Daniel’s Confession For His People

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. But we have sinned and done wrong. We have rebelled against you and scorned your commands and regulations. 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.

Daniel 9:4-9

By the time he had prayed this prayer, Daniel had already lived a full life. He had already survived the lion’s den. Now his days were filled with startling visions of God’s plans for the world. Still, as he read the predictions of the prophet Jeremiah, he was overwhelmed with how faithful and just God was and how faithless and wicked the Israelites were. And he was moved to pray for his people.

If we are reading God’s Word attentively, our conscience should be affected by what we learn. At times, we should be moved to praise or repentance when we read Scripture. Like Daniel, we will discover how great and awesome God is and how merciful and forgiving he is to those who turn to him.

• O Lord, you are a great and awesome God! You are merciful and forgiving . . .