12 And Jehovah appeareth unto Solomon by night, and saith to him, 'I have heard thy prayer, and have fixed on this place to Me for a house of sacrifice. 13 If I restrain the heavens and there is no rain, and if I lay charge on the locust to consume the land, and if I send pestilence among My people— 14 and My people on whom My name is called be humbled, and pray, and seek My face, and turn back from their evil ways, then I—I hear from the heavens, and forgive their sin, and heal their land. 15 'Now, Mine eyes are open, and Mine ears attentive, to the prayer of this place; 16 and now, I have chosen and sanctified this house for My name being there unto the age; yea, Mine eyes and My heart have been there all the days. 17 'And thou, if thou dost walk before Me as David thy father walked, even to do according to all that I have commanded thee, and My statutes and My judgments dost keep— 18 then I have established the throne of thy kingdom, as I covenanted with David thy father, saying, There is not cut off a man to thee—a ruler in Israel; 19 and if ye turn back—ye—and have forsaken My statutes, and My commands, that I have placed before you, and have gone and served other gods, and bowed yourselves to them—then I have plucked them from off My ground that I have given to them, 20 and this house that I have sanctified for My name, I cast from before My face, and make it for a proverb, and for a byword, among all the peoples. 21 'And this house that hath been high, to every one passing by it, is an astonishment, and he hath said, Wherefore hath Jehovah done thus to this land, and to this house? 22 and they have said, Because that they have forsaken Jehovah, God of their fathers, who brought them out from the land of Egypt, and lay hold on other gods, and bow themselves to them, and serve them, therefore He hath brought upon them all this evil.'
Matthew Henry's Commentary on 2 Chronicles 7:12-22
Chapter Contents
God's answer to Solomon's prayer.
God gave a gracious answer to Solomon's prayer. The mercies of God to sinners are made known in a manner well suited to impress all who receive them, with his majesty and holiness. The people worshipped and praised God. When he manifests himself as a consuming Fire to sinners, his people can rejoice in him as their Light. Nay, they had reason to say, that God was good in this. It is of the Lord's mercies we are not consumed, but the sacrifice in our stead, for which we should be very thankful. And whoever beholds with true faith, the Saviour agonizing and dying for man's sin, will, by that view, find his godly sorrow enlarged, his hatred of sin increased, his soul made more watchful, and his life more holy. Solomon prosperously effected all he designed, for adorning both God's house and his own. Those who begin with the service of God, are likely to go on successfully in their own affairs. It was Solomon's praise, that what he undertook, he went through with; it was by the grace of God that he prospered in it. Let us then stand in awe, and sin not. Let us fear the Lord's displeasure, hope in his mercy, and walk in his commandments.