5-31-14. Daniel 9:1-27. DANIEL’S PENITENT PRAYER-My devotional

Key Verse: 9:4-5

“ I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.” (ESV)

      Dear Lord heavenly Father, thank you for this new summer season. It is filled with hope, new life and new possibilities and adventure. With your help we can make the most out of our summer. With your help, it can be so fruitful and full of joy and happiness and great memories. It can be a time discovering you, our Lord, our spouse, family and our friends, significant others and our neighbors in a whole new way. It can be a summer where foundations are laid for countless fruitful ventures. May we not get caught up in the prison cells of our own vises, but help us to be truly set free to life to the full. Lord, you came that we may have life and have life the full. We claim that promise. May this summer be life to the full in Jesus Christ. Please grant me your word in my heart. I pray in the name of the LIFE…Jesus Christ.

Part 1: Daniel’s Bible Study And Prayer (1-19).

Verses 1-19, “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years. 3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and 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 have made a name for yourself, as at this day, we have sinned, we have done wickedly. 16 “O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”(ESV)

Daniel served under so many kings. Look at the latest king in verse 1b, ““In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, by descent a Mede, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel,…”  Kings come and go. Kingdom rise and fall. But Daniel is there, serving in the courts of all the kings that have risen. God knows how to put his servants in the right place at the right time. there is a purpose for all of us where we are.

Some people think that Christianity narrows one’s vision and exposure to other things. But I don’t agree. Daniel, who counseled king after king, spent a lot of his time studying the Bible. Look at Daniel 9:2, “in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, perceived in the books the number of years that, according to the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet, must pass before the end of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.” While in exile, he studied the words of Jeremiah the prophet and understood that Jerusalem’s desolation would last 70 years (Jer 25:11). God actually gave him insight into the future. Daniel benefited a lot from studying the Bible. Bible study is one of the most beneficial activities that one can engage in. It is not limiting our intellect. God actually expands our minds and our hearts and grants us a greater capacity to study all kinds of things. I spend a lot of time studying the Bible and thinking about Christian things, but I also read a couple newspapers, have a couple books started and surf interesting stories on the web. I also journal and am engaged in a couple missions in the church. My job as a nurse is a continual learning process. On my own I would have simply existed, not thinking about much, but by the grace of God, Jesus has increased my capacity to study and learn. We need to get rid of our all of our prejudices against Christianity and allow Jesus to grow and stretch and expand your heart and mind. You will never be disappointed on the journey that Christ will lead you on.

First, we can look at Daniel’s prayer.

First, prayer starts with a study of the Bible. Daniel was inspired to pray after he meditated on the words of Jeremiah the prophet. The Bible inspires us to pray. The Bible teaches how to pray. We are learning how to pray from our observations of Daniel. Jesus showed his disciples how the pray. Jesus actually tells us in the Bible, “This is how you aught to pray” and then he goes on to teach us the Lord’s Prayer. The words of God are so inspiring to our souls that they automatically draw us to the throne of God in prayer. If you want to learn how to pray, then being to study your Bible.

Second, Daniel prayed intensely. Look at verses 3-4a, “3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying,…” He turned his face to the Lord. This could mean facing Jerusalem. But it also reveals a placing of one’s self in a vulnerable position, to accept all that the Lord wills. Daniel had an attitude of seeking the Lord. He knew that God hears and answers the prayers of his servants. He sought the Lord by fasting. He was repentant covering himself in sackcloth and ashes. He was confessing his sins and the sins of his people. This is what I call intense prayer. I pray that the Lord may help me to grow into such an attitude of prayer.

Third, Daniel then goes on to extol the virtues of God in verse 4b, “…“O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments,.” Our God is the great and awesome God. He is so faithful. He keeps his promises. His love is unconditional and unfailing for his people. When we pray we must always think about the God we pray to, his character, his personality. When we do, we know that we are praying to the God of the Bible, to Jesus. We will be comforted and encouraged that the Creator is hearing our prayers and he wants to answer them.

Fourth, Daniel confessed his and his people’s sins. According to Daniel’s confessing prayer, they did wrong. Yes, they were wicked, they rebelled, they turned away from God and didn’t listen. And yes, they were scattered due to unfaithfulness to the Lord. It is not easy to confess the sins of one’s people. But such confession is part of effective prayer. What would we confess about our nation, if we were going to pray for it? Such a prayer would not make a servant of Christ very popular, but it would be very effectual prayer.

Fifth, The glory of God was what was of utmost importance in Daniel’s heart. In Daniel 9, Daniel asks for God’s mercy for his people. What was the motive behind his prayer for mercy? Look at verses Daniel 9:15-19. Daniel wanted God to show mercy to his people. But why? Was it because of the peoples’ suffering? Partly. But there was another reason. “…your people have become a byword among all who are around us.”, “for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate.”, “Delay not, for your own sake,”, “because your city and your people are called by your name.”  Daniel was praying to God for mercy, because the people, who were suffering due to their sins, were identified as God’s people. Daniel was concerned about the glory of God, the reputation of God, the name of God. He was concerned how the unbelieving world would perceive the God of the Jews. It would be like someone praying for all the suffering people in America because we have a reputation of being a Christian nation and we wouldn’t want what is going on here, reflecting poorly on Jesus’ image. Now think personally. People may know you as a Christian. What about when you sin and suffer for it. One may care about the bad affects on their own lives, like family breakdown, failure on different levels. They may care about the suffering they have caused others. But do they care about the glory of Jesus? Do they care that they have tarnished Jesus’ reputation through their living in unrepentant sin? That is a very high motive for living as a Christian.

Part 2: The Lord’s Response (20-27).

Verses 20-27, “20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my plea before the Lord my God for the holy hill of my God, 21 while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. 22 He made me understand, speaking with me and saying, “O Daniel, I have now come out to give you insight and understanding. 23 At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved. Therefore consider the word and understand the vision. 24 “Seventy weeks are decreed about your people and your holy city, to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness, to seal both vision and prophet, and to anoint a most holy place. 25 Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks. Then for sixty-two weeks it shall be built again with squares and moat, but in a troubled time. 26 And after the sixty-two weeks, an anointed one shall be cut off and shall have nothing. And the people of the prince who is to come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary. Its end shall come with a flood, and to the end there shall be war. Desolations are decreed. 27 And he shall make a strong covenant with many for one week, and for half of the week he shall put an end to sacrifice and offering. And on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate, until the decreed end is poured out on the desolator.”(ESV)

I am not going to get into what the prophecy means. Let’s just say that scholars debate what the seventy sevens mean (see ESV Study Bible) but all agree that all prophecy finds ultimate fulfillment in Jesus’ death, resurrection and return in glory.  But I see a spiritual lesson in this interpretation.

I can see real hope in verse 25, “Know therefore and understand that from the going out of the word to restore and build Jerusalem to the coming of an anointed one, a prince, there shall be seven weeks.”  In this prophecy there will be a lot of deception and lot of suffering for God’s people. But in the end, the anointed one will come and prevail and there will be restoration. Jesus is our anointed one. There is a real and living hope in Jesus. No matter how bad things get, there will be a time of real restoration. Jesus has already won the war. The kingdom of God is advancing. Even in the most dark, spiritual countries there is hope for change and victory, especially in this age of globalization.

Prayer: Lord, we come to you in prayer. Forgive our sins and renew us as your people.

One Word: Live and pray for the glory of God.