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“O Lord, righteousness belongeth unto Thee, but unto us confusion
of faces, as at this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, and unto all Israel, that are near, and that are far off,
through all the countries whither Thou hast driven them, because of
their trespass that they have trespassed against Thee....
“To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgiveness, though we
have rebelled against Him.” “O Lord, according to all Thy righteous-
ness, I beseech Thee, let Thine anger and Thy fury be turned away
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from Thy city Jerusalem, Thy holy mountain: because for our sins,
and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Thy people are
become a reproach to all that are about us.
“Now therefore, O our God, hear the prayer of Thy servant, and
his supplications, and cause Thy face to shine upon Thy sanctuary that
is desolate, for the Lord’s sake. O my God, incline Thine ear, and
hear; open Thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which
is called by Thy name: for we do not present our supplications before
Thee for our righteousness, but for Thy great mercies.
“O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do; defer
not, for Thine own sake, O my God: for Thy city and Thy people are
called by Thy name.”
Verses 4-9, 16-19
.
Heaven was bending low to hear the earnest supplication of the
prophet. Even before he had finished his plea for pardon and restora-
tion, the mighty Gabriel again appeared to him, and called his attention
to the vision he had seen prior to the fall of Babylon and the death
of Belshazzar. And then the angel outlined before him in detail the
period of the seventy weeks, which was to begin at the time of “the
going forth of the commandment to restore and to build Jerusalem.”
Verse 25
.
Daniel’s prayer had been offered “in the first year of Darius” (
verse
1
), the Median monarch whose general, Cyrus, had wrested from
Babylonia the scepter of universal rule. The reign of Darius was
honored of God. To him was sent the angel Gabriel, “to confirm and
to strengthen him.”
Daniel 11:1
. Upon his death, within about two
years of the fall of Babylon, Cyrus succeeded to the throne, and the
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beginning of his reign marked the completion of the seventy years
since the first company of Hebrews had been taken by Nebuchadnezzar
from their Judean home to Babylon.