2Ch 6:22-39 | KingComments | STEP | After the introduction to the prayer, we hear in what Solomon prays. It is a prayer consisting of seven parts or seven prayers. In these seven prayers we can make a subdivision. The first four prayers belong together and the last three. The prayers one to four have to do with the relations of the people among themselves and the problem of sin. It concerns 1. the personal relationship between two members of God’s people (prayer 1), 2-3. the whole people (prayers 2 and 3) and 4. the individual Israelite, who personally cares about the general state of decay and with this in mind tests himself (prayer 4). The prayers five to seven are more outwardly directed and more about the peoples around them. It concerns 5. the fate of the alien and the testimony which comes from the help he receives from the LORD (prayer 5), 6. the battle of the people and the support of the LORD which they experience (prayer 6) and 7. the people in exile because of their sins and their return to the land (prayer 7). In these prayers, the confession of sin occupies a large place. We see that the prayers one through four and also the seventh prayer relate to sin. Much need in God’s church is caused by sin. It is also worth noting that the various prayers do not say: ‘If they ask for forgiveness’, but: ‘If they confess their sins, will You forgive’ (cf. ). We can learn from the prayers and make an application for the present time, the time when the kingdom of God exists as a mystery. This kingdom includes all those who place themselves under the authority of Lord Jesus, Who is now the praying King-Priest with God and there prays for our benefit. His prayers are also echoed in His church, for the church is first and foremost a house of prayer ( ; ; ; ). One more practical remark. Reading, or rather: prayerful reading, of this prayer takes about five minutes. That is not long. The value and contents are therefore not in the length. It is to be hoped that we will learn to pray in this way, so deeply, without the fuss of words. This is a public prayer. In the inner room we can pray as long as we want. The first prayer ( ) is about the sin of one against another, a case in which is asked for an oath. If someone is suspected of sin, or if it is certain that someone has sinned, but there is no evidence, then the other can demand that the suspect takes an oath. The accused must then declare on oath that he is innocent. By virtue of this oath the judge hands him over, as it were, to the LORD. He even curses himself if he is guilty ( ). This curse can strike him in a direct government of God. The LORD shall deal with the consequences of the guilty person. Where people cannot come to clarity, God must provide clarity. This situation can also be found today among God’s people in the case of sin between two brothers. It can be difficult to uncover the truth and make a correct judgment. The question is from what attitude the person in question deals with the sinning brother and how the church deals with it. It is important to pray that the Lord makes clear the true facts ( ). The Lord, if the church asks Him unanimously for this, reveals where the matter is wrong and the church does not know.

‏ 2 Chronicles 6:22-39

First Prayer

After the introduction to the prayer, we hear in 2Chr 6:22-39 what Solomon prays. It is a prayer consisting of seven parts or seven prayers. In these seven prayers we can make a subdivision. The first four prayers belong together and the last three.

The prayers one to four have to do with the relations of the people among themselves and the problem of sin. It concerns

1. the personal relationship between two members of God’s people (prayer 1),

2-3. the whole people (prayers 2 and 3) and

4. the individual Israelite, who personally cares about the general state of decay and with this in mind tests himself (prayer 4).

The prayers five to seven are more outwardly directed and more about the peoples around them. It concerns

5. the fate of the alien and the testimony which comes from the help he receives from the LORD (prayer 5),

6. the battle of the people and the support of the LORD which they experience (prayer 6) and

7. the people in exile because of their sins and their return to the land (prayer 7).

In these prayers, the confession of sin occupies a large place. We see that the prayers one through four and also the seventh prayer relate to sin. Much need in God’s church is caused by sin. It is also worth noting that the various prayers do not say: ‘If they ask for forgiveness’, but: ‘If they confess their sins, will You forgive’ (cf. 1Jn 1:9).

We can learn from the prayers and make an application for the present time, the time when the kingdom of God exists as a mystery. This kingdom includes all those who place themselves under the authority of Lord Jesus, Who is now the praying King-Priest with God and there prays for our benefit. His prayers are also echoed in His church, for the church is first and foremost a house of prayer (1Tim 2:1; Acts 2:42; Isa 56:7; Mt 21:13).

One more practical remark. Reading, or rather: prayerful reading, of this prayer takes about five minutes. That is not long. The value and contents are therefore not in the length. It is to be hoped that we will learn to pray in this way, so deeply, without the fuss of words. This is a public prayer. In the inner room we can pray as long as we want.

The first prayer (2Chr 6:22-23) is about the sin of one against another, a case in which is asked for an oath. If someone is suspected of sin, or if it is certain that someone has sinned, but there is no evidence, then the other can demand that the suspect takes an oath. The accused must then declare on oath that he is innocent. By virtue of this oath the judge hands him over, as it were, to the LORD. He even curses himself if he is guilty (Num 5:11-28). This curse can strike him in a direct government of God. The LORD shall deal with the consequences of the guilty person. Where people cannot come to clarity, God must provide clarity.

This situation can also be found today among God’s people in the case of sin between two brothers. It can be difficult to uncover the truth and make a correct judgment. The question is from what attitude the person in question deals with the sinning brother and how the church deals with it. It is important to pray that the Lord makes clear the true facts (Mt 18:15-20). The Lord, if the church asks Him unanimously for this, reveals where the matter is wrong and the church does not know.

Second Prayer

The second prayer concerns the case where the people are defeated before an enemy because of a sin of the people as a whole (Lev 26:17). If there is sin, the enemies come. God sends them to discipline His people and bring them to confession and return to Him (Jdg 2:14-16). Confession of sin can count on a listening God in heaven and on forgiveness of sin.

The consequence of sin is that the people are driven out of the land or at least do not receive the blessing of the land. If there is true repentance over sin, the people get back what they have lost through their sin. This also applies to us. If we’ve sinned, we’ve come into the power of the enemy. The spiritual blessings are not enjoyed then. If we confess our sin, we also regain the joy of salvation (cf. Psa 51:14a).

The faithful suffer the consequences of general unfaithfulness. It will lead them to live in a spirit of prayer and confession. By doing so, they will remain in possession and enjoyment of the blessings. Separation from evil may count on the Lord’s blessing.

Third Prayer

The third plague are shut up heavens. The whole people are suffering from the same plague of drought. Unlike Egypt, which is humidified by the Nile and human effort, Israel depends on the rain of heaven (Deu 11:10-11). If the autumn rain fails, there is no harvest and famine is the result. Through the Word, God makes clear “the good way in which they should walk”. He shows in His Word how His people can repent and thereby ensure the return of the blessing.

God teaches His people the right way by chastising them with drought when they deviate from Him. That is in the heart of Elijah when he prays “that it should not rain” (Jam 5:17; 1Kgs 17:1). God sometimes teaches us through bitter disappointments and pain. Then our ways are blocked with thorns, our hiding places are shut up, our wells are poisoned and all our pleasant things are destroyed. God teaches us the good by showing us evil. Then our soul will cry out: “I will go back” (Hos 2:6-7).

Fourth Prayer

Various plagues are the reason for the fourth prayer. Although it does not say that these plagues come because of sins committed, these plagues are the result of sin. We can derive that from the word “forgive” in 2Chr 6:30. The whole people suffer from these plagues, but each one can escape them personally if he prays and supplicates and acknowledges his own affliction and his own pain.

In the words “and render to each according to all his ways”, is asked for the discipline of God. This discipline is necessary to keep the believer on the path of faithfulness to the Lord or to bring him back there. In doing so, the Lord sees in the heart of the believer what he is inclined to, or why he goes a certain way that makes discipline necessary. It is the love of the Lord who brings this discipline upon His own (Heb 12:5-11).

We see an application of these plagues in the spiritual state of the believers in Corinth. They partake lightly in the Lord’s Supper. They deal lightly with its spiritual meaning. So God must punish them. Paul says to them: “For this reason many among you are weak and sick, and a number sleep” (1Cor 11:30). This does not mean that all those affected by this discipline participate in that levity. It is quite possible that there are those who suffer because of what others do. We may suffer from the behavior of others or of ourselves. That robs us of our blessings.

God knows the hearts of every human being (2Chr 6:30b). “All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do” (Heb 4:13). Awareness of this should lead us to go in fear for God in the ways of the Lord (2Chr 6:31). Then we are preserved in the enjoyment of the blessings that have been given to us.

Fifth Prayer

The reason for this prayer is not a particular sin. It is a prayer for the foreigner who comes from a far country to God’s house to pray there. Here we see that the house of God is a house of prayer for all nations (Isa 56:7b). Already in the Old Testament it is indicated that God’s Name is made great not only by Israel, but also by the nations (Mal 1:11). An example is the queen of Sheba (1Kgs 10:1-5), although it does not say that she came to pray.

The church is also a house of prayer and a refuge for the foreigner, the alien, that is to say for anyone who does not belong to God’s people. If someone comes to seek God, he must be at the church, for that is the “pillar and support of the truth” (1Tim 3:15). The church is now there for anyone who is still outside the church, to be included by conversion.

An example of this is the eunuch who came to Jerusalem to seek God (Acts 8:26-40). He returns home unsatisfied, for the temple is no longer God’s house. God, however, meets him. He fulfills his desire by showing him that there is a new house of God.

Prophetically, this prayer will be answered in the kingdom of peace, when the peoples of the end of the earth come to seek and worship the God of Israel (Psa 22:29 ; Psa 67:2-5).

Sixth Prayer

This prayer does not happen because of a sin either. It is about dependence on God when His people, in obedience to Him, fight against their enemies. Here the people meet the enemy in a battle of faith by command of the LORD. It is a battle of which it can be said: “The battle is not yours but God’s” (2Chr 20:15). This is not about sins, but about a people who are in their right. Yet prayer is needed to get this right against the enemy.

This also applies to us. God’s Word calls us to fight “the good fight of faith” (1Tim 6:12; 2Tim 4:7). Before we fight, we must pray, and while we fight, we must pray. Then the Lord will maintain our cause, that is to say, He will make us stand firm in our battle for the truth of His Word. If we fight that battle with gentleness, opponents of the truth may be won for the truth (2Tim 2:25-26).

Seventh Prayer

This prayer finds its cause again in sin. It is not about a specific sin, but about sin in general. Yet there is sin present that arouses God’s anger. Sin is found in every human being, because “there is no man who does not sin” (2Chr 6:36; cf. Ecc 7:20). This is not a cheap remark from Solomon, as cheap as it is sometimes said: ‘We are all sinners.’ What he means by this is that it is not unthinkable that what he prays now will happen. This expresses knowledge of the human heart. It is important that we know our own heart.

Here Solomon observes that man has a sinful heart, which is also shown in practice. Solomon foresees a sinful practice by all which is that great that God must surrender them in His wrath to the enemy who takes them away from the land of promise. This prayer turns out to be prophetic (cf. Deu 31:20 ; 29) and in all seriousness it has become reality. The people are led into exile (2Kgs 17:6-23; 2Chr 36:17-21).

However, Solomon also assumes a repentance of them among the nations to which they are scattered. They reap what they sow, but God can bring a reversal for the better and restore. He does so when they repent with all their heart and with all their soul. The proof of this will be that they “pray toward their land” and toward God’s city and house. This prayer shows that their hearts go out to the same things God’s hearts go out to.

This work in their hearts takes place on the basis of the intercession of the Lord Jesus and God-fearing people. Daniel has prayed and also Ezra and Nehemiah. They have confessed guilt (Dan 9:3-5 ; 20; Ezra 9:1-6; Neh 1:1-7). Then, by God’s standards, justice is provided. He acts righteously when there is confession of sin.

We see this also in the history of the Christian church, for example in the Reformation and the Revival. These revivals, like so many other revivals, are based on the intercession of the Lord Jesus and God-fearing people. That’s how it still works today.