then hear in heaven and forgive the sin of your people Israel and bring them again to the land that you gave to their fathers.
Solomon having made a general surrender of this house to God, which God had signified his acceptance of by taking possession, next follows Solomon's prayer, in which he makes a more particular declaration of the uses of that surrender, with all humility and reverence, desiring that God would agree thereto.
Commenting on 1 Kings 8:22-53
Then hear thou in heaven, and forgive the sin of thy people Israel,.... It being not personal, but public sins, which would be the cause of such a calamity: and bring them again unto the land which thou gavest unto their fathers; as had been often their case in the time of the judges.
HIS PRAYER. (1Ki. 8:22-61) Solomon stood before the altar--This position was in the court of the people, on a brazen scaffold erected for the occasion (Ch2 6:13), fronting the altar of burnt offering, and surrounded by a mighty concourse of people.
Commenting on 1 Kings 8:22-61