1 Kings 5:5

David could not build this house. Peace had to be made first (v. 3), so that the Lord could make His lasting home among His people. While they wandered in the desert, the Lord linked Himself with them in their life as pilgrims and travelers, by means of the tabernacle. Then followed the wars of Canaan under Joshua and the judges; these had not ceased until the reign of David. God cannot dwell in rest where there is war. The first condition of His lasting dwelling with His people in Canaan is that peace is made. It is the same, spiritually, for the Church. When the "good news of peace" goes out, God's house, the holy temple in the Lord, rises, and this work goes on until the full rest of glory.

Solomon tells Hiram of his plans, plans that in no way were the fruit of his own will. He had decided to build the house of the Lord because God had decreed it, telling David His will beforehand (v. 5). Such is the true character of the decision of faith. Faith decides because God has determined. This point is important. Often we know God's will in advance. Instead of saying, "I have determined" to do it, we look for excuses and good reasons to avoid it — or at least to avoid putting our whole heart into it. At other times our decisions have no motive behind them but our own self-will, and they lead us to bitter disappointments.

Of old the temple was where God's glory was seen, and where God's Name was set. All nations were to be welcome there. From it the testimony of the true and living God was to go out. It was His house, and He made His mind known there.

In 1 Kings 5 we see Solomon working with the nations — not through marriage ties, but through an alliance. They become the servants of his purposes; indeed, we can even say God's purposes for the earth, as far as Solomon served those purposes.

Of his own free will he had come to offer his services to Solomon's father, and his carpenters had built him a house (2 Sam. 5:11). The same willing spirit led him to send his servants to David's son because he had always loved his father (v. 1). How could he fail to be welcomed by the king of glory when he had always loved the king of grace?

Solomon records something striking and suggestive about David. "The Lord said to my father, Since it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. But you shall not build the house. Your son, who will come from your own body, he shall build the house for my name" (2 Chron. 6:8-9)… The counsels of the heart are open before God, and realizing this frees us from caring about the praise of men (1 Cor. 4:5).

In all this we are meant to see someone greater than David or Solomon. Christ alone can give God a final dwelling place among men: "Look at the Man whose name is The Branch. He will grow up out of His place, and He will build the temple of the Lord. Yes, He will build the temple of the Lord. He will bear the glory, and will sit and rule on His throne. He will be a priest on His throne, and the counsel of peace will be between them both" (Zech. 6:12-13).