Daniel's Prayer

INTRODUCTION

As we continue our series on the book of Daniel, we come to a remarkable chapter In which we find a beautiful prayer expressed by Daniel , let’s read it together

Daniel 9:1–19 NKJV

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem. Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly! “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us. 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. 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 do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

This first half of Daniel 9 is the beginning of what is one of the most difficult passages of OT scripture to understand. There have been literally libraries full of books written in an attempt to translate and interpret what it all means, this is the chapter that introduces us to the famous “Seventy, sevens.”. Though in all fairness, it’s the second half of the chapter that causes foreheads to wrinkle and eschatological scholars to fly into fits of frantic bible debate and conjecture. Anyone who tells you that they know with absolute certainty what the meaning of Daniel chapter 9 is, or any ministry that basis the core of its value on the fact they they have a uniquely correct interpretation of this passage, should clearly be regarded with a heightened sense of skepticism. So with that in mind, let us approach this passage with the utmost humility, and not dogmatically, believing that this has to be the final word on the subject, most importantly, let’s be sure that the conclusions we draw in our study of this passage are in harmony with the beautiful consistency of the other teaching of the Scripture. After all, your salvation doesn’t depend on your eschatology, the crux of doing a study of end-times prophesy is not to figure out exactly when Jesus is coming back or how or where, but rather it is to be assured of the fact that He is in fact coming back, and it will be some day.

With that in mind, I believe it is very loving of God to place this passage of scripture right where He did because it allows us to stop and consider something very deep an humbling right before we delve into something as heady as end-times prophesy. It is a prayer of repentance offered by Daniel, and it reminds me very much of David’s prayer in Psalms 51.

Scripture often speaks about confessing our sins, and this prayer is a beautiful example of how we can go about doing that. In fact, for the believer, confession is one of the most precious blessings we enjoy.

1 John 1:9 NKJV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

This is the way we go about cleansing ourselves from our sins, and in this prayer Daniel is putting on a confession master class.

The Setting

The Date

Right of the bat, we get the date of the prayer.

Daniel 9:1 NKJV

In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—

So if we refer back to our handy dandy Bible timelines, we find that Darius reigned somewhere about 538 years before the birth of Christ. This becomes important later, when we start discussing the 70 weeks of Babylonian captivity.

The Purpose

Daniel knew the prophecy of Jeremiah, regarding 70 years of Babylonian captivity -

Daniel 9:2 NKJV

in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the Lord through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.

And that specifically was this passage from Jeremiah

Jeremiah 25:9–12 NKJV

behold, I will send and take all the families of the north,’ says the Lord, ‘and Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, My servant, and will bring them against this land, against its inhabitants, and against these nations all around, and will utterly destroy them, and make them an astonishment, a hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take from them the voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstones and the light of the lamp. And this whole land shall be a desolation and an astonishment, and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. ‘Then it will come to pass, when seventy years are completed, that I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, the land of the Chaldeans, for their iniquity,’ says the Lord; ‘and I will make it a perpetual desolation.

The 70 years of Jerusalem began in 606 B.C., with the captivity of Daniel and the first devastation of Jerusalem.

Daniel 1:1–6 NKJV

In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim king of Judah, Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon came to Jerusalem and besieged it. And the Lord gave Jehoiakim king of Judah into his hand, with some of the articles of the house of God, which he carried into the land of Shinar to the house of his god; and he brought the articles into the treasure house of his god. Then the king instructed Ashpenaz, the master of his eunuchs, to bring some of the children of Israel and some of the king’s descendants and some of the nobles, young men in whom there was no blemish, but good-looking, gifted in all wisdom, possessing knowledge and quick to understand, who had ability to serve in the king’s palace, and whom they might teach the language and literature of the Chaldeans. And the king appointed for them a daily provision of the king’s delicacies and of the wine which he drank, and three years of training for them, so that at the end of that time they might serve before the king. Now from among those of the sons of Judah were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah.

So with this being the first year of Darius, the king of the Medo-Persian empire, the prophecy of Jeremiah was almost completed. Daniel was preparing himself for what was to come next. And preparing his heart, the whole reason they were in captivity after all, was that they had disobeyed God as a nation.

The Preparation

Daniel 9:3 NKJV

Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes.

We see that Daniel has taken a position of humility to make his request, and he is explicit about to whom he is making.

When he says he set his face toward God, he is literally talking about how the Jews turn to face toward Jerusalem. By mentioning the sackcloth and ashes, he’s talking about a spiritual preparation that he’s making. Fasting sackcloth and ashes are all physical signs of humility and contrition. For example,

Nehemiah 9:1–2 NKJV

Now on the twenty-fourth day of this month the children of Israel were assembled with fasting, in sackcloth, and with dust on their heads. Then those of Israelite lineage separated themselves from all foreigners; and they stood and confessed their sins and the iniquities of their fathers.

Understanding that this captivity had come as a result of their rebellion against God, Daniel would have been thinking about the night the Lord appeared to Solomon. He would have been well acquainted with that story and the promise in it.

2 Chronicles 7:12–14 NKJV

Then the Lord appeared to Solomon by night, and said to him: “I have heard your prayer, and have chosen this place for Myself as a house of sacrifice. When I shut up heaven and there is no rain, or command the locusts to devour the land, or send pestilence among My people, if My people who are called by My name will humble themselves, and pray and seek My face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

With the word of God on his mind, and a humble heart, and even his physical body humbled into submission, Daniel cries out to God.

The Prayer

Daniel’s Confession

2 Chronicles 6:26 NKJV

“When the heavens are shut up and there is no rain because they have sinned against You, when they pray toward this place and confess Your name, and turn from their sin because You afflict them,

With face toward God (verse 3), Daniel makes his confession in the spirit of 2 Chronicles.

Who is God?

Daniel 9:4 NKJV

And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments,

Daniel is showing that he understands who God is. He declares that God is great and awesome who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who Love Him Keep His commandments

Again, Daniel is demonstrating his thorough understanding of Scripture. Look at what he’s proclaiming.

Psalm 103:17–18 NKJV

But the mercy of the Lord is from everlasting to everlasting On those who fear Him, And His righteousness to children’s children, To such as keep His covenant, And to those who remember His commandments to do them.

Like Daniel you and I have a good reason to keep this admonition to keep the commandments of God.

John 14:15 NKJV

“If you love Me, keep My commandments.

Daniel goes on, confessing on behalf of his people.

Daniel 9:5–6 NKJV

we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land.

He confesses to God sins that they have committed as a nation; of sinning and committing iniquity, of doing wickedly, and rebelling, of departing from His precepts and judgments, of failing to heed His servants the prophets, who spoke to their kings, princes, fathers, and all the people.

Contrasting their shame with God's righteousness.

Daniel 9:7–9 NKJV

O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.

Daniel must have been desperately clinging to the words of Ezra as he prayed.

Ezra 9:6–7 NKJV

And I said: “O my God, I am too ashamed and humiliated to lift up my face to You, my God; for our iniquities have risen higher than our heads, and our guilt has grown up to the heavens. Since the days of our fathers to this day we have been very guilty, and for our iniquities we, our kings, and our priests have been delivered into the hand of the kings of the lands, to the sword, to captivity, to plunder, and to humiliation, as it is this day.

And he must have felt them in his Spirit as he prayed

Daniel 9:7–9 NKJV

O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You. “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him.

He contrasts their shame with God’s righteousness

And He had to know how that passage in Ezra ends.

Ezra 9:8–9 NKJV

And now for a little while grace has been shown from the Lord our God, to leave us a remnant to escape, and to give us a peg in His holy place, that our God may enlighten our eyes and give us a measure of revival in our bondage. For we were slaves. Yet our God did not forsake us in our bondage; but He extended mercy to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to repair the house of our God, to rebuild its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and Jerusalem.

With that in mind and the need for forgiveness heavy upon him, Daniel ends his prayer.

Daniel 9:10–14 NKJV

We have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem. “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the Lord our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice.

To God belongs mercy and forgiveness, even though they had rebelled against Him, Daniel here, reviews their sin, and the fulfillment of God's warnings.

Israel’s Sin

He’s aware of the very nature of the sin.

Nehemiah 9:13–30 NKJV

“You came down also on Mount Sinai, And spoke with them from heaven, And gave them just ordinances and true laws, Good statutes and commandments. You made known to them Your holy Sabbath, And commanded them precepts, statutes and laws, By the hand of Moses Your servant. You gave them bread from heaven for their hunger, And brought them water out of the rock for their thirst, And told them to go in to possess the land Which You had sworn to give them. “But they and our fathers acted proudly, Hardened their necks, And did not heed Your commandments. They refused to obey, And they were not mindful of Your wonders That You did among them. But they hardened their necks, And in their rebellion They appointed a leader To return to their bondage. But You are God, Ready to pardon, Gracious and merciful, Slow to anger, Abundant in kindness, And did not forsake them. “Even when they made a molded calf for themselves, And said, ‘This is your god That brought you up out of Egypt,’ And worked great provocations, Yet in Your manifold mercies You did not forsake them in the wilderness. The pillar of the cloud did not depart from them by day, To lead them on the road; Nor the pillar of fire by night, To show them light, And the way they should go. You also gave Your good Spirit to instruct them, And did not withhold Your manna from their mouth, And gave them water for their thirst. Forty years You sustained them in the wilderness; They lacked nothing; Their clothes did not wear out And their feet did not swell. “Moreover You gave them kingdoms and nations, And divided them into districts. So they took possession of the land of Sihon, The land of the king of Heshbon, And the land of Og king of Bashan. You also multiplied their children as the stars of heaven, And brought them into the land Which You had told their fathers To go in and possess. So the people went in And possessed the land; You subdued before them the inhabitants of the land, The Canaanites, And gave them into their hands, With their kings And the people of the land, That they might do with them as they wished. And they took strong cities and a rich land, And possessed houses full of all goods, Cisterns already dug, vineyards, olive groves, And fruit trees in abundance. So they ate and were filled and grew fat, And delighted themselves in Your great goodness. “Nevertheless they were disobedient And rebelled against You, Cast Your law behind their backs And killed Your prophets, who testified against them To turn them to Yourself; And they worked great provocations. Therefore You delivered them into the hand of their enemies, Who oppressed them; And in the time of their trouble, When they cried to You, You heard from heaven; And according to Your abundant mercies You gave them deliverers who saved them From the hand of their enemies. “But after they had rest, They again did evil before You. Therefore You left them in the hand of their enemies, So that they had dominion over them; Yet when they returned and cried out to You, You heard from heaven; And many times You delivered them according to Your mercies, And testified against them, That You might bring them back to Your law. Yet they acted proudly, And did not heed Your commandments, But sinned against Your judgments, ‘Which if a man does, he shall live by them.’ And they shrugged their shoulders, Stiffened their necks, And would not hear. Yet for many years You had patience with them, And testified against them by Your Spirit in Your prophets. Yet they would not listen; Therefore You gave them into the hand of the peoples of the lands.

The Indictment Against Israel

They have not obeyed the voice of the Lord

They have not walked in His laws set before by His prophets

They transgressed His law, and departed so as not to obey His voice

They had not prayed that they might turn from their iniquities and understand His truth.

Daniel understood that they were living out the consequence and the fulfillment of God's warnings.

Leviticus 26:14–39 NKJV

‘But if you do not obey Me, and do not observe all these commandments, and if you despise My statutes, or if your soul abhors My judgments, so that you do not perform all My commandments, but break My covenant, I also will do this to you: I will even appoint terror over you, wasting disease and fever which shall consume the eyes and cause sorrow of heart. And you shall sow your seed in vain, for your enemies shall eat it. I will set My face against you, and you shall be defeated by your enemies. Those who hate you shall reign over you, and you shall flee when no one pursues you. ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, then I will punish you seven times more for your sins. I will break the pride of your power; I will make your heavens like iron and your earth like bronze. And your strength shall be spent in vain; for your land shall not yield its produce, nor shall the trees of the land yield their fruit. ‘Then, if you walk contrary to Me, and are not willing to obey Me, I will bring on you seven times more plagues, according to your sins. I will also send wild beasts among you, which shall rob you of your children, destroy your livestock, and make you few in number; and your highways shall be desolate. ‘And if by these things you are not reformed by Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you, and I will punish you yet seven times for your sins. And I will bring a sword against you that will execute the vengeance of the covenant; when you are gathered together within your cities I will send pestilence among you; and you shall be delivered into the hand of the enemy. When I have cut off your supply of bread, ten women shall bake your bread in one oven, and they shall bring back your bread by weight, and you shall eat and not be satisfied. ‘And after all this, if you do not obey Me, but walk contrary to Me, then I also will walk contrary to you in fury; and I, even I, will chastise you seven times for your sins. You shall eat the flesh of your sons, and you shall eat the flesh of your daughters. I will destroy your high places, cut down your incense altars, and cast your carcasses on the lifeless forms of your idols; and My soul shall abhor you. I will lay your cities waste and bring your sanctuaries to desolation, and I will not smell the fragrance of your sweet aromas. I will bring the land to desolation, and your enemies who dwell in it shall be astonished at it. I will scatter you among the nations and draw out a sword after you; your land shall be desolate and your cities waste. Then the land shall enjoy its sabbaths as long as it lies desolate and you are in your enemies’ land; then the land shall rest and enjoy its sabbaths. As long as it lies desolate it shall rest— for the time it did not rest on your sabbaths when you dwelt in it. ‘And as for those of you who are left, I will send faintness into their hearts in the lands of their enemies; the sound of a shaken leaf shall cause them to flee; they shall flee as though fleeing from a sword, and they shall fall when no one pursues. They shall stumble over one another, as it were before a sword, when no one pursues; and you shall have no power to stand before your enemies. You shall perish among the nations, and the land of your enemies shall eat you up. And those of you who are left shall waste away in their iniquity in your enemies’ lands; also in their fathers’ iniquities, which are with them, they shall waste away.

The curse and oath written in the Law of Moses has been poured out. He has confirmed His words spoken against them by bringing a great disaster upon them. Especially the disaster which had come upon Jerusalem

Daniel continues by summarizing their sin.

Daniel 9:15 NKJV

And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!

Daniel’s Petition

Daniel lays out a passionate plea for God to turn away His anger and fury.

Daniel 9:16 NKJV

“O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people are a reproach to all those around us.

Daniel is heartbroken at the desolation of the City of God, and makes a plea to God on that basis.

Daniel 9:17–19 NKJV

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. 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 do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”

So basically Daniel is petitioning God on two grounds, and notice how Daniel’s pleas to God are not based upon their own righteous deeds, but rather upon

Basis for Daniel’s Petition

God’s righteousness for His sake

God’s great mercy’s sake. Mercy for His people, mercy for His city.

God is righteous, and in that righteousness is mercy. Daniel doesn’t try to persuade God based upon the idea that Israel had suffered enough, and look at all the good we’ve done. When we humble ourselves before God we come with no defense. We depend entirely upon the mercy of God. We don’t come comparing ourselves to anyone else, we come and we throw ourselves completely upon the mercy and goodness of God.

Conclusion

Like the penitential prayer of David in Psalms 51, this prayer of Daniel is a classic example of how to confess our sins and seek God's forgiveness.

Saints when we seek the forgiveness of God, we do so on the basis of God's lovingkindness and mercy, not on our own righteousness!

We are to acknowledge our sin before God.

1 John 1:9 NKJV

If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

As we confess our sins, let us remember the example of godly men like David and Daniel! Daniel's noble character is seen in how he identified himself with his people in their sins even though he had been faithful to God throughout his life. For such reasons he was "greatly beloved" by God.

Daniel 9:23 NKJV

At the beginning of your supplications the command went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved; therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision:

May the example of Daniel's life and faith inspire us in our own walk with God, for we too have been blessed to be "greatly beloved":

1 John 3:1 NKJV

Behold what manner of love the Father has bestowed on us, that we should be called children of God! Therefore the world does not know us, because it did not know Him.