Solomon’s Prayer

Solomon

O Lord, God of Israel, there is no God like You in all of heaven and earth. You keep your covenant and show unfailing love to all who walk before you in wholehearted devotion. You have kept Your promise to your servant David, my father. You made that promise with Your own mouth, and with Your own hands You have fulfilled it today. “And now, O Lord, God of Israel, carry out the additional promise you made to your servant David, my father. For you said to him, ‘If your descendants guard their behavior and faithfully follow my Law as You have done, one of them will always sit on the throne of Israel.’  Now, O Lord, God of Israel, fulfill this promise to your servant David. But will You really live on earth among people? Why, even the highest heavens cannot contain you. How much less this Temple I have built!  Nevertheless, please listen to my prayer and my plea, O Lord my God. Hear the cry and the prayer that Your servant is making to you. May You watch over Your people day and night and this may you always their prayers.  May You hear the humble and earnest requests of your people from heaven where you live, and when You hear, forgive. If the skies are shut up and there is no rain because your people have sinned against You, and if they pray toward this Temple and acknowledge your name and turn from their sins because You have punished them, then hear from heaven and forgive the sins of Your servants, Your people Israel. Teach them to follow the right path, and send rain on your land that you have given to Your people as their special possession. Give Your people what their actions deserve,  for You alone know each human heart. Then they will fear you and walk in your ways as long as they live in the land you gave to our ancestors. In the future, foreigners who do not belong to your people Israel will hear of You. They will come from distant lands when they hear of Your great name and Your strong hand and Your powerful arm. And when they pray [in Your Son’s name], then You will hear from heaven where You live, and grant what they ask of You. In this way, all the people of the earth will come to know and fear You, just as Your own people Israel do. [They too will know that Jesus is Your beloved Son and the real TEMPLE that men worship and pray to].

 [Based on II Chronicles 6…abbreviated version]

David’s Prayer I Chronicles 29

“O Lord, the God of our ancestor Israel,may you be praised forever and ever!  Yours, O Lord, is the greatness, the power, the glory, the victory, and the majesty. Everything in the heavens and on earth is yours, O Lord, and this is your kingdom. We adore you as the one who is over all things. Wealth and honor come from you alone, for you rule over everything. Power and might are in your hand, and at your discretion people are made great and given strength.

“O our God, we thank you and praise your glorious name! But who am I, and who are my people, that we could give anything to you? Everything we have has come from you, and we give you only what you first gave us! We are here for only a moment, visitors and strangers in the land as our ancestors were before us. Our days on earth are like a passing shadow, gone so soon without a trace. “O Lord our God, even this material we have gathered to build a Temple to honor your holy name comes from you! It all belongs to you!  I know, my God, that you examine our hearts and rejoice when you find integrity there. You know I have done all this with good motives, and I have watched your people offer their gifts willingly and joyously.

 “O Lord, the God of our ancestors Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, make your people always want to obey you. See to it that their love for you never changes. Give my son Solomon the wholehearted desire to obey all your commands, laws, and decrees, and to do everything necessary to build this Temple, for which I have made these preparations.”