(REFLECTIONS ON 1 Kings 8:54-66)

54 When Solomon had finished praying this entire prayer and supplication to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, from kneeling on his knees with his hands spread toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice.

In his prayer of dedication, praying for the Lord to hear in heaven when Israel repents, to forgive their sins, and to make them objects of compassion, Solomon did so kneeling on his knees, with his hands spread toward heaven.

Kneeling expressed humility and dependence before God, while his hands spread toward heaven demonstrated his appeal to and expectation from the Lord.

Let us imagine Solomon’s posture in our minds, and perhaps we can also practice such a posture of prayer and supplication. Solomon did not do this in the quiet of a prayer room where no one would see, but before the altar of the Lord in the presence of all the assembly of Israel.

We know we should worship and pray to the Lord both personally and corporately. However, can we learn to do so without an added layer of concern for what other people are doing, what other people will see, or what other people will think? Can we lift up our hands in worship, spread them toward heaven, or kneel in humility before our Lord?

The issue is not whether everyone must kneel or lift up their hands. The Bible presents a variety of postures in prayer and worship. Rather, the question is whether our outward posture reflects the reality of our inward worship. Are our bodies disconnected from what our hearts and lips are expressing?

What I often find interesting is that we sing worship and praise songs about lifting up our hands or kneeling before the Lord, yet our actual body posture and the words we are singing do not always match. Our lips sing one thing and pray one thing, but our bodies can be somewhere else, detached from it all.

As Solomon rose from his prayer and supplication, he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice. Solomon’s proclamation, just like his posture of prayer, involved his whole person, body, mind, and spirit. He spoke with a loud voice, with conviction and confidence, not shying away from the moment or from God.

For some of us, it is simply learning to open our lips and sing, pray, or worship the Lord. For others, it is learning to unite our bodies with what we are proclaiming with our lips, so that our worship is not detached or disjointed. This is not ultimately a work of our own determination, but a work that the Holy Spirit can do in us and among us.

Being filled with the Holy Spirit is not merely an inward experience. It often becomes visible as the Spirit moves us to pray, to sing, to worship, to kneel in humility, to lift up holy hands, and to stand boldly and speak for the Lord.

Pastor Michael Lu
Enduring Word Bible Commentary: 1 Kings 8