1 Kings 8:54-64

54 And it was so, that when Solomon had made an end of praying all this prayer and supplication unto the LORD he arose from before the altar of the LORD, from kneeling on his knees with his hands extended toward heaven.

55 And he stood and blessed all the congregation of Israel with a loud voice, saying,

56 Blessed be the LORD that has given rest unto his people Israel according to all that he had said; not one word has failed of all his good word, which he spoke by the hand of Moses, his slave.

57 The LORD our God be with us as he was with our fathers; let him not leave us nor forsake us

58 that he may incline our hearts unto him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments and his statutes and his rights, which he commanded our fathers.

59 And let these my words, with which I have made supplication before the LORD, be near unto the LORD our God day and night that he maintain the judgment of his slave and the cause of his people Israel at all times, as the matter shall require;

60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the LORD is God, and that there is no other.

61 Let your heart, therefore, be perfect with the LORD our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.

62 Then the king and all Israel with him, offered sacrifices before the LORD.

63 And Solomon offered sacrifices of peace, which he offered unto the LORD, which were twenty-two thousand oxen and one hundred and twenty thousand sheep. So the king and all the sons of Israel dedicated the house of the LORD.

64 That same day the king sanctified the middle of the court that was before the house of the LORD, for there he offered the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace offerings because the brasen altar that was before the LORD was too small to receive the burnt offerings and the presents and the fat of the peace offerings.

1 Kings 8:54-64 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO 1 KINGS 8

This chapter gives an account of the introduction of the ark into the temple, 1Ki 8:1-9 of the glory of the Lord filling it, 1Ki 8:10,11 of a speech Solomon made to the people concerning the building of the temple, and how he came to be engaged in it, 1Ki 8:12-21, of a prayer of his he put up on this occasion, requesting, that what supplications soever were made at any time, or on any account, by Israelites or strangers, might be accepted by the Lord, 1Ki 8:22-53, and of his blessing the people of Israel at the close of it, with some useful exhortations, 1Ki 8:54-61, and of the great number of sacrifices offered up by him, and the feast he made for the people, upon which he dismissed them, 1Ki 8:62-66.