This verse begins with a question that expects a negative answer, and we can see this in the rest of the verse. It is a verse and a question that demands careful attention.
This is one of the most important verses in the Old Testament. In the first place, it provides a reason why the Lord was quite content that no one had built a house for him until this time. The Lord is a being so great and beyond comprehension that the idea that he should fit in a building made of wood and stone is ridiculous! He allowed Solomon to build a temple for him, not because he needed it, but because it would be useful to his people in drawing near to him in their need.
The truth that Solomon declares in this verse sets before us the attribute of God that theologians call his immensity. We use the word immense
simply to mean very large,
but this is not the theological meaning of the word regarding the being of God. He is without any spatial limits of any kind. Solomon is telling us that even the universe cannot fully contain our God. He is not bounded even by that! Thus, even the word omnipresent
is too confining, when referring to the Lord.
27 “But will God indeed dwell on the earth? Behold, heaven and the highest heaven cannot contain you; how much less this house that I have built!