Grasp the Gospel — Bible Comprehension Quizzes

1 Kings 8 Devotional

Too Great for Any House

“But will God indeed dwell upon the earth? The heavens, even the highest heavens, cannot contain You, much less this temple I have built.”1 Kings 8:27 (BSB)

The ark is carried into the Most Holy Place, and the cloud fills the house of the LORD so completely that the priests cannot stay to do their work (8:10-11). Solomon blesses the LORD, who has kept every word he spoke to David (8:15, 8:24). Then he says something remarkable. If the highest heavens cannot hold God, how could this temple (8:27)?

That question shapes the whole prayer that follows. The temple is a place to pray toward, and again and again Solomon asks the God who lives in heaven to hear and forgive (8:30). He prays for the guilty, the defeated and the captive, and even for foreigners who come because of God's name (8:41-43). He admits that everyone sins (8:46). Centuries later Jesus spoke of his own body as the temple that would be destroyed and raised in three days (John 2:19-21). God has come nearer than Solomon could have imagined. Through Christ you can pray to him today and be heard.

To think about: What would you bring to God in prayer today if you fully believed that he hears and forgives?

About 1 Kings 8: The Temple Dedicated

The ark is carried into the new temple, and God’s glory fills it as a cloud. Solomon praises God for keeping His promise to David and asks God, whom even the heavens cannot hold, to hear and forgive His people and to answer foreigners who seek Him at the temple. A great feast of sacrifice and joy follows.

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