1 Kings 8:46-51
Verse 46 “When they sin against You—for there is no one who does not sin—and You become angry with them and give them over to their enemies, who take them captive to their own lands, far away or near;”
Our passage today comes from the prayer of the wisest man to ever live other than Jesus. Solomon was gifted from God with an exceptional ability to know how to make the wisest decisions in every matter. Having built the Temple his father David had gathered supplies for, Solomon dedicated it with this prayer which shows the wisdom God had given him. Solomon’s prayer shows he understood the people of God would not always be faithful to the One who had brought them to this land.
The king says in our key verse, “when” because he knew humans are not prone to wanting God’s ways over their own and therefore will find themselves in sin. Solomon also made sure they understood this didn’t please God. This is something which God’s people have fought with from the fall in the Garden of Eden. Sin comes from us doing what seems right in our own eyes instead of listening and obeying the One who created us.
Just as Adam and Eve in the Garden allowed the serpent to convince them to doubt the goodness of God’s instruction, we allow ourselves to be misled about the truth of God’s ways by a society which hates God as much as the serpent did. As Solomon would say in his book of Ecclesiastes, there is nothing new under the sun. Just as the first created people allowed their desires to be indulged in, the people of Solomon’s day sought out the things of their day which pleased them and today we know we deal with the same draw to things which please us instead of what we know would please the Lord.
But does the knowledge that we will sin make it so we are free to sin? To quote the Apostle Paul, “Of course not!” (Romans 6:1-2) Just because we have a sinful nature and gracious God doesn’t mean our sins don’t matter. We have already seen in our study how God doesn’t allow His people to continue in their sin indefinitely. He gave the commandments because of His desire for His people to live in righteousness, not so they could decide what they wanted to obey.
Making It Personal
Can you admit you are a person of sin? What does it mean to you that God hates sin? Does it bother you about being more apt to sin than obey?
Making It Personal Kids
Can you admit when you sin? Why do you think it is so easy to sin? What do you think it means to Jesus when you sin?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of our willingness to sin against You. Give us the desire to love You through our obedience. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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