Thy Great Mercies

"O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations." Daniel is praying for a ruined city. In the middle of his request he stops to say what he is standing on: "for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies."

Read the whole prayer and notice who owns what, because that is how it is built. "O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him." "O LORD, righteousness belongeth unto thee, but unto us confusion of faces." "To the Lord our God belong mercies and forgivenesses, though we have rebelled against him." Then comes the city, and Daniel will not once call it his own. It is "thy city Jerusalem, thy holy mountain," "thy sanctuary that is desolate," and "the city which is called by thy name." In the end, the reason he gives for asking at all is God's own name: "defer not, for thine own sake, O my God."

This prayer is in the Bible so that we can pray it back. Lord, righteousness belongs to You, and we have brought none of our own. Mercies and forgivenesses belong to You, and we did not lend them to You. The things we are frightened for carry Your name before they carry ours: the church, the family, the work, the country. "O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive; O Lord, hearken and do."

Notice what Gabriel says when he arrives, while Daniel is still speaking in prayer: "At the beginning of thy supplications the commandment came forth." The answer had already been sent before Daniel finished, and Gabriel adds, "for thou art greatly beloved." On his knees, Daniel had no way of knowing that, and often neither do we. So we keep praying, Lord, leaning on Your great mercies, and trusting that You hear us from the first word. Amen.

Daily Manna runs on a two-year cycle. The year one reading for day 237 is The Wicked One Cannot Touch (1 John 5:18).

All 365 readings in Daily Manna, Year Two