Daniel 9:15 Commentary and Bible Study

Then comes a recollection of the deliverance from Egypt. The arguments and are now going to build up in this prayer. He is thinking not only of his own generation, but of how the nation came to be, and the long history of God’s dealings with them: how they have been provided for and preserved over so many centuries. He does not doubt for a moment that all this has been due to the faithfulness of God. But their beginning was so unique in the history of nations, and it must be remembered because if God calls a nation, and makes them his own people, he will not desert them. Their origin was such that they owed everything to God. Daniel is strengthening his faith by these considerations. We too may think back over the history of the church: its beginning at Pentecost, its apostolic witness and doctrine, its surmounting many trials and attacks and heresies, and continuing to be the pillar and ground of the truth. This is the same church we belong to and we are confident Christ will not allow it to be defeated. We remember this when we come to confess our sins, lest we be discouraged.But in verse 16 is the petition proper: ‘O Lord, according to all thy righteousness, I beseech thee, let thine anger and thy fury be turned away from thy city Jerusalem’, because, after all, it is the witness to the world. It is the location of the temple, the centre of all the types and shadows, and the messages that go out throughout Judah and throughout the world. Right now Jerusalem is in ruins, and that testimony is marred. Instead of being a witness to the one true living God, Jerusalem has become a reproach. But will God allow this state of affairs to continue? Daniel is confident based on Jeremiah’s prophecy that he will not. Not that God does not have other ways of exalting his name on earth, but this is his chosen way in Old Testament times, and Daniel draws encouragement from it. ‘Hear the prayer of thy servant.’ Now he moves from making petition to imploring of God, appealing to God, repeatedly appealing. Many supplications are here. See how many times the word ‘thou’, ‘thy’, and ‘thine’ are used.‘O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies’, and Daniel seems to appeal on the grounds, ‘Surely this will do injury to the name of God, for this terrible state of Jerusalem to exist for too long.’ If Jerusalem is disciplined and in ruins, but then recovers, that is one thing; but if she is permanently destroyed, that is another.Verse 19 comes to the conclusion of the prayer: ‘O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer not, for thine own sake, O my God: for thy city and thy people are called by thy name.’ By connecting his name with so sinful a nation as Israel, and so unstable and undependable a people as the Jews, God has, as it were, opened himself up to disrepute in the eyes of men. Daniel in this prayer seems to put himself in the position of being the one who defends God’s glory more than he does himself, and who seems to remind the Lord of steps that need to be taken to defend his glory. Of course it is not really so, but the Lord allows his people to feel an indignation on his behalf, and to have strong zeal for his honour. It is almost to test us that God seems to withdraw from the battle and let us fight his cause on our own. So may a father treat his child in order to stir up strong feeling for the honour of the family.