ONE NATION...BACK TO GOD...UNDENIABLE...WITH REPENTANCE AND SALVATION FOR ALL
In our series on prayers in the bible we come to Daniel's prayer in Dan. 9. Daniel was moved to prayer after reading the prophecy in the book of Jeremiah concerning his nation. As you may have figured out, the title of my sermon today is a twist on our pledge of allegiance. When we look at Daniel's prayer and apply it to us and our nation we may walk away with this being our new pledge...to turn America back to God.
1) Serious times call for serious prayers (1-3).
Daniel 9:1-3, "In the first year of Darius son of Xerxes (a Mede by descent), who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom—in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the Scriptures, according to the word of the LORD given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes."
The date of this chapter is thought to be around 538 B.C., a year before the Jews were permitted to return from exile, and sixty-nine years after Daniel had been taken captive in 605 B.C. Daniel was taken in his teen years and now was in his 80’s. Daniel is reading the book of Jeremiah and he comes across 25:11 which said that Judah would “serve the king of Babylon 70 years.” So Daniel does the math and he realizes he's in year 67. And he would be encouraged when he got to
Jer. 29:10-13, "This is what the LORD says: “When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call upon me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart."
But instead of jumping up for joy and just focusing on just riding out the storm and waiting for the Lord's deliverance we see Daniel was moved to prayer. But this wasn't his normal, three times a day prayer, this was something else-something deeper-more urgent. We see him combining prayer with fasting (which represents a seriousness and urgency above the norm) as well as sackcloth and ashes (which represents being in mourning).
We will have prayers like this. We have our normal prayer life and then we have special situational prayers; the ones that would involve a more serious or urgent tone. A, 'this is of the utmost importance' type of prayer. So even though his people are soon to be delivered Daniel was heartbroken by the fact that God had to send them to Babylon in the first place. He knew that judgment had come upon his people and even though a deliverance is on the way if his people didn't change their ways they could easily wind up back in trouble again.
It's obvious that Daniel didn't take the state of his nation lightly. He cared deeply about his fellow countrymen. And he also cared that his nation got back to being a godly nation. That should be our concern too. We as a nation have drifted away from God's ways; we've digressed from where we once were. Are we moved for our nation like Daniel is for his? Do we look at the state of America and determine that this is one of those, 'of the utmost importance' situations to pray or fast about?
Let's take a look at Daniel's prayer and see what we can take away from it.
2) It's our fault. (4-11a).
Vs. 4-11a, "I prayed to the LORD my God and confessed: “O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love with all who love him and obey his commands, we have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled; we have turned away from your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.
“Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame—the men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, in all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.
The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against him; we have not obeyed the LORD our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you."
Throughout this prayer you will see the repetitious use of "O". "O Lord" or "O God". This signifies a moan or a groan; a cry of desperation. This signifies Daniel's great angst over his people's rebellion and the consequences for it. Daniel starts out by acknowledging that God is great and awesome and that he is a keeper of his covenant of love with those who love him. So we don't see Daniel blaming God-accusing him of being unfair or unjust. We need to recognize that when God punishes us. God's discipline is always right and fair and just.
Then in verse five we see Daniel putting the blame where it belongs-on him and his people. I think it's quite humble that Daniel inserts himself in the guilt. Even though he was a righteous man and probably not as guilty as most of his countrymen, Daniel includes himself in the disobedience and rebellion. "We have sinned"; we have done wrong". He doesn't just blame his people, he blames himself too. We need to have this level of humility when we're praying for the church or our nation. What have I done, or not done? How have I fallen short of God's expectations?
Look at all the ways Daniel describes his people's waywardness-sinned, done wrong, wicked, rebelled, turned away, have not listened, covered with shame, unfaithfulness, have not obeyed, transgressed. Daniel isn't just making a quick and passing mention of their sin-he expounds on it by using many adjectives to describe it.
We need to see our sin in its fullness. We need to see it as wicked, rebellious, shameful and disobedient. We need to realize that when it comes to the state of the union that we have not listened, we have been unfaithful, we have done wrong. We need to take ownership for all the ways in which we have transgressed against the Lord's commands.
Contrast the way Daniel describes how his people have been verses how God is-great and awesome, keeps his covenant, righteous, merciful, forgiving. Not anywhere do you see Daniel saying, "Why are you doing this to us?" Daniel doesn't blame God for their current state; he blames himself and his country. He acknowledges that it's their own fault why they're in captivity.
That's what we need to do when we pray for our nation. We can easily blame the government or society or evil people for the way our country is but really, we need to point the finger at ourselves. I believe Christians are largely responsible for the decline of America's morality. We have become desensitized, we have become apathetic. We have compromised on our convictions and values. If we are going to be upset over the unholiness we see in America we need to be upset over how Christians have dropped the ball.
Pastor Joe Wright put it well when he prayed before the Kansas House of Representatives on January 23, 1996. This is what he said: “Heavenly Father, we come before you today to ask Your forgiveness and to seek Your direction and guidance. We know Your Word says, ‘Woe to those who call evil good,’ but that’s exactly what we have done. We have lost our spiritual equilibrium and inverted our values. “
We confess that: We have ridiculed the absolute truth of Your Word and called it pluralism. We have worshiped other gods and called it multiculturalism. We have endorsed perversion and called it an alternative lifestyle. We have exploited the poor and called it the lottery. We have neglected the needy and called it self-preservation. We have rewarded laziness and called it welfare.
We have killed our unborn and called it a choice. We have shot abortionists and called it justifiable. We have neglected to discipline our children and called it building self-esteem. We have abused power and called it political savvy. We have coveted our neighbor’s possessions and called it ambition. We have polluted the airwaves with profanity and called it freedom of expression. We have ridiculed the time-honored values of our forefathers and called it enlightenment. “Search us, O God, and know our hearts today; try us and see if there be some wicked way in us; cleanse us from every sin and set us free…”
This is what we have done. This is what I have done. John Stott, a British theologian and pastor, put it this way when he was speaking to an American audience some time ago. He said, “You know what your own country is like. I'm a visitor, and I wouldn't presume to speak about America. But I know what Great Britain is like. I know something about the growing dishonesty, corruption, immorality, violence, pornography, the diminishing respect for human life, and the increase in abortion.
“Whose fault is it? Let me put it like this: if the house is dark at night, there is no sense in blaming the house. That's what happens when the sun goes down. The question to ask is, ‘Where is the light?’ “If meat goes bad, there is no sense in blaming the meat. That is what happens when the bacteria are allowed to breed unchecked. The question to ask is, ‘Where is the salt?’ If society becomes corrupt like a dark night or stinking fish, there's no sense in blaming society. That's what happens when fallen human society is left to itself and human evil is unrestrained and unchecked. The question to ask is ‘Where is the church?’"
Over the course of time we have allowed this moral decline to happen. We have become lazy and apathetic. We have compromised on our godly convictions. Women's lib=women ministers and leaders in the church. Homosexuals come out of the closet and are loud and proud and their voices are being heard and they are achieving their agenda. They have caused Christian bakers to have their businesses closed down because they refused to bake a cake for a gay wedding.
They have pushed the transgender agenda to the point where men are allowed into women's bathrooms. They want to make it so that schools don't address children as boys or girls but simply "students". A good site to go to regarding this topic is AFA.net. They have published a video titled, "Preparing Your Children for the Transgender Revolution". It's quite informative.
They're pushing for simply speaking against homosexuality to be a hate crime. If that were to pass then I could be arrested for what I'm doing right now. And sadly, some churches have compromised. Churches that are supposed to be worshiping Christ are placing a rainbow flag on their building. They're deceived into thinking love means being all inclusive and everything is okay. Some churches are even allowing gay ministers.
Some churches are becoming silent about it. All it takes for evil to succeed is for good men to say nothing. In an attempt to attract more and more people some ministers stay away from speaking about controversial topics. They avoid passages that talk about God's judgment or sin and focus only on God's love and grace.
There needs to be a balance because in the bible there's a balance. And if that means you'll be looked at in a negative way because of it then so be it. If people leave because of it then so be it. It happened to Jesus. In John 6 he was teaching some hard truths and at one point he even asked, "does this offend you?" He doesn't apologize for what he said he just goes on teaching.
Verse 66 says that many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him. He didn't go chasing after them. Jesus offended and angered many people. Not because he wanted to but because the truth offends those who don't want to hear it. But Jesus never compromised on the truth. He always spoke the truth in love but he never watered it down to make it palatable for his audience.
How are we ever going to influence people to turn to Christ when we compromise on the truth? What's happened is instead of the church influencing society, society has influenced the church. We have become liberal; we have become progressive. And look what has happened as a result. Things like prayer and the bible have been taken out of schools. The ten commandments are being taken out of public offices. Even bibles are being taken out of hotel rooms.
I read an article this week that talked about the decline in hotel bibles. At one time you would find a bible in every hotel room. That reality is dwindling away. Why? According to a San Diego State study, Millennials (age 18-34) are the least religious generation in American history. So, with them also being the most marketable, more and more hotels are deciding to forego the bible in the drawer. And estimates are that within the next few years Millennials will make up about a third of the overall population so that isn't good when it comes to the overall religious make-up of America.
The problem is the world is changing the church more so than the other way around. Paul had to deal with that with the Corinthian church regarding sexual immorality (1st Cor. 5). Corinth was a very sexually charged city. And unfortunately, that immorality was weaving its way into the church. And instead of being ashamed of it they were proud. So Paul rebuked them and told them to get rid of the one who was negatively influencing others, lest the "yeast" work through the whole batch.
Churches today can be guilty of compromising in that area. Because sex before marriage and living together before marriage are acceptable practices in society we can become desensitized to them as a church and fail to address them when it's happening. And if that goes on long enough that "yeast" will work through the whole batch, causing others to either follow suit or lose their sensitivity to it.
The church needs to be salt and light; we need to be the voice of truth in a sin-stained society. It's time for Christians to come out of the closet. We have allowed our voices to become silent while the ungodly voices are being heard. We need to cause our voices to be heard. Unfortunately, though, it's gotten to where we are made to feel bad about our godly views.
When we're labeled as haters or narrow-minded because of our beliefs we can get to where we compromise in order to not be viewed that way. That's wrong. We shouldn't be ashamed of being a Christian. We should continue to stand up for what we believe in and try to correct people's negative viewpoint of what we believe.
Unfortunately, the ones who get the attention are the hateful "Christians" who are waving their "God hates fags" signs. That bothers me as much if not more than the rainbow flag does. That is definitely not the right approach. We need to lovingly explain the truth; we need to lovingly explain why God's word says what it does. We spread the message of love but all the while trying to correct people's confused view of love. Yes, God does love all but he's not accepting of all behavior.
Jesus told the woman caught in adultery to go and sin no more. God loves the homosexual but he's not okay with their sin. His love is such that he wants to correct all our bad behavior. But first we have to see our bad behavior as bad. That's where a lot of the hate from others comes from. They don't see it from God's perspective but only from a worldly perspective. People can understand why certain things like murder or rape are sinful but not sex outside of marriage or homosexuality.
But we can do our best to explain to people who are interested in hearing us why these things are sinful. It's not enough to say, "because God says so", we should seek to know and explain why God says it's wrong. It doesn't mean people will agree with you but at least you've explained where God is coming from and they can go away and think about it.
3) Recognize, repent and request (11b-19).
Vs. 11b-19, “Therefore the curses and sworn judgments written in the Law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us, because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the Law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the LORD our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The LORD did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in everything he does; yet we have not obeyed him.
Now, O Lord our God, who brought your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us.
“Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear; open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your Name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act! For your sake, O my God, do not delay, because your city and your people bear your Name.”
God's judgment has come upon his people and Daniel recognizes that it's because his people had not listened to God's warnings to repent. God's judgment may very well be coming upon America because God's people have not been proactive enough. We are the ones who have let it all got to hell in a hand basket. We need to wake up and recognize what's going on and repent from our apathy and laziness and get busy doing more to try to turn America around.
And we need to seek the Lord's mercy and forgiveness. Daniel asks God to turn away his anger and wrath from Jerusalem, hear his prayers and petitions, look with favor on his desolate sanctuary, see and hear, listen, forgive, hear and act, do not delay. We need to do the same.
I like what he said in verse 18, 'we don't make requests because we're righteous, but because of your great mercy'. In humility we realize that we don't deserve God's mercy and forgiveness but because he is a loving and gracious God we seek it because we so desperately need it-lest we encounter his discipline for our lack of action. We need to recognize how we've fallen short, we need to repent and in turn we need to request that God be merciful on our nation.
I'm not saying all this because I think this church has done nothing to combat the moral decline in America today. But I admit I could be doing more. I admit I have been guilty of complaining about the moral decline without being more serious about trying to change it. Let's go out there and do everything we can to try and turn our nation back to God.
