Observation: Daniel, now an old man, knows from the prophesies of Jeremiah - prophesies he would have heard first-hand when he was a young man in Jerusalem - that the exile is to last 70 years, so he begins praying for their redemption and return. He outlines and confesses everything that they and their ancestors did to warrant exile, all the sins they committed and all the warnings they ignored. And then he asks for the Lord's favor now. However, that ask is NOT based on the fact they have corrected themselves. Instead, it is based on the Lord himself.
The Lord is the one who can deliver justice. He is the one and only judge. He is responsible for all mercy. The Lord has made declarations about his judgment and the punishments, and so now, by his own name and to his own glory, is the time to restore Judah and allow the exiles to return to the land.
There is a new king. Darius is a Mede, not a Babylonian, which echos of the other prophetic words delivered by Jeremiah and Ezekiel about the lifecycle of the exile and even the punishment of the nations that attacked the Jews. However, the release of the Jews would still be extraordinary. Yet Daniel prays for it, and again not because the Jews have earned it by correcting their ways, but rather quite the opposite ... they were in fact completely deserving of the punishment they received, that Yahweh warned them of in advance ... so as part of the ongoing evidence of the greatness and wonder and love of the Lord, now is the time to restore Judah.
Application: As I struggle to keep my prayer life active, this is perhaps an instruction for me ... when I pray, I pray too often about me. I pray for what I want, and what I've done, and what I hope for. I pray for my correction, my direction, and my sanctification. I ask the Lord for things in my life, and in the life of my family. I may say 'thy will be done', but that is sometimes I'm allowing for the idea that the Lord won't do what I want. Somehow I make surrender selfish.
Daniel's model is the superior example. He declares all he and the Jews have done wrong, then simply says that whatever happens next should be because of the Lord, to his glory and honor. Does he want the Jews to be released? Yes, of course (though there is a sad irony that he himself will not return from exile despite being alive at the time the return was granted). However, Daniel sincerely does not want the exile to end as a 'reward' for the Jews, or as a response to their good work while in Babylon. Instead, he wants the exile to end because the Lord said it would, and doing so will be yet another miraculous proof of the Lord's authority over human rulers of all kinds.
Prayer: Lord, I do ask for your forgiveness today for all I do. I am wicked in my flesh, and I fail so often even just within my heart and mind. I am not worthy of your love, and yet I know you love me anyway out of your great nature. As we head into this season, may I serve you, not out of my worthiness, nor out of my goodness, but rather may I do so simply because you have a plan for this community, and you have allowed me to participate in it. May the next four weeks be all about your glory. Amen.
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