A Desperate Plea!

Yes! I hear in my prayer an echo of his prayer. "O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because  of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act." This is Daniel's prayer, this is his plea for mercy when he sees his own sin and the sin of those around him. All I can say is ,Yes!

How should a Holy God respond to a people who so blatantly sin against him again and again. Really, what I want to know is how God will respond to me. It's me, I'm the one again and again coming before Him. I want to be righteous but I'm painfully aware of my failures. But it's not just me, it's the people I love. I want them all to be perfect. I can't come before God because I'm righteous I can only come because He's merciful. Most of the time I'm more aware of my sinfulness and the sinfulness of the ones I love than I am of the mercy of God and it keep me from praying and just makes me sad.

When I see the passion of Daniel's prayer it gives me the courage to use his words as my own,"O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act." I want to put an exclamation point at the end of every sentence. Am I praying or screaming at God? God didn't get mad at Daniel He sent Gabriel in "swift flight", like a father who comes to the aid of a frightened child. What was the message that God sent by His messenger? "O Daniel, I have now come to give you insight and understanding. At the beginning of your pleas for mercy a word went out, and I have come to tell it to you, for you are greatly loved."

So what did Gabriel say? In Daniel 9: 24-27 God gave a prophecy that showed His plan,"to finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring everlasting righteousness..." Within these four verses comes the comfort that the God of Mercy forgives and is paying attention and has a plan. Who did God send with this message of salvation?

There was four hundred years of silence between the Old and New Testament but when the silence was broken Gabriel was there again proclaiming good news, God had a plan. First he spoke to Zechariah,"I am Gabriel, who stands in the presents of God, and I was sent to speak to you and bring you this good news." The good news was that Zechariah's prayers had been heard and that his wife Elizabeth would bear a son. Six months later Gabriel was sent from God to a city of Galilee named Nazareth with a message to a virgin named Mary.

Lord Jesus, thank you that when I cry out to you for mercy you open my eyes to the truth. You have a plan to,"finish the transgression, to put an end to sin, and to atone for iniquity, to bring in everlasting righteousness." Thank you for hearing and forgiving. Thank you for not only sending Gabriel but for coming yourself to be our Savior.