April 14 - II Chronicles 5-8
It must have been a glorious sight to see the Ark of the Covenant brought into the newly completed Temple and the glory of the Lord fill that place. God blessed Solomon's efforts with His presence, and He answered his prayer. What a blessing He bestowed on the king and the people. In reality there is no greater blessing than to have the Living God dwell with you, and now He comes to dwell in the hearts of those who believe and not in a building. We have an even greater blessing than Solomon now. We should say like they said then, "For He is good, for His mercy endures forever." I hope you know the presence of the Lord in your life every day.
Solomon's prayer that was answered by God shows us that he knew God well at this point in his life. He knew God was an awesome God who could not be contained in the heavens much less in a building. He knew He was a covenant keeping God who could always be trusted to do the right thing. He knew He was a God who heard and answered prayers from His people. However, he also knew that all men were sinful, and God was the only one who knew their hearts. Therefore, no one could fool God. Knowing all of this Solomon prayed for God to be attentive to His people no matter what happened to them. II Chronicles 7:14 is the answer to that prayer. We see it as a promise, which it is, but it is given as a response to a prayer.
Solomon continued to reign and to follow the directions given by David. He knew that he and his descendants would be blessed only as long as they were faithful to God. However, he did not put away his foreign wives, so eventually he had trouble. He did not expell or kill the pagans like God told them to do. He made them workers, so eventually, the people were drawn away to idols. All of the good foundation that was laid by Solomon came to be destroyed because of a lack of obedience to God. It came gradually, but it was very deadly. Once the people forsook God, He no longer blessed them. I pray that you will remain obedient to God, and I pray your obedience will grow stronger instead of growing weaker.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 9-12.
Solomon's prayer that was answered by God shows us that he knew God well at this point in his life. He knew God was an awesome God who could not be contained in the heavens much less in a building. He knew He was a covenant keeping God who could always be trusted to do the right thing. He knew He was a God who heard and answered prayers from His people. However, he also knew that all men were sinful, and God was the only one who knew their hearts. Therefore, no one could fool God. Knowing all of this Solomon prayed for God to be attentive to His people no matter what happened to them. II Chronicles 7:14 is the answer to that prayer. We see it as a promise, which it is, but it is given as a response to a prayer.
Solomon continued to reign and to follow the directions given by David. He knew that he and his descendants would be blessed only as long as they were faithful to God. However, he did not put away his foreign wives, so eventually he had trouble. He did not expell or kill the pagans like God told them to do. He made them workers, so eventually, the people were drawn away to idols. All of the good foundation that was laid by Solomon came to be destroyed because of a lack of obedience to God. It came gradually, but it was very deadly. Once the people forsook God, He no longer blessed them. I pray that you will remain obedient to God, and I pray your obedience will grow stronger instead of growing weaker.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 9-12.