1 Kings 8:1-11

Then Solomon assembled the elders of Israel and all the heads of the tribes, the leaders of the fathers’ households of the sons of Israel, to King Solomon in Jerusalem, to bring up the ark of the covenant of the Lord from the city of David, which is Zion. All the men of Israel assembled themselves to King Solomon at the feast, in the month Ethanim, which is the seventh month. Then all the elders of Israel came, and the priests took up the ark. They brought up the ark of the Lord and the tent of meeting and all the holy utensils, which were in the tent, and the priests and the Levites brought them up. And King Solomon and all the congregation of Israel, who were assembled to him, were with him before the ark, sacrificing so many sheep and oxen they could not be counted or numbered. Then the priests brought the ark of the covenant of the Lord to its place, into the inner sanctuary of the house, to the most holy place, under the wings of the cherubim. For the cherubim spread their wings over the place of the ark, and the cherubim made a covering over the ark and its poles from above. But the poles were so long that the ends of the poles could be seen from the holy place before the inner sanctuary, but they could not be seen outside; they are there to this day. There was nothing in the ark except the two tablets of stone which Moses put there at Horeb, where the Lord made a covenant with the sons of Israel, when they came out of the land of Egypt. It happened that when the priests came from the holy place, the cloud filled the house of the Lord, so that the priests could not stand to minister because of the cloud, for the glory of the Lord filled the house of the Lord.^[1]

What a marvelous picture of worship. Much of the magnificence of it is lost on a 21^st century audience because it is so far out of our frame of reference. But note how significant this event is in the history of Israel. Prior to this day worship had been confined to the Tabernacle (the Tent of Meeting), which was portable. During the years the Israelites spent wandering in the wilderness the Ark of the Covenant was carried by the Levites and placed in the Most Holy Place in the Tabernacle. Whenever Moses would enter to speak to the Lord the pillar of cloud would settle down on the tent while the men of Israel waited in the flaps of their tents for Moses to emerge. But now, years after Israel’s nomadic life has ended, the Tent of Meeting has been supplanted by a permanent structure, Solomon’s Temple, called one of the seven wonders of the world.

What is striking about this text is not just the elaborate nature of the worship, offered as the Temple is dedicated, but what happened as a result of their worship. Angels spread their wings over the place where the Ark was to be set, and when it was set the same angels made a covering over the Ark. Most significant is what happened when the priests came from the Holy Place in the Tabernacle: a cloud filled the house with glory. There was so much glory, in fact, that the priests could not stand to minister. Wow, wouldn’t be incredible to experience such worship in our time; a worship so powerful that the presence of God was palpable to the point that worshipers were spiritually paralyzed?

O Lord, our worship is woefully lacking when it comes to commitment and dedication. We look to others to thrill and entertain us rather than giving ourselves selflessly to you. We want an experience of Your presence like what we read in Your Word. So, please come Lord and fill our worship with Your presence and power until we are unable to move and minister. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Ki 8:1–11.