Daniel's prayer of restoration (Daniel 9:4-19)

So that.

One two.

And live so Almighty the strength to follow your commands. Could never come from me. Jesus is My. Once a body lay in form, but he's no longer step has conquered death Our guilt is disappeared and his.

Good morning.

Welcome to Adult Sunday School. Kootenai Community Church. What a blessed day. Wasn't that a lovely wedding yesterday. Wow. You're not supposed to ball at other people's weddings. Just that's a part of etiquette etiquette etiquette.

Yeah etiquette. That's how you pronounce it in North, Idaho that I had forgotten. Well, it's a cue. Say the word Q without a kind of a W in it somewhere. Yeah, we're going to be in Daniel chapter 9 in this Incredible prayer of Daniel from verses 4 through 19.

I don't know if we'll get through all of those. I'm going to try because it is one prayer. So we will see what happens. Let's open in prayer. Father there is nothing that you have left out of your word.

That isn't necessary. I hope I said that right. Everything that is necessary is in your word. Let me put it that way you have given us what is necessary to be Godly in Christ Jesus. We are so grateful for your son for the Holy Spirit for you and for the Word of God.

It is new every day. It is something special every day and I thank you that you have given us this privilege of knowing you through your word. It is sufficient and it is perfect this morning as we look into Daniel chapter 9 we pray for illumination help us to to sharpen our prayer life to.

More.

Carefully enter into prayer with you and for you and through you and for others and Lord to be aware of what you are looking for by your word in the lives of others and in our own life. Help us to to change in the changes that is necessary that are necessary.

This morning as we study Daniel, we look to you for teaching and we'll thank you for it in Jesus name. Amen. So there's a couple of disclaimers when I'm going through this section of the prayer. I'm going to act like it's the finest prayer that there ever was and To me it is but I'm not saying everybody has the same problem I have which is that I have really re-evaluated my prayer life as I've gone through this.

So, please do not take it as any kind of an indictment when I say things like that. I don't mean it that way. But I think we can all learn from this section of Daniel to sharpen our prayer life. To be more faithful in prayer.

To be more careful and thoughtful in prayer as I look at how Daniel Presented his supplications to God. It's interesting that he goes I think 14 verses before he finally actually asked for something. It's mostly prayer.

It's mostly praise and Acknowledgement confession and we will see that as we go through it. Secondly, I will often say things like a more cogent translation. That is not implying that we don't have a good translation.

I'm simply saying for me it helped me to understand. When I when I re went through it and put the words down on paper and looked at it this way from the original Language, it helped me a little better.

That's all I'm saying. And I think that's all the disclaimers I have this morning. So, let's start by reading the first 19 chapters of Daniel chapter 9. Daniel chapter 9. And we made it through verse 3 last year.

We'll do a little dab of review and then we'll plunge on into the prayer. Daniel's prayer for his people. Chapter 9 again is page 1154 for those of you who are unsure. In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus of Median descent.

Who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans in the first year of his reign?

I.

Daniel observed in the books the number of years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem namely 70 years. So I gave my attention to the Lord to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting sackcloth and ashes.

And I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said alas O Lord the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and Loving-kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned Committed iniquity acted wickedly and rebelled even turning aside from thy commandments and ordinances.

Moreover, we have not listened to thy servants the prophets who spoke in thy name to our kings our princes our fathers and all the people of the land. Righteousness belongs to thee O Lord but to us open shame as it is this day to the men of Judah the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel those who are nearby and Those who are far away in all the countries to which thou hast driven them because of their unfaithful deeds Which they have committed against thee open shame belongs to us Oh Lord to our kings our princes and our fathers because we have sinned against thee to the Lord our God belong Compassion and forgiveness for we have rebelled against him.

For we have obeyed nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his teachings Which he set before us through his servants the prophets. Indeed all Israel has transgressed thy law and turned aside Not obeying thy voice.

So the curse has been poured out on us Along with the oath, which is written in the law of Moses the sermon of God for we have sinned against him. Thus he has confirmed his words Which he had spoken against us and against our rulers who ruled us to bring on us great calamity for under the whole heaven there has not been anything not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem as It is written in the law of Moses.

All this calamity has come on us yet We have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to thy truth. Therefore the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us for the Lord Our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds, which he has done.

But we have not obeyed his voice and now Oh Lord our God who has brought thy people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty Hand and has made a name for thyself as it is this day. We have sinned we have been wicked Oh Lord and here's where he first asked for something in accordance with all thy righteous act.

Let now thine anger and thy wrath turn away from thy city Jerusalem I holy mountain for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers Jerusalem and thy people have become a reproach to all those around us.

So now our God listen to the prayer of thy servant and to his supplications and for thy sake Oh Lord. Let thy face shine on thy desolate sanctuary. Oh my god incline thine ear and hear. Open thine eyes and see our desolations and the city which is called by thy name.

For we are not presenting our supplications before thee on account of any mercy merits of our own but on account of thy great compassion Oh Lord here. Oh Lord forgive. Oh Lord. Listen and take action for thine own sake.

Oh my god, do not delay because thy city and thy people are called by thy name. What a marvelous prayer I am as I went through this I came back again and again to the fact that Daniel spent so much time Acknowledging and praising the character of God.

It is his character that causes him to bless us and it is his character that causes him to discipline us and Both should be welcome hard though. They may be. Daniel recognizes that We live in an age. We live in an age when any kind of discipline is looked upon as a reproach as nasty as evil as wicked.

I I find it hard in my own life to thank God when he disciplines me, but i'm learning. It is his desire for all of us to follow closely in the in the word of the Lord Jesus christ and to do that often he has to discipline us and Daniel acknowledges that The curses that came on israel were part of a promise.

They were a promise and every promise of god is perfect when it comes true. And they all will come true In history and in time. So daniel starts he says in verse three. We looked at this last week. He said so I.

I gave my attention to the lord god to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting sackcloth and ashes I find in my life when I start to pray. If I don't set aside the computer. And the phone and all the other distractions that are in life.

And I hear a ding. It summons me away from prayer.

What an idiot.

And so.

I'm, i'm this is my sackcloth and ashes. This has become my sackcloth and ashes if you will. I'm, come on. I'm not trying to there's not going to be any angel feathers coming from the ductwork or anything.

It this is just me understanding what it meant to me to give my attention to the lord god when I pray. Stuff has to give way in order for us to be fully focused on things and this is what daniel was doing.

He was setting his full attention on the lord god for his prayer and supplication and then we will see as we go through this prayer How important that was for him? He says in verse four. I prayed to the lord my god and confessed.

Now is there any inkling in scripture of a sin that daniel committed? Do you think he was sinless? Good on you.

For all.

And it doesn't say in romans for all and even daniel because it doesn't have to for all have fallen short. So daniel knew his own his own failings and he plunges into this and he acknowledges himself and his he says Oh lord, he says I confessed and said alas Oh lord, the great and awesome god who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments so for me.

As I was reframing this and printing out the words and things I the more cogent Wording was this he said I prayed to yahweh my god. He here uses the personal name for god. This is the only chapter In the entire book of daniel where he uses the sacred name as he and he uses it seven times in this chapter.

And it's significant that he uses it in prayer. It's the covenant name. This is for the jews the special name for the covenant keeping god of israel who hears a man or a woman when they pray. He hears them.

This is the very first thing daniel does. The very first thing he does is he confesses. And it starts with a statement of praise about his god. That is even a praise Acknowledging that god is his god.

Who is a covenant keeping god interestingly enough and i've noted this before there are a number of people Who have exegeted the book of daniel only to ignore the non-prophetic passages? Some deal only with the prophecies and leave much of daniel untouched.

This fantastic prayer lasts 16 verses of which I believe are just a couple are actual supplication. And it's an interesting pattern to consider when you're praying not that you have to follow this pattern.

Prayer is a very intensely personal thing, but the scripture does give us good ideas about because it's god's word about how to pray. So I was going to intentionally at the beginning. Do a cursory glance of the whole prayer and then come back and go through it verse by verse.

And as I got deeper and deeper into it, I realized that's not going to work. There's just too much to say about each verse too much too much meat here. So we're going to go through it verse by verse and that may very well leave us not finishing the prayer today.

Which if I just shut up and plunge into it we might do. But at any rate be that as it may we'll get as far as we can. So 900 years before the captivity in babylon god told the israelites in deuteronomy chapter 28 How he would bless them for their obedience.

He spent 14 verses dealing with the blessings and 54 dealings. Versus dealing with the curses should they not choose to be obedient? One of the one of the curses included being taken away into captivity throughout the history of israel.

You can see all of the 54 verses being applied in one way or another to a disobedient.

And.

Ignorant in the way of ignoring god nation at different times. Then in deuteronomy chapter 30 he reminds the israelites that if they repent he will relent and restore to them restore them from captivity.

This is some of the things that daniel would be thinking about as he prayed along With a promise in the book of jeremiah about the captivity ending very soon when daniel read the passage in jeremiah in 25 and 29 that talked about the the Length of the captivity.

He took that literally is 70 years.

And.

So he would have been.

I think.

Please don't this is not my Prediction, but I believe he was 67 years into the captivity approximately when we read this section here. So deuteronomy chapter 30 verses 1 through 5 say this. So it shall be when all of these things have come upon you speaking of the cursings of the blessings.

The blessing and the curse which I have set before you and you call them to mine. In all nations where the lord your god has banished you. We'll see that in his prayer. And you return to the lord your god and obey him with all your heart and soul according to all that I command you today.

You and your sons then the lord your god will restore you from captivity. And have compassion on you and will gather you again from all the peoples where the lord your god has scattered you. If your outcasts are at the ends of the earth.

From there the lord your god will gather you and from there. He will bring you back. The lord your god will bring you back to the land which your fathers possessed and you shall possess it. And he will prosper you and multiply you more than your fathers.

So there's the promise.

To a.

An obedient Repentant israel. He'll bring them back and daniel is Basically begging god in his prayer That this is what would be happening that israel would be repenting and he would be able to bring them back after the 70 years.

So he starts with confession and praise. In this verse he opens with the statement that he's going to confess. And then he immediately praises god's character specifically that he is a covenant keeping god.

And that he sheds loving kindness on those who love him and keep his commandments. He claims god as his own in his statement the lord or yahweh my god Using the personal name of god. We would do well to remember as we pray that god is our father as children of.

Of his we can come to his throne room humbly respectfully, but boldly as he teaches in hebrews a boldness always Tinctured if you will with respect and awe.

Now.

Daniel states that god is a covenant keeper and that he maintains loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. This will be one of the this will be one of the hopes that daniel will Have as he acknowledges that israel must repent.

God keeps all covenants. And he extends his loving kindness to men who are unable to live up to covenants. Do we live up to his? Requirements every day. Are you not grateful for his loving kindness? What what.

As I thought about this I thought you know. When people don't live up to my expectations, what do I do? It's often not pretty. And i'm really grateful that god's not like me. So in this daniel identifies The ones who can hope for his loving kindness for this is what he has established in the mosaic covenant.

That would be the people israel. Should they repent and come back to christ? Verse five and then i'll see if there's any questions, but verse five we have sinned daniel says. Committed iniquity and act wickedly and rebelled even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances.

So this is corporate confession if you will but in corporate confession always acknowledging individual complicity. Daniel gives a general statement about the wickedness of the nation israel. The four words that he uses to denote sin are missing the mark.

Distorting righteousness. Acting perversely and rebelling that pretty much covers All the nasty things we can do as people. We we miss the mark all the time. We we distort righteousness. And make it our own righteousness.

That's a distortion of righteousness when it's not predicated on god's righteousness. We act perversely we act opposite of what should be done and we rebel. We just Upwards up up no other good word for it.

We just rebel. He seemed it seems to be a progression now it may or may not be but it seems to be he leaves No stone unturned. In the wickedness that israel is committed. He doesn't candy coat anything sugar coat anything.

He acknowledges the sin that they've committed. I think as I was looking at this that I would do well in my prayer life. To recognize that I can hide nothing from god. We say that. And I know I say that and then I try to Try to hide stuff.

That's what what a foolish thing to do. It is also interesting to note that this is not an overt promise. For god may oftentimes use difficulty in the lives of those who love him. But concerning the covenant.

This is the program that god himself established with israel as outlined in deuteronomy the end of the chapter end of the book of deuteronomy. And elsewhere as well. So it's also interesting that right here at the beginning of daniel's prayer that Uh that the general early sin of israel was to turn aside from god's word.

One commentator mentioned that to disregard word god's word is he said the beginning of all moral disorders. Leopold who was a commentator on the book of daniel how true that is. That the beginning of all this moral disorders is when we begin to dis to ignore God's word not pay attention to it not spend time in it.

That is the beginning and the continuation of all moral disorders. Commandments and ordinances here, by the way. Are a synonym for god's law. As one commentator said this is first speaking of laws as authoritative demands of god.

And second as products of his wise judgment. They do not in this instance seem to specify respective aspects of the law as they do in some other context. So this is a general synonym to god's law. It's all important daniel.

If his prayer is going to not last four years. He just makes a general statement about the laws of god. They've disobeyed them. They've ignored them. Israel has. And that's a statement of truth and daniel doesn't shy away from it.

And then verse six and then we'll ask if there's any questions moreover. We have not listened to your servants the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings our princes our fathers. And all the people of the land so more confession in a general nature.

But daniel acknowledges that the nation of israel has ignored the prophets that god sent to them. What did they do with some of those prophets? They stoned them. They threw them into pits. I don't want to hear this.

Nah. Nah. Nah. I'm not listening. I mean something like that. Except it was much more dangerous than that. Some of them lost their lives. This indeed in the life of any believer is a terrible sin the sin of not believing scripture not spending time in it not.

Or minimizing it scripture is sufficient. And sometimes that word sufficient sounds kind of like a low bar. It's not it's not a low bar. It is the bar. Everything that is necessary has been given to us.

They had disobeyed the prophets and called them out for the prophets who had called them out for their disobedience. And they either ignored or stoned the prophets. So the prophets spoke most often if you will to people in positions of responsibility.

And daniel lists the recipients here of the prophetic denunciation in descending order kings princes fathers. All are guilty the leadership. And the common people no one is escaping dan's daniel's denunciation here of the disobedience of the land.

It wasn't just the kings and the princes. And the the fathers it was everybody down to the last person. All our assembly are all of us are simply responsible for our own sin. You can't blame the government.

Even though it's a piece of junk. Yeah, I did say that that felt really good. Pardon me I I get it. Yeah dad. Brian was calling me out. We support the government. He said no he didn't say.

So.

No one escaped daniel's confession here. And I think that's significant in our own lives when we we confess to god. What's going on. Any comments or questions about those?

Several verses there verse seven.

Righteousness belongs to you. Think about that. It's not. As I was trying to apprehend the character of god. It's not like he's righteous. Righteousness belongs to him.

It's.

I don't have enough. I don't have enough perspicacity to give you any clearer definition of that. It just belongs to him. He is righteousness defined. But to us he says righteousness belongs to you oh lord but to us open shame.

As it is this day to the men of judah the inhabitants of jerusalem and all israel. He again covers them all those who are nearby. And those who are far away in the countries to which you have driven them.

Because of their unfaithful deeds to which you have committed which they have committed against you. Do you hear him? Reciting to god what he just read in deuteronomy chapter 30. It's it's a wonderful thing to use scripture in prayer because it's always true.

And we can generally we can we can we can kneel at that if you will. So here is praise and comparison. Daniel states that one of the character qualities of yahweh is righteousness. But that the character of the men of judah Is unfaithfulness because of that they have been judged and scattered.

He uses the frame open shame as the possession of the men of judah. These two words come from words that strongly indicate that the things that the men of judah did were right out in the open. And their actions were wickedly evident.

This wasn't hidden sin. This was open wickedness that everybody could apprehend. We should always remember god's character and compare it to ours when we're praying not to other people. Well, i'm sure glad i'm not like those other folks.

And then what jesus said about those two men, who do you think left that that the temple justified?

That's what he said.

We should always we should never compare ourselves to others because that is the path to self-deception. Daniel compares israel's actions to the character of the true god of the lord god. So the idea of open shame comes from the actual translation, which was shame of face.

Because when a person is ashamed it generally appears on their face. Um, you've probably seen that. When you walk into the room that the kid didn't clean like he told you he was going to. Yeah, the head goes down.

Open shame. Daniel particularizes the declaration of shame to the men of judah local. Then the inhabitants of jerusalem a broader group and then to all israel everywhere everyone included. Anyone associated with yahweh who refused to obey him?

This includes as he read in in uh, deuteronomy 30 that israelites dispersed throughout the world Says and those who are far away and all the countries to which you have driven them. Some of these were still in egypt.

The word translated unfaithful deed connotes the idea of treacherous. Sinfulness stealth treachery and unfaithfulness as one commentator specified. Unfortunately, none of us escapes these kinds of things in life and it is best to confess them to god truly.

So daniel does that here? Then he reiterates open shame in verse 8 open shame belongs to us. Oh lord to our kings our princes and our fathers because we Have sinned against you. So he acknowledges the consequences of the sin.

Daniel uses the word open shame again the words a dual reminder Of the wickedness of israel after his statement in verse 7 that the lord is the owner of righteousness. He descends through a litany of the proper responses.

The lord had to israel's disobedience. God judged the men of judah. He judged jerusalem and he judged all of israel, even though they were scattered throughout other countries. And therefore open shame blatant obvious shame belonged to all of israel.

And it must be accepted by the kings the princes the fathers and all the people. So it's well to remember as I looked at this section of daniel that our sin will never remain hidden. And that in our lives to continue to sin is to court what daniel called open shame.

Open shame belongs to us. He's leaving no stone unturned with israel verse 9. To the lord our god belong compassion and forgiveness. For we have rebelled against him. I read that I thought How is that?

So since god is compassionate and forgiving we've rebelled sometimes.

Sometimes.

I actually remember a year when I was I was a young a fairly young christian. I think you know i'd been a christian maybe 10 years. And I was pulling chain with a guy who was living with a girl. And he claimed to be a christian.

And I I was a lot more blunt in those days, which may not be a bad idea. Daniel's pretty blunt here, but I said you can't call yourself a christian if you're living with a girl. You need to you need to make it right and either move out or marry her.

He goes. Oh god will forgive me. And I physically took a step back from him. I remember this this was 1980. And I I was being really judgmental. I'll have to admit that but I thought He doesn't really believe that.

And I saw it in his eyes. He really believed that. So, I don't know. I I i've read the commentator's translation of this verse and exposition of this verse, but I think sometimes I'm, not saying this is the only Exposition of this verse, but I think sometimes we presume upon god's compassion and forgiveness.

Be very careful.

Be very careful. He is compassionate and forgiveness and forgiving and he loves us, but don't presume upon that. Daniel praises. Yahweh almost as if he's reminding himself and his fellow jews that god is still a good god.

We're in captivity in babylon. God is still a good god. We're struggling under the yoke of the babylonians, but god is still a good god. It's good to remind ourselves of that. He is saying in so many words that god is compassionate forgiving and that the israelites need that compassion and forgiveness because they have rebelled.

It is always good and healthy in one's prayer life to study understand and repeat to ourselves the character of god. Daniel is not here. Just describing compassion and forgiveness to god and reciting one of the sins of the israelites.

He is saying that god has great compassion and forgiveness and that the israelites need this because they have failed. They have rebelled. It is most certainly the same in our lives. I need god's great compassion.

I am so far from perfect. I This has been good for me to to be reminded to remind myself of that. Not as a beating yourself down, but just an acknowledging that we need god's compassion. And then that compassion should bring us back up off of our knees.

To forge forward and and spend time with him and go forward for him. Nor daniel says in verse 10 Have we obeyed the voice of the lord our god to walk in his teachings which he set before us through his servants the prophets.

Do we have his teachings set before us through his servants the prophets? What do we call that? Scripture yeah, I know this is like fourth grade sunday school, but it's good to remind ourselves. It's right here.

Not we don't we don't worship this, but we worship the the one who gave it to us. So more confession. Daniel spends so much time in confession in this prayer. It was a it was a reminder to me. Here is the most common wickedness that men who claim the name of yahweh or jesus christ commit.

They ignore his word as either unimportant. Or not enough. I need something else. I need something more than his word. The word translating teachings here is a word for instructions. God had graciously provided israel if you will a manual.

For their blessing and help. Now i'm not talking about. Something if you memorize and if you do these three things and print them on your refrigerator in calibre font. You will prosper. That's not what I mean.

What I mean is is it for those who will obey him? He will bring his blessings upon them. Sometimes that blessing is a difficulty. But it's a blessing nevertheless. He provided israel with emmanuel and he provided them with prophets who kept bringing them back to that.

At the base of all human wickedness is the is disobedience to the word of god. In our lives it is well to recognize this if we have the great blessing of sitting under sound exposition of the word of god.

As much as the israelites could have. By the hand of the servants his prophets his servants the prophets. As this translation clearly says we need to heed that Exposition and let it drive us to our knees that is done to daniel here.

And we have the blessing of sitting under good exposition of god's word in this body.

And.

Has it changed your life?

Yeah.

God's word changes. Change is.

Inevitable in the life of a christian and welcome.

God's word will change you it will Break you it will put you back together. It's it's unbelievable what god's word can do. Indeed he says in verse 11 all israel has transgressed your law and turned aside not obeying your voice.

So the curse has been poured out on us. He acknowledges that Along with the oath, which is written in the law of moses the servant of god for we have sinned against him. I'm going to look at that in a minute here more corporate confession.

And an acknowledgement that israel has consistently ignored. And has ignored god and thus god being righteous and true to what he has said would have to keep his oath. And judge israel for their wickedness.

He is a oath an oath keeping god and if his oath was that he would judge israel for their wickedness. He kept that oath that should be in in the life of a christian. That should again be a strengthening in our faith that he keeps every oath.

Remarkably daniel never whines or argues here. I I wish I could say that about me. I I think wine and cheese with an h both of them have an h in it. Yeah. Rather he acknowledges what his people have done as he acknowledges the proper response from god for their wickedness, which was to keep his oath.

All israel includes daniel. So i'm not going to cast any stones at daniel. But we know because of what scripture says that sometime in his life He did things that he shouldn't have done said things. He shouldn't have said went places.

He shouldn't have gone. But he was a man who allowed god's word to change his life. He allowed the prophets to the word of the prophets to change his life and here he is 82 years old praying this prayer teaching us how to pray but also Bending his knee at the foot of the throne of god asking for mercy and he has the right to do that.

Because he's a child of the father. So he's the one man where scripture records no sin. But also but scripture has said all of sin and fallen short of the glory of god. And we know that he was including himself here.

An excellent pattern to follow this verse again references the covenant curse in leviticus 26 and in deuteronomy 28 God promised to expel israel from the land if they continued in disobedience. That's in 28 verses 63 through 67.

It says this it shall come about that as the lord delighted over you to prosper you and multiply you. So the lord will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you. And will you will be torn from the land where you are where you are entering to possess it.

Moreover, the lord will scatter you among all people from one end of the earth to the other end of the earth. And there you shall serve other gods wood and stone which you or your fathers have not known among those nations.

You will find no rest and there will be no resting place for the soul of your feet. But the lord will give you a trembling heart failing of eyes and despair of soul. So your life shall hang in doubt before you and you will be in dread night and day and you shall have no assurance Of your life in the morning.

You shall say would that it were evening. And at the evening you should say would that it were morning because of the dread of your heart which you dread. For the sight of your eyes, which you will see so he said if you Do not follow me.

You will be unsettled all of your lives. And indeed they were It it was it took the prophets it took this captivity in babylon for this particular period in israel's life. Existence I guess to bring them back to bring them to their knees and back.