If they shall bethink themselves Consider their ways, and reflect on their past conduct as the cause of their sufferings. Hebrew, If they shall bring back their hearts from their idols and vanities; from going out after, and trusting in, any creature. And repent Afflictions are calculated to bring men, first to serious consideration, and then to repentance; and when they are truly penitent, they wilt confess their sins and humble themselves. Saying Sensibly, and with an honest heart; we have sinned and done perversely. And return unto thee with all their heart and all their soul Sincerely, universally, and steadfastly. Then hear thou, and maintain their cause Hebrew, their right against their invaders and oppressors; for they had forfeited all their rights to God only, but not to their enemies; whom though God used as scourges to chastise his people's sins, yet they had no pretence of right to their land.
Related Commentaries of 1 Kings 8:47
1 Kings 8:47-49
47 Yet if they shall bethinkk themselves in the land whither they were carried captives, and repent, and make supplication unto thee in the land of them that carried them captives, saying, We have sinned, and have done perversely, we have committed wickedness;
48 And so return unto thee with all their heart, and with all their soul, in the land of their enemies, which led them away captive, and pray unto thee toward their land, which thou gavest unto their fathers, the city which thou hast chosen, and the house which I have built for thy name:
49 Then hear thou their prayer and their supplication in heaven thy dwelling place, and maintain their cause,l