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1 Kings 5-8

The House of the Name

Lyrics · 1 Kings

The House of the Name

1 Kings 5-8

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The House of the Name

1 Kings 5-8

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About this song

About this song

This song belongs to the 1 Kings collection. 8 recordings are available to play here, with the complete lyrics below.

Bible book
1 Kings
Collection
1 Kings
[Processional Verse] Cedars came down from Lebanon, Stone was cut away from sight. Seven years the builders labored, Measured chambers, gold, and height. Cherubim spread wings above The ark beneath the inner room; Palm and flower crossed the carving, Olive doors enclosed the gloom. [Refrain] A house for the name, Not a house that can contain Him. Heaven and highest heaven Cannot bind the Lord who made them. Yet let His eyes be open When His people bow and pray; A house for the name Where the covenant would stay. [Verse 2] Priests brought up the ark from Zion, Trumpets, sacrifice, and song. Under wings the staves were hidden; Cloud filled all the holy throng. None could stand to minister, For glory settled in the place. Solomon spread hands toward heaven, Blessed the Lord for promised grace. [Prayer Litany] Hear when Israel has been conquered. Hear when drought has closed the sky. Hear the stranger from a far land. Hear the captive when they cry. Judge the wicked, clear the righteous. Turn the heart that turns away. Keep the covenant with David; Hear from heaven when they pray. [Final Refrain] A house for the name, Every stone beneath His story. Fire and cloud gave witness, But obedience guards the glory.

Named in this songZionSolomonDavid

About the passage

1 Kings 5: The temple begins with peace, timber, and labor

Solomon’s temple project begins in the conditions created by peace. Hiram of Tyre, long friendly with David, becomes the partner through whom cedar, fir, transport expertise, and skilled labor can be secured. Solomon explains the project as the completion of a promise David could not fulfill during years of war, and he freely acknowledges that Sidonian workers know timber better than his own people. The agreement is reciprocal: wood moves toward Israel while wheat and oil support Hiram’s household, and the Book of 1 Kings connects the resulting league with the wisdom God has given Solomon. Then the chapter turns from correspondence to labor. Tens of thousands of workers rotate through Lebanon, carry burdens, quarry stone, supervise crews, and prepare materials for the foundation. The shift keeps the human cost of royal construction visible. A temple conceived through promise and diplomacy still has to be built by organized labor. By the chapter’s close, no finished sanctuary stands yet, but its cedar, stone, treaty relationships, schedules, and workforce are all in place.

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1 Kings 6: A house takes shape around a covenant

The temple rises through a chapter obsessed with order. Its beginning is dated both from Solomon’s reign and from the Exodus, locating royal construction inside Israel’s longer covenant history. Measurements define the main hall, porch, side chambers, inner sanctuary, doors, and courts, while prepared stone allows the work at the house itself to proceed without the sound of iron tools. Yet the chapter’s theological center arrives as an interruption rather than a decoration. The LORD tells Solomon that obedience remains the condition attached to the promises concerning his house and declares an intention to dwell among Israel. No amount of cedar, carving, or gold can replace that demand. The account then moves inward through increasingly rich surfaces toward the room prepared for the ark of the covenant, with great cherubim spanning the space and living forms carved across walls and doors. After seven years the structure is complete according to plan. Still, the ark has not entered and the temple has not been dedicated, leaving a deliberate distinction between finishing a building and fulfilling the purpose for which it was built.

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1 Kings 7: The hands that furnish the house

The Book of 1 Kings widens from the temple to Solomon’s royal building complex, then returns to the sanctuary through the hands of Hiram the craftsman. Solomon’s palace buildings take thirteen years and include spaces for display, judgment, residence, and Pharaoh’s daughter, placing royal architecture beside the seven-year temple project without supplying a simplistic verdict on the comparison. Hiram then demonstrates another form of wisdom through metalwork. He makes the two named pillars, the great bronze sea on twelve oxen, ten matching wheeled stands with lavers, and a long series of vessels whose measurements and ornament receive patient attention. The account preserves practical details because sacred service depends on practical objects. Lions, palms, cherubim, flowers, brass, and gold unite beauty with use, while the final inventory reaches all the way to utensils and hinges. David’s dedicated treasures are brought in at the end, joining two reigns within the completed work. The building and furnishings are now ready, but the ark still waits outside, keeping dedication distinct from construction.

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