Daniel 9:1-19 (June 7, 2020, AM)

Introduction

Daniel’s life and habits are obviously worthy of our imitation.

We need to learn from this prayer that is recorded for us.

Question:

If God is sovereign, why pray?

(elaborate)

The better question is...

Why pray unless God is sovereign?

Prayer is often the means that God uses to bring about the ends that He wills.

(elaborate)

Consider evangelism.

God’s will that people hear and respond to the Gospel.

We share the Gospel.

We are the God-ordained means to the end.

Similarly, the prayers of the saints are often the God-ordained means to fulfill the will of God.

Daniel 9:1–19 ESV

1 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.”

Pray in Response to Scripture

In verse 2 we saw that Daniel read in Jeremiah that the time of exile was to be seventy years.

What Scriptures was he talking about?

Jeremiah 25:8–12 ESV

8 “Therefore thus says the Lord of hosts: Because you have not obeyed my words, 9 behold, I will send for all the tribes of the north, declares the Lord, and for Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants, and against all these surrounding nations. I will devote them to destruction, and make them a horror, a hissing, and an everlasting desolation. 10 Moreover, I will banish from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the grinding of the millstones and the light of the lamp. 11 This whole land shall become a ruin and a waste, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. 12 Then after seventy years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity, declares the Lord, making the land an everlasting waste.

Jeremiah 29:10–11 ESV

10 “For thus says the Lord: When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will visit you, and I will fulfill to you my promise and bring you back to this place. 11 For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope.

Caution: Do not take Jer. 29:11 out of context and apply it to yourself and think that you are going to have a life of all roses and no thorns.

Please read your Bible!

You may say, “I pray but don’t read.”

So, at least part of my spiritual life is on track… that’s good enough.

Most lost people think exactly that way.

I am not saying you are lost if you do not read your Bible… but if you genuinely think God wrote it then prove it by reading it!

Daniel had such a robust and effective prayer life partly because he prayed in response to Scripture.

He had a two-way conversation with God, not just a one-way conversation where he did all the talking.

Pray with Humility

Daniel 9:3 ESV

3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Fasting - I highly recommend it.

If you have health concerns then ask your Dr., but don’t just assume that you cannot do it.

sackcloth and ashes - further signs of humbling oneself before God

Fasting kind of like Bible reading - we excuse ourselves way too easily.

Pray with Honest Confession

(point out the sins highlighted below rather than reading the whole thing)

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.

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Be candid when you pray.

Be vulnerable - I know that is harder for some people than others.

God knows what you have done.

Putting a good, self-justifying spin on it isn’t going to fool God.

It will help you fool yourself though - so don’t do it!

Pray with Great Expectations

I hope that you have a really, really big view of God.

I do.

It’s not big enough though.

In v. 16-19, Daniel asks for forgiveness they do not deserve.

He knows that God’s mercy is immense.

Daniel has freely and eloquently admitted that God has reason to be angry

- then in v. 16 he asks God to turn away his anger and wrath

- v.17 and 18 he pleads for mercy

- v.19 he asks for forgiveness

America does not deserve forgiveness

Abortion

Corrupt leaders

Injustice - as we have seen from so many different groups in the past two weeks

flagrant rejection of God’s order and purposes in sex, gender, etc

We clearly do not deserve forgiveness - but let’s ask for it anyway because our God is amazingly gracious!

Pray with God’s Glory as Your Primary Concern

Daniel prayed this way.

(Just read the highlighted parts)

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.”

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The more you desire and work for God’s glory, the more you and God will be on the same page and the more effective will be your prayers.

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2 Principles

We can repent on behalf of our group.

Our nation

Our church

Can you individually be forgiven and redeemed by my repentance on your behalf?

I WISH!

We can, like Daniel, repent on behalf of our nation.

We can intercede on behalf of our group.

We can stand in the gap.

Ezekiel 22:30 ESV

30 And I sought for a man among them who should build up the wall and stand in the breach before me for the land, that I should not destroy it, but I found none.

Let’s be that one, on behalf of our nation.

Application

We need to repent on behalf of America.

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Let me talk about something even closer to home.

We need to repent on behalf of those who sinned back when we were considering the merger.

Voting not to merge was not sin.

What was sin?

Gossip and Lies

Ephesians 4:29 ESV

29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear.

James 1:26 ESV

26 If anyone thinks he is religious and does not bridle his tongue but deceives his heart, this person’s religion is worthless.

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False accusations against an elder.

1 Timothy 5:19 ESV

19 Do not admit a charge against an elder except on the evidence of two or three witnesses.

Obviously this is to prevent false accusations.

False accusations were made against Bro. Brandon.

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When we were discussing this new campus, one of our MAT members wisely pointed out that there needed to be repentance.

That person was correct.

Let’s remove all rebellion against the Lord so he will...

- Be honored and pleased with us.

- Bless us in this huge endeavor.

Did you sin regarding the merger talks?

If so, please repent individually, but let us all repent corporately.

“But I didn’t do anything!”

Neither did Daniel.

But,

If you made it out of that whole thing without saying, doing, or even thinking something sinful you probably did better than most of us, including me.