1 Kings 18:37 (DRB)

Passage

Dear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.

Nearby Context

1 Kings 18:35 And the water run round about the altar, and the trench was filled with water.

1 Kings 18:36 And when it was now time to offer the holocaust, Elias, the prophet, came near and said: O Lord God of Abraham, and Isaac, and Israel, shew this day that thou art the God of Israel, and I thy servant, and that according to thy commandment I have done all these things.

1 Kings 18:37 Dear me, O Lord, hear me: that this people may learn that thou art the Lord God, and that thou hast turned their heart again.

1 Kings 18:38 Then the fire of the Lord fell, and consumed the holocaust, and the wood, and the stones, and the dust, and licked up the water that was in the trench.

1 Kings 18:39 And when all the people saw this, they fell on their faces, and they said: The Lord, he is God; the Lord, he is God.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "dear", "lord", "hear", "people", "learn", and "thou". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "dear" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 36's "And when it was now time to..." into verse 38's "Then the fire of the Lord fell...", so "dear" and "lord" 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 "dear" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.