mh_parser/scraps/Dan_9_4-Dan_9_19.html

<p>We have here Daniel’s prayer to God as his God, and the confession which he joined with that prayer: I <i>prayed, and made my confession</i>. Note, In every prayer we must make confession, not only of the sins we have been guilty of (which we commonly call <i>confession</i>), but of our faith in God and dependence upon him, our sorrow for sin and our resolutions against it. It must be our confession, must be the language of our own convictions and that which we ourselves do heartily subscribe to.</p>
<p class="tab-1">Let us go over the several parts of this prayer, which we have reason to think that he offered up much more largely than is here recorded, these being only the heads of it.</p>
<p class="tab-1">I. Here is his humble, serious, reverent address to God, 1. As a God to be feared, and whom it is our duty always to stand in awe of: “<i>O Lord! the great and dreadful God</i>, that art able to deal with the greatest and most terrible of the church’s enemies.” 2. As a God to be trusted, and whom it is our duty to depend upon and put a confidence in: <i>Keeping the covenant and mercy to those that love him</i>, and, as a proof of their love to him, <i>keep his commandments</i>. If we fulfil our part of the bargain, he will not fail to fulfil his. He will be to his people as good as his word, for he keeps covenant with them, and not one iota of his promise shall fall to the ground; nay, he will be better than his word, for he keeps mercy to them, something more than was in the covenant. It was proper for Daniel to have his eye upon God’s mercy now that he was to lay before him the miseries of his people, and upon God’s covenant now that he was to sue for the performance of a promise. Note, We should, in prayer, look both at God’s greatness and his goodness, his majesty and mercy in conjunction.</p>
<p class="tab-1">II. Here is a penitent confession of sin, the procuring cause of all the calamities which his people had for so many years been groaning under, <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.5,Dan.9.6" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.5,Dan.9.6"><span class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.5">Dan. 9:5</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.6">6</span></a>. When we seek to God for national mercies we ought to humble ourselves before him for national sins. These are the sins Daniel here laments; and we may here observe the variety of words he makes use of to set forth the greatness of their provocations (for it becomes penitents to lay load upon themselves): <i>We have sinned</i> in many particular instances, nay, <i>we have committed iniquity</i>, we have driven a trade of sin, <i>we have done wickedly</i> with a hard heart and a stiff neck, and herein we have <i>rebelled</i>, have taken up arms against the King of kings, his crown and dignity. Two things aggravated their sins:—1. That they had violated the express laws God had given them by Moses: “We have <i>departed from they precepts and from thy judgments</i>, and have not conformed to them. And (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.10" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.10">Dan. 9:10</a>) <i>we have not obeyed the voice of the Lord our God</i>.” That which speaks the nature of sin, that it is <i>the transgression of the law</i>, does sufficiently speak the malignity of it; if sin be made to <i>appear sin</i>, it cannot be made to appear worse; its <i>sinfulness</i> is its greatest hatefulness, <a class="bibleref" title="Rom.7.13" href="/passage/?search=Rom.7.13">Rom. 7:13</a>. God has <i>set his laws before us</i> plainly and fully, as the copy we should write after, yet <i>we have not walked in</i> them, but turned aside, or turned back. 2. That they had slighted the fair warnings God had given them by the prophets, which in every age he had sent to them, <i>rising up betimes and sending them</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.6" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.6">Dan. 9:6</a>): “<i>We have not hearkened to thy servants the prophets</i>, who have put us in mind of thy laws, and of the sanctions of them; though they <i>spoke in thy name</i>, we have not regarded them; though they delivered their message faithfully, with a universal respect to all orders and degrees of men, to <i>our kings and princes</i>, whom they had the courage and confidence to speak to, <i>to our fathers</i>, and to all the <i>people of the land</i>, whom they had the condescension and compassion to speak to, yet <i>we have not hearkened to them</i>, nor heard them, or not heeded them, or not complied with them.” Mocking God’s messengers, and despising his words, were Jerusalem’s measure-filling sins, <a class="bibleref" title="2Chr.36.16" href="/passage/?search=2Chr.36.16">2 Chron. 36:16</a>. This confession of sin is repeated here, and much insisted on; penitents should again and again accuse and reproach themselves till they find their hearts thoroughly broken. <i>All Israel have transgressed thy law</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.11" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.11">Dan. 9:11</a>. It is <i>Israel</i>, God’s professing people, who have known better, and from whom better is expected—Israel, God’s peculiar people, whom he has surrounded with his favours; not here and there one, but it is <i>all</i> Israel, the generality of them, the body of the people, that <i>have transgressed by departing</i> and getting out of the way, <i>that they might not</i> hear, and so might not <i>obey, thy voice</i>. This disobedience is that which all true penitents do most sensibly charge upon themselves (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.14" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.14">Dan. 9:14</a>): <i>We obeyed not his voice, and</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.15" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.15">Dan. 9:15</a>) <i>we have sinned, we have done wickedly</i>. Those that would find mercy must thus confess their sins.</p>
<p class="tab-1">III. Here is a self-abasing acknowledgment of the righteousness of God in all the judgments that were brought upon them; and it is evermore the way of true penitents thus to justify God, that he may be clear when he judges, and the sinner may bear all the blame. 1. He acknowledges that it was sin that plunged them in all these troubles. Israel is <i>dispersed</i> through <i>all the countries</i> about, and so weakened, impoverished, and exposed. God’s hand has <i>driven them</i> hither and thither, some <i>near</i>, where they are known and therefore the more ashamed, others <i>afar off</i>, where they are not known and therefore the more abandoned, and it is <i>because of their trespass that they have trespassed</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.7" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.7">Dan. 9:7</a>); they mingled themselves with the nations that they might be debauched by them, and now God mingles them with the nations that they might be stripped by them. 2. He owns the righteousness of God in it, that he had done them no wrong in all he had brought upon them, but had dealt with them as they deserved (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.7" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.7">Dan. 9:7</a>): “<i>O Lord! righteousness belongs to thee</i>; we have no fault to find with thy providence, no exceptions to make against thy judgments, for (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.14" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.14">Dan. 9:14</a>) <i>the Lord our God is righteous in all his works which he does</i>, even in the sore calamities we are now under, for <i>we obeyed not the words</i> of his mouth, and therefore justly feel the weight of his hand.” This seems to be borrowed from <a class="bibleref" title="Lam.1.18" href="/passage/?search=Lam.1.18">Lam. 1:18</a>. 3. He takes notice of the fulfilling of the scripture in what was brought upon them. <i>In very faithfulness he afflicted them</i>; for it was according to the word which he had spoken. <i>The curse is poured upon us and the oath</i>, that is, the curse that was ratified by an oath in the law of Moses, <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.11" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.11">Dan. 9:11</a>. This further justifies God in their troubles, that he did but inflict the penalty of the law, which he had given them fair notice of. It was necessary for the preserving of the honour of God’s veracity, and saving his government from contempt, that the threatenings of his word should be accomplished, otherwise they look but as bugbears, nay, they seem not at all frightful. Therefore <i>he has confirmed his words which spoke against us</i> because we broke his laws, <i>and against our judges that judged us</i> because they did not according to the duty of their place punish the breach of God’s laws. He told them many a time that if they did not execute justice, as terrors to evil-workers, he must and would take the work into his own hands; and now he has <i>confirmed</i> what he said <i>by bringing upon us a great evil</i>, in which the princes and judges themselves deeply shared. Note, It contributes very much to our profiting by the <i>judgments of God’s hand</i> to observe how exactly they agree with the <i>judgments of his mouth</i>. 4. He aggravates the calamities they were in, lest they should seem, having been long used to them, to make light of them, and so to lose the benefit of the chastening of the Lord by despising it. “It is not some of the common troubles of life that we are complaining of, but that which has in it some special marks of divine displeasure; for <i>under the whole heaven has not been done as has been done upon Jerusalem</i>,” <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.12" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.12">Dan. 9:12</a>. It is Jeremiah’s lamentation in the name of the church, <i>Was ever sorrow like unto my sorrow</i>? which must suppose another similar question, <i>Was ever sin like unto my sin</i>? 5. He puts shame upon the whole nation, from the highest to the lowest; and if they will say <i>Amen</i> to his prayer, as it was fit they should if they would come 
<p class="tab-1">IV. Here is a believing appeal to the mercy of God, and to the ancient tokens of his favour to Israel, and the concern of his own glory in their interests. 1. It is some comfort to them (and not a little) that God has been always ready to pardon sin (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.9" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.9">Dan. 9:9</a>): <i>To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness</i>; this refers to that proclamation of his name, <a class="bibleref" title="Exod.34.6,Exod.34.7" href="/passage/?search=Exod.34.6,Exod.34.7"><span class="bibleref" title="Exod.34.6">Exod. 34:6</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Exod.34.7">7</span></a>, <i>The Lord God, gracious and merciful, forgiving iniquity</i>. Note, It is very encouraging to poor sinners to recollect that <i>mercies belong to God</i>, as it is convincing and humbling to them to recollect that righteousness belongs to him; and those who give him the glory of his righteousness may take to themselves the comfort of his mercies, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.62.12" href="/passage/?search=Ps.62.12">Ps. 62:12</a>. There are abundant mercies in God, and not only forgiveness but <i>forgivenesses</i>; he is a <i>God of pardons</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Neh.9.17" href="/passage/?search=Neh.9.17">Neh. 9:17</a>; marg.); he <i>multiplies to pardon</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Isa.55.7" href="/passage/?search=Isa.55.7">Isa. 55:7</a>. <i>Though we have rebelled against him</i>, yet with him there is mercy, pardoning mercy, even <i>for the rebellious</i>. 2. It is likewise a support to them to think that God had formerly glorified himself by delivering them out of Egypt; so far he looks back for the encouragement of his faith (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.15" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.15">Dan. 9:15</a>): “<i>Thou hast</i> formerly <i>brought thy people out of Egypt with a mighty hand</i>, and wilt thou not now with the same mighty hand bring them out of Babylon? Were they then formed into a people, and shall they not now be reformed and new-formed? Are they now sinful and unworthy, and were they not so then? Are their oppressors now mighty and haughty, and were they not so then? And has not God said the their deliverance out of Babylon shall outshine even that out of Egypt?” <a class="bibleref" title="Jer.16.14,Jer.16.15" href="/passage/?search=Jer.16.14,Jer.16.15"><span class="bibleref" title="Jer.16.14">Jer. 16:14</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Jer.16.15">15</span></a>. The force of this plea lies in that, “<i>Thou hast gotten thyself renown</i>, hast <i>made thyself a name</i>” (so the word is) “<i>as at this day</i>, even to this day, by bringing us out of Egypt; and wilt thou lose the credit of that by letting us perish in Babylon? Didst thou get a renown by that deliverance which we have so often commemorated, and wilt thou not now get thyself a renown by this which we have so often prayed for, and so long waited for?”</p>
<p class="tab-1">V. Here is a pathetic complaint of the reproach that God’s people lay under, and the ruins that God’s sanctuary lay in, both which redounded very much to the dishonour of God and the diminution of that name and renown which God had gained by bringing them out of Egypt. 1. God’s holy people were despised. By <i>their sins and the iniquities of their fathers</i> they had profaned their crown and made themselves despicable, and then though they are, in name and profession, God’s people, and upon that account truly great and honourable, yet they become <i>a reproach to all that are round about them</i>. Their neighbours laugh them to scorn, and triumph in their disgrace. Note, <i>Sin is a reproach to any people</i>, but especially to God’s people, that have more eyes upon them and have more honour to lose than other people. 2. God’s holy place was desolate. Jerusalem, the holy city, was a reproach (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.16" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.16">Dan. 9:16</a>) when it lay in ruins; it was an <i>astonishment</i> and a hissing to all that passed by. The sanctuary, the holy house, was desolate (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.17" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.17">Dan. 9:17</a>), the altars were demolished, and all the buildings laid in ashes. Note, The desolations of the sanctuary are the grief of all the saints, who reckon all their comforts in this world buried in the ruins of the sanctuary.</p>
<p class="tab-1">VI. Here is an importunate request to God for the restoring of the poor captive Jews to their former enjoyments again. The petition is very pressing, for God gives us leave in prayer to wrestle with him: “<i>O Lord! I beseech thee</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.16" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.16">Dan. 9:16</a>. If ever thou wilt do any thing for me, do this; it is my heart’s desire and prayer. <i>Now therefore, O our God! hear the prayer of thy servant and his supplication</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.17" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.17">Dan. 9:17</a>), and grant an answer of peace.” Now what are his petitions? What are his requests? 1. That God would turn away his wrath from them; that is it which all the saints dread and deprecate more than any thing: O let <i>thy anger be turned away from thy Jerusalem, thy holy mountain</i>! <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.16" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.16">Dan. 9:16</a>. He does not pray for the turning again of their captivity (let the Lord do with them as seems good in his eyes), but he prays first for the <i>turning away of Go 8000 d’s wrath</i>. Take away the cause, and the effect will cease. 2. That he would lift up the light of his countenance upon them (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.17" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.17">Dan. 9:17</a>): “<i>Cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate</i>; return in thy mercy to us, and show that thou art reconciled to us, and then all shall be well.” Note, The shining of God’s face upon the desolations of the sanctuary is all in all towards the repair of it; and upon that foundation it must be rebuilt. If therefore its friends would begin their work at the right end, they must first be earnest with God in prayer for his favour, and recommend his desolate sanctuary to his smiles. <i>Cause thy face to shine</i> and then <i>we shall be saved</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.80.3" href="/passage/?search=Ps.80.3">Ps. 80:3</a>. 3. That he would forgive their sins, and then hasten their deliverance (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.19" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.19">Dan. 9:19</a>): <i>O Lord! hear; O Lord! forgive</i>. “That the mercy prayed for may be granted in mercy, let the sin that threatens to come between us and it be removed: <i>O Lord! hearken and do</i>, not hearken and speak only, but hearken and do; do that for us which none else can, and that speedily—<i>defer not, O my God</i>!” Now that he saw the appointed day approaching he could in faith pray that God would make haste to them and not defer. David often prays, <i>Make haste, O God! to help me</i>.</p>
<p class="tab-1">VII. Here are several pleas and arguments to enforce the petitions. God gives us leave not only to pray, but to plead with him, which is not to move him (he himself knows what he will do), but to move ourselves, to excite our fervency and encourage our faith. 1. They disdain a dependence upon any righteousness of their own; they pretend not to merit any thing at God’s hand but wrath and the curse (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.18" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.18">Dan. 9:18</a>): “<i>We do not present our supplications before thee</i> with hope to speed <i>for our righteousness</i>, as if we were worthy to receive thy favour for any good in us, or done by us, or could demand any thing as a debt; we cannot insist upon our own justification, no, though we were more righteous than we are; nay, though we knew nothing amiss of ourselves, yet are we not thereby justified, nor <i>would we answer</i>, but we would <i>make supplication to our Judge</i>.” Moses had told Israel long before that, whatever God did for them, it was <i>not for their righteousness</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Deut.9.4,Deut.9.5" href="/passage/?search=Deut.9.4,Deut.9.5"><span class="bibleref" title="Deut.9.4">Deut. 9:4</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Deut.9.5">5</span></a>. And Ezekiel had of late told them that their return out of Babylon would be <i>not for their sakes</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Ezek.36.22,Ezek.36.32" href="/passage/?search=Ezek.36.22,Ezek.36.32"><span class="bibleref" title="Ezek.36.22">Ezek. 36:22</span>, <span class="bibleref" title="Ezek.36.32">32</span></a>. Note, Whenever we come to God for mercy we must lay aside all conceit of, and confidence in, our own righteousness. 2. They take their encouragement in prayer from God only, as knowing that his reasons of mercy are fetched from within himself, and therefore from him we must borrow all our pleas for mercy, and so give honour to him when we are suing for grace and mercy from him. (1.) “Do it <i>for thy own sake</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.19" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.19">Dan. 9:19</a>), for the accomplishment of thy own counsel, the performance of thy own promise, and the manifestation of thy own glory.” Note, God will do his own work, not only in his own way and time, but for his own sake, and so we must take it. (2.) “Do it <i>for the Lord’s sake</i>, that is, for the Lord Christ’s sake,” for the sake of the Messiah promised, who is the Lord (so the most and best of our Christian interpreters understand it), <i>for the sake of Adonai</i>, so David called the Messiah (<a class="bibleref" title="Ps.110.1" href="/passage/?search=Ps.110.1">Ps. 110:1</a>), and mercy is prayed for for the church for the sake of the <i>Son of man</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Ps.80.17" href="/passage/?search=Ps.80.17">Ps. 80:17</a>), and <i>for thy Word’s sake</i>, he is Lord of all. It is for his sake that God causes his face to shine upon sinners when they repent and turn to him, because of the satisfaction he has made. In all our prayers that therefore must be our plea; we must <i>make mention of his righteousness, even of his only</i>, <a class="bibleref" title="Ps.71.16" href="/passage/?search=Ps.71.16">Ps. 71:16</a>. <i>Look upon the face of the anointed</i>. He has himself directed us to <i>ask in his name</i>. (3.) “Do it <i>according to all thy righteousness</i> (<a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.16" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.16">Dan. 9:16</a>), that is, plead for us against our persecutors and oppressors <i>according to thy righteousness</i>. Though we are ourselves unrighteous before God, yet with reference to them we have a righteous cause, which we leave it with the righteous God to appear in the defence of.” Or, rather, by the <i>righteousness of God</i> here is meant his faithfulness to his promise. God had, <i>according to his righteousness</i>, executed the threatening, <a class="bibleref" title="Dan.9.11" href="/passage/?search=Dan.9.11">Dan. 9:11</a>. “Now, Lord, wilt thou not do according to <i>all</i> t