Solomon’s prayer continues (2 Chronicles 6:18–21): Lord, no temple could contain You, but please keep Your gaze on this place; hear us when we pray here. When You hear, forgive. These two verbs (hear, forgive) run through what follows. Solomon imagines various situations in which people may pray in or towards the temple.

When someone swears an oath of innocence here to settle a dispute, make it clear, Lord, who is in the right (vv. 22–23). When foreigners come here to pray, grant their prayer, so that they may know the power of Your Name (vv. 32–33). When Your people go into battle, vindicate them (vv. 34–35). Above all, Lord, forgive. Israel may sin and suffer various forms of judgment: military defeat (vv. 24–25); drought (vv. 26–27); plague, crop blights, insect infestation (vv. 28–31); even exile (vv. 36–39). In each case, when Your people repent and pray in or towards this temple, forgive them and restore them.

Solomon multiplies examples to underscore a basic plea: Lord, be ready to hear and answer prayer (v. 40). Enter Your temple; let Your priests proclaim Your salvation here; may Your people rejoice; and remember Your promise to David (vv. 41–42).

The Chronicler expresses the last part of Solomon’s prayer by quoting Psalm 132:8–10, a prayer that implores God to remember His promises regarding the Jerusalem temple and David’s line. It is as though the Chronicler is directly addressing his contemporaries here, telling them that they should see the (rebuilt) temple in their midst as an encouragement to pray for the restoration of David’s line.

Fire descends from heaven; God’s glory fills the temple, and the people worship (2 Chronicles 7:1–3). The celebrations last seven days, and the people return home rejoicing over God’s goodness (vv. 4–10). The temple is complete; so, too, Solomon’s palace (v. 11).

God then appears to Solomon and responds to his prayer: I will accept sacrifices offered here. When I send judgments on My people, and they humble themselves and seek Me, I will forgive and heal them; I will listen to prayers made in this place (vv. 12–16). For your part, you must remain faithful: follow My teaching as your father David did. Then I will establish your line; your descendants will rule over Israel (vv. 17–18). But if you⁹ turn away from Me, I will cast you aside and destroy this temple. Its ruins will become a byword for catastrophic judgment (vv. 19–22). These are sobering words. In effect, the temple changes nothing: God still requires faithful obedience. Yes, God is willing to forgive: the very existence of the temple testifies to that. But what if Israel abandons the Lord for other gods? What if sin keeps mounting up? Judgment and mercy—how will the tension between these two be played out in the generations to come? That issue hangs over the rest of 2 Chronicles.

See also 1 Kings 8:1–9:9.

⁹ “You” includes the entire nation of Israel; the forms in 2 Chronicles 7:19–20 are plural.