Monday, November 11, 2019

To hear and forgive those who genuinely turn away from wrongdoing

2 Chronicles 6:22-42
As for the foreigner who does not belong to your people Israel but has come from a distant land because of your great name and your mighty hand and your outstretched arm—when they come and pray toward this temple,  then hear from heaven, your dwelling place. Do whatever the foreigner asks of you, so that all the peoples of the earth may know your name and fear you, as do your own people Israel, and may know that this house I have built bears your Name.
When they sin against you—for there is no one who does not sin—and you become angry with them and give them over to the enemy, who takes them captive to a land far away or near; and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with you in the land of their captivity and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong and acted wickedly’; and if they turn back to you with all their heart and soul in the land of their captivity where they were taken, and pray toward the land you gave their ancestors, toward the city you have chosen and toward the temple I have built for your Name;  then from heaven, your dwelling place, hear their prayer and their pleas, and uphold their cause. And forgive your people, who have sinned against you.
The ground for this prayer, and all prayer, is the fact that God and his promises are utterly dependable. The requests are based on other vital facts about God: his love for his people; his absolute moral standards; his readiness to hear and forgive those who genuinely turn away from wrongdoing.
Why?
Solomon prayed for Israelites and foreigners under any situation when they turn from their sins and pray to the Lord toward the direction of this Temple, may God hear their prayer and answer to them with God's love and righteousness.
No matter where they are or any circumstance when we turn to the Lord and pray to Him. God is living Lord who will hear and help us for God knows our heart.
一、所羅門的讚美與感恩
神成就祂的應許而感恩!感恩要有內容。從神奇妙的作為感恩!
約櫃運來內有神的約,神與以色列人所立的約提醒大家記得神的約。不是把約櫃當作護身符。真的把神當作我們的王嗎?
The insertion of a quotation from Psalm 132 in2 Chronicles 6:40-42 emphasizes the important role that the Davidic covenant played in the theology of the Chronicler. Both versions proclaim the importance of prayer and forgiveness against the background of God’s presence in the temple.
How?
Praise the Holy Name of the Lord in name of Jesus.  God is good, his love endures forever.


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