“When heaven is shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against you, if they pray toward this place and acknowledge your name and turn from their sin, when you afflict them,
Solomon himself prayed, not delegating to priest or prophet, and he prayed before the whole assembly with no written form but words fitted to the moment. That a king of such learning and achievement gave himself to prayer, and excelled in it, shows he had turned his vast gifts to God and did not count it beneath him to be the mouth of his people before the throne.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 8:22-53
When heaven is shut up,.... As it may be said to be when the air is quite serene, and not a cloud in it: and there is no rain; in its season, neither the former nor the latter, as it was in the times of Elijah: because they have sinned against thee; want of rain was threatened in case of sin, and was always the...
Solomon knelt on the brazen scaffold facing the altar, hands raised, performing this act of consecration himself as king, not as priest, which was remarkable and solemn. His prayer breathes the highest piety mixed with deepest humility, earnestly beseeching God's deliverance on the condition that people pray toward this holy place.
AI summary
Commenting on 1 Kings 8:22-61