Bible Commentaries

2 Chronicles 6:1. The Lord hath said he would dwell in the thick darkness — He has made darkness his pavilion; but let this house be the residence of that darkness. For it is in the upper world that he dwells in light, such as no eye can approach.

2 Chronicles 6:2. I have built a house of habitation for thee — It is of great consequence in all our religious actions that we design well, and that our eye be single. If Solomon had built this temple in the pride of his heart, as Ahasuerus made his feast, only to show the riches of his kingdom, and the honour of his majesty, it would neither have glorified God nor have turned to his own advantage. But he here declares on what inducements he undertook it, and they are such as not only justify, but magnify the undertaking: the reader will recollect that this whole prayer occurs 1 Kings 8., and that it has been explained at large in the notes there.

2 Chronicles 6:9. Thy son, he shall build the house, &c. — Thus one sows and another reaps: and one age begins that which the next brings to perfection. And let not the wisest of men think it any disparagement to them to pursue the good designs which those that went before them had formed, and to build on their foundation.

2 Chronicles 6:14. O Lord God of Israel, &c. — Solomon, in the foregoing verses, had signed and sealed, so to speak, the deed of dedication, by which the temple was appropriated to the honour and service of God. Now here in the prayer by which it was, as it were, consecrated, it is made a figure of Christ, the great Mediator, through whom we are to offer up all our prayers, and to expect all God’s favours, and to whom we are to have an eye in every thing wherein we have to do with God.

2 Chronicles 6:21. Hearken to the supplication of thy people, &c. — He asks not that God would help them without their praying for themselves, but that God would help them in answer to their prayers. Even Christ’s intercession does not supersede, but encourages our supplications.

2 Chronicles 6:22. And the oath come before thine altar — By this it appears that the man who was to clear himself of any trespass, whereof he was accused, against his neighbour, by an oath, was to do it at the temple, before the altar of that God from whom he looked for the remission of his sins.

2 Chronicles 6:27. When thou hast taught them the good way — Or, seeing thou hast taught them the good way, or instructed them in the knowledge of thyself, and of the worship and service in which thou delightest.

2 Chronicles 6:33. May know that this house is called by thy name — That it is truly the house of the Almighty Jehovah. Solomon knew that the goodness of God was so immense, that the extending it, how much soever, toward other people, neither would nor could lessen the exercise of it toward Israel.

2 Chronicles 6:40. Now, my God, &c. — Solomon sums up all in beseeching God, that the prayers which should be presented there, for any blessing, of what sort soever it was, might be graciously accepted and answered by him.

2 Chronicles 6:41. Arise, O Lord, into thy resting-place, &c. — Thus he concludes his prayer with some expressions borrowed from one of his father’s Psalms, namely, Psalms 132. The whole word of God in general, and the Psalms in particular, are of use to direct us in prayer: and how can we express ourselves in better language to God, than in that of his own Spirit? But these words were peculiarly proper and suitable to be expressed now, because they had a reference to this very occasion on which Solomon used them. And, in quoting them, he prays that God would take and keep possession of the temple for himself, and make it, as it were, his resting- place, where he would continue to dwell. Thou, and the ark of thy strength — Thou, in and by the ark, which is the sign and instrument of thy great power, put forth from time to time in behalf of thy people. Let thy priests be clothed with salvation — Let them be saved from their sins, restored to thy favour and image, and be encompassed on every side with thy protection and benediction. And let thy saints rejoice in goodness — Let them have cause of rejoicing and thanksgiving for the effects of thy goodness imparted to them.

2 Chronicles 6:42. O Lord, turn not away the face of thine anointed — Of me, who by thy command was anointed the king and ruler of thy people: do not deny my request, nor send me from the throne of thy grace with a dejected countenance. Remember the mercies of David — Those which thou hast promised to David, and to his house for ever. And thus may we plead, with an eye to Christ, who is called David, Hosea 3:5. Lord, remember his merits, and accept of us on the account of them. Remember the promises of the everlasting covenant, which are called the sure mercies of David, Isaiah 55:3. This must be all our desire, all our hope, all our prayer, and all our plea; for it is all our salvation.