Prayer of Solomon
This is an excerpt from Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the Temple, (1 Kings 8) Solomon prayed:
“Therefore, O God of Israel, let your word be confirmed that you promised to your servant, my father David.
But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built! Regard your servant’s prayer and his plea, O Lord my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, ‘My name shall be there, that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place.
Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; hear and forgive. Likewise when foreigners, who are not of your people Israel, come from a distant land because of your name… pray toward this house, then hear in heaven your dwelling place and do whatever the foreigners ask of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built.”
Psalm 84 (Listen by clicking here.)
How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs, indeed it faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh sing for joy to the living God.
Even the sparrow finds a home and the swallow a nest for herself, where she may lay her young, at your altars, O Lord of hosts, my King and my God. Happy are those who live in your house, ever singing your praise…. Happy are those whose strength is in you, in whose heart are the highways to Zion…. For a day in your courts is better than a thousand elsewhere…. O Lord of hosts, happy is everyone who trusts in you.
The above texts remind us that the Divine cannot be captured in the places we designate for worship. Let us ponder two questions.
- If we cannot trap God in a building, why do we think we can trap God in words or doctrines? How can these places bring us closer to God? How can they become obstacles to faith?
- What makes us feel a sense of the presence of the divine? Where do you feel closest to God? What precious gift do you bring to your holy place?
