1 Kings 8:49

1Ki 8:49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,

Ver. 49. And maintain their cause.] Or, Right. Vindicate them out of the hands of their oppressors, who cannot do, but they must overdo. {Zec 1:15}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Or, avenge their wrong.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

49. and maintain their cause] The words are the same as in 1Ki_8:45, but the idea is a little different. There the ‘cause’ was a righteous war undertaken at God’s direction; here the phrase implies that God shall do His people right by delivering them from their oppressors. For though God may use the heathen as His instruments He does not always approve of the conduct they exhibit. On this cf. Isa_10:5-16. The literal meaning of the Hebrew is ‘do them right’ or ‘work out their right.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Then hear thou their prayers, and their supplication, in heaven thy dwellingplace,.... For their deliverance out of captivity: and maintain their cause; plead it, and do them justice, avenge their injuries, and deliver them.

Then hear thou their prayers, and their supplication, in heaven thy dwellingplace,.... For their deliverance out of captivity: and maintain their cause; plead it, and do them justice, avenge their injuries, and deliver them.

1 Kings 8:50

kg1 8:50

kg1 8:50

kg1 8:50And forgive thy people that have sinned against thee, and all their transgressions wherein they have transgressed against thee,.... By returning them to their own land; by which it would appear that the Lord had forgiven their trespasses, as well as by what follows:

and give them compassion before them who carried them captive, that they may have compassion on them; for it is in the power of God to work upon the affections of men, and dispose their minds to use his people well, and to pity them under their distresses, as the Chaldeans did the Jews in Babylon, Psa 106:46.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Heb. their right, against their invaders and oppressors. For they had forfeited all their rights to God only, but not to their enemies; whom though God used as scourges to chastise his people’s sins, yet they had no pretence of right to their land, nor any regard to it; but only minded the satisfaction of their own lusts and interests. See Isa 10:5,6; 47:6; Zec 1:15.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause. Heb. do their judgments, as in ver. 45.

HOMILIES BY A. ROWLAND Ver. 49.

Occasions for Prayer.

In the prayer of dedication Solomon suggests occasions on which it would be natural for men to turn to their God. The Divine Presence is constant, but our realization of it is not. Many require the shock of some unexpected or lamentable occurrence to rouse them to prayer. This effect, however, will only be seen in those who have, underlying their forgetfulness and sensuousness, an abiding (though sometimes inoperative) belief in God. This Israel for the most part had. Hence Solomon"s belief that in their future times of distress and difficulty they would turn to Him who dwelt between the cherubims. Analyze the prayer, and see the following occasions suggested as those in which supplication would be natural.

I WHEN MEN MAKE VOWS AND PROMISES. Compare ver. 31 with the ordinances of Moses. (Exo_22:7-9) The oath was taken in the presence of God, because the thought of Him as the Searcher of hearts would induce serious consideration and careful exactitude, and because He was tacitly invited by His providence to confirm or to punish the spoken word. Show how the principle, right in itself, became abused and vitiated, so that Christ condemned the practices of His day. (Mat_5:33-37) Learn from the ancient practice

(1) that our utterances should be made as by men conscious of the nearness of the God of truth. Apply this to the immoralities of some business transactions, to the prevalence of slander in society, etc.

(2) That our resolutions should be formed in a spirit of prayer. How vain the pledge and promise of amendment, unless there be added to the human resolve the help of God"s providence in circumstances, and the grace of His Spirit in the heart! Give examples of each.

II WHEN MEN ARE INJURED OR DEFEATED BY THEIR ADVERSARIES. "When thy people Israel be smitten down before the enemy" (ver. 33). National defeat in war should lead to self examination on the part of those smitten. Too often the investigation is applied only to material resources: incompetent officials are dismissed, weakened regiments are strengthened, new alliances are formed, etc. The mischief may lie deeper. Sometimes God is calling the people not to redeem national honour, but to seek national righteousness. The teaching of the verse may be applied figuratively to defeats suffered by Christian controversialists or by philanthropic workers, etc. Every check in onward progress is a summons to thought and prayer. "In the day of adversity consider." Illustrate by examples in Scripture, e.g., by the defeat of Israel at Ai, and its issues.

III WHEN MEN ARE TREMBLING UNDER NATURAL CALAMITIES. Reference is made in ver. 35 to the withholding of rain; in ver. 37 to "famine, pestilence, blasting, mildew, locust, and caterpillar." Such troubles were sent in vain to bring the Egyptians to repentance. Compare those plagues with Elijah"s message to Ahab, and with the threats of other prophets. Such statements as Deu_11:17 enshrine an abiding truth. In the long run the violation of God"s laws do bring disasters of the very kind specified here. If the law of industry be violated, the harvests fail; if the law of mutual dependence be ignored by nations, commerce is crippled, and impoverishment comes; if the laws against self indulgence, pride, ambition, etc., be defied, the spendthrift has the result in poverty, the proud nation in the miseries of war, etc. Even the disasters which are accounted "natural phenomena," then, should lead the wise hearted to prayer, the sinful to penitence; and God will hear in heaven His dwelling place, and answer and forgive. Show how, during the ministry of our Lord, the cripples, the blind, the diseased came to Him. Their misery made them feel their need of what He alone could give, and many of them became conscious of their spiritual wants from considering first the want that was physical. As they were thus led, so the Church has been which in the Old Testament was oppressed most by the earthly wants, and in the New by the spiritual. Those in the far country learn, by beginning to "be in want," that God is calling them to arise and return to Him.

IV WHEN MEN ARE CONSCIOUS OF THEIR SIN. All through this prayer reference is made to sin and to the consequent necessity for pardon (vers. 38, 46-50). Point out the climax in ver. 47:

(1) "We have sinned have not kept in the ways of God sin in its negative aspect;

(2) "have done perversely acts of perversity;

(3) "have committed wickedness the overwhelming passion which drives into corruption. The necessity of humble confession as an integral part of prayer from the lips of fallen man can readily be shown from Scripture. Examples of conscience of sin impelling to prayer seen in David, (Ps 51) the publican. (Luk_18:18) "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness". (1Jn_1:9)

V WHEN MEN ARE GOING FORTH TO CONFLICT IN GOD"S NAME. "If thy people shall go out to battle against their enemy whithersoever thou shalt send them," etc. (ver. 44). We must not forget that Israel was a theocracy. David, for example, spoke of his foes as being God"s foes. So had it been with Moses, Joshua, etc. The consciousness of that gives almost superhuman power. "Man, being linked with Omnipotency, is a kind of omnipotent creature," says Bacon. Even when the belief that one is on God"s side is false, the belief itself is an inspiration. Examples from history of such belief well or ill founded Joan of Are, the Puritans, etc. In actual war no nation can fairly put up this prayer unless the cause of war is that of which we can say, "whithersoever thou shalt send." No mistake need exist in reference to foes whom Christ came to destRomans The promise, "Lo! I am with you," was the inspiration of the apostles as they confronted false philosophies, crass ignorance, brutal customs, degrading superstitions. Hence, if they were going forth to battle with such evils, the prayers of the Church went up on their behalf. Men were set apart for their Christian mission by prayer (give examples), and in their work they often turned to their intercessors, saying, "Brethren, pray for us!" Feeling our insufficiency to overcome the adversaries of the gospel, let us, like the apostles, "continue in prayer and supplication" till we are "endued with power from on high. A.R.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Their course - Hebrew. their right, against their invaders and oppressors. For they had forfeited all their rights to God only, but not to their enemies; whom tho' God used as scourges to chastise his peoples sins, yet they had no pretense of right to their land.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

their prayer and their request

The two words "prayer" and "request" mean basically the same thing. Together they emphasize that the people were sincere as they made their request to Yahweh. See how you translated similar words in 1 Kings 8:28. (See: Doublet)

Forgive your people who have sinned against you, and all their transgressions that they have committed against you

Solomon twice requests Yahweh to forgive the people. This emphasizes the earnestness of his request. (See: Parallelism)

translationWords

pray

heaven

forgive

transgress

command

compassion

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.