Now therefore, O LORD, God of Israel, keep for your servant David my father what you have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not lack a man to sit before me on the throne of Israel, if only your sons pay close attention to their way, to walk before me as you have walked before me.’
At the dedication of the temple Solomon asks God to keep His promise to David: a descendant of David would always sit on Israel's throne. But the promise comes with an "if only", and that condition shapes the rest of Israel's history.
A Promise Already Half-Kept
Solomon does not begin by asking for something new. He points to what God has already done, and asks Him to carry it further.
Leslie M. GrantHe also shows how much he values God's keeping of His promise. He had no doubt that God put Solomon on the throne and enabled him to build the temple. So he prayed that God would keep His promise to David further: that David would never fail to have a man sit before God on the throne of Israel — but on condition that David's sons would walk in God's law.
The whole prayer follows this pattern — blessing received, then blessing asked for on terms.
J. N. DarbyLook at the king's blessing, which, like almost everything called blessing, was really thanksgiving. Look at his prayer too. In both we find the same principles we pointed out at first. God fulfils the promises made to David as present blessing. But He grants the enjoyment of this blessing on condition of obedience.
The Weight of "If Only"
Without its closing clause, the verse would be pure gift. Everything turns on that clause.
H. L. RossierAnd now he asks God to keep with David what He had promised him. All God's faithfulness towards His own depends on what He has promised Christ. Here we would be standing on the ground of pure grace, if only there were not an if... How this "if only" condemns us all! It condemned wise Solomon completely, and how much more ourselves, a worthless lot.
The same writer contrasts responsibility under law with responsibility under grace:
H. L. RossierOf course grace also brings responsibility for those under its rule. But this responsibility is completely different. You can put it in these words: "Let us be what we are." Legal responsibility says: "Let us become what we should be."
Two Kinds of Promise
This is not the only place where a promise given outright stands beside a promise given on terms.
J. N. DarbyThe Almighty called the vessel of promise without any condition. Jehovah, the God of Israel, is the One under whom the Jews received the promises on condition of obedience. These two are one and the same God... We shall find this, and the difference between promise on condition and promise without condition, running through the Old Testament from the Pentateuch to Nehemiah.
The Condition Was Not Met
David passed the same condition on to Solomon. No generation of his sons kept it — including the man now praying.
Leslie M. GrantThe Lord had told David that if his sons would be diligent to walk before the Lord in truth with all their heart and soul, then there would be no lack of a descendant to sit on David's throne. David reminded Solomon of this conditional promise. Sad to say, David's sons did not fulfil the conditions. Solomon began well, but very soon he turned away from the truth of scripture. His sons turned further away still.
The Throne Secured Elsewhere
If the promise rested on obedience alone, it collapsed long ago. Yet David's throne still has its heir.
W. W. FeredayOn the ground of responsibility all is lost. David's throne has long disappeared; his family also. Even so, David does not lack a man to sit upon his throne. Matthew 1 gives the family line of his true Heir. Before His birth the angel said to His mother: "the Lord God will give to him the throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end" (Luke 1:32-33)... Right now He sits at the right hand of God in heaven, rejected by Israel and by all. But He will yet enter Zion in triumph.
That promise grew brightest at the moment Israel's collapse looked total:
The Bible TreasuryEvery blessing that depended on their obedience is lost. This one becomes even more necessary because of their unfaithfulness... This promise shines all the brighter when everything seems lost. The armies of Nebuchadnezzar were besieging the city. Jeremiah was in prison for his testimony. Their cup of wickedness was full, and the Gentile was about to rule over them. Then the word of the Lord came to the imprisoned prophet: "David shall never lack a man to sit on the throne of the house of Israel" (Jer. 33:17).
Summary
- Promise — God had already kept His word: Solomon holds the throne and the temple stands. So Solomon asks Him to keep the rest.
- Condition — the words "if only" turn a gift into a contract; without them the verse would be pure grace.
- Failure — David reminded Solomon of this condition. No generation of David's sons met it, and Solomon himself soon turned away.
- Contrast — law says "become what you should be"; grace says "be what you are" — both carry responsibility, but not the same kind.
- Fulfilment — on the ground of responsibility everything was lost. Yet David still has a Man for his throne, and that promise shone brightest as Jerusalem fell.