19 O lord, hear, O Lord, forgive; O Lord, attend and do; do not delay, for Thine own sake, O my God, for Thy name is called on Thy city, and on Thy people.'
We have known, O Jehovah, our wickedness, The iniquity of our fathers, For we have sinned against Thee. Do not despise, for Thy name's sake, Dishonour not the throne of Thine honour, Remember, break not Thy covenant with us.
Be not wroth, O Jehovah, very sore, Nor for ever remember iniquity, Lo, look attentively, we beseech Thee, Thy people `are' we all. Thy holy cities have been a wilderness, Zion a wilderness hath been, Jerusalem a desolation. Our holy and our beautiful house, Where praise Thee did our fathers, Hath become burnt with fire, And all our desirable things have become a waste. For these dost Thou refrain Thyself, Jehovah? Thou art silent, and dost afflict us very sore!'
For Thou `art' our Father, For Abraham hath not known us, And Israel doth not acknowledge us, Thou, O Jehovah, `art' our Father, Our redeemer from the age, `is' Thy name. Why causest Thou us to wander, O Jehovah, from Thy ways? Thou hardenest our heart from Thy fear, Turn back for Thy servants' sake, The tribes of Thine inheritance. For a little while did Thy holy people possess, Our adversaries have trodden down Thy sanctuary. We have been from of old, Thou hast not ruled over them, Not called is Thy name upon them!
Not to us, O Jehovah, not to us, But to Thy name give honour, For Thy kindness, for Thy truth. Why do the nations say, `Where, pray, `is' their God.
Thou -- Thou risest -- Thou pitiest Zion, For the time to favour her, For the appointed time hath come. For Thy servants have been pleased with her stones, And her dust they favour. And nations fear the name of Jehovah, And all kings of the earth Thine honour, For Jehovah hath builded Zion, He hath been seen in His honour,
Remember not for us the iniquities of forefathers, Haste, let Thy mercies go before us, For we have been very weak. Help us, O God of our salvation, Because of the honour of Thy name, And deliver us, and cover over our sins, For Thy name's sake. Why do the nations say, `Where `is' their God?' Let be known among the nations before our eyes, The vengeance of the blood of Thy servants that is shed.
Till when, O Jehovah? art Thou angry for ever? Thy jealousy doth burn as fire. Pour Thy fury on the nations who have not known Thee, And on kingdoms that have not called in Thy name.
Our ensigns we have not seen, There is no more a prophet, Nor with us is one knowing how long. Till when, O God, doth an adversary reproach? Doth an enemy despise thy name for ever? Why dost Thou turn back Thy hand, Even Thy right hand? From the midst of Thy bosom remove `it'.
Stir up -- why dost Thou sleep, O Lord? Awake, cast us not off for ever. Why Thy face hidest Thou? Thou forgettest our afflictions and our oppression, For bowed to the dust hath our soul, Cleaved to the earth hath our belly. Arise, a help to us, And ransom us for thy kindness' sake.
then Thou dost hear from the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and caused them to turn back unto the ground that Thou hast given to them, and to their fathers. `In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name -- from their sin they turn back because Thou dost afflict them -- then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, because Thou directest them unto the good way in which they walk, and hast given rain on Thy land that Thou hast given to Thy people for an inheritance. `Famine, when it is in the land, pestilence, when it is, blasting, and mildew, locust, and caterpillar, when they are, when its enemies have distressed it in the land -- its gates, any plague and any sickness; any prayer, any supplication that is for any man, and for all Thy people Israel, when they know each his own plague, and his own pain, and he hath spread out his hands towards this house: then Thou dost hear from the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast given to each according to all his ways (because Thou knowest his heart, for Thou -- Thou only -- hast known the heart of the sons of men),
`Then Thou hast hearkened unto the supplication of Thy servant, and of Thy people Israel, which they pray towards this place; yea, Thou dost hearken in the place of Thy dwelling, in the heavens -- and Thou hast hearkened, and hast forgiven, that which a man sinneth against his neighbour, and he hath lifted up upon him an oath to cause him to swear, and the oath hath come in before Thine altar in this house, then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast done, and hast judged Thy servants, to declare wicked the wicked, to put his way on his head, and to declare righteous the righteous, to give him according to his righteousness. `In Thy people Israel being smitten before an enemy, because they sin against Thee, and they have turned back unto Thee, and have confessed Thy name, and prayed, and made supplication unto Thee in this house, then thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy people Israel, and brought them back unto the ground that Thou gavest to their fathers. `In the heavens being restrained, and there is no rain, because they sin against Thee, and they have prayed towards this place, and confessed Thy name, and from their sin turn back, for Thou dost afflict them, then Thou dost hear in the heavens, and hast forgiven the sin of Thy servants, and of Thy people Israel, for Thou directest them the good way in which they go, and hast given rain on Thy land which Thou hast given to Thy people for inheritance. `Famine -- when it is in the land; pestilence -- when it is; blasting, mildew, locust; caterpillar -- when it is; when its enemy hath distressed it in the land `in' its gates, any plague, any sickness, -- any prayer, any supplication that `is' of any man of all Thy people Israel, who know each the plague of his own heart, and hath spread his hands towards this house, then Thou dost hear in the heavens, the settled place of Thy dwelling, and hast forgiven, and hast done, and hast given to each according to all his ways, whose heart Thou knowest, (for Thou hast known -- Thyself alone -- the heart of all the sons of man),
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 9
Commentary on Daniel 9 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 9
In this chapter we have,
And it is the clearest, brightest, prophecy of the Messiah, in all the Old Testament.
Dan 9:1-3
We left Daniel, in the close of the foregoing chapter, employed in the king's business; but here we have him employed in better business than any king had for him, speaking to God and hearing from him, not for himself only, but for the church, whose mouth he was to God, and for whose use the oracles of God were committed to him, relating to the days of the Messiah. Observe,
Dan 9:4-19
We have here Daniel's prayer to God as his God, and the confession which he joined with that prayer: I prayed, and made my confession. Note, In every prayer we must make confession, not only of the sins we have been guilty of (which we commonly call confession), but of our faith in God and dependence upon him, our sorrow for sin and our resolutions against it. It must be our confession, must be the language of our own convictions and that which we ourselves do heartily subscribe to.
Let us go over the several parts of this prayer, which we have reason to think that he offered up much more largely than is here recorded, these being only the heads of it.
Dan 9:20-27
We have here the answer that was immediately sent to Daniel's prayer, and it is a very memorable one, as it contains the most illustrious prediction of Christ and gospel-grace that is extant in all the Old Testament. If John Baptist was the morning-star, this was the day-break to the Sun of righteousness, the day-spring from on high. Here is,