And the LORD said to him, “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.
Solomon had finished the temple and prayed a long prayer at its dedication. God now answers him in person, and the answer holds two things at once: a promise that His name, His eyes and His heart rest on this house, and, a few verses later, a warning that the same house can be thrown away.
A Second Meeting, A Different Tone
The first time God appeared, He invited a young king to ask for anything. This second meeting comes after the years of glory, and the subject has changed.
W. W. FeredayIt 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 — and the Temple now stood. Israel's blessing was therefore complete. Now the LORD speaks to His servant in a serious tone about his responsibility.
The Prayer Of Chapter 8 Granted
Solomon had asked God to hear every prayer made toward this house. This verse is God's reply, and it settles what the building now is.
J. N. DarbyThe king admits that the highest heaven cannot contain the LORD. Even so, he asks Him to grant every prayer made to Him in this house. God granted it (chap. 9:3). So the house became the throne of the God of heaven upon earth — the place where He revealed Himself, and where He had put His name.
An Unconditional Grant
This first half of God's answer carries no "if." It is a gift, given for what Solomon had done for God.
H. L. RossierHe appears to Solomon in a dream, as He had appeared to him at Gibeon. He grants what the king asked (v. 3). It is an unconditional response to what Solomon, as a picture of Christ, had done for the Lord. He receives what Solomon had built as established forever before His eyes.
The promise outlasted the stones Solomon laid. Later buildings rose on the same site, and God still called it one house.
J. N. DarbyThe temple or house is always God's house and always the same house. Whoever sets up in it or has built it, it has never ceased to be God's house. So Christ calls it "My Father's house"; not with reference to who built it, but because by God's original declaration it was at all times God's house.
Eyes And Heart
"Eyes" alone would mean watchful attention. God adds His heart. C. E. Stuart ties this to His long delight in living among His people.
C. E. StuartWhat a delight it was to God to live among His people!… As He told Moses, so He told Solomon, of His dwelling among His people. While the house was still going up, God cheered the king with a promise: if he was obedient, the LORD would live among the children of Israel and not forsake them (1 Kings 6:12-13). Once the house stood finished, God said it again. He appeared to Solomon a second time, twenty years after the king began to lay the foundations of the house of the LORD.
Because that word was never withdrawn, it is read as still standing over a land and a site now in ruins.
Hamilton SmithIf the everlasting love of God is still toward Israel, His eyes are still upon the Land and the Temple. The land may be desolate and trodden under foot of the Gentiles, but it is still the "land that the LORD your God cares for. The eyes of the LORD your God are always upon it, from the beginning of the year to the end of the year" (Deut. 11:12).
Something Faith Could Stand On
This promise was not left as theory. It is why Daniel, far from home, kept praying toward Jerusalem.
Edward DennettThere was a reason for his windows being open toward Jerusalem. At the dedication of the temple Solomon had prayed that, if the people were carried away captive and then prayed toward their land, the city God had chosen, and the house built for His name, God would hear their prayer and their plea in heaven, where He dwells, and maintain their cause (1 Kings 8:46-49). Daniel was therefore resting on the sure word of God in praying this way, for the Lord had said to Solomon, "I have heard your prayer and your plea, which you have made before Me" (1 Kings 9:3).
The Warning That Follows
A few verses later, God warns that He will cast this same house out of His sight. That looks like a flat contradiction.
H. L. RossierSo within two verses God declares, with no conditions, that His eyes and His heart will be on this house forever — and also that He will cast it out of His sight! Does God contradict Himself? Certainly not. The conditional warning has come true to the letter. The unconditional promise will come true to the letter too, when the true king after God's heart has built Him a house — a temple on earth far more glorious than Solomon's.
Summary
- Answered. God replies to Solomon's dedication prayer in person. The house becomes "the throne of the God of heaven upon earth."
- Given. He sets the house apart and puts His name there with no "if" attached. It is a gift, not a bargain.
- Loved. He promises more than watchful eyes. He names His heart, the same delight He showed in living among His people.
- Trusted. Daniel prayed toward that place from exile, resting on this word of God.
- Kept. The warning that follows came true to the letter. The promise waits on a better King, who will build God a house.