Daniel 9:7
O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries whither thou hast driven them, because of their trespass that they have trespassed against thee.
Righteousness belongs to God, while shame and confusion of face belong to His people because they have sinned and trespassed against Him and turned from His commands and judgments, resting upon the men of Judah and Jerusalem and upon all Israel both near and scattered far off through the countries where He has driven them for their unfaithfulness. Though Daniel was faithful and greatly beloved, he did not stand apart but numbered himself with the guilty, confessing his own sin together with the sin of his people before a righteous God. His confession makes no excuse and declares God's dealings just, renouncing dependence on human goodness and appealing to God's righteousness and mercy for restoration. The prayer stands as the model of humble, contrite seeking of God with fasting, confession, humiliation and intercession for self and for Israel, to be offered together by God's people now in repentance and wrestling prayer until He manifests His power. Such earnest prayer from sincere lips is heard in heaven, bringing ministering angels, wisdom, power and protection, and preparing those who keep God's commandments and live wholly for His glory to stand faithful in the final conflict.
Setting and Prayer Context
The words stand within the prophetic periods of Daniel 8 and 9 that are reckoned from 457 B.C. The ninth chapter is unmistakably connected with the eighth and holds the key to ascertaining the commencement and termination of the 2300 days.
They are part of Daniel's prayer offered in the first year of Darius, after Babylon's fall and around the completion of the seventy years since the first Hebrews were taken from Judea to Babylon. That prayer was made after he set his face to seek God by prayer and supplications with fasting and affliction of soul, in tears and with confession and humiliation, with sackcloth and ashes. It followed the true vision of the evening and the morning that shall be for many days, at which he fainted and was sick certain days, then rose to do the king's business, astonished with none understanding it. His praying was not for nothing, for his prayer was heard, and ministering angels came to him to give him in vision the communication from God. The prayer stands amid the judgments of God witnessed in San Francisco, which are a standing warning to the people in Oakland, opening what Daniel saw in vision would be.
Righteousness and Shame Confessed
Righteousness belongs to God, while shame and confusion of face belong to His people because they have sinned and trespassed against Him and turned from His commands and judgments and counsel. That shame falls on the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem and on all Israel, both those near and those scattered far off through all the countries where God has driven them. Their distress and dispersion are the result of their unfaithfulness to God.
Though Daniel was faithful and true and greatly beloved by God, he did not stand apart from his people but included himself with them in guilt. He confessed his own sin along with theirs and took his place with them as guilty before a righteous God. His own faithfulness did not keep him from confessing sin with his people.
The confession makes no excuses and acknowledges the full guilt of the people, affirming that God's treatment of the rebellious nation was just. It is a confession of human failure before God and of dependence on His righteousness rather than one's own. It appeals to God's righteousness and mercy for Jerusalem's restoration, not to the people's own goodness.
The shame and confusion of those who sinned against God also describes people who had great light and salvation within reach but rejected them. God's word will judge them in the last day.
Example for Prayer Today
Daniel 9 stands as the appointed example and model of seeking God through humble, contrite prayer. It is prayer marked by contrition and deep sorrow over the desolation of Jerusalem, by intercession and wrestling with God for self and for Israel, by repentance and humbling of the heart before God, by giving God the glory due His name, and by examining one's own experience of humility. In it righteousness is ascribed to God while shame and confusion of face are owned as belonging to His people, including Judah and Jerusalem and all Israel scattered near and far, whose distress and dispersion came through unfaithfulness.
God's people are now to offer this corporate confession together, confessing sins, repenting before God, wrestling in prayer, and continuing until the Lord manifests Himself with power. This call rests with particular weight upon Seventh-day Adventists who have departed from God's expressed commands, failed to heed the light and testimonies of His Spirit, and acted in self-confidence and presumption contrary to His messages. It reproves selfishly gathering facilities to a few favored places while neglecting other parts of the field, the needs of people in the large cities, and the Southern field.
Daniel's most earnest prayer, offered with fasting and affliction of soul, in tears and with confession and humiliation, and uttered from sincere lips, was not for nothing but was heard. Ministering angels came to him to give in vision the communication from God. God is ready to hear those who seek Him wholeheartedly and willing to help all who come to Him, who ask in faith, pray without ceasing, make God their trust, and keep their souls in communion with God. Such asking brings answer, wisdom, increased ability, and power from heaven.
The earnest, full, and complete prayer that followed Daniel's humbling himself before God helped bring a result in which a woman recognized her own transgression and longed to acknowledge the truth and show repentance. Confessing sin as Daniel did means finding pardon by keeping the commandments of God and living wholly for God's glory, faithful and true. Those who pray so are not asleep but awake and keenly alive to exposure to the enemy's malignant devices in the day-by-day conflict in which good and evil angels, loyal and disloyal angels, strive over every person, and each person determines which shall win. They come under the protection and guard of heavenly intelligences and the angels of God, stand faithful in lot and place, make thorough work for eternity without fanciful speculations, pressing home the truth of the ministration of angels from the written Word as the only safety, and become prepared for the last great controversy, for what is soon coming upon the earth, and for the Lord's coming.
Daniel's prayer is to become our prayer for the Holy Spirit to work in our behalf. It humbles the soul in the sight of God in view of the cross and what redemption cost, expelling pride, self-esteem, and stubbornness so that God may lift us up, while keeping a true sense of human value as measured by the price paid for redemption. It teaches humility before God while never obliterating the line of demarcation between God's commandment-keeping people and those who have no respect for His law.