Hear From Heaven and Forgive

Today’s passage in the Daily Bread was about Solomon’s prayer of dedication for the new temple for God. In verses 23 through 26 Solomon reminds God of the promise He had made to David. It says in verse 25b, “You shall never fail to have a successor to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your descendants are careful in all they do to walk before me faithfully as you have done.” Solomon was grateful for God’s love and commitment to His people. He knew that Israel was blessed as long as it walked with God. He also knew, though, that the temple was a very small and simple place to contain a god as faithful, great, and powerful as this. The temple was built as a place for God’s name for God and a place for the people to come to God for anything.
In verses 28 through 40, Solomon asks God to hear his people’s prayer in many different situations. He asks God to have His eyes on the temple day and night (29). Nothing is supposed to slip God’s ear, no little prayer, request, or cry. Solomon knows that humans are sinful. He tells God to hear and forgive four times. Solomon was petitioning for his people that God would have mercy on them in time of sin and defeat when they would turn to God and pray. The temple was not just a place of worship, but it was also meant to remind the people that God was there and listened to their every need. Beside hearing and forgiving, Solomon asks God to act. He says in verses 39c and 40, “Deal with everyone according to all they do, since you know their hearts (for you alone know every human heart), so that they will fear you all the time they live in the land you gave our ancestors.” The people needed to fear the Lord. They had to realize that they could not just do what they wanted.
Does this still apply to us? I would have to say yes. God sent Jesus to save and free us from sin, and he even opened the Most Holy Place for everyone to enter to show that we were reconciled with God. Nothing stands between God and us. He dwelled among us in Jesus and now in the Holy Spirit, which means He is everywhere. He is not bound to a temple or church. When we want to pray, we can do that in our room, at the store, in the car, or at work. Verse 29 still applies to us. God has His eyes on each one of us, as we are His temple. He is watching us day and night and is ready to hear from us at any time. God also hears us and has already forgiven us through Jesus death and resurrection. In much sense, we have it much easier than the Israelites did at Solomon’s time. We should make use of this privilege as often as possible. We do not need to be in church to pray, as I said we can pray anywhere we want because God is where we are.
I am grateful that I can come to God at any time and in any place because I would not want to have to wait to go to church to pray there. When I have done something wrong and I realize that, I want to ask for forgiveness right away and not carry that burden and guilt around with me. God knows how weak I am and has made it possible for me to be free from that guilt on the spot only because He gave His only son for me.