Daniel 9.17-Daniel Asks God to Grant Him His Request For His Sake
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Thursday November 14, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 9:17-Daniel Asks God to Grant Him His Request For His Sake
Lesson # 272
Please turn in your Bibles to Daniel 9:1.
Daniel 9:1 During Darius’ first year, Ahasuerus’ son, who was from Median descent, who was made king over the Chaldeans’ kingdom- 2 during the first year of his reign, I myself, Daniel understood by means of the scrolls the specific number of years which the word of the Lord communicated to Jeremiah the prophet for completing devastating Jerusalem-seventy years. 3 Therefore, I devoted my full attention to my Lord, the one and only God by repeatedly presenting prayer request in the form of pleas for mercy while fasting with sackcloth as well as ashes. 4 Indeed, I caused myself to enter into prayer to the Lord my God. Specifically, I caused myself to enter into confession and said, “O my Lord, the one and only God, the Great One yes the Awesome One, who is faithful to His covenant because of His unconditional love on behalf of those who love Him, namely on behalf of those who conscientiously observe His commands, 5 we have sinned, thus we have done wrong so that we have been condemned as guilty because we have rebelled. Specifically, we have deviated from Your commands, that is, from Your laws. 6 Furthermore, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to Your servants, the prophets who spoke by Your authority to and for the benefit of our kings as well as our leaders and in addition our ancestors, yes, to and for the benefit of all the people belonging to the land. 7 You are righteous my Lord but we are publicly disgraced as is the case this very day. To the detriment of the Judean people as well as to the detriment of Jerusalem’s inhabitants likewise to the detriment of all Israel, those nearby as well as those far away in all the countries where You have driven them because of their unfaithfulness which they perpetrated against You. 8 We are publicly disgraced Lord, to the detriment of our kings, to the detriment of our leaders as well as to the detriment of our ancestors because we have sinned against You. 9 My Lord, our God is merciful as well as forgiving even though we have rebelled against Him. 10 Specifically, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to the Lord, our God’s voice by living by means of His laws which He gave in our presence through His servants, the prophets. 11 Indeed, all Israel has transgressed Your law. In other words, they deviated to their own detriment by never paying attention to Your voice. Consequently, the sworn judgment was poured out against us, which was written in the law given to Moses, the servant of the one and only God because we have sinned against Him. 12 Specifically, He carried out His words which He spoke against us as well as against our rulers who ruled us by causing a great disaster to take place against us, which has never taken place under all heaven like what has taken place against Jerusalem. 13 As what is written in the law given to Moses, all this disaster has taken place against us. However, we never sought the Lord’s favor, our God by turning from our iniquity followed by giving heed to His truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord was vigilant concerning this promised disaster in order to cause it take place against us because the Lord, our God is righteous with regards to all His actions, which He has performed. However, to our own detriment, we never paid attention to His voice. 15 Indeed, now my Lord, our God who caused Your people to be brought out from Egypt by means of great power so that You made a name for Yourself as to this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. 16 O Lord in keeping with all Your righteous acts, please, I beg of You, turn away Your anger, yes, Your righteous indignation from Your city, Jerusalem, Your holy mountain. For by means of our sins as well as by means of our ancestors’ iniquities, Jerusalem as well as Your people are a disgrace among all those around us.” (My translation)
Daniel 9:17 “So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.” (NASB95)
“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications” presents the result of Daniel’s previous statement in verse 16 that Jerusalem and the Israelites are a disgrace among all the nations which surround them.
It expresses the urgency of Daniel’s request in light of the prophecy God gave to Jeremiah, which stated that the Jewish exiles would return from Babylon to Jerusalem after seventy years.
“Listen” denotes that Daniel is requesting that God respond to his prayer request on behalf of Jerusalem and the Jewish exiles.
“To the prayer” is indicating that Daniel is asking God to respond favorably to his prayer request.
“Your servant” expresses the covenant relationship between Daniel and God and that Daniel is God’s possession.
“To his supplications” is indicating that Daniel is asking God to respond favorably to his pleas for mercy for Jerusalem and the Jewish exiles.
“And for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary” is advancing upon and intensifying upon Daniel’s previous request that God respond favorably to his prayer request in the form of pleas for mercy for Jerusalem and the Jewish exiles.
“Let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary” is an idiom meaning to show favor to the temple in Jerusalem.
“Desolate sanctuary” describes the condition of the Jewish temple built by Solomon as devastated and destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar’s armies.
Daniel 9:17 “Therefore, at this moment, our God, please respond favorably to Your servant’s prayer request, yes, favorably to his pleas for mercy. Indeed please cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary for the sake of my Lord.” (My translation)
Daniel’s “prayer request” and his “pleas for mercy” is a reference to his statement in verse 16 that in keeping with His righteous acts, God would turn away His anger, i.e. His righteous indignation from His city, Jerusalem, His holy mountain.
Daniel wants God to fulfill this request because he wants the Gentiles to stop blaspheming God because of the sins of the Jews.
So he is making this request of God because of His reputation among the nations of the earth and not because of any merit on the part of the Jewish exiles.
Also, by responding favorably to Daniel’s request to refrain from exercising His righteous indignation against Jerusalem, God would be fulfilling the prophecy He gave to Jeremiah recorded in Jeremiah 25:11-12 and 29:10-14.
By praying that God would fulfill His promise to Israel through Jeremiah, Daniel is exercising faith in God’s Word.
In Daniel 9:17, Daniel advances upon his request that God respond favorably to his prayer request in the form of pleas for mercy for Jerusalem and the Jewish exiles by asking God to show favor to Jerusalem for His own sake, which means that he wants God to fulfill his prayer request for His own sake or reputation or glory.
The request “cause Your face to shine upon Your sanctuary for the sake of my Lord” is an idiom expressing the idea of God showing favor to Solomon’s temple in Jerusalem which was destroyed by the Babylonian armies in 586 B.C.
Thus, this request is a plea to rebuild the temple and thus restore the worship of Yahweh in Jerusalem.
This of course was fulfilled.
This request takes up an element of Aaron’s blessing in Numbers 6:26, which becomes a prayer in Psalms 31:16; 67:1; 80:3, 7, 19; 119:135.
Goldingay writes “The metaphor presupposes first that a person’s happiness shows in the brightness of his or her face (cf. 1 Sam. 14:27, 29); then that this same brightness directed toward other people is an indication of regard and favor (cf. Job 29:24; Proverbs 16:15).”
The implication of meeting this request is that Israel would be restored to the place of bearing witness to the one and only God to the Gentiles nations surrounding her.
The location of Israel geographically makes her the perfect spot to fulfill this role since she is the land bridge between three continents.
God’s plan was that the travelers from these surrounding nations could observe how God was worshipped by the Jews and their godly character which was the result of obeying God’s laws He gave to Israel through Moses.
By God fulfilling Daniel’s request to restore the Jewish exiles to Jerusalem and restore the temple worship in that city, God would be acting for His own sake since by responding favorably to Daniel’s request, He would be fulfilling His Word through Jeremiah and stopping the Gentiles from blaspheming Him.
Daniel’s prayer reveals a great principle which produces a productive and effective prayer life, namely the believer is to ask for what God wants rather than what they want.
The Lord Jesus Christ practiced this principle and taught it as well (Luke 22:41).
God is not selfish when He asks us to pray for people and things for His own sake since by praying for His sake or glory, the believer benefits and in fact even unbelievers benefit many times.
By God fulfilling his request, the Jewish exiles would benefit since it would result in their return to the land of promise.
Daniel’s prayer in Daniel chapter nine also reveals another great principle that to pray according to the will of God one must know the Word of God since the Holy Spirit through the Word of God reveals the Father’s will to the believer.
Daniel knew the Father’s will through the prophecy He gave to Jeremiah.
Thus, the Word of God provided Daniel the material in which to pray.
Thus, the Christian here in the church age should learn from Daniel’s example by learning the Word of God in order that they may know what to pray for and to know what God’s will is with regards to a particular situation.