#DailyDevotion The Lord Fulfills His Promise To David In Letting His Son Build A House For the Name Of The Lord

August 24

1 Kng 5:1–18

1Ki 5:5  And so I intend to build a house for the name of the LORD my God, as the LORD said to David my father, ‘Your son, whom I will set on your throne in your place, shall build the house for my name.’

 

Now King Solomon intends to build a temple for the Lord’s name to reside. We don’t often think about names like that anymore. Indeed I doubt most parents even think about what the meaning of a child’s name is these days before naming them. But for God’s name to take residence someplace is for the Lord himself to be there. The temple, where the Lord promised his name would be, would be a place Israelites could go to offer the sacrifices, their prayers, thanksgiving and offerings and be sure the Lord would receive them (if they were offered in faith). The Lord had promised to do so.

 

Now Solomon means peace, completeness and whole. It is from the Hebrew shalom. His name culminates the efforts of his father David. The kingdom in Solomon’s time would be full of peace and the kingdom was complete and whole. Yet there is another King of Peace, his name is Jesus. Jesus a descendent of David and Solomon and he has set up a kingdom that has no end. His kingdom is everlasting, is complete, whole and peace which is beyond all understanding.

 

Jesus too is building a temple not made with human hands. He is building it through the gospel, the forgiveness of sins. He is building a place to put his name as he is the Lord and make it his dwelling. We are baptized into his name and our bodies have become his temple. It is his desire to have every child of Adam to be his temple and have their hearts as his throne. When we are baptized we are set apart and made temples of the Most High. Our hearts are purified and the Holy Spirit makes us his dwelling. Our bodies and our lives become living sacrifices to the Lord Jesus Christ and he hears and answers our prayers.

 

And not just individually but collectively too, each one of us is called to be living stones in a greater temple, the body of Christ, his Church. As we gather collectively, weekly, we make up a temple of God wherein we edify, build up one another with his Word, with his Name and strengthen each other. We forgive each other and we confess our sins to one another. We proclaim the excellencies of him who won and purchased us with his blood so that others too may be joined with us in baptism become a temple of the Lord and a living stone in the collective temple of our God. That one is Jesus Christ whose temple he raised on the third day. Likewise, he will raise your body up on the last day and you will see how we are individually and collective the Lord God’s habitation.

 

Heavenly Father, we thank you that you have deigned to send your Son Jesus Christ, to make us living temples, living stones in your temple, a fit habitation for your name. Grant us your Holy Spirit that we may indeed be a place where people can hear your Word, receive your forgiveness and all your blessings. In Jesus’ name we pray. Amen.