if they repent with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies, who carried them captive, and pray to you toward their land, which you gave to their fathers, the city that you have chosen, and the house that I have built for your name,
Solomon is still on his knees at the dedication, picturing the day when his people will be prisoners in a foreign land, far from this new house. The verse describes what will bring them back — not a journey, but a turning of heart and a direction of prayer.
A prayer that already sees the exile
Solomon does not pray only for the good days ahead. One writer sees his prayer reaching over the whole future of the nation, its fall and its recovery together:
The Bible TreasurySolomon's prayer looks onward to it, but takes up also the time in between. He counts, as it were, on the coming glory, and pleads for mercy in view of it; he sees the scattering of rebellious Israel. His prayer is a divine forecast of their history, put in the language of supplication. Grace will restore the nation to the rule and glory of Christ.
Another commentator notes how sure Solomon is that this day will come, and reads these verses as reaching to Israel today:
Leslie M. GrantAgain, in verse 46, Solomon says, "When they sin against You," not "If." God in anger delivers them into an enemy's hand, so that they are carried captive. Then they repent and plead with the Lord, and Solomon asked that God may hear in heaven and forgive them. This section (vv. 46-53) has a direct bearing on Israel's condition today. They have sinned deeply against God in rejecting His beloved Son, and so have been carried away into other lands.
A whole heart, given by grace
The condition Solomon names is total: heart and soul, with nothing held back. One writer points out who produces that turning:
Leslie M. GrantIt will be a work of God's grace in their hearts that moves all this. His grace causes them to return to the Lord with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity.
Why face the land, the city, the house
They pray toward the land, the city and the house because God had chosen that place and spoken about it:
C. H. MackintoshThe great question remained: "What does Scripture say?" Did God give Daniel a reason to pray toward Jerusalem? He did! First, the Lord had said to Solomon about the temple at Jerusalem, "My eyes and my heart will be there for all time." Jerusalem was God's centre. It was, it is, and it always will be. True, it was in ruins — the temple was in ruins; but God's word was not in ruins, and here is faith's simple but solid warrant.
Daniel's open windows
Years later Daniel, far from home, opened his windows toward a city in ruins. One writer explains why that was not his own idea:
C. H. MackintoshFaith always seeks and finds a warrant for its activities in the word of God. This is of the very deepest importance. Without God's warrant for praying toward Jerusalem, Daniel's conduct would have been absurd. It would have been the height of folly to rush into the lions' den just to carry out some theory of his own.
God had already answered Solomon's prayer, and Daniel rested on that answer:
Edward DennettDaniel was therefore resting on the sure word of God when he prayed this way. The Lord had said to Solomon, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me" (1 Kings 9:3).
Jonah's claim on the same words
Solomon prayed for a whole nation, yet one man in trouble leaned on the same words. A commentator traces Jonah's hope back to this prayer:
G C WillisWords like these gave Jonah authority from the Lord Himself to count on God's mercy to forgive his sin and rescue him.
An answer still ahead
The same writer looks past the present scattering to a repentance still ahead:
Leslie M. GrantTheir present scattering has lasted for nearly 2000 years. That shows the stubbornness of the human heart. But God will yet work in the hearts of at least a remnant of Israel, breaking them down in repentance to pray for His restoring mercy. Then He will answer according to the goodness of His heart.
Summary
- Foreseen — Solomon prays for a disaster that has not yet happened. His prayer is a forecast of the nation's history.
- Given — the whole-hearted return he asks for comes from God's grace working in them, not from hardship.
- Aimed — their repentance has a direction: the land, the city and the house God chose. That is where He said His eyes and His heart would be.
- Enough — ruins did not cancel the promise. Daniel opened his windows on a word God had already heard, and Jonah leaned on the same word.
- Unfinished — the long scattering shows how hard the human heart is. The answer still waits for the day a remnant prays this prayer.