great altar - probably from out the Cloudy Presence133 - which is recorded in 2 Chronicles 7:1, seems a most

appropriate answer,134 (comp. Leviticus 9:24).

Little requires to be added to the simple account of what followed. Rising from his knees, the king turned

once more to the people, and expressed the feelings of all in terms of mingled praise and prayer, basing them

on such Scriptural passages as Deuteronomy 12:9, 10; Joshua 21:44, etc.; 23:14, and, in the second part of

his address, on Leviticus 26:3-13; Deuteronomy 28:1-14. But it deserves special notice, that throughout (as

Thenius has well remarked) the tone is of the loftiest spirituality. For, if the king asks for continued h elp and

blessing from the Lord, it is for the express purpose "that He may incline our hearts to Him" (comp. Psalm

119:36; 141:4), "to keep His commandments" (1 Kings 8:58); and, if he looks for answers to prayer (ver. 59), it

is "that all the people of the earth may know that Jehovah is God, and that there is none else" (ver. 60).

Lastly, we have an account of the vast number135 of festive offerings which Solomon and all Israel136

brought, and of the Feast of Tabernacles  137 with which the solemn dedication-s ervices concluded.