A Temple Being Built Together

After Solomon has brought the ark of the covenant into the Most Holy Place, he sees the glory of God filling the temple, and he intercedes for the people and blesses them. He confesses that even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain God, yet he pleads that this same God will keep his eyes on the temple and hear the prayers of his people.

The temple is precious not because of the building itself, but because it is the place where God’s mercy and the prayers of his people meet. The confession that God keeps his covenant with those who walk before him with all their heart carries the same weight as the obedience of Abraham, who did not hold back his son but gave him up to God. Solomon’s intercession embraces Israel’s sin and repentance, and even the prayers of foreigners, showing that God is Lord not of one nation alone but of all creation.

Now the true temple is not a building but Jesus Christ, and those united with Christ are themselves that temple. As we take hold, day by day, of the hand of grace that God holds out to us, we find strength to live in obedience to his commands. Not only when we gather but also in the scattered places of our everyday lives, we are being built into a temple where God dwells.