Daniel's Prayer Of Confession, Part 2

Last week I did a first talk on Daniel’s prayer of confession. I’m going to assume that you can roughly remember what I talked about last week. That might be a mistake, but even if you can’t, I don’t think it should be too much of a problem for following my talk today.

At the end of last week’s talk, we reached the point where Daniel acknowledges that God is a great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments. There is, however, a teensy-weensy problem. God’s people have not kept God’s commandments. Daniel is going to say sorry – and we’re going to look at how he says sorry.

So, let’s dive in! We’re only going to look at verses 5-10. That won’t take us to the end of Daniel’s prayer, but I think it’s more profitable to focus on these verses than to try to do the whole prayer. I don’t intend to do all of it. Next week we’ll go on to one of Paul’s prayers and that will conclude this short series on prayer.

I'm going to pick out a number of key words and phrases.

1. (v.5) ‘we have sinned…’

After addressing God, ‘O Lord, the great and awesome God’ and so on, Daniel says, ‘we have sinned…’

Daniel’s opening three words (after addressing God) are a great example to us. Daniel is matter-of-fact. He doesn’t beat about the bush. He says what he wants to say directly and clearly. ‘We have sinned.’ In other words: ‘We are in the wrong.’ On behalf of the Jewish people, Daniel pleads guilty. He knows his people are guilty. He can’t deny it and he doesn’t try to. The only hope he has is that God will be merciful. The starting point to obtain God’s mercy is to say sorry.

There’s an example for us here. Most of us are not very fond of saying ‘we have sinned.’ If we get something wrong, we tend to blame someone else or look for an excuse. We don’t like to take it on the chin. But Daniel takes it on the chin.

If we have committed sin (and we all have) there is no other way forward. We are guilty before God and we have no means of making ourselves righteous. The only way to a restored relationship with God is to say sorry. We have to swallow our pride and say sorry and mean it.

2. (v.5) Rebelled, turned aside (elaborating)

In verses 5 and 6, Daniel elaborates on what the Israelites got wrong, and in verses 7 to 10, he shows how sorry he is.

Let’s look first at verse 5. Daniel mentions about six ways the Israelites got things wrong. Some of the words and phrases Daniel uses are quite similar. For example, he says, ‘we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly.’ We get the picture that Daniel isn’t confessing a minor misdemeanour, like a parking offence. Look at how Daniel continues: ‘we have … rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules.’ ‘Rebelled’ means consciously and deliberately rejecting God’s authority. ‘Turning aside’ means consciously and deliberately choosing a different path. The Jewish people had deliberately turned from God.

There is an example for us here. If we’re going to confess our sin to God we should not simply say, ‘Oh God, I know I have committed sin. Please forgive me.’ We have to indicate to God that we know what we have done, and that we’re sorry for it.

3. (v.4,5) Commandments

Before we move on from verse 5, notice this word ‘commandments.’ Daniel talked about commandments in verse 4 and he talks about commandments again in this verse.

A while back I was listening to a Christian TV channel. Someone described the Bible as a guidebook. I was a bit annoyed! I now see there is even a version of the Bible called ‘The Guidebook.’

It’s true that the Bible is a guidebook. But it’s much more than a guidebook.

Suppose you took the ‘Health Protection (Coronavirus) REGULATIONS 2020’ and put them in a cover with the title ‘Health Protection GUIDELINES.’ That would be confusing, wouldn’t it? Guidelines are optional; regulations are mandatory.

There’s a warning here for us. If a book is only a guidebook it’s up to us if we follow its guidance or not. We don’t need to say sorry if we don’t follow it. It’s true that the Bible contains guidance. But the Bible also contains God’s commandments. God’s law is not optional. If we break it, we need to say sorry.

4. (v.6) We have not listened

Let’s continue to verse 6. Daniel has confessed that his people, the Jewish people, had deliberately turned from God. Now he elaborates a bit more.