1 Kings 8:43
Hear thou in heaven thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to thee for: that all people of the earth may know thy name, to fear thee, as do thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by thy name.
This verse belongs to Solomon's prayer offered at the dedication of the temple, as part of the longer prayer in 1 Kings 8:22-53. It was his most remarkable prayer, offered for the temple God employed him to build after remarkable manifestations of divine power at the beginning of his work. When he prayed, Solomon recognized his need for divine power. In the prayer he asked for his people that their hearts might be undividedly given to the Lord in wholehearted devotion.
At that time he was a just, compassionate and God-fearing ruler who sought Israel's wholehearted devotion to God. The prayer gave a precious view of the divine character. Foreigners from distant countries, drawn by God's great name and mighty acts, may come to pray at the temple. Solomon asks God in heaven, His dwelling place, to hear those foreigners who come to pray toward the temple and to do according to all they ask for.
Their answered prayers are meant so all peoples of the earth may know God's name, fear Him as Israel does, and know that the house he built is called by His name, showing the temple's purpose included making God known beyond Israel. God's purpose in establishing Israel in the land of promise was to exalt the name of Jehovah and hold it in honor among the nations by wielding a mighty influence for truth and right. That purpose bade fair for fulfillment when Israel became strong under David and Solomon, barriers were broken down, seekers after truth from heathen lands were not turned away unsatisfied, conversions took place, and the church of God on earth was enlarged and prospered.
The verse records Solomon's acknowledgment that the temple was built for the honor of the Lord's name, yet it became known among the nations by Solomon's name because he accepted praise for its splendor, diverting from God the honor due Him as the designer of the temple and the giver of the resources and wisdom used to build it. God is not confined to a house built for Him, for He hears and meets His people by His Spirit when they gather for worship, and His people may worship Him wherever they are, since He visits them in their homes and wherever they may be even though the temple is dedicated to His worship. Israel's dependence was in the God of Israel, and though the people who built the temple were many and the house was large and grand, the Lord God of heaven honored them because they built Him a sanctuary where they could meet to worship Him, and those who worshiped Him sincerely had His blessing.
Solomon's knowledge of God did not keep him faithful, for corrupting influences led him away from God and temple worship to idol groves. His later course was a reversal of his prayer, when he who had so prayed became tyrannical and oppressive and became the seducer of his people away from God. He later turned from the loyalty he had urged on Israel and allowed idolatry to corrupt his religion. He was a king who was later led into idolatry by his pagan wives.
That light did not save him, for he forsook the very temple he had dedicated to worship idols, proving that even a people made the repository of God's law and men entrusted with sacred trusts as teachers of truth can become unfaithful and turn away from the holy commandment. Therefore there is need for clearer and increased light from heaven, to be spiritualized, elevated and vitalized by sacred truth, with carefulness, distrust of self, stripping of self-sufficiency and spiritual pride, humble views of wisdom and insufficiency, and keeping by the power of God through faith. The world's separation from God contrasts with Christ's work of revealing God and lifting people from their degradation.