Daniel 9:4 - Meaning and Application

Here we have Daniel’s prayer to God as his God, along with the confession he joined to that prayer: “I prayed, and made my confession.” Notice that in every prayer we should make confession. This includes not only confessing the sins we have committed, which is the usual meaning of confession, but also confessing our faith in God, our dependence on him, our sorrow for sin, and our resolve to turn from it. It must be our own confession, the honest language of our own conscience, something we truly mean and willingly own.

Let us look at the parts of this prayer. We have good reason to think Daniel prayed much more fully than is recorded here, and these verses give only the main points. First, he begins with a humble, serious, reverent address to God. He speaks to him as a God to be feared, one we should always hold in awe: “O Lord, the great and dreadful God,” who is able to deal with the greatest and most terrifying enemies of the church. He also speaks to him as a God to be trusted, one on whom we should rely: “keeping the covenant and mercy with those who love him and keep his commandments.” If we do our part, he will not fail in his. He keeps covenant with his people, and not one word of his promise will fail. More than that, he keeps mercy for them, giving more than the covenant strictly promises. It was fitting for Daniel to think of God’s mercy as he was about to lay before him the misery of his people, and to think of God’s covenant as he asked for the fulfillment of a promise. In prayer, we should look at God’s greatness and his goodness together, his majesty and his mercy at the same time.

Next comes a humble confession of sin, the root cause of all the troubles his people had suffered for so many years. When we ask God for mercy for a nation, we ought to humble ourselves before him for the nation’s sins. Daniel names the sins he grieves over, and he uses many words to show how great their guilt was, for true penitents should lay the blame heavily on themselves: “We have sinned,” “we have committed iniquity,” “we have done wickedly,” and “we have rebelled.” They did not merely stumble, they were hard-hearted and stubborn, and in this they rose against the King of kings, against his crown and authority.

Two things made their sin worse. First, they broke the clear laws God had given them through Moses: “We have departed from your precepts and from your judgments, and have not followed them.” That is the nature of sin, it is breaking God’s law. And when sin is shown for what it is, it cannot be shown to be worse, because its very sinfulness is its deepest evil (Romans 7:13). God had set his laws plainly before them as the pattern they should follow, yet they did not walk in them. They turned aside, and even turned back.

Second, they ignored the fair warnings God had given them through the prophets, whom he had sent again and again, rising early and sending them. “We have not listened to your servants the prophets,” Daniel says, “who reminded us of your laws and their warnings.” Even though they spoke in God’s name, the people did not pay attention. Even though they brought their message faithfully to every class of people, to kings and princes, whom they boldly addressed, and to fathers and all the people of the land, whom they spoke to with patience and care, still they would not listen or obey. Mocking God’s messengers and despising his word were the sins that filled up Jerusalem’s guilt (2 Chronicles 36:16). Daniel repeats this confession and dwells on it, because those who truly repent should keep accusing themselves until their hearts are fully broken.

“All Israel have transgressed your law,” he says. It was Israel, God’s professing people, who knew better and from whom more should have been expected. It was Israel, God’s special people, whom he had surrounded with his favor. And it was not just a few individuals, but all Israel, the general body of the people, who had gone astray by leaving God’s way, so they would not hear, and therefore would not obey, his voice. This is the sin true penitents most deeply charge against themselves: “We did not obey his voice,” and “We have sinned, we have done wickedly.” Those who want mercy must confess their sins this way.

Daniel also makes a self-humbling confession of God’s righteousness in all the judgments that had come upon them. This is always the way of true repentance, to justify God, so that he is shown to be right when he judges, while the sinner takes the blame. First, Daniel admits that sin had brought them into all these troubles. Israel was scattered through the surrounding countries, and that meant they were weakened, poor, and exposed. God’s hand had driven them here and there, some near by, where they were known and so felt greater shame, others far away, where they were unknown and so became more abandoned. And all this was because of their own sin, because they had sinned against God (Daniel 9:7).

Second, Daniel owns God’s righteousness in it all. God had done them no wrong in anything he brought on them, but had treated them as they deserved. “O Lord, righteousness belongs to you,” he says. “We have no complaint against your providence, and no objection to your judgments, for the Lord our God is righteous in all his works.” Even in these severe troubles, he was righteous, because “we did not obey the words of his mouth” (Daniel 9:14). This echoes Lamentations 1:18.

Third, Daniel notices that what happened fulfilled Scripture. God had afflicted them in full faithfulness, because it was according to the word he had spoken. “The curse is poured out on us, and the oath,” that is, the curse made sure by the oath in the law of Moses (Daniel 9:11). This also clears God of blame in their suffering, because he was only carrying out the penalty he had already warned them about. It was necessary for the honor of God’s truth, and to keep his rule from being treated with contempt, that the warnings of his word should come to pass. Otherwise, people would think those warnings were empty threats, not something to fear at all. So he confirmed his words against them because they broke his laws, and against their judges, because they did not do their duty by punishing the breaking of God’s laws.

He had often warned them that if they would not do justice and act as a warning to evildoers, he would take the matter into his own hands. Now he has proved his words true by bringing a great disaster on them, and the leaders and judges shared deeply in it. We profit much from God’s judgments when we see how closely they match his warnings.

Daniel also stresses how severe their trouble was, so they would not grow used to it and treat it lightly. They were not just facing ordinary hardships. Their suffering carried clear signs of God’s displeasure, because, as Daniel says, under the whole heaven nothing had been done like what happened to Jerusalem (Daniel 9:12). Jeremiah’s grief, speaking for the church, was, “Was there ever sorrow like my sorrow?” That question also suggests another one, “Was there ever sin like my sin?”

He then shames the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest. If they would say “Amen” to his prayer and share in its blessing, they had to bow in shame, with their hand over their mouth and their mouth in the dust. “To us belongs confusion of face, as at this day” (Daniel 9:7). The shame of their punishment was what their sin deserved. If Israel had kept its calling as a holy people, they would have been lifted high above all nations in praise, fame, and honor (Deuteronomy 26:19). But since they sinned and did evil, shame belonged to them.

This applied to Judah and Jerusalem, to the people in the countryside and in the city alike, because all had been guilty before God. It applied to all Israel, both the two tribes near the rivers of Babylon and the ten tribes far away in Assyria. It was not only the common people who were shamed, but also their kings, princes, and fathers (Daniel 9:8). They should have set a better example and used their power to stop the flood of wickedness and disrespect for God.

Daniel also says the judgment continued because they would not soften under it (Daniel 9:13, Daniel 9:14). “All this evil has come upon us,” he says, “yet we did not pray before the Lord our God as we should have, with humble, repentant, and obedient hearts.” They had been struck, but had not returned to the One who struck them. They had not truly sought the Lord’s face, meaning they had made no effort to make peace with him and be reconciled to him.

Daniel had given his brothers a good example by praying often, but he grieved that so few followed it. In their trouble, they should have sought God early. Instead, they did not, though the purpose of their suffering was to turn them from sin and help them understand God’s truth. That is how Elihu explained affliction in Job 36:10. God uses suffering to open people’s ears to discipline and to call them back from evil. If people truly understood God’s truth and submitted to its authority, they would turn from the error of their ways.

The first step toward that change is to pray before the Lord our God, asking that the suffering be used for our good before it is removed. We should ask God’s grace to work with his providence, so the trouble may accomplish its purpose. Those who do not pray in affliction, who do not cry out when God lays his hand on them, are unlikely to turn from sin or learn his truth. Because they did not make use of the affliction, the Lord watched over the evil, like a judge making sure the sentence is fully carried out. Because they were not softened, he kept them longer in the furnace and made the heat stronger. When God judges, he will prevail, and he will be proved right in all he does.

Daniel then turns to a believing appeal to God’s mercy and to the old signs of his favor toward Israel, as well as to God’s own glory in their case. It is a comfort that God has always been ready to forgive sin (Daniel 9:9). “To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness.” This points back to God’s own declaration of his name in Exodus 34:6, 7, where he calls himself gracious, merciful, and forgiving iniquity. It is encouraging for poor sinners to remember that mercy belongs to God, just as righteousness belongs to him. Those who honor him for his righteousness may also take comfort in his mercies (Psalm 62:12).

God has abundant mercy, and more than one act of forgiveness. He is a God who pardons, and he multiplies pardon (Nehemiah 9:17, margin; Isaiah 55:7). Even though we have rebelled against him, mercy still belongs to him, pardoning mercy even for the rebellious.

Daniel also finds hope in the fact that God had once already glorified himself by rescuing Israel from Egypt (Daniel 9:15). He reasons that the same mighty hand which brought them out then can bring them out of Babylon now. If God formed them as a people then, can he not shape them again now? Were they not sinful and undeserving then too? Were their oppressors not strong and proud then as well? And had not God promised that their deliverance from Babylon would be even more remarkable than the one from Egypt (Jeremiah 16:14, 15)?

The strength of this plea is that God had made a name for himself by the exodus. He had gained renown, and his fame had lasted to that very day, by bringing Israel out of Egypt. Daniel asks whether God would lose the honor of that great act by letting his people perish in Babylon. Did God win praise by the rescue that Israel had often remembered, and would he not win praise now by the deliverance they had so long asked for and waited for?

Finally, Daniel grieves over the shame that had fallen on God’s people and the ruins of God’s sanctuary, because both brought dishonor on God himself and lessened the fame he had won in bringing them out of Egypt. God’s holy people had become despised. By their own sins and the sins of their fathers, they had ruined the honor that should have covered them, and so they became a disgrace to those around them.

Their neighbors mocked them and rejoiced over their fall. Sin is a shame to any people, but especially to God’s people, since more eyes are on them and they have more honor to lose than others.

God’s holy place lay in ruins. Jerusalem, the holy city, had become a disgrace when it lay destroyed, something that made passersby stare and mock (Daniel 9:16). The sanctuary, God’s holy house, was desolate too (Daniel 9:17). The altars were torn down, and all the buildings were burned to ash. The ruins of the sanctuary are a deep grief to all believers, because they count their comforts in this world as tied to God’s house.

Daniel then makes a strong plea for the poor captive Jews to be restored to their former blessings. His request is urgent, because God allows us to wrestle in prayer with him. He says, “O Lord, I beg you” (Daniel 9:16). In effect, he prays, “If you will do anything for me, do this. It is what I most want and ask for.” He also says, “Now, our God, hear the prayer of your servant and his plea” (Daniel 9:17), and grant a peaceful answer.

What does he ask for? First, that God would turn away his anger from them, because this is what all believers fear most. “Let your anger turn away from your Jerusalem, your holy mountain” (Daniel 9:16). He does not begin by asking simply for the end of their exile. Instead, he asks first for God’s wrath to be removed. If the cause is taken away, the result will also stop.

Second, he asks that God would shine his favor on them again (Daniel 9:17). “Cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate.” In other words, return in mercy, show that you are reconciled to us, and then all will be well. The shining of God’s face over the ruined sanctuary is what makes its repair possible. Anyone who wants to rebuild it rightly must begin there, by seeking God’s favor in prayer. “Cause your face to shine, and we will be saved” (Psalm 80:3).

Third, he asks that God would forgive their sins and then speed their rescue (Daniel 9:19). “Lord, hear. Lord, forgive.” If the mercy is to come in mercy, then the sin that stands in the way must be removed. “Lord, listen and act,” he says, not just listen and speak. He asks God to do what no one else can do, and to do it quickly, without delay. Since the promised time was drawing near, he could pray in faith that God would hasten to them and not wait. David often prayed the same way: “Make haste, O God, to help me.”

Daniel also gives reasons to support his prayers. God allows us not only to pray, but also to plead with him. This is not to change God’s mind, since he already knows what he will do. It is to stir up our own earnestness and strengthen our faith.

First, they refuse to depend on any righteousness of their own. They do not claim they deserve anything from God, except wrath and the curse (Daniel 9:18). They do not come with confidence in their own goodness, as if they were worthy of favor because of anything in themselves or anything they had done. They cannot stand on their own righteousness, even if they were better than they are. Moses had already told Israel that God did not save them because they were righteous (Deuteronomy 9:4-5). Ezekiel had also said recently that their return from Babylon would not be for their own sake (Ezekiel 36:22, 36:32). When we come to God for mercy, we must set aside any pride in our own goodness.

Second, they take their hope from God alone. His reasons for mercy come from within himself, so we must borrow our arguments from him. That gives him honor when we ask him for grace. “Do it for your own sake” (Daniel 9:19), for the carrying out of your own purpose, the keeping of your own promise, and the showing of your own glory. God does his own work, in his own way and time, and for his own sake. We must receive that.

“Do it for the Lord’s sake,” that is, for the sake of the promised Lord Christ, the Messiah, whom many Christian interpreters understand here. David called the Messiah Adonai, Lord (Psalm 110:1). Mercy is asked for the church for the sake of the Son of Man (Psalm 80:17), and for the sake of God’s Word, since he is Lord of all. It is for Christ’s sake that God shines on sinners when they repent and turn to him, because of the payment Christ has made. In all our prayers, that must be our plea. We must speak of his righteousness alone (Psalm 71:16). We look to the face of the anointed one. He himself told us to ask in his name.

“Do it according to all your righteousness” (Daniel 9:16). That means, defend us against those who oppose us according to your righteousness. Though we are unrighteous before God, we still have a just cause when others attack us, and we leave it to the righteous God to defend it. Or, more likely, God’s righteousness here means his faithfulness to his promise. He had already carried out the warning according to his righteousness (Daniel 9:11). Now Daniel asks, “Lord, will you not also act according to all your righteousness? Will you not be just as faithful to your promises as you have been to your threats?”

“Do it for your great mercies” (Daniel 9:18), so it may be clear that you are a merciful God. The blessings we ask from God are called mercies because we expect them only from his mercy. Since mercy is meant for misery, the prophet lays the ruined condition of the church before God to stir his compassion. “Open your eyes and see our desolations, especially the desolations of the sanctuary.” He is saying, “Look with pity on a pitiable case.” The ruins of the church should be set before God in prayer, and then left with him.

“Do it for the sake of the relation we have to you.” The ruined sanctuary is your sanctuary (Daniel 9:17), set apart for your honor, used in your service, and the place where you dwell. Jerusalem is your city and your holy mountain (Daniel 9:16), the city that is called by your name (Daniel 9:18). It was the city God chose from all the tribes of Israel to place his name there. The people who have become a reproach are your people, and your name suffers when shame is thrown on them (Daniel 9:16). They are called by your name (Daniel 9:19). Lord, you have a claim on them, and therefore their interests concern you. Will you not care for your own, for those of your own household? They are yours, save them (Psalm 119:94).