4 And I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed, “O, Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of loving devotion to those who love Him and keep His commandments,

5 w e have sinned and done wrong. We have acted wickedly and rebelled. We have turned away from Your commandments and ordinances.

— Daniel 9:4-5

6 let Your eyes be open and Your ears attentive to hear the prayer that I, Your servant, now pray before You day and night for Your servants, the Israelites. I confess the sins that we Israelites have committed against You. Both I and my father’s house have sinned.

7 We have behaved corruptly against You and have not kept the commandments, statutes, and ordinances that You gave Your servant Moses.

— Nehemiah 1:6-7

18 Who is a God like You, who pardons iniquity and passes over the transgression of the remnant of His inheritance—who does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in loving devotion?

19 He will again have compassion on us; He will vanquish our iniquities. You will cast out all our sins into the depths of the sea.

— Micah 7:18-19

Thoughts on Today’s Reading

Grace, mercy and love from Christ to you.

The way Daniel prayed in front of his God touches God’s heart and many God-loving and God-fearing people’s hearts over the past 2500 years. Daniel set a marvelous example of including himself among his fellowmen when confessing sin before God. Daniel did not simply confess his personal sin before the Lord in heartfelt prayer. He confessed the sin committed by his ancestors and fellowmen as well. Despite decades of faithful service to God, Daniel also experienced the consequences of his people’s sin. His prayers greatly inspire God’s children who desire to serve God with their prayers of sincerity, humility and affection.

Like their brothers – the northern tribes of Israel earlier exiled to Assyria – the people of Judah had proven themselves rebellious, idolatrous, and wayward for centuries. Daniel included himself in bearing the weight of his people’s sin before God. His compassionate grief foreshadowed and reflected Christlike care. Nearly six centuries later, in the garden of Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded for His Father’s mercy as He prepared to bear the overwhelming burden of the sin of the world on the cross.