Daniel 9
COMMENTARY:
: 4 And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments (3034 “confession” [yadah] means confess sin, to profess, to show, make an admission, or to bemoan.)
DEVOTION: Everything must start at the top if an organization is to move forward. If those in leadership are not leading than there is confusion in the ranks.
Here we find that Daniel is making an admission of being a sinner. There are many in leadership who have this problem of not being willing to tell others that they are sinners. Daniel prays to the LORD for HIS forgiveness and asks for HIS mercy and forgiveness.
Only when God’s people admit that they need help will there be help coming. God wants us to communicate with HIM on a regular basis. HE is there to help and give strength once this requirement is met.
He uses such words as iniquity, sin, wickedly, rebelled and departing in his prayer. He is not holding anything back.
Why such a prayer at such a time? The reason is that the seventy years of captivity should be coming to a close. He wanted to let the LORD know that they were ready for a change of scenery. They wanted to return to Jerusalem.
He realized that the LORD keeps HIS promises to HIS people. HIS promise was a return to the Promised Land. They were ready to hold the LORD to HIS promise.
We can hold the LORD to the promises that HE gives us throughout the New Testament. We don’t have the same promises as the Old Testament saints but we have better promises according to the book of Hebrews. We should seek and find those better promises and bring them to the throne of grace for the LORD to provide them to us.
CHALLENGE: Look for the better promises of the Word of God for us today. Share what you find with other believers. This provides hope!!
: 7 “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. (1322 “shame” [bosheth] means confusion, state of dishonor, a vile and ignominious, humiliation.)
DEVOTION: There is a difference between right and wrong. There are right ways to do things and wrong ways of doing things. When we play a game on the playground there are certain rules that have to be followed. If someone doesn’t follow the rules we say that they are cheating.
The people of God in the Old Testament didn’t want to play by the rules the LORD had given to them through HIS servant Moses. They didn’t like the rules. They thought they could live their life better without God’s rules. They were wrong.
We have to have rules to know what is expected of us on a regular basis. If our parents set down some rules and never enforced them, what would we do? We would think that the rules were not important and therefore stop trying to follow them.
God enforces HIS rules. In the Old Testament HE would send an enemy to judge the people and they would cry out for help. They would repent of their sins and start living by HIS rules again. It only lasted for a little while before they were back disobeying HIS rules.
CHALLENGE: We have a choice to be loyal to the rules of the LORD or to break them. God wants us to be obedient, in order that, HE can bless us.
: 17 Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications, and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. (8469 “supplications” [tachanuwn] means intreaties, plea for mercy, or a request for kindness.)
DEVOTION: Daniel prayed a long prayer. He wanted the LORD to give him an understanding of the seventy years of Jeremiah. Jeremiah was dealing with the return from captivity. Daniel wanted to know if the children of Israel were going back to the Promised Land again. He prayed with fasting. He sat with a garment of sackcloth in ashes. He was serious. He wanted answers.
He confessed his sin and the sins of the children of Israel. He knew they deserved captivity because the LORD sent warnings that HE was going to judge and they would not listen. He spent half his prayer confessing their sinfulness.
The second half of the prayer he spent on asking the LORD to listen to his confession. He wanted the LORD to forgive HIS people. He wanted to have the people restored to the land of Israel. He was willing to confess his sin. He was willing to fast to receive an answer. He was willing to wait on the LORD.
The LORD sent HIS angel, Gabriel, again to give an answer to Daniel. There was a coming Messiah, who was also the prince, who would be cut off but that would not end HIS career. The children of Israel were going to be restored. Daniel wanted the face of the LORD to shine on them again. Daniel knew that confession was necessary for this to happen. He became an intercessor for his people.
The LORD not only gave him the answer to his question, but told him the future of Israel. It was a future of hope. There was going to be a rebuilding of Jerusalem. There was going to be the coming of the Messiah. Finally, there was going to be the last seven years of Tribulation.
We have an intercessor for us, Jesus Christ the righteous one. HE goes before the Father for us and then sends the blessings. Our Father can cause HIS face to shine on us after we confess our sin and turn and follow HIM each day. Our salvation is sealed but our fellowship is a daily coming to the LORD for strength and guidance. Have we gone to HIM today? Our prayer life is very, very important for our relationship to the LORD. Daniel understood it – do we? Do we want the mercies of the LORD to be new every morning?
CHALLENGE: Expect answers from the LORD to our Biblical prayers. Too often we pray expecting nothing and that is what we receive. God doesn’t honor a double minded man.
: 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.
DEVOTION: When we speak, we want people to listen to us. Sometimes we say things that are good but other times we can say things that are not so good. People have to decide if they want to listen to what we have to say. Our goal should be to say something that would be helpful to them.
Daniel wants the LORD to hear his prayer. He claims to be a servant of the LORD. His life proved that he was loyal to the LORD. He wanted the LORD to shine his face on him and the children of Israel again.
Do we want the LORD to shine HIS face on us each day? HE expects us to be loyal to HIM by obeying HIS commandments. If we fail, HE expects us to confess our sins and ask HIM for forgiveness.
Daniel prayed such a prayer for himself and the children of Israel. Prayer was important to Daniel. And because he confessed his sin and the sins of his people, the LORD sent an angel to give him insight into the future of the nation on many occasions.
When we pray with confession and a willingness to learn from HIM, HE will give us instruction to help us live the life HE wants of us. We need to understand the importance of prayer in this process.
Many believers think that they don’t need to pray. They think that everything is going to happen whether they pray or not. The problem with this philosophy is that it is being disobedient to the Word of God and God cannot bless us fully with us being disobedient.
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