WEEK 32 | Daniel 9:3–14
Days 1–2 Father, open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word that I may know and love you more deeply.
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 We have not 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. 7 To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. Daniel 9:3–14 ESV
OBSERVE DICTION
Ask: Which words/phrases might provide clues to the author’s message? What do they literally mean?
Ex. turned my face > According to Tanner, this literally means “gave my face to the Lord.”
Ex. LORD > When you see LORD in all capital letters in the Old Testament, this signifies that the author used God’s covenant name Yahweh. Daniel uses God’s covenant name seven times in chapter 9 but nowhere else.
Ex. keeps covenant > This means God will keep the promises (both blessings AND curses) of the covenant.
Ex. steadfast love > chesed, “carries the meaning of covenantal loyalty,” meaning favor, goodness, devotion.
Ex. sinned > chata, missing the mark
Ex. done wrong > ravah, to amiss, to bend, or to twist. The idea is Israel turned from the right way.
Ex. acted wickedly > rasha, to be or act wickedly “as the result of having lost one’s hold on God.”
Ex. rebelled > marad, deviating from the law.
Ex. open shame > boshet. The King James translates this as “confusion of faces.”
Ex. mercy > rachamaw, compassion.
Ex. oath > Often “oath,” refers to God keeping a positive promise made, but here the idea is better carried by how the NET translates it: “the judgment solemnly threatened.”
Observing Details Directions –– We are going to observe details differently in these lessons on Daniel’s prayer. I am going to list each sentence and ask you to simply write what you notice. I hope that observing details in this way in Daniel’s personal prayer will stir your reverence for God and His Word and lead us to praying ourselves with reverence for God and His Word.
Reminders: 1) As always, you should notice the W’s: the who, what, when, where, and how details. 2) Only observe details: “just notice.” Do not begin interpreting what those details signify.
Example ––
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
I notice that when Daniel heard the exile would soon be over, Daniel turned his face to God. The diction box states this means Daniel “gave his face to God.” I notice Daniel next sought the Lord God by prayer AND by pleas. The word “pleas” is plural, so Daniel pled for many mercies. During this time he did not eat or wear his customary clothing of one who served a king. He would have been hungry and the sackcloth and ashes would have irritated his skin. This is how he sought the Lord.
OBSERVE DETAILS
1. I prayed to the Lord my God and made confession, saying, “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.
2. We have not 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.
3. To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you.
4. To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
5. To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him and have not obeyed the voice of the Lordour God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets.
6. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him.
7. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem.
8. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the Lord our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth.
9. Therefore the Lord has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Day 3 Father, open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word that I may know and love you more deeply.
INTERPRET
Ask: Why did the author choose to include these details and use these words?
Directions –– Review diction box. Go back to your observations and use them for your answers. Bringing everyone’s observations and insights to group will make for a rich discussion. The “arrow” questions are meant to help you see the whole of Daniel’s prayer, but they overlap one another for sure. So don’t feel like you have to repeat points you have already made.
1. The Invocation Daniel 9:3–5
Why does Daniel initiate speaking to God with this posture and these words?
Why is Daniel confident that he can come to the Lord with his confession?
2. The Confession Daniel 9:4–14
Why does Daniel refer to people groups such as kings, fathers, people, etc. in his confession?
Why does Daniel include himself by using “we” and “our” and “us” in his confession?
Why are Israel’s sins first against the LORD? Review the diction box. Consider the word “treachery” in verse 7.
Daniel describes several effects or results of Israel’s choices. Why does Daniel assert that the LORD is holy and just and in no way accountable for Israel’s choices?
3. If you have other insights from your observations, write them here.
Days 4–5 Father, open my eyes to see the truth in Your Word that I may know and love you more deeply.
Introduction –– Daniel’s prayer to the Lord was ultimately a corporate prayer. He sought the Lord and made confession on behalf of all Judah, yet he spoke using “we,” including himself. Together we are going to create a corporate prayer to the Lord. First we will seek the Lord personally; then we will each prepare a contribution to bring to our group to contribute to a corporate confession.
Personal Confession
The New Testament contains several lists of sins; each is different, yet there is overlap among them. With the lists, the speaker or writer provides pastoral exhortation, personal and corporate reasons to sin no more.
Directions
Read the underlined pastoral exhortations.
Circle or underline any sins that you will bring to the Lord for confession. Or write your own list.
Pray through the underlined pastoral exhortations for yourself in agreement with what the Word of God says.
Out loud or in a prayer journal confess your sins and ask the Lord to forgive you.
For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, 22 coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. 23 All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” Mark 7:21–23
Therefore, having put away falsehood, let each one of you speak the truth with his neighbor, for we are members one of another. 26 Be angry and do not sin; do not let the sun go down on your anger, 27 and give no opportunity to the devil. 28 Let the thief no longer steal, but rather let him labor, doing honest work with his own hands, so that he may have something to share with anyone in need. 29 Let no corrupting talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for building up, as fits the occasion, that it may give grace to those who hear. 30 And do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God, by whom you were sealed for the day of redemption. 31 Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Ephesians 4:25-31
Now the works of the flesh are evident: sexual immorality, impurity, sensuality, 20 idolatry, sorcery, enmity, strife, jealousy, fits of anger, rivalries, dissensions, divisions, 21 envy, drunkenness, orgies, and things like these. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. Galatians 5:19-21
Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. 6 On account of these the wrath of God is coming. 7 In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. 8 But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Colossians 3:5-8
Use this space to record anything you want to remember.
Corporate Confession
1. We have read portions from the book of Revelation in our study of end times prophecy in Daniel. So it is very fitting that we read where Jesus exhorted seven churches in Revelation 2–3. Exhortation consists of both encouragement and rebuke and Jesus exhorts with both to five of those churches. To one church, however, he speaks only praise and to one He speaks only rebuke. Read through these chapters in your own Bible and identify Jesus’ encouragement and rebuke for each church by underlining or taking notes.
2. Review your notes prayerfully seeking the Lord’s help to discern what rebuke Jesus spoke that we as a church should also consider when preparing our corporate confession.
3a. Write down your thoughts for what we should confess as a body.
3b. Share with one another your ideas for our corporate confession. Then try to organize them in a logical way in writing (more space if needed on the back). When we gather after Thanksgiving the first week in December, your group will pray through this confession. Meanwhile, you can be in prayer for preparation of that time.
November Prayer Requests for the Church
“For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy” Daniel 9:18
1. Our Spiritual Growth: Ask God to cultivate humble and repentant hearts within us, revealing our personal sins and our shared need for His mercy. Pray that He would deepen our dependence on Him, lead us to seek His forgiveness, and strengthen our trust in His faithfulness rather than our own righteousness
2. Christmas Services: Ask God to prepare hearts to celebrate the true meaning of Christmas – the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ. Ask Him to give us opportunities and boldness to invite others to our Christmas services, soften hearts to receive the gospel, and bring many to experience the joy and hope found in Christ alone.
3. The Persecuted Church: Ask God to comfort persecuted believers who experience loneliness and isolation. Pray that He would remind them they are not forgotten or alone, strengthen their sense of belonging to the global body of Christ, and encourage them through the prayers and support of fellow believers.
God’s joy and strength to you,