7-15-10, DANIEL 9

DANIEL 9 (Part 1, verses 1-23)

Not a particularly long chapter, Daniel 9 is packed with a great prayer and a still-to-be-completed prophecy. So, in the interest of a brief read, I have split this chapter into 2 parts.

Today, the focus is on Daniel’s prayer. Read it now, if you have not already, verses 4-19.

Daniel reads or hears Jeremiah’s prophecy, and is moved to repentance. Jeremiah rightly foretold of the 70 years Judah would spend in captivity, and Daniel is part of the living proof. The 70 years was God’s judgment for Judah following after Israel in their idolatrous ways. One can’t miss Daniel’s sincerity, as he attempts to repent on behalf of Judah. Look at the elements of his prayer, and some he repeats.

God is great and awesome. He keeps His covenants (faithful).

We are the ones who have sinned, when we are compared to God’s command, and it is by His standard, His command, that we are judged. It is this command, God’s Word, that we have failed to listen and adhere to.

Righteousness belongs to God. Shame is ours. Yet God is merciful. God owns mercy!

Again, we have refused to obey God’s voice, and God has kept His promise by judging. Even still, we do not ask for forgiveness.

We have not gained insight from God’s truth. Basically, we have sinned.

Then Daniel speaks profoundly, personally, just as Moses did long before this time. He appeals to God to restore Judah, for the sake of restoring His good name. Daniel uses the phrase of God’s name having become a byword among their neighbors. What people know of God, they know poorly, because of the testimony of Judah. Ouch! This is obviously not God’s fault.

Then, the clincher, in verses 18 and 19, he asks God to allow Judah to see their sin for what it is, “Show us,” he says. Daniel pleas, not out of any righteousness, but because of God’s mercy. “Please forgive,” is his desperate cry.

And Gabriel arrives, in response to Daniel’s prayer, with a message from God, who hears.

SO WHAT…?

So, may I boldly ask God to show me my sin for what it is. And may I truly be repentant, and ask God for His forgiveness.

So, I must live remembering that I am to live by God’s Word, and be judged accordingly; God is faithful to forgive, and to judge, among so many other facets of His faithfulness.

So, I must trust God’s word as truth, just as Daniel did with Jeremiah’s prophecy, and rely on such truth as God’s absolute. There is nothing more reliable.