Daniel chapter 9, beginning at verse 1. Hear now the word of the Lord. In the first year of Darius, the son of Asherus of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans, In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. So I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplications with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed and said, alas, oh Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. Moreover, we have not listened to your servants, the prophets who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, our fathers, and all the people of the land. Righteousness belongs to you, O Lord, but to us open shame as it is this day to the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those who are nearby and those who are far away in all the countries in which you have driven them because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against you. Open shame belongs to us, O Lord, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, nor have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God to walk in his teachings, which he set before us through his servants, the prophets, Indeed, all Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, not obeying your voice. So the curse has been poured out on us, along with the oath which is written in the law of Moses, the servant of God. For we have sinned against him. Thus he has confirmed his words which he had spoken against us, and against our rulers who ruled us, to bring on us great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us, yet We have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to your truth. Therefore, the Lord has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us. For the Lord our God is righteous and with respect to all his deeds which he has done. But we have not obeyed his voice. And now, O Lord our God, who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand and have made a name for yourself. As it is this day, we have sinned. We have been wicked. O Lord, in accordance with all your righteous acts, let now your anger and your wrath churn away from your city, Jerusalem, your holy mountain, for because of our sins and the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem, and your people have become a reproach to all those around us. So now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications, and for your sake, O Lord, let your face shine on your desolate sanctuary. O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations in the city which is called by your name. For we are not presenting our supplications before you on account of any merit of our own, but on account of your great compassion. Oh, Lord, hear. Oh, Lord, forgive. Oh, Lord, listen and take action. For your own sake, oh my God, do not delay, because your city and your people are called by your name. Now once more, having considered various aspects of fasting, we come to a fourth message on the subject. Now so far, we have said that at its most basic level, that fasting is simply abstaining from food and drink. However, biblical fasting is more than this. As we saw previously, biblical fasting is nothing less than the humiliation and the affliction of the soul. It is a hunger for God. And as we will see today, there is another aspect of fasting. Biblical fasting is an aid to prayer. Now today, based upon our text, we will look at the following two points. First of all, the certainty of judgment. And second, an aid to prayer. So again, the certainty of judgment and an aid to prayer. Let us first consider point number one, which is the certainty of judgment. Again, we read, beginning in verse one, in the first year of Darius, the son of Asherus, of Median descent, who was made king over the kingdom of the Chaldeans. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah the prophet for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. Now the context of Daniel's fasting and prayer is said to have taken place in the first year of the reign of Darius. This was shortly after the fall of Babylon to the Medes. Now, in order for us to understand how the people of God arrived at this point, it is important for us to consider the history of Judah and Israel up to this point. You see, God had raised up the Israelites to take the land of Canaan from its former inhabitants. The Israelites were to destroy those people, for their sins had reached the ears of God. Now, what were the sins of Canaan's former inhabitants? Well, Deuteronomy 18, 9 to 12 tells us. The text says, when you enter the land which the Lord your God gives you, you shall not learn to imitate the detestable things of those nations. There shall not be found among you anyone who makes his son or his daughter pass through the fire, one who uses divination, one who practices witchcraft, one who interprets omens, or a sorcerer, or one who casts a spell, or a medium, or a spiritist, or one who calls up the dead. For whoever does these things, these things is detestable to the Lord. And because of these detestable things, the Lord, your God, will drive them out before you. Again, if you read Leviticus 18, the entire chapter, God commands his people to be different than the nations that had inhabited the land. In addition to the sins listed in Deuteronomy 18, 9-12, the nations also practice all manner of vile sexual activity, including adultery, homosexuality, and bestiality. And so, three of the main reasons why these nations were judged related to the sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice. Now, sadly, the people of God would eventually follow in the footsteps of the nations that they themselves had dispossessed And though the Lord was patient, there came a time for God's own people to be judged and exiled from the land. Now Israel, after the death of Solomon, split into two. There was Israel to the north and then Judah to the south. And in 2 Kings 17, 5-8, we see that Israel would be captured by the Assyrians in 722 BC. 2 Kings 17, 5-8 states, Then the king of Assyria invaded the whole land and went up to Samaria and besieged it three years. In the ninth year of Hosea, the king of Assyria captured Samaria and carried away Israel into exile to Assyria and settled them in Hala and Hebor on the river of Gozon and in the cities of the Medes. Now this came about because the sons of Israel had sinned against the Lord their God who had brought them up from the land of Egypt from under the hand of Pharaoh king of Egypt and they had feared other gods and walked in the customs of the nations whom the Lord had driven out before the sons of Israel, and in the customs of the kings of Israel which they had introduced." So Israel, according to this text, was judged and exiled from the land because they had committed the same sins as the previous inhabitants of the land. Judah, on the other hand, would successfully remain free for another 136 years. But again, Judah, seeing the judgment of God on her sister Israel, also persisted in sin and suffered the same fate as God would raise up the Babylonians to subjugate his people and exile them from the land. And so it was during this time that Daniel is exiled. He is only a teenager. He's just a youth. Now Jeremiah prophesies of the judgment of Judah in Jeremiah 25. Jeremiah 25, 1 to 12 states, The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, the son of Josiah, king of Judah. That was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, which Jeremiah the prophet spoke to all the people of Judah and to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, From the 13th year of Josiah the son of Ammon, king of Judah, even to this day, these 23 years, the word of the Lord has come to me, and I have spoken to you again. and again, but you have not listened. And the Lord has sent to you all his servants, the prophets, again and again, but you have not listened nor inclined your ear to hear. saying, turn now everyone from his evil way and from the evil of your deeds and dwell on the land which the Lord has given to you and your forefathers forever and ever and do not go after other gods to serve them and to worship them and do not provoke me to anger with the work of your hands and I will do you no harm. Yet You have not listened to me, declares the Lord, in order that you might provoke me to anger with the work of your hands to your own harm. Therefore, thus says the Lord of hosts, because you have not obeyed my words, behold, I will send and take all the families of the north, declares the Lord, and I will send to you Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them against this land and against its inhabitants and against all these nations round about. And I will utterly destroy them and make them a horror and a hissing and an everlasting desolation. Moreover, I will take from them the voice of joy and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride, the sound of the millstone and the light of the lamp, This whole land will be a desolation and a horror, and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years. Then it will be, when 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, declares the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an everlasting desolation." Now, I want you to first notice that God was patient with Judah. Jeremiah says, I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened. And the Lord has sent to you all his servants, the prophets, again and again, but you have not listened. Judah did not heed the warnings of the prophets. Instead, they committed the same sins of Israel and did not believe the word of the Lord concerning judgment. Now, you know who did not think that the judgment of God would come upon them? the former inhabitants of Canaan. And you know who else? Israel. They did not consider that the riches of God's kindness and tolerance and patience should have led them to repentance. Instead, they presumed upon His grace and mercy, even as some of you presume upon God's grace and mercy this very moment. For some of you, you won't believe in the judgment of God until there is blood in the streets and the sword is at your door. Some of you are unconvinced that the judgment of God is real. You say that's just the Old Testament or people back then were not civilized. People today are civilized until they can't feed their families and resources become scarce. When law and order Decrease. Mad men take control. Brutal men who care nothing for human life arise. And God will use these types of men to chasten his people. But afterwards, he judges them also. Jeremiah again says in verse 12, then it will be when 70 years are completed, I will punish the king of Babylon and that nation, declares the Lord, for their iniquity and the land of the Chaldeans, and I will make it an everlasting desolation. God most certainly judges the unrighteous, whether that be from among the heathen or from among his own people. Even as the Apostle Paul remarks to the church at Corinth, The unrighteous will not inherit the kingdom of God. Do not be deceived. Now, it's towards the end of this 70-year period prophesied by Jeremiah that we find Daniel in chapter 9. At this time, Daniel is in his 80s. He's an old man. But rather than live a life of retirement and ease, we see that Daniel goes to work. Now, I want to encourage some of you older saints with a word of application here. You see, there is still much that you can do in the kingdom of God. You might not be able to go on the mission field, you might not be able to stand in the pulpit and preach hours on end, but you can pray, you can fast, There is much need in the body for fasting and prayer for the success of the work of ministry at Grace Fellowship Church. May I encourage you to fast and pray on behalf of your elders and behalf of all the various needs within the body of Christ. You see, Daniel was not just An example to the youth, but to the ancient. Well, turning again back to verse two of chapter nine, we read, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, observed in the books the number of the years which was revealed as the word of the Lord to Jeremiah, the prophet, for the completion of the desolations of Jerusalem, namely 70 years. Daniel, understanding the times and the word of God, enters into a time of fasting and prayer. Again, in verse three, We read, so I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him by prayer and supplication with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. Daniel's response concerning the activity of God in the world was not one of cold indifference. He did not say, since God is sovereign, it is needless to pray. Rather, he understood that this was a unique moment in time, which not only required prayer, but also fasting. Now, this brings us to point number two, which is that fasting is an aid to prayer. All throughout the Bible, again, we see that fasting is usually accompanied by prayer. For instance, if you recall last week in Psalm 35, verse 13, David says, but as for me, when they were sick, my clothing was sackcloth. I humbled my soul with fasting, and what? Prayer kept returning to my bosom. And again, we see a similar response from the prophet Nehemiah concerning the remnant of the exiles in Nehemiah 1, 1-4. Now in these verses we read, the words of Nehemiah, the son of Hakaliah, Now it happened in the month Chislev in the 20th year, while I was in Susa, the capital, that Hanani, one of my brothers, and some men from Judah came. And I asked them concerning the Jews who had escaped and had survived the captivity about Jerusalem. They said to me, The remnant there in the province who survived the captivity are in great distress and reproach. And the wall of Jerusalem is broken down and its gates are burned with fire. And then it says, when I heard these words, I sat down and wept and mourned for days. And I was fasting and what? Praying before the God. of heaven. Now, Daniel and Nehemiah were not contemporaries. However, it is in response to Daniel's fasting and prayer in chapter 9 that he receives a prophecy later in verse 25 that is partly fulfilled during the time of Nehemiah. This prophecy has to do with the rebuilding of the walls of Jerusalem. And so Nehemiah, decades later, like Daniel, engages in a time of fasting and prayer. Nehemiah, like Daniel, sought the Lord. Going back to verse three of Daniel nine, he says, I gave my attention to the Lord God to seek him in prayer. You see, Daniel was a man who regularly sought the Lord through prayer. Now, earlier in chapter six of the book of Daniel, we gained some insight into Daniel's prayer life. If you recall, at this time, Daniel was being promoted through the kingdom. Verse three of chapter six states, then this Daniel began distinguishing himself among the commissioners and the satraps. That's just another word for governors. because he possessed an extraordinary spirit and the king planned to appoint him over the entire kingdom. And so this made the commissioners and the satraps jealous. And so these men hatch a scheme to have King Darius sign into law what would, in effect, make it illegal to pray to any god for 30 days. Now the penalty for breaking this law was death. And so what does Daniel do? Well, we read this in verse 10. Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house. Now in his roof chamber, He had windows open towards Jerusalem and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God as he had been doing previously. According to these verses, Daniel did what he always did. In defiance to the governing authorities, Daniel prayed to God. He obeyed God rather than man. Generally speaking, Christians are to obey the governing authorities. There are times, however, when obedience is not an option. And so we see that Daniel prays to God in defiance of the law. Now in one sense, this is not anything extraordinary that Daniel does. For he was a man who regularly prayed to God. In fact, according to this text, we learn that he did so three times a day. Now, to our shame, myself included, we are not a praying people as we ought to be. And one of the areas that we see this reflected in is when we gather for corporate prayer You see, the attendance at our prayer meeting speaks volumes to the value that we place on prayer. Now could it be that we don't value the public gathering to pray as much as we should because we have neglected this practice in private? This is to our shame, brethren. And we need to learn from Daniel's example. Daniel normally sought God in prayer. We also see that on certain occasions, Daniel not only sought the Lord through prayer, but also through fasting as well. Later in chapter 10, for instance, we see that Daniel sought the Lord with a partial fast. That is, that he did not abstain from food and drink altogether, only certain kinds of food and drink. Again, Daniel 10.1-3 states, In the third year of Cyrus, king of Persia, a message was revealed to Daniel, who was named Balthasar. And the message was true and one of great conflict, but he understood the message and had an understanding of the vision. In those days, I, Daniel, had been mourning for three weeks. I did not eat any tasty food, nor did meat or wine enter my mouth, nor did I use any ointment at all until the entire three weeks were completed. Now, on certain occasions, the regular practice of prayer is not enough. We see, for instance, if the addition of verse 21 in Matthew 17 is accurate, then the disciples were unable to exercise the demon because of their lack of prayer and fasting. And so as one writer notes on the verse, and by such abstinence from food as fits the mind for the highest exercises of religion and leaves it free to hold communion with God. And so Daniel, on this occasion, performs a partial fast in chapter 10. Now in this example, we gain more insight into the practice of fasting. In certain instances, a partial fast is every bit as good as a full fast. Now, for some of you, you may feel guilty that you are unable to completely abstain from food and drink due to physical restrictions. That's okay. In certain instances, a partial fast is completely acceptable. If, for instance, a woman is pregnant or physically there is some condition that would prevent someone from engaging in a full fast, then a partial fast is okay. Now at this point, wisdom from some of the older writers is instructive for us on this subject. Arthur Hildersham notes this regarding partial fasts. I grant that such as cannot thus abstain cannot keep a fast, but yet may they keep a day of humiliation in an acceptable and effectual manner as they that can fast best, provided one, that they abuse not this liberty and pretend necessity when there is none. But remember that they have herein to deal with God, who knows their hearts and flesh. Two, that that which they eat upon the day of humiliation be neither for quantity nor quality, such but that they may still preserve in themselves such a feeling of the want of food as may afflict nature, as we see Daniel did in Daniel 10.3. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine within my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all till three whole weeks were fulfilled." Again, brethren, the Lord knows our frame. Let us not, therefore, pass judgment on one another during a day of corporate fasting if someone eats or drinks. On the other hand, let us not say that we cannot fast if indeed we are able to. Instead, Let us seek in those times of extraordinary need to lay aside food and drink for a season in order to seek the Lord through fasting and prayer. Daniel, again, was in such a moment of need. And so he fasts and prays. Now, we see the main content of his prayer can be summarized in the following three words. It is confession, adoration, and supplication. Daniel prays confessing his sins and the sins of the people. Again in verses four to five he says, I pray to the Lord my God and confessed and said, alas, oh Lord, the great and awesome God who keeps his covenant and loving kindness for those who love him and keep his commandments. We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and rebelled, even turning aside from your commandments and ordinances. Daniel in adoration also declares that God is just and righteous in all of his judgments. He says in verse 14, for the Lord our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds which he has done. Finally, Daniel in supplication appeals to God for mercy and compassion. He says in verses 17 to 19, So now, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his supplications. And for your sake, O Lord, let your face shine on your desolate sanctuary. O my God, Incline your ear and hear, open your eyes and see our desolation and the city which is called by your name, for we are not presenting our supplications before you on account of any merit of our own. but on account of your great compassion. Oh Lord, hear. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, listen and take action. For your own sake, oh my God, do not delay because your city and your people are called by your name. Well, In closing, I end with one final point of application that provides us with actionable steps. Like Daniel, we need to go to the Lord in fasting and praying. confessing our own sins and the sins of this nation. We are a nation full of idols. If you recall last week, we were reminded of the 64 million babies aborted in this country. And every day, children are being sacrificed to the idols of freedom and convenience. For years, the sins of homosexuality and adultery have polluted the land. Idolatry, sexual immorality, and child sacrifice I remind you that the Lord had judged the inhabitants of Canaan for these sins and even his own people. How then can America stand unless the people of God intercede with fasting and prayer? We must weep and mourn and cry out for mercy, for God is righteous. Now, this fact should greatly trouble us, not for ourselves, but for our nation. Recall the words of Nahum. one three the lord is slow to anger and great in power and the lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished we are a nation that is guilty we are guilty of the blood of the innocent We are guilty of all manner of sexual immorality. And we are guilty of gross idolatry. And the word of God says that the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. Let us therefore like Daniel, plead with God for mercy in fasting and prayer on behalf of our nation. Likewise, I say to the unbeliever that you too must plead with God for mercy for your own soul. For even now you stand before a holy and righteous God as condemned. All of your sins cry guilty, guilty, guilty, and the Lord will by no means leave the guilty unpunished. So I say to you today, flee to Christ, for though He is a righteous judge, He is also a merciful and compassionate Savior. Amen? Let's go to the Lord in a word of prayer. Heavenly Father, what more can be said? We confess that as your people, we have not always walked in your ways. We have not always sought you in prayer as we should. And Lord, you are righteous. You are holy. But you are also merciful and compassionate. And so we plead, not based on any merit of our own, but for your namesake, that you would forgive us as a people at Grace Fellowship Church. for the sins of idolatry, sexual immorality, Lord, and even for those who may have sacrificed their children. Lord, we pray that you would forgive us. And we pray that you would stir up in our hearts a desire to intercede on behalf of this nation, Lord, that stands even right now guilty before you. Lord, let us not think that somehow we are special. that the judgment of God that fell upon nations time and time after time for the same sins cannot fall upon America. And so we plead with you, God, for mercy. We pray for your compassion, Lord. Have mercy on us as a nation. Forgive, Lord. Help us as the people of God to stand for what we know to be true. Give us strength in the coming days. Give us grace that we need, Lord. For you not only tell us what to do, but you also give us the strength, the power, and the ability to do these things. And so we thank you for all that you are and who you reveal yourself to be. Be with us, strengthen us, I pray. In Jesus' name, amen.