Daniel 9:18-Daniel Asks God to Grant Him His Request on the Basis of His Great Compassion
Wenstrom Bible Ministries
Pastor-Teacher Bill Wenstrom
Tuesday November 19, 2013
Daniel: Daniel 9:18-Daniel Asks God to Grant Him His Request on the Basis of His Great Compassion
Lesson # 273
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. 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 9:18 “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 are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.” (NASB95)
“O my God, incline Your ear and hear” is an idiom for listening attentively to Daniel’s request and responding to it.
“O my God” expresses the covenant relationship between Daniel and the God of Israel as well as Daniel’s great emotion when making this request of God.
“Open Your eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by Your name” is another idiom used of God and wanting Him to act in order to restore Jerusalem.
“For we are not presenting our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own” is expressing the fact that Daniel was by no means presenting his pleas for mercy on behalf of Jerusalem on the basis of Israel’s merits.
“Our supplications” refers to Daniel’s request from his God to withhold judging Jerusalem and in particular the Jewish exiles in Babylon.
“Before You” describes being in prayer with God as being in His presence.
“On account of any merits of our own” denotes that Daniel is telling God that he was by no means presenting his pleas for mercy on behalf of Jerusalem in His presence on the basis of or because of the Jewish exiles righteous acts.
“On account of Your great compassion” denotes that Daniel is telling God that he was repeatedly presenting his pleas for mercy on behalf of Jerusalem in His presence on the basis of or because of His great merciful acts.
It describes God’s merciful acts as large or remarkable in number.
God’s love is “merciful” meaning that God is compassionate towards His enemies and pardons them (Eph. 2:1-7).
Daniel 9:18 “Please incline Your ear O my God! Indeed, please respond! Please open Your eyes! Yes, please see our desolate ruins, namely the city which bears Your name because we are by no means repeatedly presenting our pleas for mercy in Your presence on behalf of it on the basis of our righteous acts but rather on the basis of Your great merciful acts!” (My translation)
Daniel continues his emotional appeal to God to fulfill his request to bring to an end the Jewish exile in Babylon and to rebuild Jerusalem and its temple.
Daniel describes Jerusalem as bearing God’s name which means that this city is God’s possession since it is the place in which He established the worship of Himself.
The destruction of this city has caused the Gentiles to blaspheme the name of God.
Thus, Daniel wants God to fulfill his request because he wants the Gentiles to stop blaspheming God because of the sins of the Jews.
So Daniel is making this request of God because of His reputation among the nations 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.
Thus Daniel is asking God to fulfill His Word to Jeremiah.
Therefore, we can see that Daniel is claiming the promises of God.
By praying that God would fulfill His promise to Israel through Jeremiah, Daniel is exercising faith in God’s Word.
The reason why Daniel asks the Lord to see this city’s desolate ruins is that he is by no means appealing to Him on the basis of the righteous acts of the Jewish exiles but rather on the basis of His merciful acts.
The exiles had no merit with God since they were disciplined by God for their unrepentant disobedience to the Mosaic Law.
They would have to depend upon God’s attribute of love in this sense that they would have to appeal to His merciful acts which flow from this attribute of love.
If the Jewish exiles attempted to appeal to God based upon their own righteous acts, if they had any, they would never return to the land of promise and the city of Jerusalem would never be rebuilt because they were unrepentantly disobedient to God.
So Daniel is relying upon God’s unconditional love for His people and the city of David.
Daniel 9:16-18 reveals that Daniel is asking God for three things.
In verse 17, he asks God to restore Jerusalem.
In verse 16, he asks God to rebuild the temple and in verse 16 as well he asks God to bring the Jewish exiles back to the land.
If God turns away from exercising His righteous indignation against Jerusalem, it will result in the restoration of the city.
If God resolves the problem of the Jewish exiles being a disgrace to those surrounding them, this would imply their return to the land of promise and the city of Jerusalem.
By returning the Jewish exiles to the land promised to Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, God would remember His covenant which He made with these three men to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan (Genesis 12:1-3, 7).
Daniel’s prayer in Daniel chapter nine reveals that he is claiming the promises which appear in Leviticus 26:40-45.
He refers to the covenant God made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob to give them and their descendants the land of Canaan.
This promise of land is called by some as the Palestinian covenant or Abrahamic covenant.
Daniel’s prayer is in accordance with what Solomon prayed at the dedication of the temple (2 Chronicles 6:36-39).
Solomon asked God to respond to the prayer of His people when they are in exile because of their unrepentant disobedience.
He asked the Lord to respond to His people after they have repented by confessing their sins and then obeying Him and reinstate them in their land.
Daniel did exactly what Solomon prescribed.