This Week's Sunday School Lesson, "A Prayer Of Confession", 3/10/2013

A PRAYER OF CONFESSION

 

Daniel 9:4-14

 

V:4. "And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments."

  Definitions

    1. Prayed= palel= intercede

    2. Lord= yehovah= self existence

    3. God= elohiym= supreme God

    4. Lord= Adonay= proper name for God

    5. God= El= Almighty

 A. There is only one God to pray to.

    1. There is only one God who can answer prayers.

    2. There is only one God who can forgive us for our sins.

    3. We should be constantly in prayer to the Father.

    4. Daniel prayed for his nation.

       a. We ought to pray for the body of Christ and the nation.

  B. We need to keep in mind who God is.

     1. Daniel described God in the names he used.

     2. He is the Self Existent, Supreme God who has all power.

     3. We can call Him Adonay.

  C. We need to lift up God in all our thinking.

     1. He is a great God. There is none greater.

     2. He is to be feared. He is the only one who can destroy the body and the soul.

  D. We need to keep in mind that the God we serve is reliable.

      1. He keep all of his promises.

         a. God has made promises to those who believe in Him and they can be counted

             on.

       2. God is a merciful God.  

          a. He takes care of the needs of those who love Him.

   E. We need to keep in mind that God's promises are conditional.

       1. We must love Him.

       2. We must obey His commands.

 

V:5. "We have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even by departing from thy precepts and from thy judgments."

 A. Confession is good for the soul.

     1. All have sinned and fall short of the Glory of God.

     2. If anyone says he has not sinned, he is a liar.   1 John 1:10

     3. Confession is good for the mind. It relieves the mind of the guilt of sin.

     4. Confession is good for the heart. It reestablishes fellowship with the Father.

 B. God knows our sins and He expects us to confess them.

      1. We should confess the magnitude of our sins to the Father

          a. We have missed the mark of righteousness.

      2. We have committed iniquity.

          a. Our behavior has been wrong in the sight of the Lord.

      3. We have done wickedly.

          b. We have violated God's commands and made trouble.

4. We have rebelled.

    a. All sin is rebellion against God.   

    b. Rebellion stops the flow of blessings from the Fathers.

5. We have departed from God's precepts.

        a. We have followed the flesh rather than God's commands.

6. We have departed from God's judgments.

    a. We have made judgments according to  man rather than God.

    b. Following the judgments of God is successful living.

 

V:6. "Neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, which spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land."

 A. God inspires those who serve Him with a message from Him to us.

     1. God does not use lazy people.

     2. God uses people who are devoted to Him and ready to serve.

 B. The people of Israel repeatedly ignored the Word of God through the prophets,

     sinned against God and worshiped idol gods.

    1. As a result, they were in captivity in Babylon for 70 years.

    2. All sin is rebellion against God and result in lost of fellowship with Him.

 C. Sometimes it is good to reflect on our sinful past and see that some of the problems

     we are facing are a result of our disobedience to the Father.

 

V:7. "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."

 A. The Lord is righteous in all that He does.

     1. You can never go wrong following the commands of God.

     2. Freedom is in the righteousness of God.

     3. Wisdom is in the righteousness of God.

     4. Peace and joy is in the righteousness of God.

     5. Success is in the righteousness of God.

 B. Failure follows disobedience to God's Word.

    1. When Israel entered the Promise Land, God promised success if they followed

 

        His commands.

    2. He also promised His wrath if they disobeyed His commands.

    3. At the time of Daniel prayer, Israel was experiencing God's wrath for their

        disobedience.

    4. Good or bad, God keeps His promises.

 C. A Prayer of confession and repentance is the way back to God.

    1. Daniel studied the scriptures and determined that Israel was nearing the end of the

        70 year captivity in Babylon designed by God.

    2. We need constant communication with God through the study of His Word and

        prayer so we will not become confused by our present situation.

    3. The study of God's Word provides wisdom and guidance in any situation.

 

V:8. "O Lord, to us belongeth confusion of face, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against thee."

 A. Constant sin results in confusion.

     1. When we lose focus on God's Word we will focus on the ways of the world.

     2. The ways of the world is confusing because they are full of lies and deceptions.

     3. God's Word never changes.

          a. It is the same yesterday, today and in the future.

          b. When we sin, we ignore the truth, lie to ourselves or accept a lie as the truth.

 B. The father of lies is Satan.  John 8:44

     1. His ways leads to deception and confusion.

     2. A sound mind is in the righteousness of God found in the study of His Word

         and in obedience to His Word.

 C. Sin is a choice that we don't have to make.

     1. Confusion is the result of sin.

     2. Proper judgment comes from obedience to God's Word.

     3. God has given us the indwelling of the Holy Spirit and the power to resist sin.

 

V:9. "To the Lord our God belongs mercies and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against him."

 A. God has given us a way back to Himself.

     1. He is faithful and just to forgive, if we confess our sins.  1 John 1:9

 B. Mercy is the Greek word racham which means compassion.

     1. When we confess our sins, God has compassion on us and cleanse us of all

          unrighteousness.  1 John 1:9

     2. Even in our sins, God has mercy on us.

         a. He could easily execute his justice which is death.

         b. The fact that He does not exercise His justice indicates His tolerance for us.

         c. In His tolerance is an exercise of His love for us.

 

V:10. "Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets."

 A. Disobedience becomes a lifestyle unless we pattern ourselves after the Lord

      Jesus Christ.

    1. When we take the study of God's Word for granted, we take God for granted.

    2. The only way we know the commands of God is to study His Word.

    3. When we fail to follow God's Word when we know them, we are willfully

         disobedient.

    4. When we fail to study God's Word, we are willfully negligent.

B. God gives us pastors and teachers to help us understand His Word.

    1. In this day and time with the Word on every medium; the internet, the TV,

        churches, libraries and book stores, we have no excuse not to know the Word.

    2. Disobedience to the Word is a choice that Christians make.

    3. Disobedience to the Word is a choice that non believers don't know that they are

        making.

 

V:11. "Yea, all Israel have transgressed thy law, even by departing, that they might not obey thy voice; therefore the curse is poured upon us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against him."

 A. We are not by ourselves.

     1. Sinners have good company.

     2. God promised a curse to believers who disobey His Word. Deu 28:15-68

 B. We have the ability to choose blessings or curses.

      1. We have the ability to choose obedience or disobedience.

      2. We have the ability to choose God or the world.

 

V:12. "And he hath confirmed his words, which he spake against us, and against our judges that judged us, by bringing upon us a great evil: for under the whole heaven hath not been done as hath been done upon Jerusalem."

 A. The history of Israel is the evidence that God keeps His promises.

     1. God allowed the Babylonians to take the people of Israel captive.

     2. He allowed the Babylonians to destroy the temple in Jerusalem and the

         city.

     3. He promised a curse for their disobedience and He fulfilled that promise.

 B. The Word was first given to Israel and they were first to disobey.

    1. The troubles of Israel is an example to us of God's wrath and the fulfillment

        of His promises.

    2. We should take heed and follow God's commands.

 

V:13. "As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us: yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth."

 A. Sometimes God allows tragedy in our lives to call attention to our sins.

     1. Sometimes God allows tragedy in our lives to bring us to our right frame of

 

         mind.

     2. Sometimes God allows tragedy in our lives to draw us to him.

 B. Daniel reminds us of the promises of blessings and curses of God promised in

     His Word.

    1. We must remind ourselves that the success or failure of our lives are based on the

         obedience or disobedience to God's Word.

 

V:14. "Therefore hath the LORD watched upon the evil, and brought it upon us: for the LORD our God is righteous in all his works which he doeth: for we obeyed not his voice."

 A. We can hide nothing from God.

     1. Like the old Santa Claus song, He knows when we are good are bad.

     2. Evil in our lives is a product of our own disobedience.

 B. It is God's love for us that He allows us to suffer the consequences of our

      disobedience to Him.

   1. The fact that we live through trouble should give us confidence of His grace

        and mercy that fall fresh on us.

   2. When we view the history of Israel and God's love for them, it should give us

       confidence in God's love for us.