Trinity Baptist Church

 

The concluding verses of Daniel 9 are one of the greatest, most comprehensive and encompassing prophecies in the Bible. It has been referred to as the key to all Bible prophecy. If you understand the prophecy given at the end of this chapter and the frame work which is laid out, then you're going to have an insight and understanding to everything God has to say in prophecy in the Word of God.

 

Prophecy is God predicting the future with absolute accuracy. We have already seen that is exactly what God has revealed to Daniel in several key passages in this book of Daniel. Before we deal with those amazing and astonishing words of prophecies later on, I want us to take some time to deal with something very practical.

 

The study of the Word of God, though it deals with prophecy and many in-depth subjects, is also a very practical and down to earth exercise. There is a practical purpose in everything we do as we study the Bible. There is a reason why God wants us to do the things that we do. As we look at these opening verses in the life of Daniel, God through the Holy Spirit, reveals to us a very special time in the life of this man Daniel.

 

Keep in mind the last verse of the previous chapter, after God had given to Daniel that tremendous prophecy, we are told in verse 27 that Daniel did the king's business. He was an official in the government and in the Empire. He was an important man and busy man. 

He was a man with tremendous responsibility. He did the king's business in the midst of all this prophetic insight. 

 

Jesus said on one occasion to occupy until I come. What He's saying is, "I am coming again, but until I come occupy." That is, do business for Me until I come. 

 

The question arises, How is Daniel going to be equipped to do business for God until the Lord comes and how are we going to be equipped also?

 

When you study the Bible you will discover that all of the great people of God had a time when they got alone with God and spent time with Him. For instance, the Bible tells us that everywhere Abraham went he did two things. He put up a tent and he built an altar. He had a meeting place, a place where he would get alone with God. 

 

In the life of the Lord Jesus Christ the Bible tells us on so many occasions that Jesus would get up early in the morning, before it was even daylight. He would go out into a mountain place to pray. He would talk to His heavenly Father. The devotions, the quiet time, the morning watch of the Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Daniel has a quiet time, a devotional time. He understood the significance of getting alone with God every day. There are some tremendous lessons to learn from Daniel’s Devotions:

 

 

 

 

 

Let's suppose that you have made up your mind that in the morning you are going to get up and have a time with the Lord. What should be your attitude as you approach your devotions? 

 

First of all there needs to be an attitude of determination. 

 

verse 3

 

In other words, there was an attitude of determination. It is not easy to have a daily time. You're going to find that is one of the most difficult things you will ever do. Somehow you will find every excuse imaginable. The devil will put every barrier in your way. It takes a great deal of determination to have this daily quiet time. It means that probably you're going to have to get up a little bit earlier. 

 

In Psalm 5, verse 3, it says, My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up." Does God hear your voice in the morning? 

 

Find a special place. For you business people your special place is your work office table. For some of you ladies your special place is that bedside. For others of you your special place is a room or some place out behind your house somewhere. Find you a place and in the morning get alone with God in that quiet place and let God hear your voice. It takes a great deal of determination.

 

 

 

You also approach this daily time with an attitude of desperation. When you look at the experience that Daniel is going through you will discover that there is a spirit of desperation in Daniel. 

 

verse 3 - seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes.

 

 Do you see the desperation indicated in those words? This is not just normal praying. Here is a man who is praying out of great desperation. Have you ever prayed in desperation? 

 

Abraham Lincoln said, "I have often been driven to the throne of grace in prayer by the firm conviction I had no where else to go." Have you ever come to that point in your life? Do you know what it means to be desperate before God?

 

The trial and the problems and difficulties that you and I face and the frustrations and temptations of life are so very great that we need to approach God with a spirit of desperation in our prayer time. 

 

Sometimes we sit at our desks and pray. Other times we get on our knees and pray and sometimes we ought to prostrate ourselves all the way on the ground in our prayers to the Lord. 

 

Then there's to be an attitude of dedication as we approach the quiet time. You will notice that as Daniel begins to pray there is dedication. Here is a man that has walked with God all of these years of his life. He is an old man now. Yet he is so humble and he identifies himself with the sins of the people. He is just dedicated to the Lord and he comes in humility before the Lord. 

Then think about

 

 

What are the activities that are involved in your devotions? We learn it from Daniel's devotions. We will discover as we look carefully at what Daniel is doing right here in these verses, that there are two primary activities of your devotion. 

 

The first activity is the reading of God's Word. 

 

We know that Daniel was a man who read the Word of God and he specifically tells us in these verses about reading the Word of God. This was a particular morning, evidently, in the life of Daniel. We know just exactly the book that Daniel was reading from. 

 

Everybody needs to have some method of Bible study. God has put the Bible together in books. The way to read the Bible is by books of the Bible.   Maybe start your day by reading from the New Testament. Read a chapter every morning from the New Testament. Maybe read a Psalm every morning. Maybe read a Proverb every morning.

 

We know just exactly on this particular morning where Daniel was in his Bible reading. He was reading from the book of Jeremiah. He says to us specifically in verse 2 that as he was reading that morning he understood by books the number of the years whereof the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah. In fact I can tell you just exactly chapter and verse where Daniel was reading that morning.

 

 

He was reading from Jeremiah, chapter 25. Now keep in mind that Daniel was with the captives away from Jerusalem. They had been carried away into captivity into the land of Babylon. God had sent them there because of their sins. In chastisement, they were carried into captivity.

 

 But God, through the prophet Jeremiah, had made a promise to them. In verse 11 God said to the people through Jeremiah, "And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonishment; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual desolations." 

 

In other words, God says after 70 years of captivity, I'm going to punish the land of Babylon. That's already happened because when we started in Daniel 1 you notice that it is not the King of Babylon who is sitting on the throne. It is Darius of the Medes and Persians. 

 

Evidently as he kept reading that morning in the prophecy of the book of Jeremiah, he comes to Jeremiah 29, verse 10. Here's what Daniel read that morningP:

 

"For thus saith the Lord, That after seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, and perform my good word toward you, in causing you to return to this place (Jerusalem)." Then God says in verse 11, "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." 

What God is saying is that He has a plan for you and a purpose for you. Keep in mind, Daniel is reading his Bible that morning. He is aware that the Babylonian kingdom has been toppled. He is aware that they have been in captivity almost 70 years and he reads this prophecy. The Lord says in verse 11, "I know the thoughts I have towards you, thoughts of peace, and not of evil, to give you an expected end." God says, "I've got a plan for your life." That's what you'll find when you study the Bible. God has a plan for your life. Thoughts of peace and not evil. 

 

In verse 12 He says, "Then shall ye call upon me, and yet shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me, when ye shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found of you, saith the Lord, and I will turn away your captivity." 

 

Do you see how practical his Bible reading became for him that very morning? Right in front of his own eyes he saw the plan of God for his life and for the life of the people of God. He saw they were right on the edge of God fulfilling His promise to lead them out of the land of captivity. That is exactly what you will find in your Bible study.

 

You will be reading along one morning in your Bible study and you will find that God speaks specifically to a problem you have. Specifically to a need you have. You will be astonished at how applicable the Bible is to your daily life and to the problems and difficulties, temptations and trials you are facing on a daily basis. 

 

There is not only reading God's Word. 

 

There is praying. In Daniel 9, after he read this astonishing prophecy in verse 2, in verse 3 he begins to pray. When we read the Bible, God talks to us. When we pray, we talk to God. 

 

How do you talk to God? This is not these fancy church prayers that you hear sometimes. You hear these prayers where they pray around the universe. "O Thou Great God of the universe." "O Thou God through the stars and orbits." People go on and on and on and they sound so pious. Daniel is alone with God and he is just talking with God. That's what prayer is. 

 

Every morning in your devotions, you read your Bible. Let God talk to you. Then you begin to pray and start talking to God. Just tell Him all about it. Tell Him about your struggles, needs, burdens, heartaches, and desires. Tell Him about your needing Him in your life. 

 

As you read this marvelous prayer of Daniel in this chapter, you will find that he confesses his sins before God. When we pray we need to be honest with God and confess our sins. Have you confessed your sins lately to God? 

 

I heard about an evangelist who had preached on confessing your sins. After the service was over, a lady came up to him and said, "You have said we ought to confess our sins. What sins should I confess?" He said, "Sister, just get down on your knees and guess at it." He said, "Do you know what? She guessed it right the first time." 

 

 

 

You know what those sins are. "Lord, I was a little sharp to my husband this morning. Forgive me." "Lord, I watched something on TV last night that I shouldn't have watched. I'm so ashamed. I confess it. Cleanse me." "Lord, I've got this problem I'm battling with. I'm not able to do anything about it. I need your help. Please be with me." 

 

Then there is adoration. In verse 9 he says, "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness." 

 

He's thanking the Lord for being a merciful God. He's thanking the Lord for being a forgiving God. When you have those daily devotions and you confess your sins to God, God is merciful. God will forgive. First John 1, verse 9, it says, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness." That's the way you need to start every day of your life, confessing sins and getting cleaned up and forgiven by the Lord. Then he starts specifically asking the Lord for some things. We call that petition.

 

In verse 17 he says, "Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplication." 

 

In verse 18 he says, "O my God, incline thine ear." 

 

In verse 19, "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do, defer not, for thine own sake, O my God; for thy city and thy people are called by thy name." He's now asking God for things.

 

Philippians 4, verse 6, says, "Don't worry about anything. But in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests by made known unto God." 

You have permission from the Lord Himself to come to Him and make requests. Jesus said, "Ask and it shall be given unto you. Seek and you shall find. Knock and it shall be opened unto you."

 

Next we'll look at

 

When it was all over what we'll find in this chapter is that Daniel was ready to obey. Whatever God had told him from the Word that day he was ready to obey it. 

 

Now watch how this works: here is God’s desire for us spending time with Him. We come to our devotional time determined to hear from God, desperate for Him and His power in our lived, dedicated to following Him. We open up His Word and let Him speak to us, and respond by confessing our sins and praising Him for His mercy and forgiveness. And voicing our dependence on Him, and we come away from that experience absolutely committed to obeying the Lord and sharing it with others. 

 

In the Old Testament God said to the children of Israel in the wilderness to gather up that manna every day. Don't store it up but use it up. If you store it up it'll become corrupted. It'll breed worms. When we have that daily quiet time and we get that Word from the Lord, and in prayer, God speaks to our heart and gives us sweet truths.

 We take those truths and we share those truths with others. That's the aftermath of the blessing of your devotions.