What is the context?
Solomon rises from kneeling before the altar and blesses the assembly. He praises the LORD for giving Israel rest and keeping the good promises spoken through Moses.
He asks God to stay with His people and turn their hearts toward Him, so they will walk in His ways. He also asks for help with each day’s needs, with a wider purpose: all the peoples of the earth are to know that the LORD alone is God.
The blessing ends with a call for wholehearted devotion. The dedication is to shape how the people live after the gathering ends.
How is this passage commonly understood?
Wesley and Gill understand the request about the heart as asking God Himself to help the people love and obey Him. The command to obey is accompanied by dependence on His help.
Wesley explains wholehearted devotion as obedience that is sincere, undivided and lasting. Henry similarly holds together the people’s responsibility to respond and their need for God to enable that response. The point is a life directed toward Him, not merely an impressive ceremony.
Where does this fit in God's plan?
The need for God’s work within His people continues in Jeremiah 31:31–34. God promises a new covenant with Israel and Judah in which His law is written on their hearts, they know Him, and their sins are forgiven.
Hebrews 8:6–13 quotes that promise while explaining the better covenant Jesus mediates. This develops the concern heard in Solomon’s blessing: God’s purpose involves people who know Him from the heart and live in response to His mercy.
What is our position?
We don't have a position on this passage yet. When our study reaches a conclusion the text supports, it will appear here.