February 18, 2019: Day 79 – Daniel 9
February 21, 2019No longer does Daniel have a vision but rather he is convicted and comes before the Lord asking for forgiveness both for him and for his people. If you look at vs.9 you see an open apology to the Lord and yet at the same time beseeching his mercy. I love vs.19 which tells us: “O Lord hear, O Lord, forgive, O Lord, listen and act and do not delay.” This series of commands is given not out of anger but out of real desperation. God listen to me. God I’m so sorry for what I have done. God do something. What a sequence of desperate statements that have been in and out of our vocabularies depending on what is happening in our life.
We then get the image that God not only listens but send the angel Gabriel back down in a hurry so that Daniel can know that God is listening and provides Daniel with a thorough explanation of the answer to his prayer. If you look at vs.21 you see that Gabriel came: “in swift flight.” Hurry up Gabriel, get down there before he gives up. The deliverance from the Lord comes in the form of a “strong covenant”. We all need a strong covenant with the Lord to assure us of our salvation. The good news is that we have that covenant in Jesus. Praise the Lord!