1 Kings 8:39 (ASV)

Passage

then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:37 If there be in the land famine, if there be pestilence, if there be blasting [or] mildew, locust [or] caterpillar; if their enemy besiege them in the land of their cities; whatsoever plague, whatsoever sickness there be;

1 Kings 8:38 what prayer and supplication soever be made by any man, [or] by all thy people Israel, who shall know every man the plague of his own heart, and spread forth his hands toward this house:

1 Kings 8:39 then hear thou in heaven thy dwelling-place, and forgive, and do, and render unto every man according to all his ways, whose heart thou knowest; (for thou, even thou only, knowest the hearts of all the children of men;)

1 Kings 8:40 that they may fear thee all the days that they live in the land which thou gavest unto our fathers.

1 Kings 8:41 Moreover concerning the foreigner, that is not of thy people Israel, when he shall come out of a far country for thy name`s sake

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "hear", "thou", "heaven", "dwelling-place", "forgive", "render", "ways", and "whose". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "hear" and "thou", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 38's "what prayer and supplication soever be made..." into verse 40's "that they may fear thee all the...", so "hear" and "thou" belong inside that flow. In 1 Kings context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "hear" and "thou" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.