Eight times in Solomon’s temple dedicatory prayer, he pleads with God to hear the prayers of His children. Multiple times, that plea is associated with an acknowledgment of the universality of sin.
Solomon prays for God to help Israel recover from military defeat (1 Kings 8:33-34), famine (1 Kings 8:35-36), and other kinds of adversity (1 Kings 8:37-39), attributing all of these afflictions to Israel’s sins. When he describes a scenario in which the children of Israel are carried away into captivity because of their sins, he adds parenthetically, “for there is no man that sinneth not” (1 Kings 8:46). Everyone in that congregation, and everyone who would later read Solomon’s words, was included. None was exempt. Every one of them would need God to hear and respond to them with blessings they had not earned and did not deserve. Every one of them would need deliverance from the various plagues that afflicted them, while being painfully aware of “the plague of his own heart” (1 Kings 8:38).
Joseph Smith would later echo this sentiment in his dedicatory prayer for the temple in Kirtland, Ohio. “And when thy people transgress,” he prayed, “any of them, they may speedily repent and return unto thee, and find favor in thy sight, and be restored to the blessings which thou hast ordained to be poured out upon those who shall reverence thee in thy house” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:21). Like Solomon, Joseph emphasized the universality of sin—any one of God’s people could find themselves in need of repentance and forgiveness for their sins.
In the Book of Mormon, God provides a response to these prayers in similarly universal terms. Speaking to the prophet Alma, who had pleaded for guidance on how to deal with disruptors and transgressors in the church, God emphasized that He will always respond favorably to those who repent of their sins:
As often as my people repent will I forgive them their trespasses against me.
Mosiah 26:30
The experience of sin is universal, and so is God’s willingness to forgive. Solomon and Joseph Smith gave us the heartfelt human plea, understandable by all who have fallen short of righteousness. Through the prophet Alma, God provided the assurance that His forgiveness is also boundless, conditioned only upon the sinner’s choice to repent, to turn away from their sin.
Today I will view my shortcomings with hope. I will resolve, when I err, to “speedily repent” and turn to God for help, trusting that He will hear me in heaven.
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