We have sinned
We have sinned
I am amazed how much we humans pretend and try to convince ourselves that we are perfect and have never sinned. It comes out clearly in the way we react to other people’s sins. We make such statements as “How could he/she do that?” We also say, “Look at what so and so did”. Most of the time, we block out the memory of our own past sins or even recent (like minutes ago) ones. Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry are at best in helping us forget the reality of our sinful nature by entertaining us with amusement and also glorifying sin. Amusement has a tranquilizing effect whereby you become norm to that side of the brain that asks questions and take things seriously. Please don’t get me wrong, we need to laugh often (since the Word tells us it is good medicine) but the laughter does not have to come from minimizing sin. The World does not want to hear nor confess these words, “We have sinned” because they don’t want to deal with God’s solution for sin which requires no human work but a trust in His Son Jesus Christ.
If you are still not convinced of human sinfulness, listen to God give the final verdict. 2 “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one” Psalm 14:2-3. “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” Job 7:20. It sounds pretty clear to me that the Word helps us understand that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory.
In Daniel 9, we see Daniel seeking God to understand the times especially in light of his visions. In the process, Daniel acknowledges and confesses his sin and those of his people Israel. Daniel goes on to pray asking for God’s mercy. That is our best prayer. “O Lord, have mercy on me”. Is this your prayer?
Daniel 9: 1-19
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury 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 are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline 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 supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Daniel depended on the Word of God and thus he went to it for answers. Notice the word “books” vs.1, referring to recorded worded of God given to the prophets and in this case, Jeremiah. He read the book to understand what is going on and God gave him understanding. Like Daniel, we must begin with the Word of God. Daniel’s prayer were influenced and directed by his studying and understanding the Word of God. “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” vs. 3. Any meaningful and significant prayer is based on the understanding of God’s word. Is that the case for us? Are you just praying without being saturated by the Word? If so you will miss praying God’s Will. God only answers prayers that are according to His Word and will.
2. Daniel acknowledged first whom He is praying to – “the Lord my God” and the “the Great and awesome God” vs.4. We understand that “anyone who comes to Him (God) must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” Hebrews 11:6. Do you know that it is very easy to think that God does not exist? All it takes is one trouble or heartache in your life and all of a sudden you switch gear thinking you are alone in the present circumstances. We can quickly forget so we must constantly renew our minds with God’s word to build our faith for “without faith, it is impossible to please God”. Are you experiencing God’s presence today? If not spend more time in His Word.
3. The Israelites could not stop sinning and were not capable of obeying the laws of God even with good intentions. Listen to Daniel, “10We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law” vs.10-11, God had promised them a better covenant whereby he will write his laws in their hearts and our hearts (Hebrew 8: 8-12) and that has been accomplished with Christ as the sacrifice. “Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” Hebrew 9:15. What a joy to know that we can say the words “I have sinned” and to know that Christ has paid for my sins. The penalty for sin is death and alienation from relationship with God. I thank God that we can now “come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy”.
4. What did Daniel pray for? He went straight to the throne of grace and appealed for God’s mercy vs. 4, 9, 18 and 19. Yes he confessed his sins and those of his people Israel not because God does not already know. The sum of all our prayers is the request for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Everything that comes to us is out of God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness. Otherwise, we do not have a chance. Are you crying for God’s mercy and grace? Lately, I have reduced my prayers to the simplicity of crying, “O Lord my God, please have mercy on me and grant me your grace to live today and face anything that comes my way”. In the midst of any crisis or trouble in my soul, I am constantly crying, “God have mercy on me”. I know it is not sophisticated and does not impress the religious but I can pray often and at any time by crying “Lord have mercy and supply me grace”. Please pray for me in this fashion.
Are you crying out for God’s mercy just as Daniel cried? Would you pray with me? O Lord, have mercy on me and forgive my sins. Help me to walk and be controlled by your Holy Spirit so that I will please you in this new relationship with you. Lord, let your grace be multiplied in my life to lead me to obedience and to do your good pleasures, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
I am amazed how much we humans pretend and try to convince ourselves that we are perfect and have never sinned. It comes out clearly in the way we react to other people’s sins. We make such statements as “How could he/she do that?” We also say, “Look at what so and so did”. Most of the time, we block out the memory of our own past sins or even recent (like minutes ago) ones. Hollywood and the rest of the entertainment industry are at best in helping us forget the reality of our sinful nature by entertaining us with amusement and also glorifying sin. Amusement has a tranquilizing effect whereby you become norm to that side of the brain that asks questions and take things seriously. Please don’t get me wrong, we need to laugh often (since the Word tells us it is good medicine) but the laughter does not have to come from minimizing sin. The World does not want to hear nor confess these words, “We have sinned” because they don’t want to deal with God’s solution for sin which requires no human work but a trust in His Son Jesus Christ.
If you are still not convinced of human sinfulness, listen to God give the final verdict. 2 “The LORD looks down from heaven upon the children of men, To see if there are any who understand, who seek God. 3 They have all turned aside, they have together become corrupt; There is none who does good, No, not one” Psalm 14:2-3. “There is not a righteous man on earth who does what is right and never sins” Job 7:20. It sounds pretty clear to me that the Word helps us understand that all have sinned and come short of God’s glory.
In Daniel 9, we see Daniel seeking God to understand the times especially in light of his visions. In the process, Daniel acknowledges and confesses his sin and those of his people Israel. Daniel goes on to pray asking for God’s mercy. That is our best prayer. “O Lord, have mercy on me”. Is this your prayer?
Daniel 9: 1-19
1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the lineage of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans— 2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years specified by the word of the LORD through Jeremiah the prophet, that He would accomplish seventy years in the desolations of Jerusalem.
3 Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes. 4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and mercy with those who love Him, and with those who keep His commandments, 5 we have sinned and committed iniquity, we have done wickedly and rebelled, even by departing from Your precepts and Your judgments. 6 Neither have we heeded Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings and our princes, to our fathers and all the people of the land. 7 O Lord, righteousness belongs to You, but to us shame of face, as it is this day—to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and all Israel, those near and those far off in all the countries to which You have driven them, because of the unfaithfulness which they have committed against You.
8 “O Lord, to us belongs shame of face, to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, because we have sinned against You. 9 To the Lord our God belong mercy and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him. 10 We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law, and has departed so as not to obey Your voice; therefore the curse and the oath written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against Him. 12 And He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us and against our judges who judged us, by bringing upon us a great disaster; for under the whole heaven such has never been done as what has been done to Jerusalem.
13 “As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us; yet we have not made our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities and understand Your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept the disaster in mind, and brought it upon us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works which He does, though we have not obeyed His voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and made Yourself a name, as it is this day—we have sinned, we have done wickedly!
16 “O Lord, according to all Your righteousness, I pray, let Your anger and Your fury 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 are a reproach to all those around us. 17 Now therefore, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and for the Lord’s sake cause Your face to shine on Your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline 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 supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. 19 O Lord, hear! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, listen and act! Do not delay for Your own sake, my God, for Your city and Your people are called by Your name.”
Here are my observations in addition to the ones you may have:
1. Daniel depended on the Word of God and thus he went to it for answers. Notice the word “books” vs.1, referring to recorded worded of God given to the prophets and in this case, Jeremiah. He read the book to understand what is going on and God gave him understanding. Like Daniel, we must begin with the Word of God. Daniel’s prayer were influenced and directed by his studying and understanding the Word of God. “Then I set my face toward the Lord God to make request by prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth, and ashes” vs. 3. Any meaningful and significant prayer is based on the understanding of God’s word. Is that the case for us? Are you just praying without being saturated by the Word? If so you will miss praying God’s Will. God only answers prayers that are according to His Word and will.
2. Daniel acknowledged first whom He is praying to – “the Lord my God” and the “the Great and awesome God” vs.4. We understand that “anyone who comes to Him (God) must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him” Hebrews 11:6. Do you know that it is very easy to think that God does not exist? All it takes is one trouble or heartache in your life and all of a sudden you switch gear thinking you are alone in the present circumstances. We can quickly forget so we must constantly renew our minds with God’s word to build our faith for “without faith, it is impossible to please God”. Are you experiencing God’s presence today? If not spend more time in His Word.
3. The Israelites could not stop sinning and were not capable of obeying the laws of God even with good intentions. Listen to Daniel, “10We have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His laws, which He set before us by His servants the prophets. 11 Yes, all Israel has transgressed Your law” vs.10-11, God had promised them a better covenant whereby he will write his laws in their hearts and our hearts (Hebrew 8: 8-12) and that has been accomplished with Christ as the sacrifice. “Christ is the mediator of a new covenant, that those who are called may receive the promised eternal inheritance—now that he has died as a ransom to set them free from the sins committed under the first covenant” Hebrew 9:15. What a joy to know that we can say the words “I have sinned” and to know that Christ has paid for my sins. The penalty for sin is death and alienation from relationship with God. I thank God that we can now “come boldly to the throne of grace to obtain mercy”.
4. What did Daniel pray for? He went straight to the throne of grace and appealed for God’s mercy vs. 4, 9, 18 and 19. Yes he confessed his sins and those of his people Israel not because God does not already know. The sum of all our prayers is the request for God’s mercy and forgiveness. Everything that comes to us is out of God’s mercy, grace and forgiveness. Otherwise, we do not have a chance. Are you crying for God’s mercy and grace? Lately, I have reduced my prayers to the simplicity of crying, “O Lord my God, please have mercy on me and grant me your grace to live today and face anything that comes my way”. In the midst of any crisis or trouble in my soul, I am constantly crying, “God have mercy on me”. I know it is not sophisticated and does not impress the religious but I can pray often and at any time by crying “Lord have mercy and supply me grace”. Please pray for me in this fashion.
Are you crying out for God’s mercy just as Daniel cried? Would you pray with me? O Lord, have mercy on me and forgive my sins. Help me to walk and be controlled by your Holy Spirit so that I will please you in this new relationship with you. Lord, let your grace be multiplied in my life to lead me to obedience and to do your good pleasures, in Jesus Christ. Amen.
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