Day 17 God Dwells in the Temple

Posted on: March 25, 2025
by: Gerrit Dawson, Senior Pastor

Every day, pray aloud worshipfully this golden thread that weaves through the entire tapestry of God’s intent for us.

Behold, the days are coming, declares the LORD,

when I will make a new covenant with the

house of Israel. . . .

I will put my law within them,

and I will write it on their hearts.

And I will be their God, and they shall be my people.

They shall all know me, from the least of them

to the greatest. . . .

For I will forgive their iniquity, and I will

remember their sin no more.

(Jeremiah 31:31, 33-34)

Daily Scripture

1 Kings 8:22-24, 27-30

Context Note: This passage presents Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple in Jerusalem.

Then Solomon stood before the altar of the LORD in the presence of all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven, and said, “O LORD, God of Israel, there is no God like you, in heaven above or on earth beneath, keeping covenant and showing steadfast love to your servants who walk before you with all their heart; you have kept with your servant David my father what you declared to him. You spoke with your mouth, and with your hand have fulfilled it this day.

“But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built! Yet have regard to the prayer of your servant and to his plea, O LORD my God, listening to the cry and to the prayer that your servant prays before you this day, that your eyes may be open night and day toward this house, the place of which you have said, 'My name shall be there,’ that you may listen to the prayer that your servant offers toward this place. And listen to the plea of your servant and of your people Israel, when they pray toward this place. And listen in heaven your dwelling place, and when you hear, forgive.”

Picking Up the Thread

The LORD’s people carried the ark of the covenant through the forty years of wilderness wandering. They arrived in the land promised to them, yet for more than 400 more years, the tabernacle of the LORD’s presence remained in a tent, not a permanent structure. Around 1000 BC, King David desired to create a magnificent temple for the LORD. Through the prophet Nathan, God commended David for this vision but also told him the temple would be a work for David’s son to complete. This news came wrapped in the promise of steadfast love to the line of David. There would always be a king on the Davidic throne (2 Samuel 7:4-17). In today’s passage, we see how the word of the LORD came true. David’s son Solomon oversaw the construction of the temple and then held a huge dedication service.

In his magnificent prayer, Solomon acknowledges the paradox that the uncontainable Creator God could live in a human-made structure: “Behold heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you, how much less this house” (1 Kings 8:27). Surrounding religions might well have thought that their gods actually dwelt in the temple humans built. But the Hebrews knew better. The one true God transcends earth and even the cosmos. God is beyond and independent of the universe. He does not require his creation. His power does not wax and wane according to the levels of devotion of his worshippers. Yet by his own choice, the LORD is also immanent. That means he can accommodate himself to our capacity. He can get down on our level. Without restricting himself at all, the LORD can choose to be particularly present to his people in one place. How can it be that our God can be everywhere all at once and still in a particular place at the same time?

The key is relationship. Unlike the capricious gods of Israel’s neighbors, the LORD of Israel remained steady in his freely chosen care for his people. Solomon grasped this in praying, “[T]here is no God like you . . . keeping covenant and showing steadfast love” (1 Kings 8:23). The God who is beyond time and space enters the place and time of worship in the temple without at all compromising his omnipresence. Through his relationship of love, he stoops to make his name, his essence, especially present in the temple. For centuries following Solomon’s prayer, the LORD would be faithful to his promises to meet his people there.

Stitching It In

From childhood, I was taught that the answer to the question “Where is God?” is always “Everywhere!” Indeed, I love the Isaac Watts hymn “I Sing the Mighty Power of God” in which we sing, “And everywhere that man can be / Thou, God, art present there.” In that sense, no one place is holier than another. Wherever we are, we have access to the God who made us and loves us.

However, we also know that in the way we experience the world, it’s easier to find God in some places more than in others. Do a quick diagnostic. Do you find God’s presence during stop-and-go traffic on an interstate as easily as when looking at a mountain view? Of course not. Our awareness of the God who is everywhere gets enhanced not only by environment but also by familiarity and history.

I am moved to pray when I go into the Dunham Chapel where I have worshipped with a beloved community for twenty years. I feel the resonance with all the moments I’ve met Christ there at his table. Even in silence, I hear the instruments tuned to his praise. The hymns we have sung there echo in my soul. In that room, I’ve led two of my children to take sacred vows of marriage. I’ve claimed the resurrection of Jesus for my father. I’ve taught Bible stories to children and experienced being “inside” the story of Jesus through the stained glass windows. Sure, God is just as present on the burning pavement of the parking lot, but I make connection much more readily in that little temple.

What are some of your favorite meeting places with the God who dwells with us? Perhaps there’s a chair where you meet the LORD daily in prayer and Scripture. Maybe there’s a place you visited only once, but it still inspires you. Maybe the “place” is a song you return to or particular passages you keep reciting. Visit these temples in your prayers today. Give thanks that though the reaches of interstellar space cannot contain our God, he still visits you consistently in particular places where you seek him.

Praying Along the Pattern

You are faithful, O God our Father!

You show up when we gather in your name.

You let yourself be found when we seek you

Where you have given yourself to be known:

In Scripture and the breaking of the bread.

I thank you especially today for

The sanctuary and chapel at our church,

For the tree I sat in daily in high school,

For the chair where I meet you now,

With coffee and a Bible before the street lights

Blink off in the dawn.