1 Kings 8:46-53

When they sin against You (for there is no man who does not sin) and You are angry with them and deliver them to an enemy, so that they take them away captive to the land of the enemy, far off or near; if they take thought in the land where they have been taken captive, and repent and make supplication to You in the land of those who have taken them captive, saying, ‘We have sinned and have committed iniquity, we have acted wickedly’; if they return to You with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive, and pray to You toward their land which You have given to their fathers, the city which You have chosen, and the house which I have built for Your name; then hear their prayer and their supplication in heaven Your dwelling place, and maintain their cause, and forgive Your people who have sinned against You and all their transgressions which they have transgressed against You, and make them objects of compassion before those who have taken them captive, that they may have compassion on them (for they are Your people and Your inheritance which You have brought forth from Egypt, from the midst of the iron furnace), that Your eyes may be open to the supplication of Your servant and to the supplication of Your people Israel, to listen to them whenever they call to You. For You have separated them from all the peoples of the earth as Your inheritance, as You spoke through Moses Your servant, when You brought our fathers forth from Egypt, O Lord God.^[1]

“There is no man who does not sin!” Solomon continues his prayer interceding for the people not if they sin, but when they sin. We may not be able to appreciate the intensity of Solomon’s prayer because it is not our reality. We do not have nations carrying us off into captivity because of their sin as Israel did, but the effect of our sin and rebellion is the same. The consequences of our sin see us trapped in places where never intended to be, doing things we never intended to do. We never intended to be trapped in addiction when we began using recreationally. We never started out to be enslaved by inordinate desires when we let ourselves go for a quick moment. But before we knew it we were captive in the midst of our sin. It is really the same as the Israelites held captive in the land of their enemy.

Solomon implores God to hear their prayer and their cries for deliverance when they return to Him “with all their heart and with all their soul in the land of their enemies who have taken them captive;” and maintain their cause and forgive them. The critical piece here is he asks God to do this not after they have come out of where they are, but while they are still captive. A trapped person cannot always get immediately out from where they are trapped. Sometimes it takes some time and effort in order to be extricated, so God forgives and delivers from what put one in captivity in the first place while they/we are still trapped. He does it because we are His people and His inheritance, a people separated from all other peoples of the earth. Glory!

Gracious Father, You know our hearts and our minds. Your know the desires of our hearts. You know how we long to love and serve You, and how we get distracted and lose our way. We bow humbly before repenting of all the ways we have sinned and acted wickedly against You. Hear our cries for help. Come quickly and deliver us from the hands of our enemies. Hear our prayer, O Lord! Incline Your ear to us and grant us Your peace. Amen.

^[1] New American Standard Bible: 1995 Update (LaHabra, CA: The Lockman Foundation, 1995), 1 Ki 8:46–53.