Blessed to Be a Blessing: Living the Prayer of Solomon
When King Solomon dedicated the temple in Jerusalem, he prayed one of the most beautiful and far-reaching prayers in all of Scripture. After acknowledging God’s covenant faithfulness and steadfast love, Solomon concluded with this plea:
“May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers; may He not leave us or forsake us, so that He may incline our hearts to Himself, to walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments and His statutes and His ordinances, which He commanded our fathers. And may these words of mine, with which I have made supplication before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, so that He may maintain the cause of His servant and the cause of His people Israel, as each day requires, so that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else. Your heart therefore shall be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, to walk in His statutes and to keep His commandments, as at this day.”
— 1 Kings 8:57–61 (NASB)
At the heart of Solomon’s prayer lies a profound truth about God’s purpose for His people: He blesses us so that all nations might know Him. Israel was chosen not merely for privilege, but for purpose. God drew them close to Himself so that His glory might shine through them—so that all the peoples of the earth would see His greatness and turn to Him in faith.
This divine pattern was not meant to end with Solomon’s generation. It began long before, when God first called Abram:
“And I will bless you, and make your name great; and you shall be a blessing… and in you all the families of the earth will be blessed.”
— Genesis 12:2–3 (NASB)
From the very beginning, God’s covenant with His people carried a missionary heartbeat. He would reveal Himself to the world through a people whose hearts were turned toward Him. As they obeyed, He would bless them. As He blessed them, the nations would notice and be drawn to His light.
Isaiah would later describe this same purpose with poetic clarity:
“I will also make You a light of the nations so that My salvation may reach to the end of the earth.”
— Isaiah 49:6 (NASB)
God’s intention was never that His glory should be confined to one tribe or one land. Israel was meant to be a living testimony of what it looks like when God dwells among His people—a community so transformed by His presence that the surrounding nations would say, “Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people” (Deuteronomy 4:6).
The Virtuous Cycle of Grace
Notice how Solomon’s prayer describes a cycle of grace:
1. God draws His people to Himself — “May He not leave us or forsake us, so that He may incline our hearts to Himself.”
2. He enables their obedience and love — “To walk in all His ways and to keep His commandments.”
3. Through their faithful lives, His glory is made known — “So that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.”
This is not a cycle of human achievement but of divine grace. God initiates; we respond. God empowers; we walk in His ways. God blesses; His fame spreads.
The same rhythm continues today among God’s people in Christ. As Paul explained in Romans 11, those who believe in Jesus—Jew and Gentile alike—are part of one family tree:
“But if some of the branches were broken off, and you, being a wild olive, were grafted in among them and became partaker with them of the rich root of the olive tree… remember that it is not you who supports the root, but the root supports you.”
— Romans 11:17–18 (NASB)
We who were once outsiders have been grafted into spiritual Israel. The same calling rests upon us: to walk faithfully before God so that His light may reach the nations.
God’s Presence, Our Purpose
Solomon prayed, “May the Lord our God be with us, as He was with our fathers.” That prayer was answered most fully in Jesus Christ—“Immanuel, God with us” (Matthew 1:23). In Him, God’s presence dwells not in a stone temple but in living hearts. We are now the temple of the Holy Spirit (1 Corinthians 6:19), and the light of God’s presence is meant to radiate through us into a dark world.
Peter echoes this Old Testament purpose when he writes:
“But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession, so that you may proclaim the excellencies of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.”
— 1 Peter 2:9 (NASB)
The blessing of belonging to God is inseparable from the calling to make Him known. We are blessed to be a blessing—to display His mercy, His justice, His truth, and His compassion in every sphere of life.
Living the Legacy of Solomon’s Prayer
Every generation of believers inherits Solomon’s prayer as its own. We are to live in such wholehearted devotion that the nations around us see something unmistakably divine—not our strength, but God’s faithfulness; not our wisdom, but His Spirit at work in us.
When the church walks in holiness and love, the world glimpses a reflection of God’s heart. Jesus said,
“By this all people will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another.”
— John 13:35 (NASB)
In our workplaces, our neighborhoods, our families, and our nations, we are to live as living testimonies of the God who blesses. We are the continuation of Solomon’s prayer—people whose hearts are inclined toward God so that His fame might fill the earth.
A Modern Echo of an Ancient Prayer
Perhaps we might pray today as Solomon did, but through the fuller light of Christ:
“Lord our God, be with us as You have been with Your people throughout the ages.
Incline our hearts to love You fully, to walk in Your ways, and to keep Your commands.
Let Your presence among us be so real, so radiant, that all nations might see and know that You alone are God.
Use our lives, our homes, our churches, to draw the world to You.
And make us faithful stewards of every blessing You’ve given,
that we might bless others in Your name.”
When we live this way—rooted in His grace, walking in His truth, shining with His love—we fulfill God’s ancient promise. We become what Israel was always meant to be: a people through whom “all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”
May our hearts, like Solomon’s, be wholly devoted to the Lord our God, that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no one else.