A self-reflection of 1 Kings 8:54-61
And Solomon stood, after offering a prayer and plea to God, and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to His people Israel, according to all that He promised. Reflecting on God’s word, He promised Jesus to this lost world, who said,” Take my yoke upon you and learn from me for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls (Matthew 11:29). Are you with me? Continuing with Solomon’s blessing, Solomon continued to say “Not one word has failed of all God’s good promise, which He spoke by Moses His servant,” (I am adding) and through Jesus, His Son our Lord and Savior. In Solomon’s blessing, he asked, “That God be with them, as He was with their fathers. May He not leave them or forsake them.” Reflecting back in scripture, Moses gave Joshua encouraging words that God will be before him and He would never forsake him, and He would be with him everywhere he would go (Deuteronomy 31:8). Now looking to Jesus, Emmanuel (God with us) will be with us until the end of time (Matthew 28:20), keeping this reflective thought, Jesus, by having the Father give us His gift of the Holy Spirit, who now indwells in all believers, and is God’s presence within us will never leave or forsake us and be everywhere we go (Psalm 139:7-8). Are you still with me? And now, the Holy Spirit helps believers do what Solomon asked, “That God may incline their hearts to Him, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments, statutes, and rules, which He commanded our fathers.” This caused me to reflect on what God had spoken to Ezekiel, “I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
I am almost finished, please bear with me, Solomon then said, “Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may He maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires,that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other.” Reflecting on that statement, I will look to Jesus again, who said, “Now this is eternal life: that they know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom you have sent.” Are you getting this?
Now let me get back to Solomon, who instructed the people to “Let your heart, therefore, be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in His statutes and keeping His commandments, as at this day.” These words are for all believers today, tomorrow, and forever. And remember that the Holy Spirit, the helper, will help believers to fulfill what Solomon and God, Himself, instructed through His spoken word to live a purposeful blessed life that pleases God.
Blessings and love from the Father.
Extra reading: 1 Kings 8:54- 61 and reflect on God’s Word and read God’s response to Solomon’s plea and prayer in 1 Kings 9.
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