1 Kings 8:51
For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron: For they be thy people, and thine inheritance, which thou broughtest forth out of Egypt, from the midst of the furnace of iron:
This clause belongs to Solomon's prayer at the dedication of the temple. That temple was large and grand and built by many people, and the Lord God of heaven honored it because they had built Him a sanctuary where they could meet to worship Him, so that those who worshiped Him there sincerely had His blessing. It was the most remarkable prayer Solomon ever offered, given at the entrance of the work God employed him to build after remarkable manifestations of divine power that gave precious views of the divine character. The prayer shows that Israel's dependence was in the God of Israel, and it shows Solomon's own need for divine power.
In that prayer Solomon interceded for his people and prayed for them that their hearts might be undividedly given to the Lord. The verse identifies Israel as God's people and His inheritance, whom He brought forth out of Egypt, with Egypt described as the midst of a furnace of iron. It grounds Solomon's plea for Israel in captivity in that relationship, appealing for compassion and forgiveness, making the exodus deliverance the basis for mercy when His people repent and pray from captivity and the evidence of God's claim on Israel and His power to deliver them even when far from their land, so that though Israel was scattered after turning from God, faithful people could still approach Him through prayer wherever they were.
The prayer teaches that God is not confined to a temple, for He meets His people by His Spirit when they gather for worship, visits and encourages them wherever they are, and may be worshiped by His children in every place. Solomon offered this prayer while closely related to God, and it shows the just, compassionate and God-fearing spirit of his early reign.
In contrast, he afterward cast off his allegiance to God and became tyrannical and oppressive, forsook the very temple to worship idols, became an idolater and a seducer of the people into the worship of false gods, showing separation from God after former devotion. That light did not save him, showing that even the people made the repository of His law need clearer light and keeping by the power of God through faith with distrust of self.