Daniel 9:3-12

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Daniel 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, 1. When it was that Daniel had this communion with God (Dan. 9:1), in the first year of Darius the Mede, who was newly... read more

Matthew Henry

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Daniel 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... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:3

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications ,.... He set apart some time on purpose for this service, distinct from his usual stated times of prayer, as well as from his civil business and employment; and he not only set his face toward Jerusalem, as he used to do, Daniel 6:10 , the more to affect his mind with the desolations the city and temple lay in; but towards the Lord God, the sovereign Lord of all, who does according to his will in heaven and in earth,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:4

And I prayed unto the Lord my God ,.... Not to idols, nor to angels or saints departed; but to the Lord God of heaven and earth, who is omniscient, omnipotent, omnipresent, &c.;: a God hearing and answering prayer; and to whom he directed his prayer, not only as the God of nature and providence, but as his own covenant God and Father; thereby encouraging his faith in him, and using his interest with him: and made my confession; of his own sins, and of the sins of his people; of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:5

We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled ,.... Some think there is a gradation in these words; that they had committed some sins through error and ignorance; others through infirmity and obliquity, or in the perverseness of their spirits, and the crookedness of their ways; and others wilfully and in malice, in the wickedness of their hearts; and others were open acts of hostility against God, casting off his yoke, and refusing obedience to him,... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:6

Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets ,.... To their explanations of the laws and judgments of God; to their admonitions, reproofs, and counsels; these they did not attentively listen to, nor give credit to them, nor yield obedience to them; but despised and rejected them, though they were the true prophets and servants of the Lord; such as Hosea, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and others: which spake in thy name ; they came by the authority of God, being sent by him; they... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:7

O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto thee ,.... It is essential to him, it is his nature, and appears in all his works; he is perfectly pure, holy, and righteous; he is just, and without iniquity; and there is no unrighteousness in him, nor any to be charged upon him, on account of anything done by him: punitive justice belongs to him; nor is he to be complained of because of his judgments, which are righteous altogether; nor had the prophet, or any of his countrymen, just reason to complain... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:8

O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face ,.... Which is repeated, to show how much the mind of the prophet was affected with it, and to fix a sense of it in the minds of others; as well as to suggest that he wanted words fully to express that shame that everyone ought to take to themselves; and also in order to introduce what follows, and that to observe that all ranks and degrees of men were concerned in it: to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:9

To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses ,.... Mercy is his nature, and what he delights in; it is abundant, and he is plenteous in it the fountain of mercy is with him, and numerous are the streams which flow from it, called "the multitude of his tender mercies"; all temporal favours spring from hence, and so do all spiritual blessings, the sure mercies of David; and particularly the forgiveness of sin, which is the Lord's prerogative, and is according to the tender mercies of... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Daniel 9:10

Neither have we obeyed the voice of the Lord our God ,.... Speaking in the law, and by his prophets; for what was spoken there, and by them, should have been considered, not as the word of man, but as the word of God, and should have been attended to and obeyed; for despising that and them was interpreted as despising the Lord, and refusing to hearken to him, and obey his voice; which was a sin highly provoking to him, and resented by him: to walk in his laws, which he set before us by... read more

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