Corona Devo 2086

I was reading the Bible in the Book of Daniel, and...that guy got it.   

Daniel was a regular person, just like us, who came to know God and Daniel loved God, feared God, and honored God with his life.  Daniel got it.  Daniel got what it meant to follow God. 

He understood that God was holy, and deserves our reverence, obedience, and praise.  But, Daniel also saw that people-are-people--we are sinful and even though God and His prophets tell us to behave and to live well to honor the Lord...we don't.  

Daniel saw the people around him (his people!) dishonor God.  Not follow God's commands, and Daniel saw the people sin and choose their preferences and pleasures over the Lord's.  

Daniel knew this behavior was incongruent with God's expectations, and God's holiness.  Daniel knew that there would have to be (holy) consequence for the (unholy) incongruence, and he was right.  

Daniel knew God's Word and character well-enough to know this.

But Daniel also knew God and His character well enough to ask for His mercy on His people.

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... 

(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...  

(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.”   ~Daniel 9:4-14, 17-19

Holy consequences for unholy incongruences with God's standards.: this must be a given when it comes to the holiness of our God. 

Daniel knew God well enough to know that, and I hope that we do too.

But praying for mercy from our holy God...this proves (again) that Daniel got it...and--he "got" our God and God's (merciful) heart for His children.

Daniel knew God, loved God, feared God, and Daniel knew that the heart of God for His people is merciful.  And Daniel was bold enough, brave enough, and faithful enough to ask for God's mercy over himself and God's people.

We too are a sinful people.  Over and over and over again, we (you and me and all the world) have not taken God's holiness seriously-enough, and some have outright rejected the Lord.  Our culture today is as wayward as Daniel's culture was yesterday.  

But if we know God, and love Him, and fear Him: then we can be bold and brave and faithful in asking God to have mercy on us today.  Not because we deserve help, but because of your mercy. ~Daniel 9:18 

 “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.”   ~Daniel 9:17-19

~~~

Daniel sure got it.   

Do we?

Do we understand that God is holy, and deserves our reverence, obedience, and praise?

Are we continuing in sin anyway?  Are we...or are the people of our world--choosing our preferences and pleasures over the Lord's?

We can get brave and bold and faithful today.  Let's ask God for His mercy, and...who knows: He may provide it.  And..the asking, the prayer, the deference to our holy God in the face of our unholy track record, it matters to God, and the results of our prayers can be immediate.   

An angel (Gabriel) says of Daniel's prayer that "the moment you began praying, a command was given...".  How about that for God's timely response?  

Let's begin praying today.  To God.  

Let's pray and confess our sin and the sin of our people, pleading with the Lord...

Because, our God hears our prayers, just as He heard Daniel's prayer.  And...our God is merciful.

I went on praying and confessing my sin and the sin of my people, pleading with the Lord my God for Jerusalem, his holy mountain. (21) As I was praying, Gabriel, whom I had seen in the earlier vision, came swiftly to me at the time of the evening sacrifice. 

(22) He explained to me, “Daniel, I have come here to give you insight and understanding. (23) The moment you began praying, a command was given. And now I am here to tell you what it was, for you are very precious to God. Listen carefully so that you can understand the meaning of your vision...  ~Daniel 9:20-23 

~~~

Daniel got it. He loved God, feared God, and honored God with his life.  Daniel also went-to-bat in prayer for his sins and the sins of others before our holy God.  Our holy and merciful God.  

Prayer (and repentance) changes things.  Daniel got that.  Are we bold enough, brave enough, and faithful enough to pray with all three today?


Blessings, 

Sarah 

https://sarahsundy04.blogspot.com

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