DANIEL'S PRAYER FOR GOD'S MERCY, Dr. Samuel Lee
DANIEL PRAYED
Passage: Daniel 9:1~27  
Key verse: 3
Daniel’s Prayer
9 In the first year of Darius(A) son of Xerxes[a](B) (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian[b] kingdom— 2 in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy(C) years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting,(D) and in sackcloth and ashes.(E)
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed:(F)
“Lord, the great and awesome God,(G) who keeps his covenant of love(H) with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned(I) and done wrong.(J) We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away(K) from your commands and laws.(L) 6 We have not listened(M) to your servants the prophets,(N) who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our ancestors,(O) and to all the people of the land.
7 “Lord, you are righteous,(P) but this day we are covered with shame(Q)—the people of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered(R) us because of our unfaithfulness(S) to you.(T) 8 We and our kings, our princes and our ancestors are covered with shame, Lord, because we have sinned against you.(U) 9 The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving,(V) even though we have rebelled against him;(W) 10 we have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets.(X) 11 All Israel has transgressed(Y) your law(Z) and turned away, refusing to obey you.
“Therefore the curses(AA) and sworn judgments(AB) written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned(AC) against you. 12 You have fulfilled(AD) the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing on us great disaster.(AE) Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like(AF) what has been done to Jerusalem.(AG) 13 Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come on us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord(AH) our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth.(AI) 14 The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster(AJ) on us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything he does;(AK) yet we have not obeyed him.(AL)
15 “Now, Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand(AM) and who made for yourself a name(AN) that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. 16 Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts,(AO) turn away(AP) your anger and your wrath(AQ) from Jerusalem,(AR) your city, your holy hill.(AS) Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn(AT) to all those around us.
17 “Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, Lord, look with favor(AU) on your desolate sanctuary. 18 Give ear,(AV) our God, and hear;(AW) open your eyes and see(AX) the desolation of the city that bears your Name.(AY) We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy.(AZ) 19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive!(BA) Lord, hear and act! For your sake,(BB) my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
The Seventy “Sevens”
20 While I was speaking and praying, confessing(BC) my sin and the sin of my people Israel and making my request to the Lord my God for his holy hill(BD)— 21 while I was still in prayer, Gabriel,(BE) the man I had seen in the earlier vision, came to me in swift flight about the time of the evening sacrifice.(BF) 22 He instructed me and said to me, “Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding.(BG) 23 As soon as you began to pray,(BH) a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed.(BI) Therefore, consider the word and understand the vision:(BJ)
24 “Seventy ‘sevens’[c] are decreed for your people and your holy city(BK) to finish[d] transgression, to put an end to sin, to atone(BL) for wickedness, to bring in everlasting righteousness,(BM) to seal up vision and prophecy and to anoint the Most Holy Place.[e]
25 “Know and understand this: From the time the word goes out to restore and rebuild(BN) Jerusalem until the Anointed One,[f](BO) the ruler,(BP) comes, there will be seven ‘sevens,’ and sixty-two ‘sevens.’ It will be rebuilt with streets and a trench, but in times of trouble.(BQ) 26 After the sixty-two ‘sevens,’ the Anointed One will be put to death(BR) and will have nothing.[g] The people of the ruler who will come will destroy the city and the sanctuary. The end will come like a flood:(BS) War will continue until the end, and desolations(BT) have been decreed.(BU) 27 He will confirm a covenant with many for one ‘seven.’[h] In the middle of the ‘seven’[i] he will put an end to sacrifice and offering. And at the temple[j] he will set up an abomination that causes desolation, until the end that is decreed(BV) is poured out on him.[k]”[l]
Footnotes
- Daniel 9:1 Hebrew Ahasuerus
- Daniel 9:1 Or Chaldean
- Daniel 9:24 Or ‘weeks’; also in verses 25 and 26
- Daniel 9:24 Or restrain
- Daniel 9:24 Or the most holy One
- Daniel 9:25 Or an anointed one; also in verse 26
- Daniel 9:26 Or death and will have no one; or death, but not for himself
- Daniel 9:27 Or ‘week’
- Daniel 9:27 Or ‘week’
- Daniel 9:27 Septuagint and Theodotion; Hebrew wing
- Daniel 9:27 Or it
- Daniel 9:27 Or And one who causes desolation will come upon the wing of the abominable temple, until the end that is decreed is poured out on the desolated city
Cross references
- Daniel 9:1 : S Da 5:31
- Daniel 9:1 : S Ezr 4:6
- Daniel 9:2 : S 2Ch 36:21; Jer 29:10; Zec 1:12; 7:5
- Daniel 9:3 : S 2Ch 20:3
- Daniel 9:3 : S 2Sa 13:19; S Ne 1:4; Jer 29:12; Da 10:12; Jnh 3:6
- Daniel 9:4 : S 1Ki 8:30
- Daniel 9:4 : S Dt 7:21
- Daniel 9:4 : Dt 7:9; S 1Ki 8:23
- Daniel 9:5 : S Jer 8:14
- Daniel 9:5 : Ps 106:6
- Daniel 9:5 : Isa 53:6
- Daniel 9:5 : ver 11; La 1:20; S 3:42
- Daniel 9:6 : S 2Ki 18:12
- Daniel 9:6 : S 2Ch 36:16; S Jer 44:5; Jas 5:10; Rev 10:7
- Daniel 9:6 : S 2Ch 29:6
- Daniel 9:7 : S Ezr 9:15; S Isa 42:6
- Daniel 9:7 : Ezr 9:7; Ps 44:15
- Daniel 9:7 : Dt 4:27; Am 9:9
- Daniel 9:7 : S Dt 7:3
- Daniel 9:7 : S Jer 3:25; S 24:9; S Eze 39:23-24
- Daniel 9:8 : S Ne 9:33; S Jer 14:20; S Eze 16:63
- Daniel 9:9 : S Ex 34:7; S 2Sa 24:14; Jer 42:12
- Daniel 9:9 : S Ne 9:17; Jer 14:7
- Daniel 9:10 : 2Ki 17:13-15; S 18:12; Rev 10:7
- Daniel 9:11 : S Jer 2:29
- Daniel 9:11 : 2Ki 22:16
- Daniel 9:11 : S Dt 11:26; S 13:15; S 28:15
- Daniel 9:11 : 2Ki 17:23
- Daniel 9:11 : Isa 1:4-6; Jer 8:5-10
- Daniel 9:12 : S Isa 44:26; Zec 1:6
- Daniel 9:12 : S Jer 44:23
- Daniel 9:12 : Jer 30:7
- Daniel 9:12 : Jer 44:2-6; Eze 5:9; Da 12:1; Joel 2:2; Zec 7:12
- Daniel 9:13 : S Dt 4:29; S Isa 31:1
- Daniel 9:13 : S Isa 9:13; Jer 2:30
- Daniel 9:14 : S Jer 18:8; S 44:27
- Daniel 9:14 : S Ge 18:25; S 2Ch 12:6; S Jer 12:1
- Daniel 9:14 : S Ne 9:33; S Jer 32:23; S 40:3
- Daniel 9:15 : S Ex 3:20; S Jer 32:21
- Daniel 9:15 : S Ne 9:10
- Daniel 9:16 : S Jdg 5:11; Ps 31:1
- Daniel 9:16 : S Isa 5:25
- Daniel 9:16 : S Ps 85:3
- Daniel 9:16 : Jer 32:32
- Daniel 9:16 : S Ex 15:17; S Ps 48:1
- Daniel 9:16 : S Ps 39:8; S Eze 5:14
- Daniel 9:17 : Nu 6:24-26; Ps 80:19
- Daniel 9:18 : S Ps 5:1
- Daniel 9:18 : Ps 116:1
- Daniel 9:18 : Ps 80:14
- Daniel 9:18 : S Dt 28:10; S Isa 37:17; Jer 7:10-12; 25:29
- Daniel 9:18 : Lk 18:13
- Daniel 9:19 : Ps 44:23
- Daniel 9:19 : S 1Sa 12:22
- Daniel 9:20 : S Ezr 10:1
- Daniel 9:20 : S ver 3; Ps 145:18; S Isa 58:9
- Daniel 9:21 : S Da 8:16; S Lk 1:19
- Daniel 9:21 : S Ex 29:39
- Daniel 9:22 : S Da 7:16; 10:14; Am 3:7
- Daniel 9:23 : S Isa 65:24
- Daniel 9:23 : Da 10:19; Lk 1:28
- Daniel 9:23 : Da 10:11-12; Mt 24:15
- Daniel 9:24 : S Isa 1:26
- Daniel 9:24 : S Isa 53:10
- Daniel 9:24 : S Isa 56:1; Heb 9:12
- Daniel 9:25 : S Ezr 4:24; S 6:15
- Daniel 9:25 : Mt 1:17; Jn 4:25
- Daniel 9:25 : S 1Sa 13:14
- Daniel 9:25 : S Ezr 3:3
- Daniel 9:26 : S Isa 53:8; Mt 16:21
- Daniel 9:26 : Isa 28:2; Da 11:10; Na 1:8
- Daniel 9:26 : S Ps 46:8
- Daniel 9:26 : Isa 61:1; S Eze 4:5-6; Hag 2:23; Zec 4:14
- Daniel 9:27 : S Isa 10:22
Holy Bible, New International Version®, NIV® Copyright ©1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.
Source:  BibleGateway
1. Repentant prayer based on the Bible study (1-19)
Daniel was outstanding in wisdom, in God's revelation and interpretation. Yet he depended on the word of God. When he intensively and diligently studied the scriptures, he understood that the exile would be over in 70 years (Jeremiah 25:11). He prayed fasting in repentance according to the promise of God, "If my people in exile, pray in repentance, God will hear from heaven." (2 Chr 7:14) So he confessed his sins and all his people's. He admitted unworthiness but asked for the saving of God's people for God's name's sake.
2. God heard Daniel's prayer (20-27)
God was pleased with even one person, Daniel's repentant prayer. He sent Gabriel immediately. Gabriel's revelation is still so mysterious. Yet we can know that God will finish his people's transgression and to put an end to it. Furthermore the anointed One will come and be put to death to atone for not only Israel's sins but the sins of the world too.
Prayer: Lord, you answer our prayers according to your promises.
One Word: Study the word of God and pray accordingly