1 Kings 8 The Ark is brought into the temple

Solomon gathered all the important people together so that they can bring the ark of the covenant of the Lord from Zion (along with the tabernacle and all the holy furnishings that were in the tabernacle) with sacrificing sheep and oxen that were too many to count so that the priests could bring them into the Most Holy place. The priests placed the ark under the wings of the cherubim.


Inside the ark was the two tablets of stone which moses wrote in Horeb when the Israelites came out of Egypt.

When the priests came out of the Most Holy Place, the Lord's presence rested as a cloud on the temple that Solomon had built.

Solomon spoke and invited God to dwell in the temple forever.


Solomon's speech at completion of work. 
Solomon turned and blessed the assembly of Israel while they were standing. He shared how God had fulfilled His promise to the Israelites. He also shared how David wanted to build a temple for God but because he was a man of war, the task was given to Solomon instead.

Solomon's prayer of dedication
And Solomon stood before the altar of the Lord in the presence of the Israelites and declared that God is the only God who always keep what He promised. He prayed that God will listen to the cry of the people whn they pray towards this temple; and that He will forgive them. He even prayed that if a foreigner prayer towards the temple, that God will hear the cry of the foreigner and help him/her so that everyone on earth may know His name and fear Him.

Lord, I pray that even as our friends see Your goodness through our lives, I pray that in their darkest times, they will recall how You are always our anchor in our lives. And I pray that in their desperation, they will pray to You because You have become their only hope in life. I pray that Lord You will hear them and they will come to know of the goodness of You. And that everyone on earth may know You and fear You. 

Solomon blesses the assembly
Solomon prayed a blessing prayer for the assembly. Let me translate the words that he prayed for Israel for us. Hehe learn from the wisest.

Blessed be the Lord, who has given rest to Joel and Mong, according to all that He promised. May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with David. May He not leave us nor forsake us, that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways, and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His judgements. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near the Lord our God day and night, that He maintain the cause of His servant us as each day may require, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there isno other. Let our hearts therefore be loyal to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and keep His commandments, as at this day, 

Jool, we must walk in His ways ok (: 

Solomon dedicates the temple
Solomon and all of Israel offered sacrifices before the Lord. After that Solomon held a feast with all Israel for 7 days. Whoa what a party. On the eighth day, he sent the people away and they blessed Solomon and went to their tents joyful and glad of heart for all the good that the Lord had done for David and for Israel. 
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2 Chronicles 5 
The ark brought into the temple

1 Kings 1
Adonijah presumes to be king
King David was old and he could not become warm even though they cover him with blanket. His servants asked a young woman to be his caretaker. They actually went to search for a lovely young woman (quoted) to take care of him. She lied with him to keep him warm at night but they did not have sexual relations.

Adonijah (4th son of David and Haggith) went to exalt himself and say he will be king. Then he just made preparations and all. Some more went to sacrifice sheep, oxen and cattle to like throw a feast. But hes super sneaky. He didn't invite Nathan the prophet, Benaiah, mighty men of David and his half brother Solomon. So sneaky. Max.

So Nathan went to speak to Bathsheba, mother of Solomon and informed her about this. And he advised her to go to David and tell him about it. Think she could do so also cos David promised her that Solomon would reign after him. So she went and told David. While she was talking to him, Nathan came in and also reminded David of what he has promised Bathsheba.

David proclaims Solomon King
David called Bathsheba and David took an oath that it will be Solomon who would reign as King. David then gave instructions for Zadok the priest and Nathan the prophet to anoint him as king over Israel and Judah. So they put Solomon on a mule and went to Gihon and anointed him. All the people went up after him and they played flutes and rejoiced.

Adonijah heard the noise (apparently it was described as so loud until the earth like going to split with the sound) and asked what is happening. So Jonathan, told him that David made Solomon King. (PS Solomon was only 14 years old when he was made king, can you imagine a sec 2 boy having to rule the country?) Haha so the guests who were with Adonijah becaome scared and arose and left.
Haha paisei much. So Adonijah was afraid of Solomon and he went to take hold of the horns of the altar saying "Let King Solomon swear to me today that he will not put his servant to death with the sword."

Then Solomon said Ïf he proves himself to be a worthy man, not one hair of him hall fall to the earth." Wow. Such wisdom at 14. I am impressed.

I like this passage cos it showed me how David keeps his word to what he has said before. He was sickly and he could have not bothered about Adonijah just usurping the throne. But he remembered his promise to Bathsheba and still proclaimed Solomon as king. I would think this process of doing so would have tired him out but he still made it happened. This is something that we need to learn from. Like when we make promises to people (or to each other or to God),  we really need to keep to what we say we will do. And that we need to be responsible to whatever we have decided on. (just like David) instead of just taking the easier way out. 

1 King 2
David's instructions to Solomon
David was about to die and he charged Solomon to do these:

Now, carefully obey all the commands of the Lord your God. Carefully obey all his laws, commands, decisions, and agreements. Obey everything that is written in the Law of Moses. If you do this, you will be successful at whatever you do and wherever you go. 4 And if you obey the Lord, he will keep his promise about me. He said, ‘If your sons carefully live the way I tell them, sincerely, with all their heart, the king of Israel will always be a man from your family.’”

Again the law of Moses was repeated here. We need to remember the law of Moses too ok. That when we obey the Lord, he will prosper us and we will be successful in what we do and where we go. 

Death of David
:'( So sad! Hate reading about David dying. David reigned for 40 years over Israel. Solomon reigned for 80 years. Wa twice the number! 

Solomon executes Adonijah
Oh the haolian guy is back in the story! He asked for Abishag (the young woman that took care of David) as wife. And so Solomon executed Adonijah cos its not right for them to sleep with their father's women. 

Abiathar Exiled, Joab Executed
He exiled Abiathar the priest because he took part in the attempt to raise Adonijah as king. Joab (nephew of  David) who also swore allegiance to Adonijah heard the news and fled to the tabernacle of the Lord and held the horns of the altar and plead. (Remember Adonijah did that too? Was reading online and it said that this is a place of mercy for people) However, Joab was struck down at the horn of the altar. 

Shimei executed
Solomon called for Shimei and asked him to stay in Jerusalem. And so, Shimei did so. However, Shimei went to Gath to chase after 2 of his slaves. When Solomon was told, he executed Shimei. 

Wa, Solomon might seem very harsh hor. But i guess his first order of business when he took over the throne was to get rid of the toxic people he has in his life. I guess this is something important for us too. That we get rid of the toxic people in our lives. (think O) I think its very hard to live life with people plotting against you and what not. Its super xinku. Solomon is wise indeed. 

Psalms 37
Vs 4: Delight yourself also in the Lord, And He shall give you the desires of your heart.
Vs 23 The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord, And He delights in his way.

Dear God, I pray that I will learn to delight myself in You. I know that when I obey You and stay close to You, You will grant me the desires of my heart. Thank You too that when I obey in You, You will delight in me. Lord, I would like You to be so real in my life. 

Psalms 71 God the Rock of Salvation

Psalms 94 God the refuge of the righteous. 

ok end.

Our hearts

1 Kings 15:14
14 Although the pagan shrines were not removed, Asa’s heart remained completely faithful to the Lord throughout his life.

A rather simple verse but it spoke to me. King Asa was a descendant of King David and unlike all the other ancestors before him who went against God, except David, Asa had his heart solely fixed on God and this pleased God.

Actually i do not know why he did not remove the pagan shrines. I guess he did not want to upset others? More importantly, his heart did not falter.