1 Kings 8:54-61
"54 Now as Solomon finished offering all this prayer and plea to the Lord, he arose from before the altar of the Lord, where he had knelt with hands outstretched toward heaven. 55 And he stood and blessed all the assembly of Israel with a loud voice, saying, 56 “Blessed be the Lord who has given rest to his people Israel, according to all that he promised. Not one word has failed of all his good promise, which he spoke by Moses his servant. 57 The Lord our God be with us, as he was with our fathers. May he not leave us or forsake us, 58 that he may incline our hearts to him, to walk in all his ways and to keep his commandments, his statutes, and his rules, which he commanded our fathers. 59 Let these words of mine, with which I have pleaded before the Lord, be near to the Lord our God day and night, and may he maintain the cause of his servant and the cause of his people Israel, as each day requires, 60 that all the peoples of the earth may know that the Lord is God; there is no other. 61 Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments, as at this day.”"
Having finished his prayer Solomon stood and blessed the people (55). In this he assumed priestly office, for it was the duty and privilege of the priesthood to bless the congregation of Israel (see Numbers 6:23-27). We discern a typical significance in this, foreshadowing the day when prophet and priest alike will be superceded in the coming reign of the Prince of peace when He will be all in all. Indeed, the rest spoken of by Solomon in 56 is finally fulfilled only in that coming Day.
We note, however two other points. In 56 Solomon raises up a monument to the faithfulness of God, which we may surely take to ourselves for our comfort and encouragement, for He is the same yesterday and today and forever. Not one word of all that He has promised concerning us will He fail to perform. Now look at 60. Here we have the reason for Israel's election of God. It was that through her and through His dealings with her, all the people of the earth might know His Name. This, sadly is something that the generality of Israel never really understood. One of the most unaccountable facts of her history is her persistent failure to grasp this principle and so completely misinterpret the meaning of God's choice of her. Only the discerning could see it. Only they were capable of a world vision. Consequently the Jews as a whole have never been able to understand their own history. Nor will it make sense to anyone today who reads the Old Testament, without this key.