When Kelvin was reading, I'm preaching on it, so I should know it's a prayer, but it's easy to forget as we hear those words that that's not a speech that someone made, but that was actually how Daniel was praying to God. And I want to remind us, because it's a bit of the application, and let's ask this question, when have you ever or last prayed like that? When has your prayer sounded like that? When did it say those kind of words? And that's the thought we want to have. We're diving in, and I call this the attitude of prayer as we look at it. But as we dive into the remainder of this prayer, and keep in mind, uh we said prayer and into prediction as we get into 20 through the end of the chapter we get into the prediction of the messiah his first and second coming that's given to daniel but scripture is very clear that while daniel was praying was when god sent the angel to go speak to him that this was in the context in the in the circumstances of his prayer just keeping that in mind but we dive into the attitude of prayer and we all know that attitude matters It's the clearest indication of someone's real perspective in that moment or regarding that circumstance. And it often indicates how hard a person will work or how diligently they will engage in the task at hand. People with a bad attitude don't work hard. They don't play sports hard. They don't do anything with the best of their ability. As one person noted, ability is what you're capable of doing. Motivation determines what you do. Attitude determines how well you do it. Winston Churchill stated, attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference. And Daniel's attitude of prayer was one that made a big difference and one worthy of following. Now in verses 1-6 of chapter 9, we got to see Daniel's approach to prayer. We saw a resolution in prayer. He was a man committed to prayer. He went to the execution chamber because he would not quit praying, because of his faithfulness. The lion's den was an execution or an attempted one. He persisted in prayer. It was prayer we saw that was aligned with the Word of God. A word that he read and he studied and he applied. Prayer that recognized who God is and who we are. And so we continue in this same prayer. It's not a separate one. It's not a break. This is just a flow directly through moving into the full body of his prayer. We get a look now at Daniel's attitude of prayer, an attitude that displays clear and consistent contrition, contrition or confession, that showed him acknowledging their responsibility. Verses 7-10, and it's woven through the whole fabric, so even breaking it out sometimes becomes difficult, but here we see this idea of responsibility. He says, to you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, 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, and all the countries to which you have banished them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against you. O Yahweh, to us belongs open shame to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we've sinned against you. To the Lord our God belong compassion and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him, nor have we listened to the voice of Yahweh our God to walk in his laws, which he put before us through his slaves, the prophets. Daniel's disposition as he approached God was that it was him and his fellow Israelites who have failed God utterly. God had given more than adequate warnings to the nation in times past, and now was simply fulfilling his words. And so from that heart, from that position of acknowledging the responsibility, he shows their contrasted rebellion. As MacArthur notes, drawing a contrast with the sinful nation, Daniel focused on the Lord and His blameless character. He acknowledged that God always acts in perfect accord with His holy character. Daniel makes sure to declare some things about God. He says, God embodies, to God belongs, he says. God owns these things. Righteousness, compassion, forgiveness, and consistency. Now, it's easy to wonder why God was so strict. That's what our world likes to do. Well, why does God care? Why is he so picky? Why can't he just let some things go? It's easy to wonder why God was so bothered by sin, but Daniel has not missed that sin was an attack against God's holiness, against God's character. It is rebellion specifically against who God is, and that means God is not to blame for its consequences. In his prayer, as he is acknowledging their responsibility, he wants to make clear that God is righteousness. What does he mean by that? God is right. God is just. God is virtuous. God is honest. God is loyal in his judgments and his actions. He says that God showed immense compassion. Another word there is he is merciful. And it involves the idea of being connected to, aware of, and sympathetic of their suffering. This wasn't God punishing Israel and saying, I don't care at all about them. They're not important. They mean nothing. Instead, Daniel is sharing something when he says that God owns or to God belongs compassion. That God is near. That God was still engaged in their life, even through these years of captivity. Daniel is confirming in his prayer what he has lived and experienced, the abundant care of his God who has never left him alone. because God remains ready to forgive and actually embodies forgiveness. Seems interesting, right? They're feeling the consequence of sin. It's unfolding. And what is Daniel praying to God and reminding us all about? That God remains ever ready to grant forgiveness to them if they sought it from a repentant heart. God knows, or Daniel knows this and glorifies God in sharing it. God is the God of forgiveness and He is ever consistent. We've seen this, remember at the end of verse six, he says to them, we have rejected your slaves, the prophets. What does he say again? You, we have not listened, but you have continued to send to us. He says, God has been consistent. He sent his prophets. He continued to reach even though the nation rejected him continually. In acknowledging their responsibility, Daniel has contrasted God and His actions against their rebellion. He's built up God as we're supposed to do. God is righteous, compassionate, forgiving, and consistent. To Him belong glory and praise, but that is not the case with Israel. To God is righteousness and compassion and forgiveness, and he gets glory, but he states bluntly that Israel carries open shame. When Kelvin read it, it said confusion of face. The idea is this, open shame embodies more than embarrassment, right? We feel that shame is just, I'm embarrassed in the moment. It is a deeper sense of disgrace though, due to a dereliction of duty. It is not the casual embarrassment, like, oh, someone found out about that, that's embarrassing. But instead, something that is settled, he says. We own, not we feel embarrassed, we own shame, open, horrific disgrace. Israel has been the opposite of God, disloyal, uncaring, unrepentant, and unresponsive. They are sadly, the word there, unfaithful. Constantly committing actions of unfaithfulness. It says you have done unfaithful deeds and then it says committing and in Hebrew it says committing them unfaithfully. It's just layer upon layer. He's saying they are unfaithful. It is the word that defines them. It is the action they seem to not stop repeating. They can't but help be unfaithful. They keep on committing unfaithful acts. Daniel acknowledged their responsibility. God has remained true and faithful, consistently reminding and reaching, but Israel has consistently been unfaithful. They have acted in disgrace. They have shown that the rebellion is a systemic rebellion. This is where it gets interesting. Remember we talked last week, Daniel is using the we, we have done, we have done all these things. He's included himself And what he wants to make sure in his prayer is that we understand it was not just a portion of Israel, but instead had permeated the whole. Systemic is the idea of a disease that goes through everything. It's not localized. It's all the way through them. It involved multiple social classes and locations. He does this in an interesting way. It was the men of Judah, the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all Israel, those close by, those far away, those in the city, those in the country, those in captivity in Babylon, those in captivity elsewhere. Everyone was involved in the rebellion. It's an interesting understanding, right, as he approaches this, as he talks about this. Because he's trying to make sure we get this picture. They're all sinful. He goes another layer, it involved multiple generations. It was not just one king. It was kings plural, princes plural, fathers or leaders plural. And the weight behind that word is not just we have multiple kings, but we have generational rebellion. Daniel, in his confession, acknowledged their responsibility. It was not God's fault, it was theirs. They had purposefully chosen rebellion in contrast to who God is and what He had done. That's an important part of His prayer. We talked about in the approach, right? We need to recognize who God is and who we are. And in the attitude, He dives into this, but notice how He describes a responsibility. It is in contrast to who God is. The perfect, holy God who acts according to His holiness, who never fails, who never breaks His covenant, and then compared to the people who are constantly doing that. They had done this rebellion systemically and generationally. Their rebellion was a disease that had coursed through the whole nation because even though God owns compassion and forgiveness, even though God owns the only pardon that can be offered, you can give yourself permission for your rebellion. You can forgive yourself for all the sins you want to forgive yourself. That is very, very commonplace in our society. And I'm not, I'm not espousing the idea that you should beat yourself up forever. That's Satan's tool oftentimes in a Christian's life. But the only pardon that can be offered that matters is God's pardon. You can't give it to yourself. And so here is God, who Daniel reminds in his prayer himself, God who is compassionate, who is merciful, who is forgiving, the only God who can forgive. But Israel was unmoved and persisted in obstinate disobedience. We know the truth. You've consistently preached the truth, God. You've sent your slaves of prophets to us, but generationally and systemically, we have rejected everything about you. And I put here, but have we displayed the same unmoving, unresponsiveness to the Lord's righteousness, compassion, and forgiveness? We are responsible, but what is our attitude? What is our disposition? Because he purposefully puts God's character in front of us. Have we displayed the same unmoving unresponsiveness to God's righteousness, compassion, and forgiveness? And have we humbly acknowledged that in our prayers? The right attitude of prayer is permeated with contrition, with confession for sins, and an acknowledged responsibility. It does not blame God. Instead, as Daniel shows, it involves accepting their consequences. 11 through 14 says, Indeed, all Israel has trespassed against your law, even turning aside, not listening to 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 established his words which he had spoken against us and against our judges who judged 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 on us, yet we have not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God by turning from our iniquity and acting wisely in your truth. Therefore, Yahweh has watched over the calamity and brought it on us. For Yahweh our God is righteous with respect to all his deeds, which he has done, but we have not listened to his voice." What has happened to Israel? Daniel makes clear in his prayer, it is a justified response. These consequences were right and fair. This was a justified result for what they had done, because Israel, he said, had trespassed. What does that mean? They've gone beyond a set limit. Daniel, in his prayer, works through the words for sin. He's got sin, he has iniquity, now he's layering in this idea of trespass, of going past the marked boundary, violating the parameters of God's law. He says Israel has turned aside. That word points us specifically to the idea of idolatry. What has Israel done? They've worshipped idols. They found other small g-gods to put in front of them. And just in case we think, well, we haven't done that, we most definitely have. Idolatry permeates the church in the United States and around the world. you have turned aside. We just don't admit it like Daniel does. So Daniel was accepting these consequences. They were a justified response and also it was a judicial response. At Sinai, Exodus 19, look at 16 through 24 and on the plains of Moab in Deuteronomy 29, God told Israel what he would do against them for their sin and Israel agreed to those terms. They reiterated it. Yes, God. So this was an agreed upon consequence. This was the outcome of the agreed upon law. And so the judgment rightly unfolded. It says the curse has been poured out on us, not something that God layered. Well, we didn't do what God wanted, so God added a curse to us. No, rightfully, Daniel says, we experienced the consequences that we knew would come to us. God has watched over and executed the correct outflow of the law. This was an extension of the law by which they were governed. That phrase, our judges who judged us. He says it's against our judges, our rulers who judged us. MacArthur notes of the judges and the idea of silencing any complaint, right? Well, why is God so mean, right? Going back to that first statement. Why is God so bothered by sin? Why is He doing this? Why can't He let it off the hook? Why can't He be more... Why can't God be easygoing? Why can't God be more permissive of sin? See, that's our mentality. But see, as those who judged Israel according to God's law, these rulers not only knew the law, but were to employ it to condemn the guilty. In other words, they ruled the nation based on this law. Therefore, they could hardly object when God applied the same standard to them. The rulers, the judges, the people who ruled on God's law and said, this is what we're going to do, this is what we're not going to do. And Daniel's saying, we deserve this punishment. There's no word we can cast back because this is the same law by which we were and how we governed. And now it's applied to us. And so Daniel speaks of the reproach and calamity that has unfolded in Jerusalem and upon Israel. John Whitcomb commented on the overthrow of Jerusalem. He stated this, he said, 30 months of siege, that's two and a half years, by the Babylonians. It brought starvation, cannibalism, and total destruction. At the time he was writing, no other ancient city, so far as they knew, experienced such a catastrophe as God heaped upon his beloved wife, Jerusalem. Yet Jerusalem's destruction was truly unique because it marked God's allowing the full unfolding of the consequences of rejecting his law and authority on his people. What's unique about this is that God exercised the law. He let it unfold. Israel uniquely knew what it meant to be graciously chosen and justly chastened. Just as Moses had said in Deuteronomy 28, 63, it says, and it will be that as Yahweh delighted over you to prosper you and multiply you, so Yahweh will delight over you to make you perish and destroy you, and you will be torn from the land where you are entering to possess it. God will exercise his law. It's gonna be just and justified. It's gonna be correct. It's gonna be outflow of his holiness. But interestingly, Israel would not seek God in repentance. They would not turn from their sins. As MacArthur noted, he says, true repentance includes both turning from one's iniquity and acting wisely in God's truth. What has Daniel said? We wouldn't turn and we wouldn't act in your truth. We wouldn't engage with your truth. Tragically, Israel had done neither. The people knew what to do, but they still did not do it. Thus, they deserved the punishment they received, and Daniel did not make excuses or refuse God's discipline, but embraced it. He recognized that he and his nation were deserving of it all, and that genuine confession was for God's glory. I put here, but how are we dealing with the consequences of sin? How are we approaching confession? My concern is that if we finally do confess, we tend to expect God to erase the consequences. All right, God, I repented. Now clean up this mess. Daniel shows a man that acknowledged responsibility and accepted the consequences. I want you to know, he didn't accept the consequences with a defeatism attitude. Well, I guess I have to do this. It wasn't Eeyore walking around with that expression, and it wasn't some act of stoicism. I'm tough enough, I can handle this, I'll take my medicine like a man. That's not at all what he's doing. Instead, he accepted the consequences in a way that brought God glory and pointed to God. That all came before he brought a correct petition, a petition that was emphasizing God's righteousness. where his prayer centered. In acknowledging their responsibility, he contrasted them with God. In accepting the consequences, he highlighted the fact that God was holy and employing His law as it should be employed and as they said they wanted it to be done. Notice how he's constantly in his prayer pointing to God. And as he turns to petition God, he emphasizes God's righteousness. He says, so now, O Lord, our God, who have brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a strong hand and have made a name for yourself. As it is this day, we have sinned, we have acted wickedly. Our Lord, in accordance with all your righteousness, let now your anger and your wrath turn 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." And again, notice who is at fault for the reproach. Not God. They are. Daniel is going to ask for God to work in alignment with God's word. He's going to petition God to act on Israel's behalf, but as Whitcomb notes, instead of rushing into the presence of God with a mouth filled with petitions, requests, and demands, Daniel has set a very good pattern for us to follow. Look to God first, confess sin and unworthiness, then and then only make request of him. And Daniel's request is an elevating request. As one writer noted, the fundamental function of prayer is to align the will of the believer with the will of God, to submit to God's plan, power, and purpose. I'm afraid we don't approach prayer that way. Because we look at him accepting consequences and say, come on, Daniel, let's get a better outcome here. Let's fight for something else. But instead as he prayed, and I think that the answer, you see God's affirmation of his prayer and the fact that we get the prediction in 20 to the end of the chapter of the Messiah coming and coming again. Because Daniel had aligned himself with God's will and purpose. And because Daniel studied the scriptures, he knew the will of God and aligned himself with it. Informed by biblical truth, Daniel petitioned God to end his people's chastening in exile. He prayed not only according to God's will, but also for his glory. Notice it's about God's name. We have brought reproach on your name. We have done wickedly. We have set up the fall of Jerusalem. Now for your name's sake, God, bring us back. And so Daniel recalled the past exodus. He pondered here in his prayer. And again, remember, this is not a speech he's giving to people. He's not standing up on a platform and saying out loud to people, God is so great. He is in his own time of prayer. On his knees, remember how we started. He physically is changed. He's fasted in the sense he's taking no time for food. He's changed his clothing. He has ashes on his head. He is physically, it's not this quick trite. in the moment prayer. And again, it's not bad to pray in the moment, but notice that this prayer is centered around change, and now he's recalling God's past workings. He is pondering in his prayer the greatness of God, the elevation of God's name when he brought Israel out of slavery in Egypt. He's lifting up God's work and establishing them as a nation. Israel became a nation. You brought us out. You are the one. And so he then connects with the requested current exodus. It's a request based on God's glory and his worship. He says, bring us back to the holy mountain. What holy mountain is that? It's the place where one day the whole world is going to worship him. Bring us back there. A request not based on themselves because he says, we've sinned, we have acted wickedly. Instead, the whole request is based on God. Yet I put here, how many of our requests are based on us and our emotions? How much of our prayer centers around you? How you feel, what's going on, but not Daniel's. Instead, in his prayer, he emphasized God's righteousness and continued by embracing his connection. Here is the thing, we so want to distance ourselves. Oh, God is judging, right? When people acknowledge the reality of a God, which it's out there, if you can't see God out there, it's because you're choosing to shut your eyes. We walk through Genesis, it pointed it all out. And oftentimes, though, when we're dealing with a consequence of something, we recognize the consequence, but we really don't want to embrace the connection with that person that we feel brings that consequence. But what we notice in his prayer, as he goes to God, as he petitions Him, he again emphasizes his righteousness. Now he's embracing his connection. He goes on in 17 through 19. So now our God, listen to the prayer of your slave and to his supplications. And for your sake, O Lord, let your face shine on your desolate sanctuary. Now notice the change from our God. It says, Oh my God, Incline your ear and listen. Open your eyes and see our desolations in the city which is called by your name. For we are not presenting our supplication before you on account of any righteousness of our own, but on account of your abundant compassion." What is he leaning into? The same things he said belong to God. God owns compassion. And he says, we are coming to you based on who you are. Oh Lord, listen. Oh Lord, forgive. Oh Lord, give heed and take action. For your own sake, oh, and he goes back again, my God, do not delay because your city and your people are called by your name. What unfolds is an engaging request. Daniel correctly, and I think it's important, leans into his relationship with the Lord. He makes very clear that his identity is in God and he fully expresses that. He cries, oh my God, twice, reiterating the intimacy of his relationship with the Lord and the urgency of his plea. He hasn't dissed himself. When it's our God, he's tied to the nation as they look to their God. But he wants to make sure in his prayer, the expression of his heart, he gets very personal. He's expressing how he is connected to the Lord. And Daniel pled with the Lord because he knew that the one true God would see, hear, and act. Because when he says, oh my God, it's not a desperation phrase or an exclamation of something that shocked him as we misuse it, but instead it was crying out to someone he knew personally and whom he knew would ever be faithful so he knows his God sees, hears, and acts. So Daniel begged the Lord to intervene, not for Israel's sake, but for the sake of God's reputation so that the reproaches of the enemy would end and God's glorious name would be magnified. Bring us back to your city that's called by your name so that we can glorify you by what we're doing. Daniel petitioned the Lord solely based on the Lord's glory. based on what would be aligned with His will. Yes, it was the cry of Daniel's heart. I don't want to change this. And you say, well, I've got to pray. I've got to get into that theology kind of idea, mindset, and I've got to keep it distant from myself personally. This is very personal to Daniel. He's been thinking about this a lot longer than just this moment. Yet, this petition is what he desired, but it was done from God's perspective. This is what he wanted. This was Daniel's heart's desire. But as he approached God in prayer, he approached him from God's perspective. It was done with an attitude that glorified and honored God for who he is and what he has done. Because for Daniel, God was not a distant being in heaven, but my God, the God whom Daniel personally loved and whose glory he sought. John MacArthur noted this, Scripture declares that people often pray with false motives, asking God for what would be spent on the pleasures of this world. It permeates Scripture, I think even in acts of the one Simon that prays and tells Peter, will you pray for me that I'll be able to get the gift of giving people the Holy Spirit? Because it brings a crowd, basically. You walk through scripture and we're selfishly pursuing things for our own. For Daniel, though, prayer was an act of submission to the will of God, informed by the word of God, and focused on the worship of God. Daniel was concerned not for himself, but for the glory of his Lord. In this way, his prayer provides a powerful model for believers to emulate in any generation. Daniel prayed crying out from his heart. I want you to recognize something. I said it back in the beginning, and I want to remind us as we're drawing to a close. Daniel was not putting on a show. He was not pompously talking to God, knowing that it would be recorded in this way. He was expressing what his heart was. And that's why it's such a powerful illustration, because here we're looking at someone praying the way we should pray. in submission to the will of God, informed by the Word of God. You cannot be approaching God in prayer ignorant of His Word, ignoring what He has given us, and focused on the worship of God. That's how prayer is approached. But I put here as a closing question, how would you, though, describe your attitude of prayer? And would it look anything like Daniel's? To go back to the question at the beginning, When was the last time a prayer of yours even remotely resembled what Daniel just gave us in chapter 9? Or have you ever prayed a prayer like Daniel prayed in chapter 9? And the reality is every prayer should look like the prayer of Daniel chapter 9.