God's Timing and Promises: A Lesson from Solomon's Prayer
1 Kings 8:26
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou speakest unto thy servant David my father.
God spoke some promises to David His servant that King Solomon, David’s son, is seeing come to pass before his very eyes. At this point, Solomon has already praised The Lord for fulfilling the promise that He would raise Solomon himself up for the purpose of building a temple unto The Lord. In fact, Solomon had just completed this assignment prior to the prayer we are now observing and writing about. But the promise goes much further than that.
Ultimately, there is a promise that David’s seed will rule and reign on his throne forever. So, King Solomon is asking God to “verify” (that is, build up or support, foster, render firm or faithful, cause to be permanent, etc.) His word concerning the longevity of the lineage of King David’s heirs to the throne. The promise he’s asking God to verify goes like this; “There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.” The only question then, after careful observation, is this; WHEN can we expect this prophecy to begin? King Solomon is praying for it to start “now”, is he not? Just look back at your verse. See how it starts? “And now, O God…” However, having the advantage of thousands of years of history behind us since this prayer was uttered by King Solomon, we NOW know that things did not happen as quickly as he had prayed. Looking at the nation of Israel, they have been scattered throughout the world since then, and not until recent history have they even united back together, recognized as a nation again.
So we know that the permanence of this promise has not yet begun. That’s why the promise uses the future tense word “shall”. And one of these days, King Jesus (right out of the lineage of David) is going to set up permanent rule and reign on Earth in the city of Jerusalem, on the throne of David, from which He will rule the world. Until then, we still find ourselves praying for “shall be” promises to come to pass “now”. And this is where I want to draw application. Regardless of whether or not things happen according to OUR preferred timing, does not make God’s promises null or void. With God, if it still is a SHALL BE, then it still SHALL BE! Did you get that? Do not allow the devil to cause you to think that God missed His opportunity to make good on His promise. When you start thinking that the timing is too wrong to work, remember Lazarus!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill
And now, O God of Israel, let thy word, I pray thee, be verified, which thou speakest unto thy servant David my father.
God spoke some promises to David His servant that King Solomon, David’s son, is seeing come to pass before his very eyes. At this point, Solomon has already praised The Lord for fulfilling the promise that He would raise Solomon himself up for the purpose of building a temple unto The Lord. In fact, Solomon had just completed this assignment prior to the prayer we are now observing and writing about. But the promise goes much further than that.
Ultimately, there is a promise that David’s seed will rule and reign on his throne forever. So, King Solomon is asking God to “verify” (that is, build up or support, foster, render firm or faithful, cause to be permanent, etc.) His word concerning the longevity of the lineage of King David’s heirs to the throne. The promise he’s asking God to verify goes like this; “There shall not fail thee a man in my sight to sit on the throne of Israel; so that thy children take heed to their way, that they walk before me as thou hast walked before me.” The only question then, after careful observation, is this; WHEN can we expect this prophecy to begin? King Solomon is praying for it to start “now”, is he not? Just look back at your verse. See how it starts? “And now, O God…” However, having the advantage of thousands of years of history behind us since this prayer was uttered by King Solomon, we NOW know that things did not happen as quickly as he had prayed. Looking at the nation of Israel, they have been scattered throughout the world since then, and not until recent history have they even united back together, recognized as a nation again.
So we know that the permanence of this promise has not yet begun. That’s why the promise uses the future tense word “shall”. And one of these days, King Jesus (right out of the lineage of David) is going to set up permanent rule and reign on Earth in the city of Jerusalem, on the throne of David, from which He will rule the world. Until then, we still find ourselves praying for “shall be” promises to come to pass “now”. And this is where I want to draw application. Regardless of whether or not things happen according to OUR preferred timing, does not make God’s promises null or void. With God, if it still is a SHALL BE, then it still SHALL BE! Did you get that? Do not allow the devil to cause you to think that God missed His opportunity to make good on His promise. When you start thinking that the timing is too wrong to work, remember Lazarus!
~ Pastor Gary Caudill