7:1-2 By fire, God made His presence known. As His children, we can anticipate and rely on God's presence in all aspects of our lives that we have invited Him into. Solomon and the people of Israel were gathered together in praise of God and in celebration of the completion of the temple. When we dedicate ourselves, and our lives, to construction within the kingdom of God (restoring justice, promoting compassion, stifling greed, battling evil) we can expect the fire, passion and power of God to illuminate our lives.
7:3 Everyone bowed their faces to the ground for God with this in their heart and on their tongue: He is good, His mercy endures forever. Humbly keep the perspective of gratitude and awareness that God is both good and merciful. Our God is a creator of the proliferation of life and He cherishes what He has made. He is worthy of our reverence and obedience; there is no greater cause to dedicate our lives to.
7:4-6 Following David's example, Solomon and the people praise and worship God with sacrifice and music. A spirit of joy in prayer was a precedent David started, 2 Samuel 6. Our submission to God and obedience to His will is a celebration, for to be claimed by God is to become eternal. To be led by God is to step toward eternity.
The tribes and new king celebrated their covenant with God. They had elected to become fellow-workers with Him (just as we have been invited to become). It is arduous and lifelong work but it is honorable work. It is work that heals and warms and lights and hopes and dreams and fulfills. It is work that strengthens and advocates and delights.
When we enter into a covenant with God, we elect to become refined, restored... new, in character and ability, purpose and potential.
7:7 Solomon made an offering to God, a sacrifice. The practice of sacrifice is now defunct, Isaiah 1:11. The element of sacrifice has changed; in Micah 6:6-8 we are taught that God wants for us to love mercy. God now hopes that we will be generous in a new way: as compassionate, merciful individuals.
God offers so much to us that worship is almost a relief, an expression of near-bursting gratitude. Whether through song or fasting or oaths to God, what we offer in the way of worship to Him matters. Our connection with Him is a relationship, capable of depth and intimacy. In Malachi 3:10, God makes it known that what He receives from us, He returns to us tenfold. (Though we must be willing and cheerful givers! Humble and authentically in love with Him).
7:8-11 Solomon and the people remained assembled and feasted. After an extensive time of thanks and praise, the people returned to their tents. They returned to their tents as nourished souls: joyful and glad in their hearts; grateful and inspired by God's generosity. They were fulfilled; the kingdom had completed the temple and declared all that it represented: their relationship with God.
When we endeavor to encounter God, we never walk away unchanged. When we enter the sphere of God, we are made new. As the creator of our body and souls, minds and hearts, He knows precisely what we need to be joyful and glad and inspired. Our God is an over-achiever in the best of ways. The light and life and joy He works to pulse into our lives is over-the-top, extraordinary, Psalm 23:5. God ensured that the tribes of Israel were full-to-bursting with joy and He will ensure the same for you, if you invite Him to.
Through faith we open broad avenues within ourselves and our lives, through which God is able to deliver massive love and blessing.
7:12-18 God appears to Solomon a second time in Solomon's life. This second appearance has even more depth and love: God has returned to answer a prayer with an emphatic yes. Solomon had asked God to remain with humanity (fickle and unfortunate though we sometimes are) and here God agrees to. God promises to be attentive to those who seek His counsel; He promises to be present with those who seek Him and forsake evil. He promises to forgive our transgressions and heal our hurts. God answered each particular point of Solomon's prayer, evidencing that He is indeed attentive to His children's pleas.
The quality of our lives is quite related to the quality of our communication of God. Our lives are heard and healed and forgiven by Him but they are also lead and propelled and protected by Him when we also become receptive, attentive to what He communicates back to us.
Listen to Him, in scripture and nature and in the soft way He inhabits your soul. Talk to Him, invite Him into your hopes and hurts and decisions. God is invested in your life; He loves you deeply Luke 12:7; it is His great pleasure to help you and advocate for you, Luke 12:32.
7:16-18 It is helpful to keep the foundation of God's advice at heart: life your life as David lived his: full of praise and trust and faith and humility; follow God's instructions; keep His statues and judgement (they were all made for your benefit, not restriction, after all). And if we are able to listen to Him and follow Him, He establishes us. He gives us peace and purpose and potential. Impact and security and good character. God eliminates the uncertainty in our life and replaces it with God-divined-and-orchestrated surety of joy.
7:19-20 Conversely, adherence to wickedness and opposition to righteousness results in an uprooting. The opposite of establishment: destruction, elimination, irrelevance. All these can injustice, greed, and evil expect.
7:21-22 God's intention was always to reach all of humanity. The righteous kingdom of Israel (when it was righteous) was meant to serve as an example of how God can transform a person, a people, a nation, the world. The Bible is the story of God proffering blessing and order, a relationship with Him, to humanity.
As His children, we are living testimonies of His goodness. Even without preaching a word of scripture, the righteous manner in which we live our lives will inspire others to seek their own relationship with Him. Because a righteous child is always blessed by God; the quality of life of a child of God illuminates, inspires and comforts.
In Deuteronomy 7:7, God explained that the tribes of Israel were chosen because they were small and weak. They were made great because they were willing to listen, because they allowed greatness, God Himself, into their lives. Their transformation of small to large, weak to strong was due in all part to God; they served as an amazing example of His mercy and power. Let your life be transformed in such a way that serves as an example to your own generation.
