1 Kings 9:1

This part of Solomon's history ends here. The rest of 1 Kings 9 and 1 Kings 10 deal with his relations with the nations. It is the external history of his reign.

In 1 Kings 5 through 8 the king's wisdom is used to give the Lord a place of rest worthy of Himself among the people subject to him. The building of the temple is the main event of Solomon's reign. Then comes the building of the king's palace, where the nations are joined with the people of God.

The Lord had appeared to Solomon before he built the temple (ch. 3:5); now at its completion the Lord appears to him again. There was a danger that Solomon would be puffed up with pride. He was so greatly blessed as king of the most famous nation on earth, and he had built the most magnificent building ever built. So the Lord had to appear to him, to give him a sober and humbled sense that he was only a servant of the God of Israel.

It is good to hear the voice of God. But the contrast between the Lord speaking to Solomon at Gibeon and now in Jerusalem is great. At Gibeon the Lord said, "Ask what I shall give you," and the young king's answer was a real delight. But several years had passed — years of unmatched prosperity in the goodness of God... Now the Lord speaks solemnly to His servant about his responsibility.

Though they were long in building, both the temple and the house of Solomon were finished at last. The work was not wasted, as sometimes happens with those who have not counted the cost beforehand. What God builds is always perfectly finished. The temple pictures the Father's house in glory. Solomon's house pictures the Church in her condition and circumstances on earth, where God's order is to be kept among His saints.

Solomon himself wrote, "Unless the LORD builds the house, those who build it labor in vain" (Psalm 127:1). It was good for him to be deeply gripped by that truth, since half his reign — twenty years — went into building the house of the Lord and his own house. But he failed to remember the divine principle he had been given to write down. That is clear from the note added after the statement that he was seven years building the Lord's house: "But Solomon was building his own house thirteen years" — nearly twice seven.

How often we begin our own service in real dependence on the Lord, with a full sense that we can do nothing apart from Him. Then, from one cause or another — even from delight in the work itself — we are drawn into relying on our own methods or our own energy. Or we lose sight of God's object because we are taken up with our own.

He grants his request: "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before me. I have consecrated this house that you have built, by putting my name there forever. My eyes and my heart will be there for all time" (v. 3). It is an unconditional response to what Solomon, as a picture of Christ, had done for the Lord.

But at once, as everywhere in this book, the question of responsibility follows. It is the exact opposite of what went before. When it is Solomon as a picture of Christ, everything is secure. When it is Solomon under responsibility, everything is open to question. His throne cannot be established forever unless he is upright and faithful.