This chapter contains a confessional / intercessory prayer from Daniel, and Gabriel responding with a prophecy of Jesus.
” ‘O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your [people], because for our sins… your people have become a byword among all who are around us… O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord… incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see… For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive… Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.’ ” (v16-19 abr)
Daniel, in the deep wisdom that the Spirit and scripture provide him, realizes their current situation (exile in Babylon) is God’s wrathful response to Israel’s unrepentant hearts. He therefore prays one of my favorite intercessory prayers in all of scripture. He acknowledges: who God is; his personal sin; his peoples’ sin; God’s righteous anger and wrath; their failure to listen to God’s prophets / word; their utter humiliation / calamity / desolation as a consequence; and more. Daniel throws himself and his people at God’s feet, begging for mercy and forgiveness, knowing that they are full of unrighteousness and guilty of much disobedience.
The same could be said of us today: we are a sinful people, both personally and communally, and only God’s mercy can spare us from His righteous anger / wrath. I suggest we make intercessory prayer a common practice. It could be as simple as a paraphrase of the sinful man in Jesus’ parable: “Lord, please have mercy on us, for we are sinners”. The more we realize how merciful and forgiving God is, and how much His wrath / anger was sated at the cross, the more we can obey Him out of gratefulness and the more we can appreciate His grace.
Father God, our Most High and Sovereign Lord, You are righteous and just. You love us so much that You would expend Your anger and wrath on Your own Son, to save us from bearing that just penalty for our sin. Please have mercy on us O Lord, and please forgive our abundant sin. Please help us to obey You for Your own sake, so we may not try Your patience and abuse Your mercy. Please lead us in the paths of righteousness, and please work in the hearts of our neighbors, so all may repent and inherit the Kingdom of Heaven. In the name of Jesus, the one who bore Your wrath and paid the ultimate penalty for our sin, we seek to humbly honor and obey You, amen.
~ Conqueror in Training