The House of the Lord

The message was brought by Rev. Bob Surber on June 1, 2025.

II Chronicles 7:11-16 11 Thus Solomon finished the house of the Lord, and the king’s house: and all that came into Solomon’s heart to make in the house of the Lord, and in his own house, he prosperously effected.12 And the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said unto him, I have heard thy prayer, and have chosen this place to myself for an house of sacrifice. 13 If I shut up heaven that there be no rain, or if I command the locusts to devour the land, or if I send pestilence among my people; 14 If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land. 15 Now mine eyes shall be open, and mine ears attent unto the prayer that is made in this place. 16 For now have I chosen and sanctified this house, that my name may be there for ever: and mine eyes and mine heart shall be there perpetually.

The temple took a long time for Solomon to finish. There has never been another one so beautiful as this one.  It was finished but not an ending. It was a beginning for the people. He prayed about how great it was and how unworthy they were. The glory of the Lord came down and filled the house of God. We have to work on our “house” daily. Don’t live according to your own dictates. Let God be Lord of your life. Bring him into your heart. Our needs are great, and we cannot meet them. We need the Lord now more than ever.

The house of the Lord was made of earthly materials. It, like we do, needed the presence and glory of God. The temple was the Lord’s idea. He would dwell there. It’s God’s plan that he’s Lord of our life. Even before Adam and Eve sinned, God had a plan. His will is for all to come to him. He laid down the blueprints for the temple and he laid down blueprints for us. Let God build what he wants to build. 

Look at verse 14. If we are saved, we are God’s people. We need God in all his fullness. We need him to look at his house and our lives. We need to pray that we will do his will. I want his eyes on me even if it brings conviction.  We are to act like children of God. We want God’s ear to be toward us. We need his attention. He listens to us.  Are you avoiding him?  Do you not want him to tune in?  What would he hear?  We need God!  We can’t do the right things without God’s help.  It comes by yielding ourselves to him. All of us.  Don’t keep back part of your life.  His heart is toward us; the least we can do is give our hearts and lives back to him.

God speaks to Solomon. He says, “humble yourselves” and “pray” and “seek my face.”  We are before him. We are not on the same level as God. Our relationship with him cannot be one sided. We must do our part. Surrender it all to him. He’s better at controlling our lives than we are.  We’re all prone to sin. We all fall short. Take a look at yourself.  When we do what God said he will forgive us. He’ll heal our soul. We must follow his requirements to have this.  Are we willing to do what God says?