ELEMENTS OF PRAYER: PETITION FOR MERCY

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

 “Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.”

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, Lord, look with favor on Your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.”

Daniel 9:15-19

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

In the past two devotions, parts three and four of this six devotion series on the elements of prayer, we found Daniel first confessing the sins of the Israelites to God in prayer before accepting the consequences God had sent His people in response to those sins.

Today, we see Daniel turn toward a petition to God, a petition for mercy because he knew that as much as God was a God of judgment, He was also a God of grace and forgiveness. Look again at our verses for today:

“Now, Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our ancestors have made Jerusalem and Your people an object of scorn to all those around us.”

“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of Your servant. For Your sake, Lord, look with favor on Your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, our God, and hear; open Your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears Your Name. We do not make requests of You because we are righteous, but because of Your great mercy. Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, hear and act! For Your sake, my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your Name.”  Daniel 9:15-19

Note right away that Daniel identifies God as the Lord who brought the Israelites out of Egypt with a mighty hand. In doing so, he acknowledges God as a great Deliverer, something that the Israelites in his time, the Israelites who had endures a seventy year captivity certainly yearned for. Who wouldn’t crave deliverance after being in exile that long?

As we read on, we find Daniel once again confirming the iniquities of the Israelites. He hasn’t changed his tone when it comes to the matter of accountability. The people of God had done wrong, plain and simple. Their actions had caused the holy land of Canaan and the divine city of Jerusalem to be the object of scorn and derision thus they fully deserved God’s wrath and punishment.

But now the price had been paid in Daniel’s eyes. The Israelites had paid the price for their sins and so Daniel asks for God to withdraw His anger and wrath.  He calls on God to hear his prayer and petition to bring His favor back to His people and His desolate sanctuary, not because they have earned it or deserved it because of some newfound righteousness. No, Daniel was simply asking for God to reinstate His people and return them to His good graces solely because of His great mercy, a mercy that forgives, renews, and restores.

Friends, this is the same God we serve today, the same God that we all stand before guilty in our sins. He is the same God who sends penalty on those who choose to do wrong in His sight, the same God we are to confess and repent to. And He is the same God who grants mercy and forgiveness to His people, delivering them back into His favor.

God hears our petitions for clemency and compassion, and acts upon those petitions. That was the truth in the days of Daniel and it’s the truth we can count on today.

Give thanks to God for His blessed, amazing grace today and forever more.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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