1 Kings 8:15, commentary and pictures

Solomon blesses the LORD God of Israel because what He spoke with His mouth to David his father He has fulfilled with His hand by raising up Solomon to build the temple. He speaks it in his public prayer at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem, after the ark and sacred vessels are brought in and the glory of the Lord fills the house to signify His acceptance of it as the place of His special presence. The temple thus dedicated, with its two holy places and the same ministration as the tabernacle, was built as a dwelling-place for God and as a pattern of the heavenly temple and of the church of God. His dedication prayer was acceptable public prayer, answered by fire from heaven and the glory of Jehovah filling the house, and it turns the eyes and voices of believers toward the true tabernacle in heaven where Christ carries out the closing work of His mediation.

Words and Historical Setting

Solomon blesses the LORD God of Israel because He spoke with His mouth to David his father and has with His hand fulfilled what He promised, fulfilling the promise to David through Solomon who built the temple. The blessing praises the Lord for speaking to David and fulfilling by His own action what He had promised. The verse presents the temple dedication as part of God's fulfillment of His promise to David.

The verse occurs in Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple and is part of his words at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem. It is part of Solomon's public prayer at the dedication of the temple. It concerns the building and furniture of the temple, forming part of the dedication prayer and sacrifices and the divine answer to Solomon's prayer.

The verse falls within the historical account of Solomon's reign and the building and dedication of the house of God. It stands in the period of the undivided kingdom under Solomon covered in 1 Kings 1-11, as part of the history of the kings from the accession of Solomon to the Babylonian Captivity. It belongs to the history of the undivided kingdom under Solomon, paralleled by 2 Chronicles 1 to 9, and comes in chronological order with that history. In 1 Kings 7-8 it comes after Solomon's marriage to Pharaoh's daughter, his gift of wisdom and judgment between the two women, the account of his officers and the condition, power, wealth and wisdom of the kingdom, and his bargain with Hiram king of Tyre.

The two books of Kings form one whole and are counted as one book in the Hebrew Canon. The division into two was introduced in the old versions, which reckoned Samuel and Kings as a continuous series called the four books of the Kingdoms, or of the Kings, a title retained in the Authorized Version. First Kings breaks off at an arbitrary point of no special significance in the history.

At the dedication the verse belongs after David's preparations for the building and dedication of the house of God. It follows the bringing of the ark and sacred vessels into the temple, when the Lord's glory filled it to signify acceptance of the temple as the place where He would manifest His special presence. It belongs to the account of Solomon's dedication of the temple during the period when he was devoted to God and God greatly blessed him.

Temple Typology and Worship

Solomon's blessing of the LORD God of Israel at the dedication declares that God spoke with His mouth to David and with His hand fulfilled what He promised, so that the temple itself stands as part of that fulfilled promise to David. That temple was constructed with two holy places, with sacred vessels, and with the same ministration as the tabernacle, serving as a pattern of the heavenly temple. It was built as a dwelling-place for God, and as a type both of the heavenly temple and of the church of God erected without sound of ax or hammer.

The dedication and prayer turn attention to the earthly sanctuary as a type of the true tabernacle in heaven, where Christ carries out the closing work of His mediation, and believers are likewise to turn their eyes and voices toward that heavenly sanctuary. Solomon's public prayer at the dedication was acceptable public prayer, not hypocritical and not the private prayer made in public to be seen by men which Jesus forbids. God showed its acceptance by answering with fire from heaven that consumed the burnt offering and the sacrifice, and the glory of Jehovah filled the house as part of the divine answer to the dedication prayer and sacrifices. This came after the ark and sacred vessels had been brought into the temple, when the Lord's glory filled it to signify acceptance of the temple as the place where He would manifest His special presence.

The record containing this blessing teaches important lessons about Israel's history and the responsibility of its leaders. It concerns the building and furniture of the temple, forming part of the dedication prayer and sacrifices and the divine answer to Solomon's prayer.