1 Kings 8:23 (LSB)

Passage

And he said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven above or upon earth beneath, keeping covenant and lovingkindness to Your slaves who walk before You with all their heart,

Nearby Context

1 Kings 8:21 And there I have set a place for the ark, in which is the covenant of Yahweh, which He cut with our fathers when He brought them from the land of Egypt.”

1 Kings 8:22 Then Solomon stood before the altar of Yahweh before all the assembly of Israel and spread out his hands toward heaven.

1 Kings 8:23 And he said, “O Yahweh, the God of Israel, there is no god like You in heaven above or upon earth beneath, keeping covenant and lovingkindness to Your slaves who walk before You with all their heart,

1 Kings 8:24 who have kept with Your servant, my father David, that which You have promised him; indeed, You have promised with Your mouth and have fulfilled it by Your hand as it is this day.

1 Kings 8:25 So now, O Yahweh, the God of Israel, keep with Your servant David my father that which You have promised him, saying, ‘You shall not have a man cut off from before Me who is to sit on the throne of Israel, if only your sons keep their way to walk as you have walked before Me.’

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "said", "yahweh", "israel", "like", "heaven", "above", "upon", and "earth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "said" and "yahweh", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 22's "Then Solomon stood before the altar of..." into verse 24's "who have kept with Your servant my...", so "said" and "yahweh" 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 "said" and "yahweh" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.