SERMON TITLE: Prayer in Exile
TEXT: Daniel 9:1-19 (NLT)
SPEAKER: Josh Hanson
DATE: 7-21-24
Watch the sermon here
Take notes here
As always it’s a joy to be with all of you this weekend at Gateway Church. And if you’re worshiping with us for the first time — are joining us at our North Main Campus or are with our friends in Bucyrus — I want you to know that God loves you and that I love you too.
We’re continuing our series in the book of Daniel today — looking at what it means to live in exile. And we’re in the last half of the book — a section full of visions, dreams, symbols, angels, beasts, and other confusing sorts of details. And — after a few weeks looking at the end times — the theological term is eschatology — we’re going to turn to a topic that — for many of us — may be less exciting than how everything’s going to come to an end but — though less exciting — today’s topic — I believe — will have a more immediate practical application in our lives.
So let’s begin by reading our text for today. We’re in Daniel chapter nine — beginning in verse one.
Daniel 9:1–19 (NLT)
1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes. 4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands. 5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. 6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. 8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. 12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. 13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him. 15 “O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness. 16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors. 17 “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city — the city that bears your name — lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. 19 “O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”
Here’s the key idea for us from our verses: In reading God’s Word, Daniel turned to God in prayer. In reading God’s Word, Daniel turned to God in prayer — and specifically — a prayer of confession. And it’s Daniel’s posture — as he prays — that’s important for us to remember. This is found at the end of verse eighteen where Daniel prays…
Daniel 9:18b (NLT)
18 “We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy.”
God’s people have been conquered, they’ve been taken from their homeland, forced to integrate into a new culture with new social norms and religions and values, they’ve had everything that was familiar replaced with the unfamiliar — and this was all because of their sin and rebellion against God. God had lovingly warned them — “If you keep heading in this direction you will suffer the consequences” — and the people — acting like a two year old who tells their mom and dad no all the time — they thought they knew better than God.
And — for this reason — though we may hate all that Daniel’s experiencing — we can’t allow ourselves to believe that God is being unjust or unfair. He wasn’t obligated to warn the people — but he did. And may we never forget that — even in exile — they’re still alive — though God could’ve rightfully brought their lives to an end. Even exile is the mercy of God — if we’re open to responding to his Word and his Spirit who desire to lead and guide us in the wilderness.
Daniel knew all of this — which is why he prays with such honesty. “We don’t deserve your help, God. But because we believe that you are merciful — we’ve made these requests to you in prayer.” What a posture — what humility — what right thinking about who God is and who they are — of what God is right to do and what they deserve — and don’t deserve — to experience. Only when we have a right view of God and ourselves will we pray this way — confessing who he is and who we are — giving ourselves over completely to the mercy of God.
So — let’s discover what we can learn from Daniel’s prayer for our own prayer lives. For this is the practical topic I was referring to earlier — prayer. An activity that you may already do — Christian or not — is something I find many often feel uncertain about. So let’s grow in our understanding of prayer so we leave here with a more robust and vibrant prayer life.
But — first — let’s return to our text — we’re back in verse one.
Daniel 9:1–3 (NLT)
1 It was the first year of the reign of Darius the Mede, the son of Ahasuerus, who became king of the Babylonians. 2 During the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, learned from reading the word of the Lord, as revealed to Jeremiah the prophet, that Jerusalem must lie desolate for seventy years. 3 So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and fasting. I also wore rough burlap and sprinkled myself with ashes.
So we all have our bearings — we’ve gone back in time — again. Now — we’re somewhere between the end of chapter five and the beginning of chapter six. I couldn’t find an exact date for us — maybe 539 or 538 BC — but Darius is first mentioned in the last verse of chapter five.
At first — I thought this was the prayer Daniel prayed that got him thrown into the lion’s den — but I couldn’t find a Bible commentary that agreed with me. By the way — when that happens — I know that I’m wrong. If I’m the only one who’s come up with an idea — it’s a good bet there’s a reason why — so I go with the scholars and not my super cool idea. Maybe someone listening needed to hear that.
Anyway — Daniel — we learn — is reading God’s Word. And — specifically — he’s reading the book of Jeremiah — where Jeremiah prophesies that Jerusalem will remain in ruins for seventy years. We’ll get to Daniel’s response in a moment but — for now — can we appreciate something that I think is really cool and incredible? Daniel’s reading the book of Jeremiah! How cool is that?
When you read your Bible — do you ever think, “I’m reading something that Daniel read”? Or “I wonder what Paul thought when he read this?” In my sermon preparation — one of the reminders I have for myself is to imagine Jesus reading the text over my shoulder. How did Jesus understand this text? What would he have pointed out to me? Where would he say, “Hey Josh, right there. That’s where you find me in these verses.” The next time you read your Bible — which I hope is today — or tomorrow at the latest — imagine Jesus reading with you — what does he see in the text that you don’t?
So that’s our first observation — we’re not the first group of people to read the Bible. In fact — people in the Bible — read the Bible. This faith in Jesus — and being readers, hearers, and doers of God’s Word — has been going on long before us — and will continue long after us.
Most likely — Daniel was reading this section of Jeremiah — which is found in chapter twenty five.
Jeremiah 25:8–14 (NLT)
8 And now the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says: Because you have not listened to me, 9 I will gather together all the armies of the north under King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, whom I have appointed as my deputy. I will bring them all against this land and its people and against the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy you and make you an object of horror and contempt and a ruin forever. 10 I will take away your happy singing and laughter. The joyful voices of bridegrooms and brides will no longer be heard. Your millstones will fall silent, and the lights in your homes will go out. 11 This entire land will become a desolate wasteland. Israel and her neighboring lands will serve the king of Babylon for seventy years. 12 “Then, after the seventy years of captivity are over, I will punish the king of Babylon and his people for their sins,” says the Lord. “I will make the country of the Babylonians a wasteland forever. 13 I will bring upon them all the terrors I have promised in this book — all the penalties announced by Jeremiah against the nations. 14 Many nations and great kings will enslave the Babylonians, just as they enslaved my people. I will punish them in proportion to the suffering they cause my people.”
And — in reading this passage from Jeremiah — Daniel stopped and prayed. He pleaded with God in prayer. He fasted — which means he went without food in order to draw closer to God. Fasting is a great way to practice our dependence upon God for our daily bread — as Jesus taught us to pray. For we often are self-sufficient in meeting our daily food needs. Fasting — not eating a meal — or multiple meals for a day or longer — will remind us of our dependency upon food. And — if done with the right intent — will draw us closer to God as we allow our hunger pains to remind us of our dependence upon him for all things.
Daniel prays, he fasts, and he wears rough burlap and puts ashes on himself to demonstrate humility, sorrow, mourning, and repentance in response to what he’s read in God’s Word. How do you respond when you read God’s Word?
For now — remember our key idea: In reading God’s Word, Daniel turned to God in prayer and — specifically — a prayer of confession. Let’s see how his prayer unfolds as we turn to verse four.
Daniel 9:4 (NLT)
4 I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed: “O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You always fulfill your covenant and keep your promises of unfailing love to those who love you and obey your commands.”
Daniel begins his prayer by praising God for who he is. He declares that God is great and awesome. He’s faithful in fulfilling his covenant promises to his people. His love is never failing towards those who love and obey him. Daniel begins by adoring God — by praising him — by worshiping him.
When you pray — how much time do you give to praising God for who he is as he’s revealed himself to be in scripture? Remember — Daniel was reading God’s Word — which led to his prayer. So let’s not separate these two practices.
Here are some examples of what this could look like for you. Say you’re reading this passage.
1 Samuel 16:1 (NLT)
1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”
What does this verse teach us about God? How about that God is the one who selects those who serve in authority. This is called God’s sovereignty — that he reigns and rules over all of his creation — including those who are in authority.
So you’re reading this verse and — if like Daniel you want your Bible reading to influence how you pray — you may pray something like, “God, I praise you for being sovereign over all who are in authority. From kings, to prime ministers, to presidents, to CEOs — none rise to leadership outside of your control. Though I don’t fully understand your ways — I trust you in choosing whether it is Saul or David who is in authority over me.”
Here’s another example.
1 Timothy 1:3 (NLT)
3 When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth.
Here’s a prayer based on this verse. “God, thank you for putting godly teachers in your church who protect your people from those who want to lead us astray. What a God you are — who cares for your people in this way.”
One last example.
Micah 4:11–12 (NLT)
11 Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.” 12 But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts or understand his plan. These nations don’t know that he is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
“God, how assuring it is to know that those who plot against you and your people do not know your thoughts or understand your plan. What they intend for evil — you use for our good and your glory. I praise you because of your wisdom and strength and justice — I praise you because you are the God who protects me.”
You can do this with any passage you’re reading in the Bible. I know this because I literally flipped to three different passages for the examples we just looked at. I didn’t pick out easy verses to make a point — I opened my Bible and picked the first words my eyes landed on — and those are the passages we just looked at. Let your reading of God’s Word cause you to praise him in your prayers.
Now — you may be thinking — “That doesn’t sound very much like confession to me?” So a definition of confession may be helpful. One of my Bible dictionaries defines confession this way: To ‘confess’ is to acknowledge by either word or deed the existence and authority of a divine power, or the sins and offenses of which one has been guilty. (A Dictionary of the Bible)
We’ve just practiced the first half of confession — acknowledging in word — through prayer — the existence and authority of God. Next — Daniel turns to the second half of our definition of confession — where we acknowledge our sins and offenses of which we are guilty before God. We’re in verse five.
Daniel 9:5–15 (NLT)
5 But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. 6 We have refused to listen to your servants the prophets, who spoke on your authority to our kings and princes and ancestors and to all the people of the land. 7 “Lord, you are in the right; but as you see, our faces are covered with shame. This is true of all of us, including the people of Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel, scattered near and far, wherever you have driven us because of our disloyalty to you. 8 O Lord, we and our kings, princes, and ancestors are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. 9 But the Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him. 10 We have not obeyed the Lord our God, for we have not followed the instructions he gave us through his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has disobeyed your instruction and turned away, refusing to listen to your voice. “So now the solemn curses and judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured down on us because of our sin. 12 You have kept your word and done to us and our rulers exactly as you warned. Never has there been such a disaster as happened in Jerusalem. 13 Every curse written against us in the Law of Moses has come true. Yet we have refused to seek mercy from the Lord our God by turning from our sins and recognizing his truth. 14 Therefore, the Lord has brought upon us the disaster he prepared. The Lord our God was right to do all of these things, for we did not obey him. 15 “O Lord our God, you brought lasting honor to your name by rescuing your people from Egypt in a great display of power. But we have sinned and are full of wickedness.
I appreciate what one pastor says about this second aspect of confession. He writes, “We cannot truly honor (God’s) worth without sensing our unworthiness. We cannot really see who he is and fail to bow.” (Bryan Chapell, Christ-Centered Worship, 88)
Daniel — in reading Scripture — praised God in prayer. And then he confessed the sins of his people that had led to their exile. Again — Scripture guided him in both praise and confession — and this is a practice we can all use in our prayer lives.
Let me show you how this works. We’re going to reuse the passages we just looked at to praise God in prayer — but now we’ll see how they might help us confess our sins as we pray. Here’s the passage from First Samuel again.
1 Samuel 16:1 (NLT)
1 Now the Lord said to Samuel, “You have mourned long enough for Saul. I have rejected him as king of Israel, so fill your flask with olive oil and go to Bethlehem. Find a man named Jesse who lives there, for I have selected one of his sons to be my king.”
Here’s a prayer of confession based on this verse. “God, I confess that there have been times in my life where — because I’ve been captured by the charisma, leadership, and ideas of an individual — I held on to my loyalty to them even when it was clear that you had rejected them. In our land of exile — this is so easy to do with political leaders, celebrities, and others — who live ungodly lives and yet have my devotion. For this, I ask for your forgiveness.”
Here’s the passage from First Timothy again.
1 Timothy 1:3 (NLT)
3 When I left for Macedonia, I urged you to stay there in Ephesus and stop those whose teaching is contrary to the truth.
And here’s a prayer of confession based on it. “God, I confess that there have been times when I’ve believed ideas and doctrines that were not true. I even passed on these lies to others. God help me — and help us, your people — to know your Word so well that we recognize the deceitfulness of those who teach contrary to your truth.”
Last example.
Micah 4:11–12 (NLT)
11 Now many nations have gathered against you. “Let her be desecrated,” they say. “Let us see the destruction of Jerusalem.” 12 But they do not know the Lord’s thoughts or understand his plan. These nations don’t know that he is gathering them together to be beaten and trampled like sheaves of grain on a threshing floor.
And a prayer of confession. “God, I confess that — like the nations mentioned in these verses — there have been many times in my life where I’ve allowed a certain outcome to drive my decisions — and I did so without first seeking your wisdom and plan. For this, I ask your forgiveness.”
Now — let’s finish Daniel’s prayer. And — here — we arrive at something marvelous — something unexpected after having recognized who God is and who we are through adoration and confession. What do we come to? Assurance. We’re in verse sixteen.
Daniel 9:16–19 (NLT)
16 In view of all your faithful mercies, Lord, please turn your furious anger away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain. All the neighboring nations mock Jerusalem and your people because of our sins and the sins of our ancestors. 17 “O our God, hear your servant’s prayer! Listen as I plead. For your own sake, Lord, smile again on your desolate sanctuary. 18 “O my God, lean down and listen to me. Open your eyes and see our despair. See how your city — the city that bears your name — lies in ruins. We make this plea, not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. 19 “O Lord, hear. O Lord, forgive. O Lord, listen and act! For your own sake, do not delay, O my God, for your people and your city bear your name.”
Having praised God and confessed the sins of he and his people — Daniel returns to who God is. For who God is — and what he’s promised to his people — is where assurance is found. Obviously, Daniel’s prayer is specific to the situation he finds himself in — but what we see is that — as he nears the end of his prayer — he remembers “all of God’s faithful mercies.”
As it’s been said, “The heart that cries out to God for mercy needs the assurance of his grace, or else there is no “good news” in the gospel. (Chapell, 90)
Assurance is a state of certainty — a confidence and security concerning one’s salvation and relationship with God. Now — remember — we’ve just confessed how we’ve royally messed things up — rebelled against God — known what to do and chose to do something else instead. We’ve just confessed this — so how in the world do we have assurance? We remember the faithful mercies of God. And — we remember his mercies — by knowing his Word.
Lamentations 3:22–23 (NLT)
22 The faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. 23 Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Why are his mercies new every morning? Because God has told us that he is…
Exodus 34:6 (ESV)
6 “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness…
Thus we can pray to God — remembering his mercies towards us — leading to our assurance — a confidence in who he is — which leads us to pray…
Psalm 25:6–7 (NLT)
6 Remember, O Lord, your compassion and unfailing love, which you have shown from long ages past. 7 Do not remember the rebellious sins of my youth. Remember me in the light of your unfailing love, for you are merciful, O Lord.
And…
Psalm 51:1–2 (NLT)
1 Have mercy on me, O God, because of your unfailing love. Because of your great compassion, blot out the stain of my sins. 2 Wash me clean from my guilt. Purify me from my sin.
Where we can pray without needing to pretend or hide our guilt and shame for the things we’ve done — but can confess them knowing that our God is gracious and kind — that he’s loving and merciful towards his children.
Which leads us to the pinnacle example in Scripture that reveals to us who our merciful God is: Jesus.
Jesus came to earth — to fulfill the plan that he, the Father, and the Spirit made before time began — so that we might experience the mercy of God. For we all have sinned. You may not view what you’ve done as anything “that bad” — you may view your sin as small compared to others. That’s OK. God can forgive your tiny sin as easily as he can forgive someone else’s whopper of a sin. Yet I know that — for others — it’s not your view of your sin that’s lacking — but your view of God’s mercy and love towards you. May this reminder — from a preacher who lived in the seventeenth century — give you assurance today.
“If your child becomes very sick, you don’t scold him and push him away. You weep with that child and tend to his needs. So Christ responds to us with compassion despite his hatred of our sins.” (Thomas Goodwin)
Christ doesn’t punish those who come to him confessing their sins and need of his mercy — he blankets them in his compassion and mercy. This is who Jesus is: compassionate, kind, loving, merciful, faithful.
Now — to close this sermon — I thought we’d try something different — and potentially confusing for the worship team. So — worship teams — wherever you are — here at our County Road 9 Campus— at our North Main Campus — or in Bucyrus — go ahead and take your places now. Yup — you heard me right — start making your way to the stage.
Speaking of worship — and this is bonus material to give them time to get in place — but it’s related to what we’ve looked at today — here at Gateway Church — our worship services follow this pattern of adoration, confession, and assurance. I know that folks tend to think of worship as nothing more than just “singing a few songs” — but know that the worship leaders follow this pattern of adoring God for who he is, before leading us to a time of confession and assurance. Just thought I’d throw that out there so you can try and spot these elements during our worship services in the future.
Now — onto the something different to close our time. Instead of me praying on our behalf — we’re going to close this sermon by praying a prayer of confession together. As Daniel has shown us — confession isn’t just something we do individually — he confessed on behalf of the sins of his people — including the history of his people — which tells us that confession is something done both individually and corporately. And — given the individualistic nature of our land of exile — it’d be good for us to practice corporate confession.
And — we’re going to do this by — first — looking at a passage of Scripture. I’ll read it to you. Then we’ll pray a prayer of adoration together. We’ll continue in the passage. Pray a prayer of confession together. And then I’ll finish the passage and close with some words of assurance.
Our text will be Mark chapter six — verses one through six. If you’re able — wherever you are — please stand.
Mark 6:1–2 (NLT)
1 Jesus left that part of the country and returned with his disciples to Nazareth, his hometown. 2 The next Sabbath he began teaching in the synagogue, and many who heard him were amazed. They asked, “Where did he get all this wisdom and the power to perform such miracles?”
Please pray out loud with me this prayer of adoration.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit // we are amazed by your wisdom and power. // We’re in awe of the words you’ve given to us // words of truth // words of hope // words of life. // We praise you for you are the only wise God // — the One who is all-powerful. // Amen.
Continuing in the gospel of Mark we read…
Mark 6:3–4 (NLT)
3 Then they scoffed, “He’s just a carpenter, the son of Mary and the brother of James, Joseph, Judas, and Simon. And his sisters live right here among us.” They were deeply offended and refused to believe in him. 4 Then Jesus told them, “A prophet is honored everywhere except in his own hometown and among his relatives and his own family.”
Pray out loud with me this prayer of confession.
Father, Son, and Holy Spirit // far too often we’ve scoffed at your wisdom. // We’ve rejected the words you’ve spoken to us. // We’ve refused to believe in you. // We’ve failed to honor you. // Forgive us of these sins. // Forgive me of these sins. // Amen.
Mark 6:5–6 (NLT)
5 And because of their unbelief, he couldn’t do any miracles among them except to place his hands on a few sick people and heal them. 6 And he was amazed at their unbelief. Then Jesus went from village to village, teaching the people.
Now — receive these words of assurance.
Though many in the crowd refused to believe in him — which amazed Jesus — he still placed his hands on some who were sick — and healed them. And that is amazing — for this is a display of Jesus’s mercy. May you thus be assured that — no matter how many times you’ve rejected him, scoffed at his wisdom, refused to believe in him, or failed to honor him — Jesus is still willing to reach out — place his hands on you — to heal you — wash you — and cleanse you of all of your sins. This is God’s love and mercy towards you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
May you go using God’s Word to help you pray — always being assured of his mercy towards you in Christ Jesus. Amen.
God loves you. I love you. You are sent.
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