Daniel, Part VI — “Daniel’s excellent prayer”
Message given by Rex Beck on October 16, 2022
Through reading Jeremiah, Daniel realized that a return should soon come
Daniel 9:2
… in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely, seventy years.
Daniel 9:3
So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes.
Through reading Moses and the histories, Daniel realized God’s ways and the current situation of God’s people.
Daniel 9:4–5
4I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, “Alas, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness for those who love Him and keep His commandments, 5we have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances.
Daniel 9:10
… 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.
Daniel 9:11
“Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law and turned aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, for we have sinned against Him.”
Through reading Moses and the histories, particularly Solomon’s prayer, Daniel focused his prayer on the restoration of God’s city, God’s mountain, God’s sanctuary, and God’s people
Daniel 9:16
“O Lord, in accordance with all Your righteous acts, let now Your anger and Your wrath turn away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.”
Daniel 9:17–18
17“So now, our God, listen to the prayer of Your servant and to his supplications, and for Your sake, O Lord, let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary. 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.”
Daniel 9:19
“O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and take action! For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
After this excellent prayer, Daniel is called “highly esteemed” by God
Daniel 9:20–21
20Now while I was speaking and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God in behalf of the holy mountain of my God, 21while I was still speaking in prayer, then the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision previously, came to me in my extreme weariness about the time of the evening offering.
Daniel 9:23
“At the beginning of your supplications the command was issued, and I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed; so give heed to the message and gain understanding of the vision.”
New Testament Application—We can know the purpose of the ages, which has been hidden in God
Ephesians 1:9–11
9He made known to us the mystery of His will, according to His kind intention which He purposed in Him 10with a view to an administration suitable to the fullness of the times, that is, the summing up of all things in Christ, things in the heavens and things on the earth. In Him 11also we have obtained an inheritance, having been predestined according to His purpose who works all things after the counsel of His will…
Ephesians 3:9–10
9…and to bring to light what is the administration of the mystery which for ages has been hidden in God who created all things; 10so that the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known through the church to the rulers and the authorities in the heavenly places.
Acts 26:19
So, King Agrippa, I did not prove disobedient to the heavenly vision…
