Dan 9:1-6, 17-23 (selection) · Read 5 min · think and write 20 min
The last lesson read: “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Dan 6:28).
This lesson reads a prayer that Daniel himself wrote down.
1In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the offspring of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans—
2in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.
3I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
4I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments,
5we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances.
6We haven’t 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.
Daniel goes on to confess that the men of Judah, the people of Jerusalem and all Israel have sinned against the Lord; that the evil has come on them as it is written in the law of Moses; and he asks the Lord, according to his righteousness, to turn his anger away from Jerusalem. (vv. 7–16)
17“Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
18My God, turn 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 petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake.
19Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do. Don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.”
20While I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the LORD my God for the holy mountain of my God—
21yes, while I was speaking in prayer—the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering.
22He instructed me and talked with me, and said, “Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding.
23At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved. Therefore consider the matter and understand the vision.
To read the whole passage: Dan 9:1-23, 23 verses.
Seventy years. “in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years” (v. 2).
Prayer and petitions. “I set my face to the Lord God, to seek by prayer and petitions, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes” (v. 3). “I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, ‘Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and loving kindness with those who love him and keep his commandments’” (v. 4).
We have sinned. “we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from your precepts and from your ordinances” (v. 5). He went on: “Lord, righteousness belongs to you, but to us confusion of face” (Dan 9:7).
For your great mercies’ sake. “for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake” (v. 18). “Lord, hear. Lord, forgive. Lord, listen and do” (v. 19).
Confessing my sin. “While I was speaking, praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel” (v. 20). He said ‘we’, and he also said ‘my sin’.
Greatly beloved. “yes, while I was speaking in prayer—the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me” (v. 21). He said: “At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you, for you are greatly beloved” (v. 23).
Afterwards. What Gabriel went on to say, “Therefore consider the matter and understand the vision” (v. 23), and the visions of chapters 10–12, this lesson does not read. In chapter 10, one said to him, “Greatly beloved man, don’t be afraid. Peace be to you” (Dan 10:19). The last words of the book of Daniel are: “But go your way until the end; for you will rest, and will stand in your inheritance at the end of the days” (Dan 12:13).
The prophet Jeremiah wrote to those who had been carried away to Babylon, and in his letter he said: “For the LORD says, ‘After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place’” (Jer 29:10).
Readers can see this: in this chapter Daniel writes, “I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years about which the LORD’s word came to Jeremiah the prophet for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years” (v. 2).
Perhaps you have been praying about something for a long time: someone in your family, a difficulty in your church, a place you cannot stop thinking about. Or perhaps you feel you have no right to ask, because you know you are at fault too.
This lesson does not say that you can only pray once you are good enough; nor does it say that once you pray, things will change at once. What it shows you is this: he spoke of “confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel” (v. 20); he said, “for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake” (v. 18); and Gabriel said to him, “At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out” (v. 23).
This week: When you pray for your family or your church this week, begin with these words from v. 18: “for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake”.
In the night visions Daniel saw, “behold, there came with the clouds of the sky one like a son of man, and he came even to the Ancient of Days” (Dan 7:13).
When the Lord Jesus was on trial, the high priest put him under oath to say whether he was the Christ, the Son of God (Matt 26:63). Jesus said to him, “You have said so. Nevertheless, I tell you, after this you will see the Son of Man sitting at the right hand of Power, and coming on the clouds of the sky” (Matt 26:64).
These two verses are only set side by side here: when the Lord Jesus was on trial, he used words from Daniel chapter 7. The rest of the visions in chapter 7 this lesson does not read.
Scripture: World English Bible.