I KINGS CHAPTER 8 - THE PRAYER OF SOLOMON

I Kings chapter 8 - The Prayer of Solomon and its truths for the church and our personal lives today

8:1, "Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel, and all the heads of the tribes, the chief of the fathers of the children of Israel, unto king Solomon in Jerusalem, that they might bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord out of the city of David, which is Zion."
--we see godly rulers and leades demonstrating to the people what is the good and right way;  Woe unto a nation tha thas ungodly leaders that leads the people away from the Lord.  See how vast this leadership is in leading:  the king, elders, chief rulers and those left unmentioned but still apart was the priest who conducted the ark.

8:2, "And all the men of Israel assembled themselves unto king Solomon at the feast in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month."
--as the leaders set the example in verse 1, now the men of Israel follow;  leaders lead the people;  The assembling of men of Israel was just as important as of the leadership doing it.  If men lead, but the people do not follow, there is no progression.  And it is said, that men lead by example.  Herein, as the leaders led in gathers to meet the Lord, so the people followed. 
And the other note here was that there king had gathered and called for this.  As loyal subjects they were to obey their king.  And just the same as subjects to our king we are to follow and obey.  'As I have done, so also do ye' was Christ's words to His followers, to us.  We will assemble unto our King and wait with Him and for Him to fulfill all things of His Divine purposes. 

8:3, "And all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark."
--elders and priests taking up the ark, where God's glory Shekinah abode;  OUr nation is built on separation of church and state, due to men being martyred by evil religious leaders and zealots of days gone by in Europe.  But when godly, Christ-like elders and priests are together, the nation is one and the people are one.  If being joined to the Lord is broken apart by priests or elders there is not as much profit to it.  And you read here that all the elders joined to the priest to take up the ark.
Taking up the ark is that spiritual point they are joined together on.  It is much like Joshua saying to the children of Israel,'as for me and my household we shall serve the Lord'; as Elijah said to Israel at Mt. Carmel, 'choose you this day' and the people responded after the fire fell, 'the Lord, He is God; the Lord, He is God'.  Join to the ark of God, which in all purposes for us is join to the Lord. 

8:4, "And they brought up the ark of the Lord, and the tabernacle of the congregation, and all the holy vessels that were in the tabernacle, even those did the priests and the Levites bring up."
--bringing up the ark of the Lord and the vessels needed to sacrifice and worship the Lord as He commanded Moses;
Having finished the temple building, the items needed to worship and prepare the place for worship were needed.  We go back to the book of Exodus and Leviticus that spoke of the items that God ordained that the priests should use in sacrificing and offering unto Him.  They could not offer properly without those things that the Lord called for. 
What are the holy vessels today?  We have not an ark of the Lord to draw near to, and only the high priest was able to draw near once a year.  But we do have the High Priest, Jesus Christ, Who has made a way for us to draw near, not to a box where God came down upon, but right to the very source of His glory, He Himself. 
We are the holy vessels now in which the Lord God comes into.  We are to be holy vessels of honor and not vessels of dishonor filled with sin and self.  Holy vessels to be used and drawn from is the Word of the Lord, the Bible.  It is to be the body of Christ, the church in which God imparts His Spirit to fill and hover over and within. 
These vessels are to be brought up to the Lord and sanctified by Him for His purpsoes.  Once cleansed and endued with power they may be used to worship and bring glory to Him Who is worthy. 

8:5, "And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assembled unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude."
--the demonstration of unity and worship through sacrifice;
NOte the unity that is here presented, the leadership and the people together, as one before the Lord. The act of which they do together is for our instruction, they sacrificed.  This labor of sacrifice is the worship unto the Lord.  As they sacrficied sheep and oxen for adoration, for confession, for worship; so we do the same things.  Our sacrifice is through Christ JEsus, Who sacrficied for us so that we may go free.  OUr sacrifice of our life, our time, our pursuits is for the furtherance of His kingdom.  Sacrifice unto Him is our thoughts, our hearts, our words to glorify Him.

They sacrificed animals in the old testament to offer blood for their atonement and sweet smelling savor unto Him. The very fact that they was without number for multitudes shows the willingness of the leaders and people to make an offering unto Him.  Our Lord was sent to offer Himself as the sacrifice for our sins.  His blood was shed for our atonement.  His one sacrficie covers a number that could not be numbered for offences, sins, transgressions and iniquities.  It is our joy to come to the cross and there to receive the sacrifice offered on our behalf that makes us worthy to be one of His children. 

8:6, "And the priests brought in the ark of the covenant of the Lord unto his place, into the oracle of the house, to the most holy place, even under the wings of the cherubims."
--the ark is brought into the holy of holies;
The ark of the covenant and the most holy place were two abiding fixtures in the new temple where God's glory abode upon.  He came down upon and revealed HImself upon the ark to Moses and Aaron.  The ark was always that earthly place where God abode upon.  There was great power and Presence of the ark to the people.  And there the ark in the holy of holies has a designated place that God's glory can come down and abide in the midst of the place of worship. 
You and I are to seek that place where God abides.  That place of the holy of holies where God's glory fills and abides.  A designated place where God comes down and we are covered with His glory.  'Take off your shoes, for you are on holy ground'.  the bringing of the ark and the holy of holies into one existence in the temple are 3 in 1.  The imagery of the ark in the holy place with the anges wings overhead stsretching over it is much the same image of the throne room in Revelation.  It mighht be a stretch for some, but I see it clearly. 

8:7, "For the cherubims spread forth their two wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubims covered the ark and the staves thereof above."
--an angleic covering upon this holy place;
We see throughout Scripture the angelic covering.  "His angels shall keep thee, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone'.  'Do you not know that you have entertained angels unaware?'  To Daniel, 'I am your angel sent forth. . . ' these angels drawn on the wall, with outstretched wings to portray a covering underneath their watch care and sheltering.  But here it is not so much protection or deliverance for the ark and the temple, as much as it is of worship. 

In Revealtion we have a glimpse of the throne room of God.  Above the throne of God the Father and Christ Who sits at His right hand there is the 4 beast that circle above them.  And they cry out, 'Holy, HOly, Holy'.  It is worship in their hovering over and covering of.  Let all praise be unto Him, Who is worthy and here in this place His glory abides and is manifested to the children of Israel.  It is the designated place that He promsied to abide in.  Where God promises to meet us is where we should be found. 

8:8, "And they drew out the staves, that the ends of the staves were seen out in the holy place before the oracle, and they were not seen without:  and there they are unto this day."
--nothing of substance in this verse for us to labor over; two points of note;
1.  The staves that were through the sides of the ark to carry it are removed.  The removal of the staves meant that this was now in a permanent place.  It was not be carried around, moved about, but it had now come to a place of abiding in this permanent fixture of the temple. 
2.  'there they are unto this day'- as the writers and recorders of history make their personal observation here, the ark is still residing.  No doubt, this was long before the temple was destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar and the ark was gone.  Long before its removal into the glories of heaven that is revealed in Revelation, 'there was seen in HIs temple the ark of His testament'

8:9, "There was nothing in the ark save the two tables of stone, which Moses put there at Horeb, when the Lord made a covenant with the children of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt."
--a remembrance of its importance and power to the children of Israel;
The two tables of the 10 commandments which Moses had put into the ark.  Also placed in the ark was the rod of Aaron which bloomed; and the bowl of manna.  But at this point those things had been removed.  The ark, the two tables of stone, Moses on the mount and the covenant that was made between the Lord and the people.  Everything always comes back to the covenant.  The remembrance of its importance to them and their relationship between each other.

8:10, "And it came to pass, when the priests were come out of the holy place, that the cloud filled the house of the Lord,"
--the Lord has come;  there a numerous times in the Scripture that we should know, 'when the Lord comes'; 
He came into the garden to Adam and Eve - 'and they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the midst of the garden';
He came down to visit Abraham and tell him of the promised covenant child.  And following that He allowed for Abraham to intercede for Sodom and Gomorrah.
He came down on the mount and met with Moses.  He met him through the burning bush; upon the mount in the visit of 40 days and then another 40 days. 
He came down on the ark and filled the temple when it was sanctified. 
He came down born of virgin, for such a time as this that the way of redemption would be completed.  He came to seek and save that which was lost.  He came to fulfill all.
He came down on the day of Pentecost.
Our prayer today is that again He will come down in power and His holy Presence upon His people for His purposes to be fulfilled of His glory.
Multiple times throughout history it is recorded of when revival came down.  EAch time is different but there is some common things to be noticed that aligns with this verse:
--God may work through an individual; stirring them up, speaking to them, revealing Himself to them;  this is evident by the burning bush to Moses; the angel to Gideon; Paul on the road to Damascus where he was dealt with;  how God dealt with Jonathan Goforth in his own heart on revival and the great need of God's Presence;  how He dealt with Finney, Mooday and others one on one with their own life and their own heart before He came upon them and filled them;
--God uses His house and place of worship for many of these Divine fillings;  Evan Roberts was at his home church with the youth as God came down and filled them;  Burns saw it at McCheynes church on Sunday worship where God came down;  David Branierd was preacing on sunday when God came down and filled everyone in the House of the Lord from right to left;  the gathering of the Hebrides at the house of the Lord and at the conclusion of the service the deacon stopped and said, 'Lord, did You not say You would pour water on them that are thirsty?'  Campbell recites, 'God came down that night'. 

This is exactly what the heart cry of God's people is, 'to see the Lord fill His temples (His servants, know you not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost) and His temples (the dwelling places of worship where true believers are gathered together in His Name and for His purpsoes).

8:11, "So that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud:  for the glory of the Lord had filled the house of the Lord."
--the labor and work of men ceases when God shows up; 
I have always been intrigued by this.  God comes down in His glory and fills the house.  the worship, sacrifices and prayers of the people all stop and attention is given to His glory.  What a sight to behold! 'They could not stand to minister because of the cloud'.    He had filled the house and occupied every point of it.  Men were now left helpless and only to ponder and wonder at the great sight before their eyes. 
Now there is a time to go back to work.  But needless to say, who could ever be the same after such a sight and experience.  We all need this today.  The church needs this so desperately.  Is there a prayer for it? a longing for it?  The minsiters can't go on with visiting, with meetings, with fellowships, with services, because the glory of the Lord is present.  Oh, may we see this great wonder in our lifetime. 

8:12, "Then spake Solomon, The Lord said that He would dwell in the thick darkness."
--the beginning of the prayer of Solomon; verses 12 - 53;
The beginning of prayers is always about God  When the disciples asked Jesus to teach them to pray, He said, 'Pray like this, "Our Father which art in heaven. . ."  Here Solomon begins his prayers with what the Lord had already said.  Worship, praise, adoration is alone and all about the Lord God.  It is talking to Him about what He has doen, Who He is, what He has promised and naming His very Name. 
Now Solomon is not exactly praying at this point, as much as he is addressing what is happening to the people.  The Lord God has come down and occupied the temple  The people are in wonder and fear.  Everytime an angel or God comes down they begin with that statement, 'fear not'.  Solomon is addressing this mystery about the happenings.  If he was in prayer, he would not be talking about the Lord but to the Lord.  'The Lord said that He would dwell. . .'; if he was praying he would say, 'YOu, O Lord said that You would dwell. . .'  the pronouns determine who one is talking to and about. 
But he is beginning to get ready to address the Lord on behalf of the people, and himself. 
'Dwelling in the thick darkness' - the Lord dwells in all things, in all places at all times;  He is omnipresent, omnipotent and omniscience;  Yet we have proximities that are given to help us grasp His inifinitness with our finitness.  The Lord dwells in the light, for He is light.  But the Lord also dwells in the darkness.  How can light dwell in darkness, and darkness in light?  Only the Lord knows and is able.  Yet, we hav two illustrations to help us understand.
1.  in the beginning there was God;  there was nothing but darkness;  light had not been brought into being yet.  And as the Spirit brooded upon the face of the deep, and God dwelt in the midst of existence, time and creation there was only darkness.  Yet, we know the Scripture that declares God is light and in Him is no darkness.  He is light but dwelt in darkness.  Then God pronounces it, 'let there be light, and there was light'.  Where did the light come from?  there was no energy of stars, sun, fusion or any other matter or source, where did it come from?  It came from God, He gave light in this darkness. 
2.  in our lostness and sin, we are in the dark;  there is no light apart from Christ.  Yet, when Christ looks upon us with mercy and redemption, He imparts light into our darkness.  Now being saved and to be made children of light, we still dwell in darkness of this world and mankind around us, yet we are light.  'Let your light so shine in this darkness that men may know'. 

These are two examples that help us to understand the depth and mystery of the Lord said He would dwell in the thick darkness 

8:13, "I have surely built thee an house to dwell in , a settled place for thee to abide in for ever."
--Solomon declares his conversation to the Lord as dedicating the house for His place of dwelling;
Solomon had spent 7 years in building this building.  This does not really factor in all that David did in preparation for the work.  As David had built himself an house, and sitting on his throne, he looked about and this thought came to him, 'The Lord has no dwelling house among us, but the tent, the tabernacle.'  And he began and sought to build a house.  The Lord stopped him by Nathan the prophet and said, 'You will not build me an house; although it was good that you desired to do so.  But your son after you, solomon, shall build Me the house."  And God ordained the place, on the property of the temple mount, the threshingfloor of Araunah the Jebusite.  God gave peace to Solomon from all Israel's enemies to build it.  God provided all the materials to build it. 
It is a place to dwell in.  It is the place established for the people to come to God, and in which God came down to receive worship from His people.  No other place on earth was like it established for God to dwell in.  And yet we know in the New Testament with the temple removed as the place of worship, for the Jews had rejected the Son of God, and looked more ot the building than the purpose of its making, God to dwell in.  God gives us the teaching, that our bodies are the temple of the Holy One to dwell in. 
WE have churches built across our landscape that are established places of worship.  Different places, different styles, different people, different times, different denominations, but the one same purpose, for God to dwell in the midst of His people when they come together.  WE often forget this, because of our selfish purposes, traditions, religiousity.  But we come together for God to come down and dwell among us and in us.  An established place has always been a source of blessing for God's people and His kingdoms advancement. 
A settled place for Thee to abide in for ever - the place was to be established forever for the covenant children of Israel to be faithful and for all the nations and the population to learn and see that God is the Lord God of heaven and earth and is to be worshipped and glorified.  This settled place was removed twice because God's people forgot what they was supposed to be doing.  God would have abided there for ever had they chidlren of Israel served the Lord as He had said.  'Take heed' was issued to the people, but the people forgot the Lord and went served other gods. 

8:14, "And the king turned his face about, and blessed all the congregation of Israel:  (and all the congregation of Israel stood;)"
--turning from the Lord to the people, and blessing is given to the people;
The lesson of position is found here.  When one addresses the Lord they come bowed, humble and lowly before Him.  spiritual eyes and heart are focused on him; 'Looking unto Jesus the Author and Finisher of our faith'.  But in reality the soul of man bent before Him will not look up to gaze upon His glory.  But when we address men we turn our faces to look upon them, eye to eye and face to face.  Solomon bowed before teh Lord, but when he desired to speak to the people, he arose and turned to them and addressed them. 
He gave a blessing upon the people of the Lord.  Now no one can give a blessing unless they possess a blessing from the Lord.  They were in the midst of God's glory upon them.  The Lord was nigh and had promised to fulfill and bless His people.  They were the congreation of Israel, the covenant children of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob. 
--all the congregation of Israel stood;
The king was addressing them and they were to stand in attention to his words.  They all stood, respect and reverence was present upon them. 

8:15, "And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, which spake with his mouth unto David my father, and hath with his hand fulfilled it, saying,"
--Solomon giving praise and thanksgiving unto the Lord before the people for what He hath done;
solomon begins his dialgue and ends his prayer with blessing unto the Lord (v. 56).  Blessings to be given unto the people for the purposes of the Lord:  'I bless you, in the Lord';  and blessingsto be given unto the Lord, for He is worthy to receive all honor and praise from His creation.  David in numerous Psalms gives blessing unto the Lord.  To bless takes on several meanings, especially when depending on who/Whom is the recepient of the blessings.  As alreaddy mentioned one cannot bless that has no blessing to give.  To bless those that are less than receiving a blessing is only vanity.  You cannot bless evil; you cannot bless sin. 
The definitions in regards to blessing the Lord is: to extol(lift up) as holy and give praise, to glorify.
In regards to blessing man:  to conver holiness upon the subject.  So in refernce to our verse, Solomon is giving praise unto the Lord and declaring blessing upon the Lord for He is holy and worthy of receiving the declarations of His vastness and glory.
--Spake with His mouth unto David my father, and hath with His hand fulfilled it - Solomon the promise of God to his father and declares it to be fulfilled this day.
the account may already be known by the people, but there had been many years leading up to Samuel the prophet, when there was no word from the Lord.  But the Lord found David, a man after His Own heart and chose him to be king over all Israel.  With that desire of David to please the Lord, the Lord blest him and his family  He used him to be the one to bring fulfillment to His ways.  Therefore, the Lord promised David and made a covenant with him and the Lord always keeps His Word to His children.  He has spoken it, and He will fulfill it.  We may grow weary in waiting for it to be fulfilled, but He will accoomplish it.  'His Word will not return unto Him void'.  The faith of our hearts and His people must rest in the assurance of this.  Throughout all Scripture is the promsies of God saying, 'I will', and one can read and see HIs faithfulness that none of His words fall to the ground but are all fulfilled.  He speaks it and fulfills it;  what has He spoken to you?  What has been promised and left unfulfilled?  Question not, doubt not, be not guilty of unbelief, but remember He has said it and He will do it. 

8:16, "Since the day that I brought forth My people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house, that My Name might be therein; but I chose David to be over My peopel Israel."
--Solomon rehearses the events of God leading them to build a house and why David was chosen;
the Lord spoke to David these words about the development of the temple.  God says, 'I brought forth Israel out of Egypt'.  And in this statement it is to remember and consider the marvelous and powerful way in which He brought them out of Egypt.  the 10 plagues, spoiling of the Egyptians, the crossing of the Red Sea and the destruction of the Egyptian army.  God led them by the cloudy pillar by day and the firey pillar by night.  God brought them out to bring them in;  God brought us out of sin and darkness and lostness to bring us into His wonderful redemption and salvation.  One must remember what power brought you out of Egypt (out of the world/sin) 

'I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build an house' - There was established places throughout the history of Israel moving through the wilderness and when they was established in the promised land for the ark to rest and the people to come and offer sacrfifices.  But there was no city chosen to establish til we see how this is all orchestrated by His Divine hand.  Shiloh had been the previous place the ark was kept, but the men and priests did evil and that place was left desolate and forsaken. 
Let us examine the Scriptural place of direction that God allowed to take shape for Jerusalem to be the holy city where Solomon would be the temple and the ark and worship would be established.
1.  From the days of David beginning to conquer the land, it is revealed that when he became king he set his sights on Jerusalem to be his city.  He took the city and gave the edict that whosoever would conquer would be the general of the host.  Joab became the general and the city was David's.  Yet we see that there remained among the Israelites those 7 nations of people that was to be removed.  But the city became David's and there he set up his monarachy.  And as he sat there after conquering his enemies he contemplated that he had a house, but the Lord did not have a house.  And he set about to build one for the Lord.  This is when the Lord came to him and expressed that he had much blood on his hands and he would not build it, but his son would 

2.   God's purposes are so much higher than our ways.  God allows for Satan to tempt David to number the people.  David does so, and thereby initating sin.  They were not to number the people.  DAvid confesses of his sin and repents and for punishment the Lord allows for him to chose one of the three options.  A pestilence is sent upon the land and the angel of the Lord, with sword drawn, is slaying the people through this disease of death.  the angel is stayed upon Mount Moriah, the land owned by Arunah the Jebusite.  what was a Jebusite doing in the land? in the city of the king? 
But there upon his threshingfloor the angel stopped and waited.  David rising to go make atonement before the Lord, bought the land of Arunah the Jebusite and there offered sacrifice before the Lord.  The land of the Jebusite would be the place of the temple, called Mount Moriah. 

'That My Name might be there' - oh how precious is this thought when God places His Name there upon a city, upon His people, upon that soul;  For where His Name is, there is greatness all around.  IT is the greatness of that Name that we need to be reminded of.  It is the Name which is above every Name.  It is the Name that brings redemption; the Name that heals the sick; the Name that makes the demons to flee; it is the Name that invokes power for His glory.
Now upon this city, the temple would bear His Holy Name so long as they feared, obeyed and worshipped Him.  But if iniquity entered in; if rrebellion became the norm; if self became priority then His Name would no longer be there upon that city.  Not a city of refuge but a city of desolation - depended on His Name there or absent from there.  And so it is with out lives, if we bear that truth as Christ-ians.

'But I chose David to be over My people Israel' - it is the Lord's choosing what shall be; and when the Lord finds a man after His Own heart He is able to do wonders.  As Saul had departed from obeying and doing right before the Lord, he was rejected and removed.  God sought man to lead the congregation of Israel unto Him for His glory.  This was the covenant and hope all along.  Praise the Lord when He is able to find such men; curse the day when there is none to be found. 

8:17, "And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house for the Name of the Lord God of Israel."
--that which is in the heart may be brought for His glory and honor;  But all such thoughts are of the Lord, in puts the desire to do such things in the heart. 
'And it was in the heart of David my father to build an house' - Christ taught that what is in the heart will come out of the man;  If evil be in the heart, evil will come up out and manifest itself; if goodness be in the heart, then rightouesness will come out and manifest itself.  David's heart was pursuing after God.  'As the deer panteth after the water brooks, so panteth my soul after Thee O God.' 
To build the house was as he was sitting in his own house that had been provided for him.  HE thought to himself, 'Here I have this nice house, beautiful palace and the ark of the covenant is in a tent.  surely a house of magnificence would be better suited for our Lord to have a house of worship befitting Him?'    And with that he called Nathan the prophet and shared his desire to build a house for the Lord. 
--'for the Name of the Lord God of Israel' - and is there any other Name like that Name? No, He is the Lord God, God Almighty and His Name and Names give value to His power and glory.  And this house to be built would be a house to give honor and glory and praise to Him, Whose Name is above all Names.It is not honoring the Name, for the PErson of God is the Name.  In worshipping His Name you are worshipping Him, Who bears that Name.  They are two separate things, but one in the same.

8:18, "And the Lord said unto David my father, Whereas it was in thine heart to build an house unto My Name, thou didst well that it was in thine heart."
--God acknowledges that the Lord heard and knew David's desire;  Does God not put such desires in the hearts of men for His purpsoes?
Found within the heart, not a scheme of the mind or will, but of the heart.  Can man every have a desire that pleases God apart from Him?  And found within our hearts are wickedness, sin, vileness and iniquity.  Until the Lord come in the heart and there abides.  And then from Him flows these desires of honoring and glorifying Him.  Many good things in the heart does the Spirit give us to 'desire to do', but it requires our reaction and obedience to do it. 
'Thou didst well that it was in thine heart' - Do you realize how many good things God's people have had in their hearts but never acted on it?  Good intentions, but no action to it.  Thus the ideas and intentions of the heart died.  They never came to fruitiion.  David was ready to respond and act to this, until the Lord speaks to him about this.  And here is the Lord approving of Davids willingness to do it.  'Thou didst well' is a phrase we long to hear from him.  That which please our Lord is our pursuit and desire.  And at the end of our way, when we stand before Him to hear Him once again speak these words, 'Well done, thou good and faithful servant, enter now into the joys of the Lord."

8:19, "Nevertheless thou shalt not build the house:  but thy son that shall come forth out of thy loins, he shall build the house unto My Name."
--Solomon continues to give the scenario of how it all came about;


8:38, "What prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, or by all Thy people Israel, which shall know every man the plague of his own heart and spread forth his hands toward this house:"
--a call for individual prayer or the prayer of a group or people;  the offering of prayer and supplications to be made before the Lord for these things mentioned. 
'The plague of his own heart' - this was the first phrase of this chapter that captivated me and made me take a longer look at Solomon's phrases and supplications.  It's easy to speak of the 'plague of his heart';  but what about the very personal phrase, 'the plague of my heart'?  "The heart is desperately wicked who can know it?"  the plague of my heart reveals the choices, the life, the sin before a holy God Who will not tolerate sin.  And oh the preciousness of a Savior Who took my sin and bore my shame so that I might go free.  And this leads the soul to see their own unworthiness and how great is His worthiness.  We see not for me alone, but all the heart of men, wicked men, family, nations, that have this issue, 'the plauge of their own heart'. 

It is for us to be a cardiologist and examine the plauge of the heart.  Expose it, reveal it, show the way for it to be made whole, to made right in Christ.  Christ healed the physical plauges of men from blindness, death and leprosy.  He can heal the plauge fo the heart by saying, 'be thou saved'.  Oh, did He not do it for Zacahias?  'today salvation is come to this house';  did He not do it for the thief on the cross?  'Today shalt thou be with Me in paradise'. 

Know what the 'plague of the heart is'.  It is sin, it is self, it is the root of all evil within us. 

8:43, "Hear Thou in heaven, Thy dwelling place, and do according to all that the stranger calleth to Thee for:  that all people of the earth may know Thy Name, to fear Thee, as do Thy people Israel; and that they may know that this house, which I have builded, is called by Thy Name."

How much is it when God's people pray and wait for Him to answer? But how much greater is it when strangers and heathens pray and see the answer to their prayers?  'When the stranger calleth to Thee for' is the statement about those outside of relationship to Him to pray and seek His face. 



Began: 2/19/14
Edited:  2/20/14; 2/24; 2/25; 2/26; 2/28; 3/3; 3/7; 3/10; 3/17; 3/18; 3/20; 3/21; 3/28; 3/29; 4/7; 4/8; 4/10; 4/11; 4/12; 4/18
Finished: