Mercy

This passage was in my regular daily reading this week.

Daniel 9:18 – 19:

O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name. (ESV)

In this passage, Daniel is beseeching God on behalf of his city.  Daniel was, by human standards,  a righteous man.  This is the Daniel who survived the lion’s den because he would not worship the statue erected by the king (Daniel 6).  He is the man who interpreted the king’s dream and saved all of the wise men of Babylon from extermination (Daniel 2).  He had a special relationship with God.

But notice, even as upright as we think that Daniel was, he didn’t appeal to God based on anything that he had done.  He doesn’t say, “God, I let them throw me in the den of lions when they wanted me to worship someone else.  I interpreted the king’s dream and gave you all the glory.  Now, God, it’s time for you to do something for me.”  Instead, Daniel appealed to God’s mercy.  That is really the only plea that any of us have.

Here are the questions I ask myself.  Sometimes, my answers reveal that I indeed still need God’s mercy.  What about you?

• Have you ever tried to bargain with God?
• Have you ever had a time when you asked God to do something for you because of what you had done for him?
• How do you feel about asking God to have mercy on your Community, City, Nation even if you don’t feel like you are part of the problem?
• What does it mean to you to appeal to God because of His great mercy?  Do you have to look at yourself differently in order to do that?

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