Daniel 9:1-19
Daniel 9:1-19
Daniel’s Prayer for the People
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline Your ear and hear; open Your eyes and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
My Thoughts:
Daniel’s prayer is one of the most Christ centered prayers in the Old Testament, and one fitting to cover this Thanksgiving weekend. Daniel knew that the end of the 70 years was coming to the end, but after the vision on chapter 8 and the part in (vv. 13-14) especially. From his youth he would have remembered the words of Jeremiah and it seems that he also had a scroll with Jeremiah’s writing as well. So with a vague understanding of his vision and knowing the productions made by Jeremiah in (Jeremiah 29:10-14) I am sure he was very worried that God had changed his mind and was going to leave them in captivity for 2300 years.
So this prayer of Daniels was an earnest prayer, confessing the transgression of his people which brought a just retribution upon them, and praying that god would lead His people to repent and turn for their inquiries, and begging Him to forgive their transgressions and not defer the restoration of the sanctuary.
And as we will see in the next part of Chapter 9, in response to his prayer Gabriel again will return and insure him that the vision was not about the earthly sanctuary but of the heavenly sanctuary.
Ellen White Statements:
“As the time approached for the close of the seventy years’ captivity, Daniel’s mind became greatly exercised upon the prophecies of Jeremiah. He saw that the time was at hand when God would give His chosen people another trial; and with fasting, humiliation, and prayer, he importuned the God of heaven in behalf of Israel, in these words: “Oh Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments; we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments; neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land” (Daniel 9:4-6).
Daniel does not proclaim his own fidelity before the Lord. Instead of claiming to be pure and holy, this honored prophet humbly identifies himself with the really sinful of Israel. The wisdom which God had imparted to him was as far superior to the wisdom of the great men of the world as the light of the sun shining in the heavens at noonday is brighter than the feeblest star. Yet ponder the prayer from the lips of this man so highly favored of Heaven. With deep humiliation, with tears and rending of heart, he pleads for himself and for his people. He lays his soul open before God, confessing his own unworthiness and acknowledging the Lord’s greatness and majesty.
What earnestness and fervor characterize his supplications! The hand of faith is reached upward to grasp the never-failing promises of the Most High. His soul is wrestling in agony. And he has the evidence that his prayer is heard. He knows that victory is his. If we as a people would pray as Daniel prayed, and wrestle as he wrestled, humbling our souls before God, we should realize as marked answers to our petitions as were granted to Daniel. Hear how he presses his case at the court of heaven:” {SL 46-47}
Last thoughts:
I love the book of Daniel and every time I read it I find something new. Chapter 8 and 9 are parts of the same basic units and it is necessary one before you can understand the other. I know this sounds imposable but the more we read these chapters the clearer they become.
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When I think of Daniel prayed and agonized for his people it shames me. I have been told I am a prayer warrior. Let me tell you Daniel was a prayer warrior. I am a feeble prayer. I barely scratch the surface. Can you imageine what we, as a people of God, could do with mighty prayers such as this. So much work to do and we think we are not strong enough. Without a prayerful heart, a humble heart, a heart that cries out for God, we are not strong enough. We should all take these verses to heart and pray like Daniel.
I was impressed that Daniel figured the time of their liberation was almost at hand and he looked at their condition and worried they weren’t worthy to merit the liberation promised. Do we figure God’s coming, and our liberation, is shortly at hand and worry we won’t merit going with God? To me it really makes a big difference knowing Jesus did it all. We don’t have to worry if we meet the standard according to the law of Moses, like Daniel said; instead we have to ask our selves do we really know and love our Lord, then the works and intentions of our hearts would match. What peace Jesus gives us; what assurance knowing He fullfilled the law and us (short coming and all), not to disregard the law but not stress trying to merit the reward promised to us, His children! But we, like Daniel, still have our empty churches to worry about. What are we doing to bring Jesus to others and in turn fill our churches. Would we be ready to personally recieve the out pouring of the Holy Spirit in the latter rain? It’s coming, but would we be personally partaking of it? There is a prayer to be had there. We need to humble ourselves and ask that the Lord prepare us now and ultimatetly lift us up to Himself.