When heaven is shut up, and there is no rain, because they have sinned against thee; if they pray toward this place, and confess thy name, and turn from their sin, when thou afflictest them: (1 Kings 8:35)
When God withdraws His protecting hand, the forces of nature often become agents of judgment. Solomon assumed that in the future the judgment of drought threatened by Moses (Lev. 26:19; Deut. 28:23, 24) would become a reality.