Matthew Henry's Complete Bible Commentary

Verses 1—11

It is of great consequence, in all our religious actions, that we design well, and that our eye be single. If Solomon had built this temple in the pride of his heart, as Ahasuerus made his feast, only to show the riches of his kingdom and the honour of his majesty, it would not have turned at all to his account. But here he declares upon what inducements he undertook it, and they are such as not only justify, but magnify, the undertaking. 1. He did it for the glory and honour of God; this was his highest and ultimate end in it. It was for the name of the Lord God of Israel (2 Chronicles 6:10), to be a house of habitation for him, 2 Chronicles 6:2. He has indeed, as to us, made darkness his pavilion (2 Chronicles 6:1), but let this house be the residence of that darkness; for it is in the upper world that he dwells in light, such as no eye can approach. 2. He did it in compliance with the choice God had been pleased to make of Jerusalem, to be the city in which he would record his name (2 Chronicles 6:6): I have chosen Jerusalem. A great many stately buildings there were in Jerusalem for the king, his princes, and the royal family. If God chooses that place, it is fit that there be a building for him which may excel all the rest. If men were thus honoured there, let God be thus honoured. 3. He did it in pursuance of his father’s good intentions, which he never had an opportunity to put into execution: “It was in the heart of David my father to build a house for God;” the project was his, be it known, to his honour (2 Chronicles 6:7), and God approved of it, though he permitted him not to put it in execution (2 Chronicles 6:8), Thou didst well that it was in thy heart. Temple-work is often thus done; one sows and another reaps (John 4:37, 4:38), one age begins that which the next brings to perfection. And let not the wisest of men think it any disparagement to them to pursue the good designs which those that went before them have laid, and to build upon their foundation. Every good piece is not an original. 4. He did it in performance of the word which God had spoken. God had said, Thy son shall build the house for my name; and now he had done it, 2 Chronicles 6:9, 6:10. The service was appointed him, and the honour of it designed him, by the divine promise; so that he did not do it of his own head, but was called of God to do it. It is fit that he who appoints the work should have the appointing of the workmen; and those may go on in their work with great satisfaction who see their call to it clear. MHBCC 374.2