Daniel prays: “We have not obeyed your voice O Lord, our God.”
The seventy years of Jewish captivity were coming to an end. The prophet Daniel asked God to remember his promise. He asked, “O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive.”
We can learn a lot from the prayers that are recorded in the scriptures. In this section of scripture, we find the expression of a very godly man. He knows that another prophet, Jeremiah, prophesied seventy years of captivity in Babylon. That was his famous “seventy-weeks” prophecy. In the prophecy, we find a specific timeline that calculates the timing of the death of Jesus on the cross.
When those seventy years of captivity were coming to a conclusion, Daniel went to the Lord in prayer. The punishment of the Jewish people was deserved. They had continued to rebel against the Lord’s will. This was ongoing for years upon years which led to centuries of falling away from God.
The punishment was overdue. And now, as the relatively short punishment was drawing to a close, Daniel felt led to ask for forgiveness once more for the sins of the Israelites. And, as a humble man or woman should, he included himself as he asked for forgiveness.
In this article, I’ve left the commentary to Daniel and the Holy Spirit. I’ve included some key cross-references after each verse but will let the words of God and his prophet speak for themselves.
Daniel is a man we should learn to follow. His prayers are a good place to start. Read his prayer and observe his humility, sincerity, and understanding of God’s heart.
“O Lord, hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and do. Defer not, for your own sake, O my God.
For your city and your people are called by your name.”
Daniel 9:7 Oh Lord shame on us
“Righteousness belongs to You, 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 You have driven them. Because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.”
Deuteronomy 4:27
Then the LORD will scatter you among the peoples, and only a few of you will survive among the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Daniel 9:8 Oh Lord, we have sinned
“Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You.”
Jeremiah 14:20
We acknowledge our wickedness, O LORD, the guilt of our fathers; indeed, we have sinned against You.
Daniel 9:9
“To the Lord, our God belong compassion and forgiveness. For we have rebelled against Him.”
1 Kings 8:30
Hear the plea of Your servant and of Your people Israel when they pray toward this place. May You hear from heaven, Your dwelling place. May You hear and forgive.
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.”
2 Kings 18:12
This happened because they did not listen to the voice of the LORD their God, but violated His covenant–all that Moses the servant of the LORD had commanded–and would neither listen nor obey.
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.”
Deuteronomy 28:15
If, however, you do not obey the LORD your God by carefully following all His commandments and statutes I am giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you.
Daniel 9:12
“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 done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.”
Jeremiah 44:2
“This is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: You have seen all the disaster I brought against Jerusalem and all the cities of Judah; and behold, they lie today in ruins and desolation
Daniel 9:13
“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 Your truth.”
Jeremiah 5:3
O LORD, do not Your eyes look for truth? You struck them, but they felt no pain. You finished them off, but they refused to accept discipline. They have made their faces harder than stone and refused to repent.
Daniel 9:14
“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.”
Psalm 119:137
Righteous are You, O LORD, and upright are Your judgments.
Daniel 9:15 Oh Lord we have been wicked
“And now, O Lord our God, who have brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for Yourself. As it is this day—we have sinned. We have been wicked.”
Deuteronomy 5:15
Remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt and that the LORD your God brought you out of there with a mighty hand and outstretched arm. That is why the LORD your God has commanded you to keep the Sabbath day.
Daniel 9:16 Oh Lord turn away your anger
“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.”
Psalm 79:4
We have become a reproach to our neighbors, a scorn and derision to those around us.
Daniel 9:17 O Lord, let your face shine
“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.”
Nehemiah 1:6
may Your eyes be open and Your ears be attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.
Daniel 9:18 Oh Lord give ear
“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.”
Isaiah 37:17
Incline Your ear, O LORD, and hear; open Your eyes, O LORD, and see. Listen to all the words that Sennacherib has sent to defy the living God.
Daniel 9:19 O Lord hear
“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.”
Psalm 44:23
Wake up, O Lord! Why are You sleeping? Arise! Do not reject us forever.
In the next article, we’ll explore one of the most famous Bible prophecies in all of God’s Word. Daniel’s Seventy Weeks is a challenging topic but a spectacular example of the precision that is often found in prophetic passages.
More from Daniel
A King’s dream reveals the timing of Jesus’ return
The Writing on the Wall and the fall of Babylon
The last evil king and the final game of thrones
Let me know what you think.