DEVOTIONAL: Not “They” But “We”

We have sinned, we have done wrong, and acted wickedly and rebelled, even turning aside from Your commandments and ordinances. Daniel 9:5 (NASB)

It’s human nature to shift blame to others. It’s so old and ingrained, the Bible shows this tendency began with Adam and Eve. Note how when God asked Adam, “Have you eaten from the tree that I commanded you not to eat from?” (Gen. 3:11 NIV), Adam instinctively shirked responsibility.

^“ The man said, ‘The woman you put here with me—she gave me some fruit from the tree, and I ate it'” (v. 12).

Did you catch that? Not only did Adam blame his wife, but he added, “the woman you put here,” so he tried to blame God too!

As we face all the problems in our country and world today, it’s easy to fall into the same trap and blame “ that nation” or “people who vote for that party” or even malignantly “people with that ethnicity” for our problems.

According to the Bible, though, that is not the way to achieve spiritual health and wholeness.

As long as we delude ourselves into always thinking the problem is “out there” with “ those people,” we never do the hard work of examining our own lives and exposing our own blind spots and sins.

Notice in today’s verse, Daniel confessed, “we have sinned, we have done wrong.” This was Daniel, the godly man who could interpret dreams, was friend of the three thrown into the fiery furnace, and who survived the lions’ den.

Daniel was so used by God, he has a book in the Bible named after him!

Even so, notice how Daniel was basing his prayer not on any self-righteousness in himself, but fully on the grace and mercy of God. “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 are not presenting our pleas before You based on any merits of our own, but based on Your great compassion” (9:18 NASB).

The result of Daniel’s humble prayer? “The angel Gabriel arrived and told him, ‘As soon as you began to pray, a word went out, which I have come to tell you, for you are highly esteemed'” (9:23a NIV).

We can learn from this pattern of prayer.

S.D.G./S.G.D.

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