Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Kings 8:44-50
(44-50) If thy people goout.—The prayer here returns once more to invoke God’s aid against earthly enemies. It is characteristic of the foreboding tone of sadness, which runs through the whole prayer, that it touches but lightly on the first petition, for God’s blessing on the arms of Israel, so often granted in days gone by, and enlarges on the second petition, for mercy and deliverance in the event of defeat and captivity. The spirit, and in the confession of 1 Kings 8:47 the very words, of... read more
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - 1 Kings 8:23-53
(23-53) The prayer of Solomon, uttered (see 1 Kings 8:54) on his knees with hands uplifted to heaven, long and detailed as it is, is yet of extreme simplicity of idea. It begins (a), in 1 Kings 8:23-25, with a thankful acknowledgment of the fulfilment of one part of the great promise to David, and a prayer for the like fulfilment of the other; next (b), in 1 Kings 8:26-30, acknowledging that God’s presence can be limited to no Temple, it yet Asks that His peculiar blessing may rest on prayer... read more