Psalm 170 from Beyond Psalm 150
As successor to King David, Solomon constructs the temple that his father wanted to build. With much fanfare Solomon brings the ark—which contains the two stone tablets God gave to Moses—to reside in the temple.
Before the people gather for this momentous event, Solomon blesses God and honors David.
Blessed is Yahweh, the God of Israel, who spoke with his mouth to David your father, and has with his hand fulfilled it, saying, ‘Since the day that I brought my people Israel out of Egypt, I chose no city out of all the tribes of Israel to build a house, that my name might be there; but I chose David to be over my people Israel.’
1 Kings 8:15–21 (WEB)
Now it was in the heart of David my father to build a house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. But Yahweh said to David my father, ‘Whereas it was in your heart to build a house for my name, you did well that it was in your heart. Nevertheless, you shall not build the house; but your son who shall come out of your body, he shall build the house for my name.’ Yahweh has established his word that he spoke; for I have risen up in the place of David my father, and I sit on the throne of Israel, as Yahweh promised, and have built the house for the name of Yahweh, the God of Israel. There I have set a place for the ark, in which is Yahweh’s covenant, which he made with our fathers, when he brought them out of the land of Egypt.
(This passage repeats in 2 Chronicles 6:4–11, and we find Solomon’s two other Psalms in Psalm 72 and 127.)
Reflections on Solomon Praises God
This passage opens with a blessing to Yahweh, but then it shifts to give tribute to Solomon’s father, King David. Solomon concludes by looking at what he accomplished.
We could interpret this either as Solomon’s ego poking through or as praise to God for what Yahweh accomplished through the king.
Has our praise to the Almighty ever come across as calling attention to what we did? Though we may give God credit in this, it’s easy to wrongly elevate ourselves in the process.
May we rightly place our focus on Yahweh and what he has done.
Explore the other psalms—sacred songs of praise, petition, and lament—scattered throughout the Bible in Peter’s book Beyond Psalm 150.
Peter DeHaan writes about biblical Christianity to confront status quo religion and live a life that matters. He seeks a fresh approach to following Jesus through the lens of Scripture, without the baggage of made-up traditions and meaningless practices.
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