Merriam Webster Definition:
An Excuse Is A Reason, Explanation, or Defense Given To Justify, or Remove Blame, Bad Behavior or Failure
A Humble Approach To A Holy God (vs 3-6)
An Honest Confession Of Corporate Sin (vs 7-11)
A Recognition Of God’s Righteousness (vs 12-14)
Daniel 9:3
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.
Restoration Happens When You Recognize Your Sinfulness And God’s Righteousness
A Humble Approach To A Holy God
Daniel 9:3
3 Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.'
“We have come to expect God to be merciful. From there the next step is easy: We demand it. When it is not forthcoming, our first response is anger against God, coupled with the protest: “It isn’t fair.” We soon forget that with our first sin we have forfeited all rights to the gift of life. That I am drawing breath this morning is an act of divine mercy. God owes me nothing. I owe Him everything.” - RC Sproul
Daniel 9:4
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,
Deuteronomy 7:9
9 Know therefore that the Lord your God is God, the faithful God who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, to a thousand generations,
Restoration Happens When You Recognize Your Sinfulness And God’s Righteousness
Daniel 9:5-6
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.
Repentance Begins When We Stop Defending Our Sin And Start Confessing It
A Humble Approach To A Holy God
An Honest Confession Of Corporate Sin
Daniel 9:7
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.
Deuteronomy 28:20;25
20 “The Lord will send on you curses, confusion, and frustration in all that you undertake to do, until you are destroyed and perish quickly on account of the evil of your deeds, because you have forsaken me…25 “The Lord will cause you to be defeated before your enemies. You shall go out one way against them and flee seven ways before them. And you shall be a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth.
Restoration Happens When You Recognize Your Sinfulness And God’s Righteousness
Daniel 9:8
8 To us, O Lord, belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against you.
Daniel 9:9
9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him
Exodus 33:19
19 And he said, “I will make all my goodness pass before you and will proclaim before you my name ‘The Lord.’ And I will be gracious to whom I will be gracious, and will show mercy on whom I will show mercy.
Restoration Happens When You Recognize Your Sinfulness And God’s Righteousness
Daniel 9:10
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.
Daniel 9:11
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.
A Humble Approach To A Holy God
An Honest Confession Of Corporate Sin
A Recognition Of God’s Righteousness
Daniel 9:12
12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us,[a] 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.
Daniel 9:13
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.
Daniel 9:14
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.
Romans 3:23
23 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,
Ephesians 2:4–5
4 But[a] God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, 5 even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved—
Galatians 3:13
13 Christ redeemed us from the curse of the law by becoming a curse for us—for it is written, “Cursed is everyone who is hanged on a tree”—
Restoration Happens When You Recognize Your Sinfulness And God’s Righteousness
Humble Yourself Before God
Confess Your Sin Without Making Excuses
Ask God To Change You