“Small world!” Do you ever say that? Usually, we say it when we are surprised that somebody else knows something about somebody we know. To be sure, the world is small, by comparison to the enormous size of the universe.
“Big God!” I usually respond to “small world,” with these words. How big is God? Solomon built a big, beautiful building for Israel to worship. By comparison to the tabernacle, the temple was a significant upgrade. Still, when we are trying to build a place for God’s presence to dwell, how do we ever build anything good enough?
Solomon knew God could not be contained in any building. “The heaven of heavens cannot contain you.” This is another confirmation of Solomon’s wisdom. We lack the ability to impress God. He is not waiting for us to do something for him. Solomon asked God to condescend to respond to his people’s prayers lifted in a building made with human hands. Solomon saw the temple as a place for Israel and for foreigners to pray. He asked God to answer prayers lifted in that place. God promised he would.
Jesus, too, saw the temple as a house of prayer for all nations. Some in his day tried to use the temple as a place to pad their own possessions. Jesus turned over their tables. The longer we live, the more people we encounter, the smaller our world becomes. Even better, the longer we serve the Lord, the bigger and sweeter he grows. How great is our infinite sovereign God? On our best day, we have not the slightest idea. But our children come close when they sing, “Our God is so big, so strong and so mighty, there’s nothing our God cannot do.”
