to him, therefore, can know that God hears our prayers, because 311 00:27:22.450 --> 00:27:27.569 he hears Jesus's prayers, he hears the prayers of the Holy Spirit living and 312 00:27:27.650 --> 00:27:33.400 dwelling with on us. Once the spirit of God dwelled within the Temple, 313 00:27:33.720 --> 00:27:38.680 and the New Testament tells us that now we are that Temple God. Here's 314 00:27:40.440 --> 00:27:47.789 our prayers, as those who belong under the belong to Christ. It means 315 00:27:47.829 --> 00:27:51.230 not only that God hears us, but we no longer have to fear the 316 00:27:51.349 --> 00:27:56.710 curse. These curses that were promised on the land of Israel do no longer 317 00:27:56.029 --> 00:28:02.660 to apply to us, and the judgment that they anticipated the much greater and 318 00:28:02.740 --> 00:28:06.940 more dreadful thing of the Great Judgment Day and Hell itself. We don't fear 319 00:28:07.019 --> 00:28:11.299 that either, because Jesus not only pours out all his blessings, but he 320 00:28:11.420 --> 00:28:17.690 also took on the curse. This means that as we live our lives under 321 00:28:17.690 --> 00:28:23.650 King Jesus, we live lives of freedom, having the curse erased and paid 322 00:28:23.809 --> 00:28:30.319 for, having the blessings of God poured out on us and promised to come 323 00:28:30.400 --> 00:28:34.440 to the current their complete consummation when the Lord returns. It means that we 324 00:28:34.519 --> 00:28:38.640 can live a life of repentance and praise to God, God, and do 325 00:28:38.880 --> 00:28:45.509 so in a holy and wonderful joy. And then, when we fall into 326 00:28:45.630 --> 00:28:52.309 our old sins and our evil habits and the craven desires of our hearts. 327 00:28:52.430 --> 00:28:56.019 Of course we will expect that God will, in one way or another, 328 00:28:56.180 --> 00:29:00.819 discipline us. Of course he does. He he loves us. But when 329 00:29:00.980 --> 00:29:07.220 that happens, we remember this, that the God, that God who disciplines, 330 00:29:08.099 --> 00:29:11.210 is not a god who is cursing. All of our curses are taken 331 00:29:11.250 --> 00:29:17.170 away in Jesus, but he disciplines us so that we might draw near to 332 00:29:17.289 --> 00:29:23.720 him and so that we might know the forgiveness of our sins and life and 333 00:29:23.920 --> 00:29:30.960 greater life in him. I want to conclude by reading to you a little 334 00:29:30.000 --> 00:29:40.509 bit from the James's letter. Here James says about our prayers. You do 335 00:29:40.710 --> 00:29:45.349 not have because you do not ask. This is often true, isn't it, 336 00:29:45.190 --> 00:29:51.029 of our sins, of forgiveness and other things. But here's the promise 337 00:29:51.109 --> 00:29:56.220 that I want to leave you with. He says in Verse Five. Or 338 00:29:56.299 --> 00:30:00.980 do you suppose it is no purpose that? The scripture says he yearns jealously 339 00:30:02.220 --> 00:30:06.180 over the spirit that he is made to dwell in us, but he gives 340 00:30:06.180 --> 00:30:11.250 us grace, more grace, or he gives more grace. Therefore, it 341 00:30:11.369 --> 00:30:15.529 says God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble. Submit yourselves, 342 00:30:15.569 --> 00:30:18.730 therefore, to God. Resist the devil and he will flee from you. 343 00:30:18.809 --> 00:30:25.680 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, 344 00:30:25.759 --> 00:30:30.000 you sinners, and purify your hearts. You double minded. Be wretched 345 00:30:30.119 --> 00:30:34.599 and mourn and weep. Let your laughter be turned into mourning and your joy 346 00:30:34.789 --> 00:30:41.750 into gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord and he will exalt you. This 347 00:30:41.910 --> 00:30:48.109 is the promise that we read in James and it's the promise of Solomon's prayer. 348 00:30:48.069 --> 00:30:53.140 When we turn to the Lord and Repentance and we seek forgiveness of our 349 00:30:53.180 --> 00:31:00.539 sins, he promises US forgiveness and the life and joy and peace and all 350 00:31:00.579 --> 00:31:07.210 the rest that comes from knowing and being at peace with God. It is 351 00:31:07.410 --> 00:31:11.890 my prayer that when you feel the weight of your sins, that you would 352 00:31:11.890 --> 00:31:15.849 not merely endure that feeling, but that you would go to God, that 353 00:31:15.930 --> 00:31:21.279 you would repent of your sins with confidence in what King Jesus has done and 354 00:31:21.519 --> 00:31:26.680 know that you are forgiven. Draw near to him and he will draw near 355 00:31:26.200 --> 00:31:30.000 to you. Let us pray