Tag: Solomon's Temple Dedication

Beautifying the Temple

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“And he garnished the house with precious stones for beauty…” 2 Chronicles 3:6

The house of God, have we lost our wonder and respect for such an edifice? The specified place designated for drawing near to His holy presence. The place ordained by His Spirit for the saint to come and be refreshed, and to learn what thus saith the Lord. The place for the sinner to find refuge if he will but hide himself in the salvation offered there.

Solomon did everything in his power to beautify this sacred space. Other kings had other gods with other buildings of worship. But for the King of all kings, and the one and only true living God, Creator of all, he knew he could not do enough to honor the Holy Presence there. Yet, he would do what he could because God deserved this and more for this designated meeting place.

The wonder and respect for the Lord God over all compelled him to lay out the best of the best to honor Him.

But Jesus said, “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up” (John 2:19), speaking of His body regarding His death and resurrection. Paul goes on to say, “What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you…” (1 Corinthians 6:19).

Are we taking such care as Solomon did in beautifying and honoring the temple? How are we caring for the temple within?

My friends, whether we be in a building we designate as the house of God, or be it the temple within, let us remember to bring honor to the place where God’s Spirit dwells. Never lose the awe and wonder over such a sacred assembly.

Take away anything that mars the beauty, stop any practice that brings dishonor and replace it with ornaments of grace (Proverbs 3:22), remembering we are “Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body” (2 Corinthians 4:10).

May we bring our own precious stones of praise and honor to beautify His house.

In the finiteness of our humanity, Father God, You deserve so much more glory, honor, and praise.

Text Free Image by Arek Socha from Pixabay

“God is worthy of so much more!”

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Have you ever filled a glass to the brim, and just when you thought it could not hold any more liquid, you added another drop, then another, and still another?  So far it has not overflowed, so carefully, and oh so gently, you continue to go just to see when enough is enough.

Can I tell you, we can push ourselves to what we think are our natural limits in praising God and it will still never be enough.  There is no quota that can really satisfy the complete exaltation of God who has done so much for us.  There is no sufficient amount of thankfulness, sacrifice, or service that says I have completed my duty to the Lord.  To Him, whom the Word declares, “No good thing will he withhold from them that walk uprightly” (Psalm 84:11) – to Him, who will “liberally” give wisdom if asked (James 1:5) – to Him, whom we can lift our eyes to daily, and find the help and strength we need (Psalm 121:1-2) – to Him, we can never, ever exhaust our worship!  God is worthy of so much more!

Reading in 1 Kings, I came across the historical telling of king Solomon at the temple dedication.  There, “Solomon offered a sacrifice of peace-offering unto the LORD, two and twenty thousand oxen, and an hundred and twenty thousand sheep…” (1 Kings 8:63).  Did you see those numbers? That’s 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep – wow! Earlier in the same chapter when “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.  And king Solomon, and all the congregation of Israel, that were assemble unto him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing sheep and oxen, that could not be told nor numbered for multitude,” (1 Kings 8:4-5).

In other words, there was no limit to their praise for the God of all glory!

The psalmist once wrote, “Seven times a day do I praise thee because of thy righteous judgments,” (Psalm 119:164).  There is no cap for the honor due to His name.  To him, God is worthy of so much more!

While there may be a lot of things we cannot control in this world, one thing we can still do is give God the praise – and lots of it.  That’s why David declared, “I will bless the LORD at all times: his praise shall continually be in my mouth,” (Psalm 34:1) when he had to act crazy before a king to save his life.

We may not understand everything, but we can still praise.  That’s what Paul and Silas did in prison, they prayed and praised God (Acts 16:25). 

We may wrestle with hurts and disappointments, but we can still praise. 

We may not even have all the answers, but we can still offer up to God the glory and praises due to Him, and lots of it (Psalm 29:1-2).  Just when you think it’s enough, in the heart of a true believer, there’s still more room for praise.  Like those drops of water, we can add another reason to praise, and another, and still another. So, let His praises overflow in your life today.  Whether it’s a loud, vocal praise, or a song of adoration you carry in the heart – Praise Him!  Because in joyous times or in hard times, God is still worthy of our praise, and so much more!

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