1 Kings 8:62 - Meaning and Application

We read earlier that Judah and Israel were eating and drinking, and very cheerful under their own vines and fig trees. Here we see them joyful in God’s courts as well. Now they found Solomon’s words true about Wisdom’s ways, that they are ways of pleasantness.

I. They found great joy and satisfaction while they attended God’s house. First, Solomon offered a huge sacrifice, 22,000 oxen and 120,000 sheep. That was enough to drain the country of cattle if it had not been such a fertile land. The nations around them thought they were generous when they offered sacrifices by the hundreds, but Solomon went far beyond that and offered them by the thousands. When Moses dedicated his altar, the peace offerings were 24 bullocks and 180 rams, goats, and lambs (Numbers 7:88). Then the people were poor, but now that their wealth had grown, more was expected of them. Where God gives much, he should receive much in return.

All these sacrifices could not be offered in a single day, but only over the several days of the feast. Solomon’s own table used 30 oxen a day, but thousands were set apart for God’s altar. Few people are willing to spend more on their souls than on their bodies. The meat from the peace offerings, which likely belonged to the one who offered them, was probably used by Solomon to feed the people. Christ also fed those who came to him. The bronze altar was not large enough to hold all these sacrifices, so many of them had to be offered in the middle of the court (1 Kings 8:64). Some think this means they used temporary altars made of earth or stone, then took them down after the ceremony. Others think the sacrifices were offered on the bare ground. Those who want to be generous in serving God should not worry about lacking room or opportunity.

2. He held a feast, likely the Feast of Tabernacles, after the feast of dedication, and both together lasted 14 days (1 Kings 8:65). Yet no one said, “What a burden this is.”

II. They carried that joy and satisfaction back to their own homes. When they were sent away, they blessed the king (1 Kings 8:66). They praised him, admired him, and thanked him on behalf of the whole congregation. Then they went to their tents with joyful and glad hearts, peaceful and content. God’s goodness was the source of their joy, and it should be ours at all times too.

They rejoiced in God’s blessing on both the royal family and the kingdom. In the same way, we should go home rejoicing from holy worship and continue on our way rejoicing in God’s goodness to our Lord Jesus, of whom David his servant was a type, in the raising up and securing of his throne according to the covenant of redemption, and to all believers, his spiritual Israel, in their sanctification, that is, their being made holy, and their comfort, according to the covenant of grace. If we do not rejoice in this always, the fault is ours.