The Holy Place
A Meditation with Scripture,
based on First Kings 8:2,6,10-11,22-30,41-43
Rev. Patricia Barth
August 27, 2006
King David wanted to build a house for the Lord: he felt guilty that he had built himself a fine cedar house, but the Ark of the Covenant, the place where the Israelites believed that God resided, was still housed in a tent. God stopped him. Through the prophet Nathan, God said (among other things): "I haven't lived in a house since I brought you out of slavery in Egypt." God's people were wandering in the desert for 40 years, and God traveled with them. David was disappointed that he couldnt thank God with a fine house, so God made him a promise: "I will make you a house. I will raise up your children after you, and your son will build me a house for my name, and his throne will be established forever, so long as they walk before me as you have walked before me."
"Walking before me," as you may know, is a term often used in the Hebrew Scriptures; here, it indicates righteousness, that the king will follow God's will. The phrase comes from the ancient practice of the king's servants walking in front of him; the place at the end of the line conveyed greater respect. Those who walked in front cleared the way and confronted any who would interfere with the king. In battle, they were the first to fall, protecting the life of the king.
After David went to sleep with his ancestors, God allows David's son, Solomon, to build his house. No expense is spared for this magnificent Temple. The Ark of the Covenant is brought into the inner sanctuary, the most holy place underneath the wings of the cherubim. When the priests came out of the holy of holies, a cloud filled the Temple, so thick no one could stand; it was the glory of the Lord.
Then Solomon stood before the altar, and spread out his hands to heaven, and said:
23 "O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and steadfast love for your servants who walk before you with all their heart, 24the covenant that you kept for your servant my father David as you declared to him; you promised with your mouth and have this day fulfilled with your hand.
Solomon goes on to claim the rest of God's promise, to continue the throne of David, so long as its occupants continue to walk before the Lord. Claiming God's promises in prayer is sometimes hard for us mainline Christians to do. Is it because we're too polite, not wanting to seem greedy? Or perhaps we don't trust enough in those promises. Or maybe it's because we're so used to depending on ourselves that it's hard to let go and let God. Whatever the reason, we worship a God who makes promises. And it is God's good will to keep those promises, so we shouldn't be shy about claiming them in prayer - Solomon wasn't! He goes on:
28Regard your servant's prayer and his plea, O LORD my God, heeding the cry and the prayer that your servant prays to you today; 29that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you said, 'My name shall be there,' that you may heed the prayer that your servant prays toward this place. 30Hear the plea of your servant and of your people Israel when they pray toward this place; O hear in heaven your dwelling place; heed and forgive."
But Solomon isn't only concerned about his own prayers, and the prayers of the people of his kingdom. He asks God to listen to prayers from all people:
41"Likewise when a foreigner, who is not of your people Israel, comes from a distant land because of your name 42 - for they shall hear of your great name, your mighty hand, and your outstretched arm - when a foreigner comes and prays toward this house, 43then hear in heaven your dwelling place, and do according to all that the foreigner calls to you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your people Israel, and so that they may know that your name has been invoked on this house that I have built."
Concern for the foreigner, the immigrant, the undocumented alien, the resident worker, runs throughout the Hebrew Scriptures, both the Torah and the prophets. The house of the Lord is truly a house of prayer for all people. This is your spiritual warrant, your firm foundation, for Takoma Park Presbyterian Church to be "A Church for All People."
God's glory was in the Temple Solomon built; God's presence is here as well. What parts of this sanctuary speak God's presence to you? When I was growing up and going to Girl Scout meetings here, I came to church on Girl Scout Sunday. I don't remember much about the services, but I remember the beautiful blue ceiling. It told me that God was here, just as God is outside in the blue sky.
God is truly here. But we can't keep God in a box, even a box as beautiful as this one.
Solomon said:
27"But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Even heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, much less this house that I have built!
God is here, but not only here. Our God is a god on the move, who goes before us to show us the way; who is at our back to protect us from evil, and who walks beside us in holy presence. God is with us wherever we go. Trust that no matter where you are, whatever you are doing, however you are feeling, God is there and wants the best for you. Thanks be to God!
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