REPOST FROM JULY 9, 2025

REPOSTING FROM MY FACEBOOK PAGE DATED JULY 9, 2025

It amazes me how often the words that God lays on my pastor’s heart for Sunday sermons are closely aligned with the scriptures I have been studying that week. This Sunday, in conjunction with our nation's celebration of Independence Day, he reminded us that Jesus is King of kings, that our freedom is based on the salvation God gives us through Jesus, that while we as a nation place an emphasis on our independence we need to recognize that we are dependent on God, that our salvation is not based on our own actions or our own righteousness but God expects our obedience, that our capacity to obey is based on the work of His Spirit in us. (Pastor, if that’s not the points you intended, I apologize. But that’s how God spoke to me through the sermon.)  His sermon text was Micah 6:8 “Mankind, He has told you what is good and what it is the Lord requires of you: to act justly, to love faithfulness, and to walk humbly with your God.” 

I have been studying about how God wants us to have fellowship, relationship with Him, and that because of our fellowship with Him, we can have fellowship with others. As part of that study, I have been contemplating Solomon’s prayer of consecration in 1 Kings 8:22-53. I shared a part of that study with you a few days ago. This will be a long post because I have been studying this scripture for a few weeks. I think Solomon’s prayer speaks to the same points Pastor made Sunday. 

Solomon worships and praises God. 1 Kings 8:23-27

There is no other God in heaven or earth, but the Lord God is Israel. (verse 23a) Though later in his life, Solomon will allow his wives to lead him to tolerate or participate in worship of false gods, on this particular day, he is fully aware that there is no other God but God Almighty.  We too must put aside all our false gods, whatever those may be, and focus completely on the One True God. What false gods are you allowing to shift your focus from God? Some examples might be recreation, sports, family, jobs, status, success…What are yours? Take a minute to repent from those.

God has instituted a gracious covenant with His servants who are committed to Him with their whole heart. (verse 23b) Almighty God made a covenant with Abraham, Issac, Jacob and successive generations that they are His chosen people. This covenant required the people to sacrifice animals and abide by regulations and laws. On the Day of Atonement, two goats were chosen: God’s goat to be sacrificed, and a goat for Azazel to be presented alive and sent into the wilderness bearing the sins of the people away from the camp. Leviticus 16:20-22 Our covenant, God’s covenant to us, is based not on a scapegoat, but on Jesus, God Incarnate, bearing our sin, not into the wilderness but to the cross. His once-for-all sacrifice did away with the daily sacrifices. We have a better covenant. Hebrews 8

God made promises to David and fulfilled them by His power. When we read about David’s life, we see so many instances of God’s power. Could a shepherd boy with a slingshot have defeated the mighty Philistine warrior Goliath by his own power? 1 Samuel 17 Could a young warrior have circumcised 200 Philistines as a bride price in his own power? 1 Samuel 18:25-27 Could David have snuck up on Saul and cut off the corner of his robe undetected had God not protected him? 1 Samuel 24 Throughout his life, God protected David, gave him victories that were clearly won in His power and fulfilled all His promises to David. Do we acknowledge the victories and protections God has given us? I know I had jobs that I didn’t apply for because they were part of God’s plan. I know I have narrowly escaped wrecks because of God’s protection. One time He even guided us through a herd of elk unscathed. What about you? What victories and protections has God provided you?

God promised David that if his sons would walk before Him as David had walked, he would never fail to have a descendant sit on the throne of Israel. This is where God’s promise to David is exciting for us. The descendant of David that sits on the throne of Israel today is Jesus. Our Redeemer. Our Intercessor. Our Savior. Both genealogical records of Jesus’ human ancestry trace His lineage through David. Israel’s true and everlasting King is indeed the King of Kings. In Galatians 3:27-29 Paul writes that when we accept Christ Jesus as Savior, we become heirs to the promise. We become children of Abraham by faith. In Romans 4 Paul goes into greater detail about this truth. Abraham was not justified by his good works. His righteousness was because of his belief in God. It was a gift from God. The faith that Abraham had made him the father of all who believe, not only those who have been circumcised, symbolizing obedience to the law.  David understood this. David’s righteousness was not based on his obedience to the law, but on his faith in God. The promise came to him by faith, not by works. Clearly, all that he was able to accomplish, all his victories and wealth and power, were not because of his own power but because of God’s grace and love. Ultimately, because God’s eternal purpose was to have Jesus, God Incarnate, but whose earthly lineage was through David, to be Savior and King of all mankind who accept Him by faith. In Luke 3:23-28 and Matthew 1:1-17, we see that both Joseph and Mary were descendants of David.  1 Timothy 6:11-16 we see the fulfillment of God’s promise to David. In His own time, because of His eternal plan that Jesus would be crucified and resurrected, Jesus is King of kings and Lord of lords. Through Jesus, the true heir to David’s throne, we are adopted as children of Abraham by faith. We are heirs to a new covenant because of God’s promise to David. 

The heavens and earth cannot contain God, yet He has allowed Solomon to build Him a temple. In the beginning God created the heavens and the earth. His Spirit hovered over the waters. (Genesis 1:2) He spoke the universe into existence. Even the cosmos we define as infinite cannot contain its Creator because He is not limited by time or confined in space. Doubtless, Solomon had heard the words of David’s psalms in song and in prayer.  In Psalm 89 Ethan the Ezrahite wrote about God’s covenant with David. He says that no one can compare with the Lord and mentions several characteristics of God:  strength, faithfulness, sovereignty, righteousness, justice, faithful love, truth, light of His presence, magnificent strength, our shield. In verse 11 Ethan writes “The heavens are Yours; the earth also is Yours. The world and everything in it-You founded them.” One hundred and fifty years before Cyrus reigned, Isaiah prophesied that Cyrus would rebuild Jerusalem. In Isaiah 45:12-13a God speaks these words, “I made the earth, and created man on it. It was My hands that stretched out the heavens, and I commanded all their host. I have raised him up in righteousness and will level all roads for him. He will rebuild My city and set My exiles free…” The Lord speaks again in Isaiah 66:1, saying, “Heaven is My throne, and the earth is My footstool. What house could you possibly build for Me?” John writes that Jesus did so many things that even the whole world could not contain enough books to write them all. John 21:25, Jesus explains this truth more completely to the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4:24. God Is Spirit.  Our worship of Him is not confined to a building or location. His Presence is everywhere. Our worship should be everywhere. Jesus also tells the woman that worship must be in truth. Jesus is the Truth that we must acknowledge in our worship. Paul writes that we are God’s sanctuary and that the Spirit of God lives in us. 1 Corinthians 3:16, 1 Corinthians 6:19. Neither the temple that Solomon built nor the large room with pews and a pulpit where believers meet is the sanctuary. We are His temple, His sanctuary because His Spirit lives in us.

The second section is Solomon’s humble prayer of petition: that God will hear their prayers, that He will judge righteously, but also of acknowledgement that the people will sin and bear the consequences of their sin. However, God’s love will not fail. He will forgive them when they repent and turn to Him, teach them His ways, provide harvests, and protect them from plagues. 

Solomon humbly petitions God.1 Kings 8:28-53 My daddy died several years ago, but I still say things like “My daddy used to say…” I can imagine Solomon remembering things that David said, the songs he sang, the prayers he prayed. Much of his prayer echoes the same principles that we read in David’s psalms. These same promises and warnings are repeated multiple times in scripture. 

He prayed that God would hear the prayers of His people when they pray toward His dwelling place. 

Psalm 5:1-3,7-8 In verses 1-3 of Psalm 5, David asks God to hear his cry. He speaks to God as his King and his God, a personal relationship rather than a general statement. His words “sighing”, “cry”, “plead” show the intensity of his prayer, honest, heart-felt entreaty to his God. He begins his day communicating with God and watches expectantly. He believes that God hears and acts. In verse 7 we read his words of worship and praise: abundance of Your faithful love, bow down, reverential awe. We know from verses 1-3 that David engaged in personal, intimate conversation with God, but here we see that he is in awe of God. He acknowledges that it is only because of God’s faithful love that he has the freedom to pour out his heart to God. In verse 8   David asks God to lead him in His righteousness and make His way straight for him. Don’t miss this. God’s righteousness. God’s righteousness. David admits his own inability to be righteous, and that God’s say is the only sure and safe path to follow.  David also makes reference to bowing down toward God’s holy temple. Obviously, this was written before the temple was built, so to what is he referring? He could have been referring to the tabernacle, but I think he was remembering that Deuteronomy 26:15 says that Heaven is God’s swelling place. He is not contained in a building. Even as Solomon prayed, he said “Your dwelling place in heaven.” In Psalm 17:6 David asks God to hear him, to listen closely to him. He is confident that God will answer him. In the previous verses David affirmed his commitment to obey God’s commands and avoid evil. His assurance that God would answer was based on his commitment to Him. Jesus taught his disciples that abiding in Him was the key to effective prayers. David recognized this. He further expands on this concept in Psalm 66:16-20. In verse 18 David says that if he had harbored sin in his heart, God would not have listened. Sin forms a barrier to effective communion with God. In these verses David is teaching that God hears and answers when our hearts are focused on Him and our commitment is wholly to Him. Don’t be discouraged by David’s confidence. We all have times when we succumb to sin and feel the burden of hindered communication with God. We have all heard the admonition, “When you don’t feel like God isn’t near, it isn’t Him who has moved.” In   Psalm 38:1-8,18 David expresses this feeling. Read verses 1-8 carefully. Do you feel his pain? But David knows the cause of his pain. Read verse 18. In 1 John 1:9 we have the promise that God will cleanse us if we confess our sins. Psalm 51 is David’s prayer for restoration after he had committed adultery with Bathsheba then conspired to murder her husband Uriah to cover his first sin. No matter what we have done, God’s promises remain that if we confess our sin, He will forgive us and cleanse us of all unrighteousness. Read Psalm 51 as a prayer.                                                                                                                                                                          

He prayed that God would condemn the wicked and provide justice for the righteous. 

There are multiple references to the wicked in the Psalms. David had experienced violence and deceit from his friends and his foes. He understood that God is constantly aware of the wickedness in the world. He frequently prayed for the defeat of his evil enemies, yet each time he examined his own heart to affirm his commitment to God. His trust that God would deliver him was based on his recognition of the mercy of God to those who seek Him, and His just judgment of the unrepentant wicked. Psalm 5:4-6,9-10 God does not tolerate or excuse habitual, unrepentant wickedness. If we think about it, we are all prone to be wicked. We deserve to be held accountable, but we receive Christ’s righteousness when we repent and accept his gift of justification. There is no doubt that David understood this. Here David lists these wicked characteristics: boastfulness, lying, violence and treachery. In Psalm 7:9-17 David prayed for justice. God examines our thoughts and emotions. It’s not just our outward actions that are wicked. It’s what we think and how we respond. Look at verse 14: pregnant with evil, conceives trouble, gives birth to deceit. What begins in our thoughts results in actions. Then we bear the consequences of our own decisions. In Psalm 9 David celebrates God’s justice. God is a righteous Judge, reigns forever. He is completely fair. He holds sinners accountable but shows grace to those who trust in Him.   Psalm 10 In this passage David is frustrated that God has not already executed His justice on the wicked. Aren’t we tempted to feel that way too? David thinks they are getting away with their greed, their arrogance, their denial of God, their cursing, their deceit, and their violence. Most of us have experienced situations where someone has schemed against us, treated us unfairly, and used us for their personal gain. We may have even felt that God did not respond to what they were doing.  But like David, we need to realize that God is King forever, and that He will act according to His perfect timing.  Psalm 11:4-7 God examines both the righteous and the wicked. He will punish the wicked, but the upright will see His face.  Psalm 34:16-22 David understood that the righteous still experience trouble, have many adversaries, and are heart broken when they experience the effects of other’s wickedness. We understand that too. The key is that we trust God, cry out to Him. He delivers us according to His righteousness and wisdom. We may not always understand His ways, but He gives us refuge from the effects of sin in our fallen world.   Psalm 37 is a long passage so let’s look at a few questions from this chapter. Let’s summarize the answers to these questions, then look at specific verses that speak truth to us. What are the actions of the wicked? Psalm 37 certainly does not give an exhaustive list of all the sin and wickedness in the world. All disobedience to God is sin. It is impossible to list all the ways that we as humans disobey God. We know that David faced many enemies: enemies in battle, enemies who were friends and family, enemies from within because of his own human weakness in temptation. I realize that some who read this may have experienced enemies on the battlefield. My own son has. You may have. But most of us have not. However, I dare say that all of us have experienced enemies in our friends and family from time to time, and most certainly with our own human frailty. These verses seem to primarily address wickedness that results in bodily harm, but the principles apply to other evil as well. The wicked scheme, plan violence, prey on the weak and needy, slaughter the righteous, and borrow without repaying. What are the consequences of their wickedness? We know from Romans 6:23 that the wages, the consequences, of sin is death-eternal separation from God. We know that all who do not repent of our sin and accept God’s gift of forgiveness will spend an eternity in hell. In his lifetime, David saw the defeat of his enemies and God’s promises to him fulfilled. We may not see our enemies receive what we believe they should during our lifetime, but God’s plan is perfect. The ones who schemed against us may seem to succeed, but we don’t know how God is working in their lives. But look specifically at verse 28b. Our children see how we live our lives, whether in obedience to God or in our own carnal desires. How eye-opening it is to see that when we don’t set a godly example for them, they follow in our footsteps and are destroyed. What are the attitudes and actions of the righteous? To sum up the way of the righteous, we love our neighbor as ourselves. We show grace. We are generous. We watch the words that we say. We study and apply God’s Word, His instruction to us. And from His Instruction, we know that we have no righteousness of our own. The only righteousness that we can claim is from Jesus’ gift to us, His perfect life, substitutionary death bearing our sin upon Himself, His burial, His Resurrection, His intercession for us. The righteousness we have is not based on our actions, but rather on our faith in the Only Righteous One and His Love for us. Now, when He lives in us, His Spirit works in us to help us love, show grace, have generosity, speak words of wisdom, hear and understand His instruction more fully. In our obedience to Him, He makes us more like Himself. What wise advice does David give? David gave some good advice that we would do well to follow. Don’t be distracted by the evil around us and do not desire the temporal and temporary pleasures of this world. Keep our focus on God. Trust Him completely. Obey Him. Take delight in Him. Be totally committed to Him. Take time to listen to what He wants us to hear. Expect him to speak to us through His Word. Don’t let anger control us. Be content with what we have, because we have all that we need in Him. Avoid evil by being obedient to the Word of God. Understand that sometimes we just wait. God is working even if we don’t see what He is doing. Follow godly examples. We read again in Psalm 68:1-2 that God’s enemies flee from Him, are blown away like smoke, melt like wax and are destroyed. Psalm 119:155 teaches us that salvation is far from the wicked but notice that it is because they do not seek His statutes. Their choice is to seek earthly treasure and ignore God. Their choice is to disobey Him.  Psalm 145:20 echoes this same truth: He destroys the wicked but protects those who love Him. We make a choice to love Him or reject Him. That is what Solomon is praying, that God will accept true repentance. This was always true, but we see it completely fulfilled in Jesus. Romans 10:9-10 says that if we confess with our mouth, Jesus is Lord and believe in our hearts that God raised Him from the dead, we will be saved, resulting in righteousness and salvation. 

He prayed that when the people are defeated because of their disobedience and repent, that God will forgive and restore them. 

Repentance and forgiveness are a recurring theme throughout scripture. God wants to have fellowship with us, but disobedience and rebellion keep us from Him. God told the people of Israel multiple times that He would discipline them when they were disobedient. Solomon writes in Proverbs 3:12 that God disciplines those He loves. The prophets write of God’s discipline. Hebrews 12 teaches about God’s discipline. The purpose of God’s discipline is restoration and for us to be conformed to His likeness, to be sanctified. God’s discipline is a manifestation of His love for us.  Asaph, a Levite who served God during David’s reign, wrote about God’s grace toward their habitually rebellious ancestors. Psalm 78 Judges 10:6-16 I can imagine God’s thoughts something like this. “I’m so angry with them that I can’t even look at them, but if they will just repent and come back to me, I will wrap my arms around them, protect them, love them, bless them.” God spoke this sentiment to Isaiah in Isaiah 1:4-28. They had abandoned God. He had disciplined them repeatedly. His judgments were harsh, and they suffered greatly. Yet he left them survivors. God was weary of their empty religion. Their sacrifices were useless, their incense detestable. The commands He had given them to signify His presence with them and His love for them had turned into religious rituals with no meaning. Think about this.  Do we fall into the same sin? Are our worship services ritual and tradition or do we truly worship God?   It breaks my heart to read verse 15. “I will refuse to look at you. Even if you offer countless prayers, I will not listen.” Then immediately in verses 16-17 He asks them to repent. Verse 18 is the good news, the gospel fulfilled when we accept Christ Jesus’ gift of redemption.  If we repent and turn to Him, He will forgive us and provide for us. If we reject and rebel, we will bear the consequences in eternal separation from Him. 2 Chronicles 33:10-17 gives us a wonderful picture of how freely God forgives when we repent. Manesseh was one of the most evil kings. We know from previous verses in this chapter that He built altars for the Baals, made Asherah poles, and worshiped the “heavenly hosts”, meaning the sun, moon, stars, etc. He even built these altars in the temple that God had allowed Solomon to build, and in the courtyards of the temple. He sacrificed his own sons in the Valley of Hinnom. He practiced witchcraft, divination and sorcery, consulted mediums and spiritualists. He was one of the worst. Because of Manasseh’s grave sinfulness and rebellion, God allowed the king of Assyria to capture Manasseh and carry him to Babylon as a captive. Read the words in verse 12: distress, sought Yahweh his God, earnestly humbled himself before God. Inverse 13, more wonderful words. God heard his prayer, granted his request and brought him back to his kingdom. Let these words sink in, “So Manasseh came to know that Yahweh is God.” That is how God wants His discipline to work! The words in Jeremiah 3:19-23 touch my heart. Listen to the tenderness, the heartbreak, the love, the frustration, the overwhelming desire for His people to return to Him in repentance. Any parent who has had rebellious children probably understands God’s words completely. Take a minute and feel these words in your deepest heart. This is how much God loves us. More than anything He wants us to turn to Him, to have fellowship with Him.  The last sentence in Ezekiel 14:6-8 is “Then you will know that I am Yahweh.” This passage begins with God asking the people to repent. In between these two statements God talks about the discipline He will bring on those who set up idols in their hearts and insincerely ask for His words. I’m amazed at how many times the phrase “Then you will know…” is written scripture. God’s purpose is for us to know Him. Again, in Joel 2:12-14 God asks the people to turn to Him with all their hearts in true repentance. Again, He condemns outward practice of empty, insincere religion. It’s not the symbolic tearing of their clothes in grief, but the true brokenness of their hearts that He desires. Verse 13b describes how He wants to interact with us: with grace, compassion, faithful love.   Zephaniah 2:1-3 God’s anger is just and deserved. He does not cause suffering without a purpose. Multiple times we read in scripture that He pleads with the people to seek Him, humble themselves, seek His righteousness so that He does not have to act in anger toward them.  He does not want to act in anger toward us. When He does, it is to point us toward Him so that He can bless us. As earthly parents we sometimes let our emotions, our frustration, our own desires affect how we discipline. Even good parents. But God is perfectly perfect. He does not discipline or punish to vent His own frustration. He disciplines and punishes us so that we will seek Him. Now, in scripture there are nuances between meanings of anger and wrath, discipline and punishment. That’s a completely different and deep theological topic, but I believe that scripture teaches that as believers saved by God’s grace through Jesus’ sacrifice, we are not subject to His wrath, but that He does discipline us to conform us to His likeness. In Zechariah 1:2-6 God tells the people not to be like their ancestors. In much literature we ask, “What is the moral of the story?” or “What lesson can we learn from the story?” In all scripture there is a lesson to be learned and a moral to the story. In this passage God is asking the people to learn from their ancestors. They had refused to repent when the prophets spoke to them, imploring them to turn from their evil ways. God was angry with them and let them suffer the consequences of their rebellion. Only then did they repent and recognize that God’s anger and discipline were justified. God still today asks us to learn from past events, past rebellion, past suffering and turn to Him in repentance. Like parents tell children “I want you to learn from my mistakes.”

He prayed that when the people repent, God will provide rain for their crops.

 God promised in Leviticus 26 that if they followed His statutes and commands, He would send rain, so that they would have plenty of feed to eat and live securely in their land. They would be at peace. Wild animals would not pose a threat to them. They would have victory over their enemies. They would have so much food from the previous year that they would have to throw it away to make room for the new crops. And the most wonderful promise in verses 12-13a “I will walk among you and be your God, and you will be My people. I am Yahweh your God…” He also warns them that if they do not obey Him, He will discipline them with illnesses, defeat by their enemies, lack of produce and fruit, fear and anxiety. Then the wonderful promise in verse 40-45 that if they confess their sin, humble themselves then he will remember His covenant with Jacob, Isaac, and Abraham. He is Yahweh their God. He repeats similar promises and warnings in Deuteronomy 11:13-17. If they carefully obey all His commands, love Him and worship Him with all their heart and soul, he will provide rain, grain, new wine, oil, and grass for their cattle. But if they turn to worship false gods, there will be no rain, no produce and they will perish. As Solomon prayed this prayer of consecration for the temple and the people, he would have been familiar with these promises and warnings. Later kings of Judah and Israel would hear similar warnings and promises. They are already worshiping false gods, depending on earthly kings rather than the King of Kings. They are living in rebellion to God’s instructions. They have rejected his prophets. They were unwilling to believe His promises. Hear these words in Isaiah 30:18-26. “The Lord is waiting to show you mercy…” This same truth exists for the lost who have rejected His gift of redemption, and for believers who have lost our focus on Him.  Hear these words. Believe these words. Obey these words. His promise to them in verse 20-21 is that our Teacher will not hide Himself any longer. Our eyes will see Him; He will instruct us in the way we should go. Then he will send rain, plentiful food, and heal the injuries their disobedience had caused. For them He was speaking of physical food and injuries. For us, believers in the fulfilled promises, as our Teacher, He feeds us spiritual food. We read in Hebrews 5:12-14 and in 1 Peter 2:2-3 about the importance of spiritual nutrition to grow us in maturity. God wants to teach us so that we can grow closer to Him in intimate fellowship. The people of Judah were experiencing a drought. The ground was cracked. Even the doe abandoned her fawn because there was no grass. The false prophets were telling them that everything was going to be fine, but God was instructing Jeremiah to tell them that there would be sword and famine. Jeremiah is sometimes referred to as the weeping prophet because of the persecution he experienced, the rejection of God’s prophecy through him, and the depression and frustration he experienced as a result. Yet, in Jeremiah 14:20-22 he prayed this intercessory prayer for Judah, admitting their guilt and the futility of their trust in idols. He knew that the drought, famine and defeat by their enemies was God’s discipline. Therefore, he acknowledged that God was their only hope. In the following chapter we see that God’s answer to Jeremiah was that even if Moses and Samuel interceded, He would not show the rebellious nation His compassion. God also called Hosea to prophesy to the rebellious kingdoms of Israel and Judah. His condemnation of their rebellion and warnings of the punishment they are to receive are harsh because their sin in detestable to Him, yet in  Hosea 6:1-3 we read the invitation, the plea, for them to return to the Lord and to strive to know the Lord, and the promise that those who repent can live in His presence and that God will send rain to water the land. In Hosea 10:12-13 Hosea again tells the people it is time to seek the Lord and that He will send righteousness on them like rain. 

He prayed that God would teach the people the way in which they should walk.

David frequently prayed for God to teach him His ways. Psalm 25:4-11 Psalm 51:6 Psalm 86:11-13 Psalm 143:5-10 Isaiah prophesied that all nations will come to God so that He will teach us His ways. Both Isaiah 2:2-3 and Micah 4:1-2 say that God will teach us His ways so that we can walk in His paths. In Isaiah 48:16-18 God tells us that from the beginning He has spoken for mankind to hear, that He has always been present. Now, as believers in the salvation Jesus gave us, and the presence of His Holy Spirit that indwells us, this prophecy has been fulfilled. He teaches us for our benefit; leads us in the ways we should go. If we pay attention, then He gives us His peace and His righteousness.  Jeremiah 31:31-34 also prophesizes that God will send His Spirit to dwell in us. He will write His teaching on our hearts. He will no longer remember our sin. Hebrews 8:7-9:28 explains the fulfillment of Jeremiah’s prophesy. Much of Jesus’ earthly ministry was teaching. 1 John 2:20-27 I’m intrigued by the difference between instruction and teaching. It seems to me that teaching implies a deeper level of understanding while instructions require an obedient response. Scripture tells us that God instructed Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Saul, Samuel and others. Those who had a deeper understanding of Who God Is obeyed His instructions, but those who lacked commitment to Him did not obey. David writes in Psalm 1:2 that we should delight in God’s instructions and meditate on it continually. Instruction applied is teaching. Think about a student in a classroom. The teacher instructs them to open their books to a certain page. The student does so, but he is thinking about anything but what the teacher is saying. The teacher may be instructing effectively but if the student is not listening, not applying instruction, that student has not been taught, only instructed. Another student in the room is listening intently to the teacher’s words, taking notes, thinking about how geometry could apply to building a house, or landscaping, or designing a website. That student is still thinking about that information when class is dismissed, when they go home. They decide they can rearrange the furniture in their room more effectively by applying the information they heard in class, so they figure the dimensions of their bedroom and place their furniture accordingly. That student studies architecture in college and designs beautiful homes and office buildings in their career. They received the instruction, meditated on it, and applied it.  Psalm 19:7-11 describes the Lord’s instruction: perfect, renewing, trustworthy, wise, right, makes the heart glad, radiant, lights up the eyes, pure, endures forever, reliable, altogether right. More desirable than an abundance of gold, sweeter than honey, gives warning and rewards. Psalm 37:30-31, Psalm 40:8, Psalm 111:7-10, and Psalm 119:33-35 all point us to the instruction of the Lord.  1 Corinthians 2:6-16 speaks of the incredible gift that we have through God’s indwelling Spirit.  He reveals wisdom and truth to us that we could never have imagined, things our eyes cannot see, and our ears cannot hear, but that He reveals to us by His Spirit. He gives us wisdom and understanding beyond human understanding. 

He prayed that when there is any sort of plague or illness, God will hear their prayers.

David had experienced a plague of God’s anger. I am somewhat confused by the events in 2 Samuel 24. God was angry with the people so He “stirred up David against them. I don’t know the specific reason God was angry or what it means that God stirred up David against them, but that is what scripture says, so we know that is what happened. Against the advice of Joab and the commanders of the army, David ordered that a census be taken.  In verse 10, David confesses that he has sinned greatly and asks God to take away his guilt. Just me speculating here, but could God’s anger possibly involve something David had done prior to the census?  God spoke to the prophet Gad, so he spoke God’s words to David. God gave David three choices: three years of famine, three months of being pursued by his enemies, or three days of plague. David chose three days of plague. Listen to his words in verse 14. “I have great anxiety. Please, let us fall into the Lord’s hands because His mercies are great, but don’t let me fall into the human hands.” David understood that God’s punishment was just, but he also understood how merciful God is. Seventy thousand men died in the plague. Listen to David’s prayer in verse 17. “Look, I am the one who has sinned; I am the one who has done wrong. But these sheep, what have they done? Please, let your hand be against me and my father’s family.” When the angel was about to destroy Jerusalem, God relented and told the angel “Enough, withdraw your hand now!” David built an altar where the plague had stopped and offered burnt and fellowship offerings. Verse 25b “…Then the Lord answered prayer on behalf of the land, and the plague on Israel ended.” I can imagine David talking to Solomon about this and the lessons he learned. When Solomon prayed this prayer for God to hear their prayers when there was a plague was not empty conjecture on things that might happen. He was like remembering the event that his father David experienced. We don’t know who wrote Psalm 91. Some speculate that it could have been Moses, David or some other author. Whoever wrote it understood that God is our Protector, Refuge, Fortress, Deliverer, and Shield from plague and pestilence. Likewise, the authorship of Psalm 106 is also uncertain but is traditionally attributed to David. In verse 6 he says, “Both we and our fathers have sinned.” In the following verses he retells the history of God using Moses to lead them out of slavery in Egypt, their rebellion in the wilderness, their continued rebellion after He had given them the Promised Land, God used the Judges, Saul, and David to rescue of them when they cried out to Him. Solomon’s prayer reflected his knowledge of this history. The words that God spoke through His prophets regarding their sinfulness, rebellion, and idol worship are frightening and heartbreaking. God pours out His wrath on them. But in the book of Ezekiel God says 69 times, “…will know that I am Yahweh…” The purpose of the sword, pestilence and plague He sent on the people of Israel and Judah was so that they would know Who He Is. He wanted them to repent. He wanted to restore fellowship with them. See less