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One-sentence summary: Solomon brings back the ark and dedicates the house of the Lord.
Solomon assembles the elders and heads of tribes in Jerusalem to bring up the ark of the Lord from the city of David, or Zion, in the 7th month. The priests and the Levites take up the ark and the tabernacle of meeting and the holy furnishings in it with Solomon and the elders sacrificing before them, and they bring the ark to the inner sanctuary of the temple in the most holy place under the wings of the cherubim. When the priests come out of the holy place, the cloud fills the house of the Lord so the priests cannot continue to minister, because the glory of the Lord fills his house. Then, Solomon speaks, saying that he has built the Lord a place to dwell forever and that God said He would dwell with them, and he blesses the Lord and the people. He kneels before the altar and spreads his hands toward heaven and declares that no God is like the God of Israel, and He asks the Lord to keep His promise David to always have his descendants on the throne as long as they keep His ways. He asks for God's word to come true, that He will live with His people, even though "heaven and the heaven of heavens" (let alone the temple) "cannot contain [Him.]" He also asks Him to forgive their sins, listen to their prayers, teach them His ways, and make rain on the land. He says, "You alone know the hearts of all the sons of men, that they may fear you all the days they live in the land You gave our fathers." He also asks for Him to listen to the foreigners who call on His name and answer their prayers that they may know Him, too. He asks for Him to hear anyone who prays to Him toward the city and the temple, no matter where they are. Whenever anyone sins and the Lord delivers them captive to the enemy, once they "come to themselves" and repent and ask God to forgive them, and return to Him with all their heart and soul, and pray toward their land, then may the Lord hear their prayers and fight their cause and forgive all their sins, letting those who captured them have compassionate on them. He reminds the Lord how He brought them up out of Egypt by Moses to be His special possession. When he finishes praying, he gets up from his knees with his hands raised and stands and blesses Israel with a loud voice, saying may God be with them as He was with their fathers and incline their hearts to Himself to walk in all His ways and keep all His commands. Solomon says may these words of his be before the Lord day and night, that all the people of the earth may know that the Lord is God. And may all the people's hearts be loyal to God. Then, he and all the people offer sacrifices before the Lord, and they dedicate the house of the Lord. Solomon holds a huge feast for fourteen days. Then, he sends the people away, and they bless him and go away "joyful and glad of heart."
The story is repeated in both books. When the priests come out of the holy place, the Levites who are the singers and the priests sound trumpets and sing, and when they "sound as one," praising the Lord "for He is good, for His mercy endures forever," the House of the Lord is filled with a cloud, and His glory fills His house.
Thoughts/discussion questions:
God did not need a house to dwell in, but He delighted in David's heart to honor Him. He will use and inhabit anything that we truly dedicate to Him.