August 2nd, 2015 by Samir Massouh

Well, good morning to you, even on this hot day.

We have heaven to look forward to.

Let's take a look at Daniel chapter 9.

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

It's a prayer by a great prophet by the name of Daniel,

and it's really fabulous. It looks fairly

simple and straightforward, but it turns out to be a fabulous

prayer. If you turn in your bulletins

at the back page, there is a detailed outline.

I'm not going to go over the whole outline.

You can do that on your own. You'll have a chance to

do it this afternoon, if you so please. I just want to

highlight a couple important points and just focus

on the plea for mercy, his

prayer for mercy.

Daniel begins by confessing sin.

There is a prevalent saying at the time,

the fathers ate the sour grapes, but the children's teeth

are set on edge. You find it in Jeremiah,

you find it in Ezekiel. It's a saying that means

we are suffering the consequences of what others have done.

It's our father's fault, but we are paying for what they have done.

To modernize that example, it's our parents who drink,

but we have the hangover.

It's our father's fault, but we are paying for it.

It's our brother who exercises, and I wake up with the sore bones

and sore muscles.

And that saying was prevalent.

Everybody said, of course Jerusalem was punished,

but it wasn't our fault.

It was the fault of King Manasseh.

He is the one who got us into this mess.

And so it's not really us.

It's them, but we're suffering.

Daniel wants them to admit

that it's not like this,

that everyone,

everywhere,

committed every kind of sin.

And the way he does it

is in two ways.

In 11 verses,

he says

nine times,

we have sinned.

If you see something

nine times in a row,

and you still

don't get it,

you need

somebody to pray for you.

You know,

don't take difficult classes

in college,

that's for sure.

In 11 verses,

he says,

we have sinned,

we have sinned,

we have sinned.

Nine times in 11 verses.

Look,

you can read the 11 verses

in approximately 30 seconds.

In the next 30 seconds,

I'm going to say nine times,

my name is Samir,

my name is Samir,

my name is Samir,

my name is Samir,

my name is Samir.

I stopped with five.

How should you respond?

Okay, we get it.

You made the point.

We have sinned.

You know,

we get it.

And then,

in verse 4,

5,

in verses 5 and 6,

he says,

we have sinned,

and he uses

five different verbs.

What does that tell me?

He has a good education.

He knows his vocabulary.

He speaks Hebrew well.

He uses five different verbs

in the same verse

as a way of saying,

you name it,

we've done it.

We have committed

every conceivable sin

under the sun.

We did it this way,

and we did it this way,

and we did it this way,

and we did it this way,

and we did it this way.

Nobody is with an excuse.

So what he wants them

to admit,

and to see,

that they have sinned.

The next section

in this prayer

are verses 11

through about 15.

If you look at verses

11 and 13,

you will notice

that certain words

are repeated.

the book of the law

of Moses.

The law of Moses.

Verse 11.

Verse 13.

If you look at

the other three verses,

he says calamity,

or destruction,

or desolation.

So he is repeating

the word

the law of Moses,

and he is repeating

the word desolation.

What he is saying

is nobody should be surprised

that this happened to us.

God told us

in the book of the law

of Moses

that if we disobey him,

he will bring

a calamity on us.

So we disobeyed him,

he brought the calamity.

At least it shows

that God takes

his own words seriously.

Maybe we don't

take it seriously,

but God takes it seriously,

and he has punished us

according to

what he has said.

The law warned us,

and the prophets

warned us,

and we ignored the law,

and we ignored the prophet,

and now we're saying,

why did this happen to us?

What do you mean,

why did this happen to us?

Because we didn't pay

attention to the warnings

in the law of Moses.

If you want to discourage yourself,

if you really want to

depress yourself

this afternoon,

read Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 27 · chapter mention

chapters 27 and 28.

there is a list of curses,

and if you do this,

I'll curse you this way,

and if you do this,

I'll curse you this way.

After reading about 50 of them,

you'll be in the dumps,

and if you're still not depressed,

read Lamentations,

which will definitely

describe these curses.

So Daniel is saying,

we have sinned,

God punished us,

it was fair,

he warned us,

we should have paid attention.

God kept his word.

But,

to say God kept his word

is good news,

because he kept his word

to punish us,

which also means

he will keep his word

to forgive us,

and ransom us.

Daniel has just read,

in the book of the prophet Jeremiah,

that the desolation

would last 70 years.

Let me digress for a minute.

How did he find that out?

Look,

Daniel has more visions,

and dreams,

and prophecies,

and ways of knowing God's will

than anybody I know.

You know,

some prophets get one or two visions,

he gets them all the time.

He and Amos are in a contest,

who can get more dreams,

and visions.

But God doesn't give him

a vision,

that the desolation

is going to end in 70 years.

You know how he finds it out?

He's reading

the prophet Jeremiah.

This is the guilt trip.

It's coming.

If Daniel thinks

it's important

to study God's word,

and to find out

from Jeremiah

what's going to happen next,

you can fill the rest

of the sentence,

can't you?

If Daniel can do it,

who else should do it?

Me,

and you,

especially since we don't

get any visions,

I get bad dreams

depending on what I have

supper the night before,

but I don't

get revelations

from God.

So,

Daniel reads

in the prophet

that the desolation

would only last

70 years,

and that it was

happening right

before him,

in that very same year

that he is reading

and writing this,

what was happening.

So,

if God is faithful

to punish us,

guess what God

is faithful to do?

To forgive us.

And that is the good news.

So,

he begins

by asking God

to forgive us,

knowing that

that's what God

said he wanted to do.

Knowing what God's will is,

he prays

for God

to do his will.

That's variation

on thy kingdom come.

If I know God

wants to bring

his kingdom,

then I pray,

bring your kingdom.

Which now

leads us

to verse 4.

Verse 4

in Daniel 9

is a

brilliant,

brilliant

verse.

So,

in verse 4

he says,

I pray to the

Lord my God

and confess.

Let's notice,

first of all,

he uses the word

Lord.

There are two words

in Hebrew

that refer to God

as deity.

Elohim,

God,

which means God

as creator,

and Yahweh,

Lord,

which means God

in a personal

relationship with us.

We understand Elohim

best

when we look at creation.

We understand

Yahweh best

when we look

at human history

and we see

that God

is a covenant maker

and promise keeper.

God

and so,

Daniel addresses God

as Yahweh,

Lord,

Yahweh.

Yahweh is used

over 7,400 times

in the Old Testament.

It's the second

most frequently

used word

in the Old Testament.

The most frequently

used word

is the word

the,

the definite article.

But other than that,

it's the word Yahweh.

Isaiah

uses it

at least

200 times.

We have been

leading

eight chapters

into Daniel

and he hasn't

used it

once

yet.

There isn't

the word

Lord

anywhere

in the first

eight chapters.

But once

he starts

to pray,

he calls

God

Yahweh

because

Yahweh

means

a covenant

relationship

with God.

So he realizes

that our relationship

with God

is not just

like a boat

floating

on the water

without a sail

and without a water,

that our relationship

with God

is governed

by covenant

and that

the name

of the Lord

who instituted

this covenant

is Yahweh

Lord.

So begin

by saying

O Lord.

He is focusing

on his personal

relationship

with God

and the word

Lord is used

more in this

chapter than

all of the book

of Daniel

put together.

So he is saying

understand

we are in a

covenant relationship

but I want you

to continue

reading.

O Lord

the great

and awesome

God

who keeps

his covenant

of love.

Lord

covenant.

That shouldn't

be surprised.

The name

of the Lord

of the covenant

is Yahweh.

So he is

focusing on the

fact that it

is covenant

but it's not

just any covenant

it is covenant

of love.

It is the covenant

that God uses

to show us

his love.

In their case

it's the Abrahamic

covenant

and the old

covenant.

In our case

it's right in front

of you.

As we were

taking this

we were affirming

that we are

in a covenant

of love

relationship

with God.

But this

expression

covenant of love

is very

very interesting

and I'm going

to be disappointed.

You're going to

hurt my feelings

if you don't get

the next point.

Where does this

expression come from?

It comes from

Deuteronomy

7.9.

If you have

Bible

please

turn to

Deuteronomy

7.9.

Deuteronomy

is the fifth

book in the

Old Testament.

Genesis

Exodus

Leviticus

Numbers

Deuteronomy.

Turn to

chapter 7

verse 9

and I want

you to see

something

really

really

important.

I wouldn't

make you

go back

and forth

if it

wasn't

really

important

but I

can't

imagine

you

missing

this

point

this

morning.

So in

Deuteronomy

Deuteronomy 7 · chapter mention

chapter 7

look what

Moses

says.

This is

what the

Lord is

speaking.

so in

verse 9

7.9

Know

therefore

that the

Lord your

God is

God.

He is

the faithful

God

keeping his

covenant of

love

to

thousand

generations.

God

keeps his

covenant of

love to

thousands of

generations.

generations.

This is an

unannounced

quiz.

Where did you

see the word

thousand

generations

recently?

Last week

last sermon

God chose

his anger

to four

generations

but his

love to

thousand

generations.

generations.

And we

saw it in

Exodus and

God is

affirming it

here.

God chose

his covenant

of love

to thousand

generations.

God is

infinitely more

loving toward

us than he

is wrathful.

If we push

him hard enough

he will be

wrathful.

But that's

not how he

prefers to

operate.

He prefers

to show

his love.

And

Daniel is

thinking

God chose

his love

to a

thousand

generations

while he's

already showed

his wrath.

We've been

in captivity

for 70

years.

So maybe

it's time

for him

to show

his love.

And so

he wants

this God

who shows

his love

through covenant

to thousands

of generations

to move

to save.

So

let's take

a look

at

verse

17.

Daniel

back to

Daniel

Daniel

Daniel 9:17

chapter 9

verse 17.

Now

our

God

hear

the

prayer

and

petitions

of your

servant

for your

sake

O

Lord

look with

favor

on this

desolate

sanctuary.

Give

ear

O

God

and hear

open

your

eyes

and see

the

desolation

of the

city

that

bears

your

name.

So

what he

wants to

do is

to appeal

to God

and what

is he

going to

appeal

based on?

He is

asking God

to make

his face

shine

on them.

he wants

God

to

forgive

them.

Verse

18

is

really

incredible

because

he says

give

ear

O

God

and

hear

open

your

eyes

and

see

the

desolation

of the

city

that

bears

your

name.

We

do

not

make

requests

of

you

because

we

are

righteous

but

because

of

your

great

mercy.

He's

saying

Lord

please

answer

my

prayer

not

because

I

am

righteous

but

because

you

are

merciful.

I

want

you

to

see

something.

This

looks

straightforward.

It's

not.

It's

very

important.

If

you

go

one

book

before

Daniel

it's

Ezekiel.

Please

turn to

Ezekiel

Ezekiel 14 · chapter mention

chapter

14.

Ezekiel

is also

praying

and God

is talking

with Ezekiel

about

this.

The

background

is this.

The

background

comes

from

Abraham.

God

wanted

to

destroy

Solomon

and

Gomorrah

and

Abraham

starts

to

intercede.

Lord

if

there

are

40

righteous

people

would

you

not

forgive

the

whole

city?

And

God

says

yes

for

the

sake

of

40

I

will

forgive.

Lord

if

there

are

30

would

you

not

forgive?

I

will

forgive.

So

he

keeps

interceding

and

lowering

the

number.

And

then

from that

grew up

the idea

that for

the

sake

of the

righteous

few

God

will

spare

the

larger

sinful

city.

Now

what

Ezekiel

is saying

in chapter

14

is that

in this

case

this is

not going

to work

that

even

if

these

great

prayer

warriors

pray

they

are

not

going

to

cause

God

to

relent.

And

he

mentions

three

of

them

Noah

Daniel

and

Job.

I

would

have

thought

Noah

Moses

and

Job.

No

it's

Noah

Daniel

and

Job.

See

that

it's

in

Ezekiel

14

14.

Who

is

this

Daniel?

There

are

two

Daniels.

There

is

a

figure

in

Ugaritic

mythology

and

then

there

is

the

prophet.

Ezekiel

and

Daniel

are

contemporaries.

Daniel

went to

exile

nine

years

before

Ezekiel.

He

is

now

being

told

that

even

if

the

cream

of

the

crop

the

best

Noah

Daniel

and

Job

even

if

these

three

top

prayer

warriors

to pray

they're

not

going

to

cause

God

to

relent.

The

amazing

thing

is

that

Daniel

is

already

made

the

best

of

the

best.

God

is

putting

him

in

the

same

class

in

the

same

league

as

these

other

two.

I

would

have

thought

first

of all

if I

were

Ezekiel

I'd

go to

Daniel

and

I'd

say

for

ten

dollars

you know

give me

ten

dollars

I'll

tell you

what

God

thinks

of

you

or

I

would

say

you

are

in

special

favor

with

God

and

I

would

be

tempted

to

say

Lord

you

said

it

I

didn't

say

it

you

said

I'm

one

of

the

best

people

on

your

list

surely

I

owe

you

know

you

owe

me

something

here

you

know

you

need

you

know

I

I'm

special

you

owe

me

a

favor

you

owe

me

to

answer

a

prayer

but

he

doesn't

how

does

he

pray

Lord

based

on

your

mercy

we

are

not

making

requests

of

you

because

of

our

righteousness

but

because

of

your

great

mercy

why

does

he

pray

and

on

what

basis

Lord

for

your

sake

for

your

mercy

sake

because

you

are

a

God

who

keeps

his

word

because

you

are

a

God

who

keeps

love

for

thousands

of

generations

so

when

we

come

to

pray

to

God

we

have

to

keep

in

mind

he

doesn't

listen

to

us

because

I

have

been

faithful

all

week

long

so

now

I

need

to

collect

my

reward

he

listens

to

us

because

he

is

merciful

he

is

loving

he

holds

generations

for

thousand

times

so

God

is inviting

us

to pray

and

to

remember

his

covenant

of

love

if

you

think

you

can

see

God's

love

in

the

Old

Testament

indeed

you

can

but

you

haven't

even

started

until

you

get

to

the

New

Testament

and

really

really

then

see

this

great

covenant

of

love

that

we

are

involved

in

Amen

Amen