Now
therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake.
Daniel 9:17
Daniel 9 [10.] neither have we obeyed Yahweh our God’s voice, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. Yes, all Israel have transgressed your law, turning aside, that they should not obey your voice: therefore the curse and the oath written in the law of Moses the servant of God has been poured out on us; for we have sinned against him. He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us, and against our judges who judged us, by bringing on us a great evil; for under the whole sky, such has not been done as has been done to Jerusalem. As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil has come on us: yet have we not entreated the favor of Yahweh our God, that we should turn from our iniquities, and have discernment in your truth. Therefore has Yahweh watched over the evil, and brought it on us; for Yahweh our God is righteous in all his works which he does, and we have not obeyed his voice.
Daniel 9 [15.] Now, Lord our God, who has brought your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have gotten yourself renown, as it is today; we have sinned, we have done wickedly. Lord, according to all your righteousness, let your anger and please let your wrath be turned away from your city Jerusalem, your holy mountain; because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a reproach to all who are around us. Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant, and to his petitions, and cause your face to shine on your sanctuary that is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. My God, turn your ear, and hear; open your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by your name: for we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake. Lord, hear; Lord, forgive; Lord, listen and do; don’t defer, for your own sake, my God, because your city and your people are called by your name.
Daniel 9 [20.] While I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before Yahweh my God for the holy mountain of my God; yes, while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, touched me about the time of the evening offering. He instructed me, and talked with me, and said, Daniel, I have now come to give you wisdom and understanding. At the beginning of your petitions the commandment went out, and I have come to tell you; for you are greatly beloved: therefore consider the matter, and understand the vision. Seventy weeks are decreed on your people and on your holy city, to finish disobedience, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most holy.
Meaning:
Daniel was an old man in Babylon when he prayed this prayer, in the first year of Darius the Mede, soon after the Persians had taken Babylon. He had been reading the prophet Jeremiah and understood that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years (Jeremiah 29:10). The temple had been lying in ruins for about fifty years. So Daniel turned to God in prayer, with fasting and confession. This verse is the heart of his request. The PIB footnote at Mark 13:14 points to it, because it speaks of God’s sanctuary as “desolate”.
- “Now therefore, our God, listen to the prayer of your servant”
Daniel’s request comes only after a long confession. He did not blame others; he prayed, “we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly” (Daniel 9:5-8). He admitted that the disaster that had fallen on Jerusalem was the judgment God had warned of. Only then did he say “Now therefore”: on the basis of God’s mercy, listen.
He calls himself “your servant”. Although he was a high official in a foreign empire, before God he took the place of a servant. Scripture promises that such prayer is heard: “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
- “And cause your face to shine”
These words echo the blessing God gave Aaron to speak over Israel: “Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you” (Numbers 6:25). For God’s face to shine means his favour and presence returning. Daniel was asking God to turn toward his people again, to be gracious to them as in the days when that blessing was spoken in the temple courts.
- “On your sanctuary that is desolate”
The sanctuary was the temple in Jerusalem, destroyed by the Babylonians in 586 BC. Daniel calls it “your sanctuary”. It was God’s house, and its ruin was a reproach to God’s name among the nations.
The word “desolate” is a key word in the book of Daniel. God answered this very prayer by sending the angel Gabriel, who told Daniel that the city would be rebuilt, but that after the Anointed One was cut off, “the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary”, and “on the wing of abominations shall come one who makes desolate” (Daniel 9:26-27). Later visions speak of “the abomination that makes desolate” (Daniel 11:31; Daniel 12:11). Jesus took up this language when he warned of “the abomination of desolation” standing where it ought not (Mark 13:14).
- “For the Lord’s sake”
Daniel did not ask God to act because Israel deserved it. As he says in the following words, “we do not present our petitions before you for our righteousness, but for your great mercies’ sake” (see the Context above). He appealed to God’s own honour and mercy. This is the boldest and surest ground of prayer: that God will act for the sake of his name, his promises and his love.
The Significance of Daniel 9:17
- Prayer grounded in God’s word
Daniel prayed because he had read God’s promise in Jeremiah. Scripture gives believers both the reason and the words for prayer.
- Confession opens the way
Daniel confessed before he asked. Honest repentance clears the way for bold requests.
- A greater sanctuary
Today believers come to God through Jesus, our great high priest: “Let us therefore draw near with boldness to the throne of grace” (Hebrews 4:16).
Cross-References:
Numbers 6:25: "Yahweh make his face to shine on you, and be gracious to you." The priestly blessing Daniel echoes.
Jeremiah 29:10: "After seventy years are accomplished for Babylon, I will visit you" The promise Daniel was reading.
Daniel 9:26: "the people of the prince who shall come shall destroy the city and the sanctuary" God’s answer foresaw a later desolation.
1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and righteous to forgive us the sins" Confession and forgiveness.
Conclusion: In Daniel 9:17 the aged prophet, having confessed his people’s sins, asked God to hear him and to make his face shine again on his ruined sanctuary in Jerusalem, not for Israel’s sake but for the Lord’s own sake. God answered with the prophecy of the seventy weeks, which also spoke of a coming desolation, the background of Jesus’ warning in Mark 13. Daniel’s prayer teaches believers to pray humbly, honestly and boldly, resting on God’s promises and his great mercy.
PIB Scriptures are derived from the World English Bible