Our scripture reading, to which I invite you to turn with me at this time, is found once again in the prophecy of Daniel, of the Old Testament, Daniel chapter nine. So after the Old Testament books of Job, Psalms, Proverbs, you will soon come to the so-called major prophecy of Daniel. Daniel chapter nine, we begin reading in the first verse. We read through verse 19 of that chapter. In the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom, in the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the scriptures, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with Him in prayer and petition and fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands. We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled. We have turned away from Your commands and laws. We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, who spoke in your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land. Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame. The men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, and all the countries where you have scattered us because of our unfaithfulness to you. Oh Lord, we and our kings, our princes, and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws He gave us through the servants, the prophets. All Israel has transgressed your law and turned away, refusing to obey you. Therefore, the curses and sworn judgments written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the words spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing upon us great disaster. Under the whole heaven, nothing has ever been done like what has been done to Jerusalem. Just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us. Yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord, our God, by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does. Yet we have not obeyed Him. Now, O Lord our God, who brought Your people out of Egypt with a mighty hand, and who made for Yourself a name that endures to this day, we have sinned, we have done wrong. O Lord, in keeping with all Your righteous acts, turn away Your anger and Your wrath from Jerusalem, Your city, Your holy hill. Our sins and the iniquities of our fathers have made Jerusalem and your people an object of scorn to all those around us. Now, our God, hear the prayers and petitions of your servant. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear, open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy. O LORD, listen! O LORD, forgive! O LORD, hear and act! For Your sake, O my God, do not delay, because Your city and Your people bear Your name." Thus far, the reading of God's Holy Word. And as always, dear friends, I ask and urge you to keep your Bibles open and handy as we look to God's Word together at the close of this day. Dear congregation of Jesus Christ, in this weekend's edition of USA Today, I came across a very sobering headline. The headline reads, Suicide Claims More Americans Than Car Accidents Or Opioids. Think about that. Suicide claims more Americans than car accidents or opioids. The accompanying article here reads in part as follows, and I quote, listen carefully, please. It says, fashion designer Kate Spade's death this week reminded Americans of the enormous toll of suicide, a growing problem that claims nearly 45,000 lives a year. Suicide rates in the USA have risen nearly 30% since 1999, according to a report released Thursday by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Suicides increased in men and women in all ethnic groups and in urban and rural areas." End of quote. Well, friends, no sooner was I prayerfully pondering that reality than our Herald News came the next day, yesterday on Saturday, and it was a great big front page headline, Farewell, Chef. Culinary giant, TV host, never forgot his Bergen County roots. And this is an article concerning the fact that on Friday, Bordoin, I guess this is how you say his name, Anthony Bordain, died by suicide in Kaeserberg, France. My friends, studies show that suicide often results from various forms of mental illness, Suicide can result from what seems to be long-standing, insurmountable depression. At times it occurs simply because people feel they are in a pit of hopelessness, seemingly with no way out. And I know that suicide has grievously affected not only a countless number of people throughout our country, but even a number of families in our own congregation. And indeed, suicide has affected my own extended family as well. For instance, we turn to the study of Daniel chapter nine this evening and try to better understand this particular chapter in its historical context. We find that Daniel himself very easily could have fallen into hopelessness and despair. And the reason is because, as we read a moment ago, he searched the scriptures. Literally, the Hebrew says he searched the books. And as he searched the books, he realized that God had promised that he would release his people from captivity in Babylon after 70 years and return them safely to the promised land. And as we'll see in our study this evening, seemingly those 70 years were just about up. But as Daniel scanned the horizon, he looked at the state of God's people in Babylon as he saw the political ebb and flow of the nations. He saw absolutely no reason for hope at all. There didn't seem to be any indication that God was going to be faithful to his promises to his people. And Daniel could have fallen into a pit of despair from which he virtually never would have been able to escape. But he didn't. He didn't. And that's where you and I come in. Because you see, brothers and sisters, no matter how deep our own despair may be, no matter how deep our own discouragement may be, no matter how our hearts may seemingly be filled to overflowing with hopelessness, Like Daniel, by the grace and mercy of God and through faith in Jesus Christ, you and I need to ward off those feelings of utter and utmost despair and be driven instead to prayer. We need to be driven instead to prayer, just as Daniel was. Now, as we begin to work our way through the words of our text, we're going to find, interestingly enough, that under the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, Daniel actually sets forth a model for each and every one of us concerning prayer. And we're going to highlight the fact that, again, interestingly enough, his prayer consists of four key ingredients that form the acrostic acts. Adoration, confession, thanksgiving, and supplication. And we're going to begin by looking at the adoration in Daniel's prayer. Look with me, if you will, as we set a bit of the context by the first few verses. Look at Daniel 9 verse 1 with me, if you would, please. in the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes. Now just stay with me for a second. Well, I hope you stay with me for the whole message, but especially just right now. We've been talking about the chronology of the book of Daniel, and just know that what we are reading here was chronologically prior to the visions of Daniel's chapter seven and eight, just so we stay with the flow of the history here. It was prior to those two visions that we've studied very recently. Also notice, you may have a footnote in your Bible, brothers and sisters, where it says, concerning this Xerxes, Darius, son of Xerxes, that is in the Hebrew, Ahasuerus. This is not the Xerxes of the book of Esther. That Xerxes came along later. This man is also called Xerxes, but he's also known as Ahasuerus. I think some of the other translations, in fact, print the name that way, because that's the way the Hebrew reads. In the first year of Darius, son of Xerxes, a Mede by descent, who was made ruler over the Babylonian kingdom in the first year of his reign. So if you've been taking notes on the chronology of the prophecy of Daniel, we're talking now about 539-538 BC. In the first year of his reign, I, Daniel, understood from the scriptures or from the books According to the word of the Lord, if you've got your own Bible, underscore that name, Lord, because that is the first place in the book of Daniel where the covenant name of God, Yahweh, is used. Notice the four capitals, L-O-R-D. That's the first place Yahweh is used in the prophecy. It's very important to note that Daniel here is realizing he's dealing with a covenantal, faithful God. I, Daniel, understood from the scriptures according to the word of Yahweh, according to the word of the Lord given to Jeremiah the prophet, that the desolation of Jerusalem would last 70 years. And indeed, Jeremiah did prophesy that fact. In fact, if you would care to turn with me, let's go back to the book of Jeremiah, the prophecy of Jeremiah. Just go to the left several pages. And drop down with me, if you would, please, to Jeremiah chapter 25. Jeremiah 25. If you want to just listen, that's okay. But I'm going to read Jeremiah 25, verses 4 through 12. Here we read, Jeremiah 25, verse 4. And though the Lord has sent all his servants, the prophets, to you again and again, and have not listened or paid any attention, They said, Turn now, each of you, from your evil ways and your evil practices, and you can stay in the land the Lord gave to you and your fathers forever and ever. Do not follow other gods to serve and worship them. Do not provoke me to anger with what your hands have made, then I will not harm you. But you did not listen to me, declares the Lord, and you have provoked me with what your hands have made, and you have brought harm to yourselves. Therefore, the Lord Almighty, Yahweh Zabioth, the God of armies, the Lord of hosts, therefore the Lord Almighty says this, "'Because you have not listened to my words, "'I will summon all the peoples of the north, "'and my servant Nebuchadnezzar, King of Babylon,' "'hopefully you're remembering some of that history now, "'declares the Lord, "'and I will bring them against the land and its inhabitants, "'and against all the surrounding nations. "'I will completely destroy them, "'and make them an object of horror and scorn, "'and an everlasting ruin. "'I will banish from them the sounds of joy and gladness, "'the voices of bride and bridegroom, "'the sound of millstones and the light of the lamp, Notice this whole country will become a desolate wasteland and these nations will serve the king of Babylon 70 years. Now friends that is one of the prophecies Daniel is referencing here in his prayer in Daniel chapter 9. Now again if you're taking notes you may wish to jot this down. If we start marking time, if we start marking the 70 years from 609 BC, when the first devastation of Jerusalem took place by King Nebuchadnezzar, when Daniel was first taken into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar, 609 BC. And we bring that all the way down to the first year of Darius the Mede that we just referenced in our text, which is the year 539 BC. If you're doing the math in your head, that comes to just about 70 years. That comes to just about 70 years. And Daniel knew that. But again, as he's looking at the horizon, he sees no reason for hope. And so what does he do? Well, let's go back to our text in Daniel chapter nine, and it says in verse three, so he saw that he felt that the promise wasn't being fulfilled. He felt that God perhaps had forgotten them as if this covenant making God had indeed forsaken them. And so he says, I turned to the Lord God to Adonai Elohim and pleaded with him in prayer and petition and fasting and in sackcloth and ashes. One commentator has said concerning that last part of verse three. All these were outward signs of internal humiliation and penitence. All these were outward signs of internal humiliation and penitence. I just had one of our members ask me about a week or two ago what I thought about fasting and all this sort of thing, and I gave my response to that. But I'm just gonna give you Calvin's response tonight. Calvin says that these spiritual disciplines mentioned there in verse three are very nice, it can be very helpful in our spiritual walk with the Lord, but he says they are not necessary. for our spiritual walk with the Lord. They're very nice, but they're not necessary. They're nice to be added to our prayers, but Calvin says they're not necessary to be added to our prayers. Look at verse 4 with me if you would. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed, O Lord, Adonai, the great and awesome God, who keeps his covenant of love, his covenant of chesed, the fact that God tells us he is our friend. That's what chesed means. It refers to a covenantal love and faithfulness for those whom God just loves and embraces unto himself. The Lord, the great and awesome God. He keeps His covenant of love, His covenant of chesed with all who love Him and obey His commands. Boys and girls, notice that. God makes covenant with all those who love Him and keep His commands. That's very similar to the theme of that Sunday school song we love to sing, trust and obey. Trust and obey for there's no other way to be happy in Jesus but to trust and obey. But friends, focus on those words. He keeps covenant with those who love Him and obey His commands. He is a God who keeps His covenant of love. It's very interesting. God is faithful to us because of his love for us. That's what it boils down to. God is faithful to us because of his love for us. And I think it's in Deuteronomy 7 where God says, you know, I didn't choose you because you were more numerous. I didn't choose you because you were a special people. He basically says, I loved you because I love you. There's nothing in us that would have made God love us. That's why in Romans 5 verse 8 it says, but God demonstrates his own love, agape, for us in this. While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. He is faithful to us simply because he loves us. Simply because he loves us. You know, it's amazing here how Daniel extols the name of the Lord. He magnifies the name of the Lord for his love and for his covenant faithfulness. And friends, if you don't make it part of your daily devotional discipline, read the Psalms also, which simply praise and magnify the name of the Lord. I was reading and rereading this past week, Psalm 8, for example. I'm not going to read the whole Psalm, but here the psalmist David says, Oh, Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. You have set your glory above the heavens from the lips of children and infants. You have ordained praise because of your enemies to silence the foe and the avenger. Verse nine, oh Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth. Do you pray like that? Do I pray like that? Confession, not enough, not enough. But friends, if we desire to ward off hopelessness and despair, and instead be driven to prayer, our prayers must first of all, like Daniel's, begin with the adoration of the name of the Lord, our God. Let's go back to Daniel chapter nine together, where we find a second element or ingredient in this model Holy Spirit-inspired prayer, and that is confession. That is the element ingredient of confession. Let's pick it up in verse four again, and we're gonna go a little further this time. Look with me, please. I prayed to the Lord my God and confessed. Oh Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant of love with all who love Him and obey His commands. We have sinned and done wrong. We have been wicked and have rebelled. "'We have turned away from your commands and laws. "'We have not listened to your servants, the prophets, "'who spoke in your name to our kings, "'our princes, and our fathers, "'and to all the people of the land.'" Now think about that. He is admitting that they had God's word come to them through the prophets, but they did not heed it. I shared with the young people in my catechism class a few weeks ago, and I love the class. I love those young people in the class. I love the young people in the congregation dearly. I said to them, you know, the more we learn about God, the more we study his word, the more we grow in our knowledge of him, the more accountable we are to Him. In fact, turn to Luke chapter 12 with me in the New Testament just for a moment. Jesus addresses this very issue in the end of Luke 12, verses 47 and 48. In Luke 12, 47 and 48, Jesus says this, He says, That servant who knows his master's will and does not get ready or does not do what his master wants will be beaten with many blows. but the one who does not know and does things deserving punishment will be beaten with few blows from everyone who has been given much, much will be demanded and from the one who has been entrusted with much, much more will be asked and Daniel is confessing that they had the prophets of the Lord come to them with the word of the Lord warning them, teaching them, instructing them, directing them and still they disobeyed sounds frequently like you and me, does it not? verse 7, Lord I deny You are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame. Friends, notice how frequently Daniel sets up the dichotomy, the great contrast between who God is and how God is and who we are and how we are. He says, Lord, you are righteous, but this day we are covered with shame. The men of Judah and people of Jerusalem and all Israel, both near and far, and all the countries where you have scattered us because of your unfaithfulness to you. Oh Lord, notice Yahweh. We and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you. Notice too how Daniel includes himself in this. He has been the model of faithfulness by the grace of God, has he not? We look at the way he would not compromise his faithfulness to the Lord our God, the worship of the Lord our God, but he includes himself among the people. It's an amazing thing. The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving even though we have rebelled against him. We have not obeyed the Lord our God or kept the laws he gave us through his servants the prophets notice verse 11 all Israel has transgressed your law and turned away refusing to obey you Daniel not only confesses personal sins He confesses national sins And oh how we as a people in this country with which God has blessed us need to confess our national sins as well Matthew Henry puts it this way and I quote listen carefully, please He says when we seek for national mercies We ought to humble ourselves for national sins. Think about that. When we seek for national mercies, we ought to humble ourselves for national sins. And you think of the plague of pornography, you think of abortion on demand, you think of legalized sports betting even now, and who knows what that is going to bring. You think of the greed and the gossip and the materialism and the idolatry. And not only individually, brothers and sisters, but we need to get down on our knees as a nation and we need to pray and plead for the mercy of God upon our land. And indeed, every person on this planet, whatever country they are in, should be doing the same thing, just what Daniel did. In fact, he goes on to say that, therefore, the curses and sworn judgments written in the law of Moses, the servant of God, have been poured out on us because we have sinned against you. You have fulfilled the word spoken against us and against our rulers by bringing us great disaster, by bringing us great disaster. Friends, turn to Jeremiah with me. You know, he mentioned Jeremiah a moment ago. Jeremiah warns the nations of the earth, including our own nation, of the consequences of shaking our fist nationally in the face of a holy God. In fact, in Jeremiah chapter 18, verses 5 through 10, notice what we read. Then the word of the Lord came to me, Jeremiah writes. O house of Israel, can I not do with you as this potter does, declares the Lord? Like clay in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel. If at any time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be uprooted, torn down and destroyed, and if that nation, I warned, repents of its evil, then I will relent and not inflict on it the disaster I had planned. And if at another time I announce that a nation or kingdom is to be built up and planted, and if it does evil in my sight and does not obey me, then I will reconsider the good I had intended to do for it. Friends, that is why at our National Day of Prayer, one of the passages that we looked at here in God's house is in 2 Chronicles 7, 13 and 14, where the Lord appears to Solomon at the dedication of the temple. And the Lord says in 2 Chronicles 7, 13 and 14, when I shut up the heavens that there is no rain, or command locusts to devour the land or send a plague among my people. If my people who are called by my name will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then will I hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and will heal their land. The promise of God, the promise of God. And here in our text, brothers and sisters, Daniel is reminding himself and he's reminding the people of the way in which their actions have consequences. He says in verse 12 following, Under the whole heaven nothing has ever been done like what has been done in Jerusalem. What happened in Jerusalem? Nebuchadnezzar laid siege against the city. He destroyed the city. He burned the temple to the ground. And Daniel says nothing like that had ever happened before. Why? Verse 13, just as it is written in the law of Moses, all this disaster has come upon us, yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our sins and giving attention to your truth. And brothers and sisters, the Lord God warns the nations and He warned Israel unequivocally in Deuteronomy chapter 28. If you want to turn there with me, I'm just going to read a couple of verses. In Deuteronomy 28, verses 1 and 2, it says, If you fully obey the Lord your God and carefully follow all His commands I give you today, The Lord your God will set you high above all the nations on earth. All these blessings will come upon you and accompany you if you obey the Lord your God. And if you read through the next several verses, it's like reading the history of America. It is like reading the history of the blessing that God bestowed upon this country for the past 200 plus years. And yet if you drop down to verse 15 of Deuteronomy 28, it says, however, if you do not obey the Lord your God and do not carefully follow all his commands and decrees I'm giving you today, all these curses will come upon you and overtake you. And you can read the next 20 or 30 verses, and I can remember over the years with all the different diseases that were ravaging our country and some of the natural disasters, I'm saying this is like reading the headlines today. It's like reading the headlines today. So you bring that information back to bear on verse 14 of our text in Daniel 9, and Daniel prays, saying, The Lord did not hesitate to bring the disaster upon us, for the Lord our God is righteous in everything He does, yet we have not obeyed Him. What is Daniel doing there? He is confessing personal and national sins. Brothers and sisters, a day ought not to go by that you and I do the same thing as well. but that we do it claiming the good news of the promise of the gospel. In fact, in 1 John 1, verses 8 and 9, the Apostle John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, puts it this way, familiar verses. If we claim to be without sin, we deceive ourselves and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness. All glory be to God. When Daniel began praying, he began with adoration. Then he moved to confession. And now the third key element in his prayer, as we'll see back here in Daniel 9, is that he touches on, I'm going to say he touches on Thanksgiving. He touches on Thanksgiving. How so? Well, look at verse 15 with me, if you would, please. Verse 15. He says, now, O Lord our God, now Adonai Elohim, who brought your people out of Egypt, underscore that, with a mighty hand, and who made for yourself a name that endures to this day. He is referencing that great deliverance of God's people in bondage in Egypt, when God brought the 10 plagues against Pharaoh and the land, and he let God's people go. a type and figure of a far greater deliverance that our Lord Jesus Christ has given us over sin and death and hell and the tyranny of Satan. And friends, that is why that great deliverance in Egypt is just a type or figure or foreshadowing of that which we read in 1 Peter 1, 18 and 19, where Peter says, for you know that it was not with perishable things such as silver or gold that you were redeemed from the empty way of life handed down to you from your forefathers, but with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect. God is the God of deliverance. He is the God who sets his people free. And he did so ultimately for us for all eternity in Christ. And here Daniel is referencing that great historic deliverance. And as you and I read that, we must be thinking of our own greater deliverance in Christ. And then notice secondly under that same heading of thanksgiving, he says in verse 16, Oh Lord, in keeping with all your righteous acts, turn away your anger and your wrath from Jerusalem, your city, your holy hill. Friends, what was Jerusalem, Mount Zion, a type or figure of? Jerusalem, Mount Zion, the holy city, was a type or figure of the body of Christ, of the church of Jesus Christ. And so that is why in Ephesians chapter 2 verses 19 and through about verses 22, the Apostle Paul says, Ephesians 2 19, Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God's people and members of God's household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets with Christ Jesus himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him, the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him, you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit. Think about that. The church of Jesus Christ, the temple of the living God, the body of Christ. We are all stones in that beautiful spiritual edifice by His grace through faith alone in Christ. And Daniel references that, the deliverance. You think of our deliverance. He references the holy city. We think of the church of Jesus Christ. And he's thanking God for them. and you and I need to be thanking God for them as well. Thanksgiving ought to permeate our prayers. Well, friends, if you drop down to verse 17 with me in Daniel chapter nine, you'll find that there's a fourth and final ingredient in what I'm calling this Holy Spirit-inspired model prayer, and that is supplication. That's kind of another word, boys and girls, for petition or asking for things, but I'm using the S of supplication. Look at verse 17 with me if you would. He says, now our God, Elohim, Here are the prayers and petitions of your servant. Notice this. For your sake, O Lord, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. He says for your sake, not for our sake. We are nothing. We deserve nothing. You and I deserve only the judgment of God, the righteous wrath of God. And so here Daniel is appealing to God's name and God's glory for his sake. It's a powerful, powerful text. John Calvin puts it this way, listen carefully please. He said, God's name was intimately bound up with that of his people. Shame or scorn the ungodly heaped upon them reflected chiefly on God himself, end of quote. And that is why Daniel is pleading here for the Lord's sake and for the Lord's name. He says, O Lord, look with me please, verse 17, look with favor on your desolate sanctuary. Give ear, O God, and hear. Open your eyes and see the desolation of the city that bears your name. That bears your name. I was thinking back the other day as I was studying this to Samuel. And if you'd care to turn with me, let's go back just for a moment please to 1 Samuel chapter 12. If you're taking notes, jot down verses 20 and 22. Friends, you and I need to be, I'm gonna say defensive for the name of the Lord our God. You know, we hear people take God's name in vain virtually everywhere every day. Some of us have shared with me instances where you've tried to confront people on that. about taking the Lord's name in vain and what a grievous and heinous sin that is. I share with our young people that many years ago when I started taking martial arts taekwondo, there was this big weightlifter guy in the class, Bob Russo. He's passed away now of cancer at a very young age. Guys who weighed 320 pounds and he could bench press 550 pounds. And if you lift weights, you know what that means. So I'm in the class and Bob was taking God's name in vain. In fact, some of you may recall he worshiped here one evening. He sat in the front bench with a bunch of other guys, and the bench literally creaked. I could hear it all the way up here. True story. In fact, as they walked down the aisle, Steph Garrahan leaned over to Keith, and she said, hey, look, church bouncers. True story. I said to Bob, Mr. Russo, you ought not to be taking God's name in vain. It's my savior. And he glared at me for a second, And I thought I was going to get killed. And he said, what do you want me to say? Want me to say, oh, Buddha? I said, yeah. Yeah, Buddha's good. You can say, oh, Buddha. Want me to say, oh, peanut butter? Yeah, peanut butter's good. And he walked away. And he never, in my hearing, took the name of the Lord, our God, in vain again. We need to be jealous for the name of God, and that's why here in Samuel, 1 Samuel, chapter 12, verses 20 through 22, Samuel says, don't be afraid. You have done all this evil, yet you do not turn away from the Lord, but serve the Lord with all your heart. Do not turn away after your useless idols. They can do you no good, nor can they rescue you because they are useless. For the sake of his great name, notice, the Lord will not reject his people because the Lord was pleased to make you his own. When God's people in Exodus 32 were worshiping the golden calf, and Moses was so angry, boys and girls, he threw down the two tablets of the Ten Commandments, he was furious. But God said, get away from these people, I'm gonna wipe them out. And what did Moses say? He said, the Egyptians are gonna mock your name because they're gonna say you brought them into the wilderness and you couldn't take care of them and bring them safely to the promised land. It's because of your name. God relented of his anger against the people. And many of them were judged, certainly, But he let them carry on and brought those Joshua and Caleb into the promised land with the next generation. It's about the name of the Lord our God. And friends, notice here as our text concludes that that's what Daniel is pleading. That is the one to whom he is praying. He says, remember your city. Remember your dwelling place. Remember Mount Zion. It bears your name. We do not make requests of you because we are righteous. Notice the contrast again. But because of your great mercy, verse 19. Oh, Lord, listen. Oh, Lord, forgive. Oh, Lord, hear and act for your sake. Oh, my God, do not delay because your city and your people bear your name. Friends, Daniel here is almost beside himself with emotion. As he's pouring out his heart, confessing sin, pleading with God to deliver them for the sake of his great name. It's one of the things that kept Daniel from falling into such utter hopelessness and despondency and discouragement and despair. He pleaded, he supplicated the name of the Lord, our God. Shared with you before, I believe, but it's pertinent to the text. Several years ago, I'm at the traffic light over here on Mountain Avenue behind a lady in a car, and she's got a bumper sticker on the back of her car. And the bumper sticker says, quote, ever since I've given up hope, I feel much better. Ever since I've given up hope, I feel much better. And when I read that, I laughed. Then as I thought about it, I said, you know what? That's really not true. It's a deceitful, seductive comment, philosophy. When you give up hope, you feel much better. Not true, as the headlines of this past week sadly remind us. Now the truth of the matter, brothers and sisters, is more succinctly and truthfully stated in Proverbs 13, verse 12, which says, hope deferred makes the heart sick. Hope deferred makes the heart sick. That's the truth of the matter. That is why, my dear brothers and sisters in the Lord, whenever you or I might tend to discouragement, whenever you or I may have our hearts filled to overflowing with with a seemingly endless tide of hopelessness. The Word of God would have us not turn to despair, but rather, it would have us be driven to prayer. Amen. Let's bow our heads and our hearts in prayer together. Oh, Almighty God and merciful Heavenly Father, The sacred songwriter put it so well when he said, what a friend we have in Jesus. All our sins and griefs to bear. What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer. Oh, what peace we often forfeit. Oh, what needless pain we bear. All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer. Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere? We should never be discouraged. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Can we find a friend so faithful who will all our sorrows share? Jesus knows our every weakness. Take it to the Lord in prayer. Are we weak and heavy laden, cumbered with a load of care? Precious Savior still our refuge Take it to the Lord in prayer Do thy friends despise forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer in His arms, he'll take and shield thee Thou will find a solace there Oh Lord our God and deny of a in times of depression, discouragement, in times of hopelessness, and despair. Grant us the grace, ever and always, to turn to Thee in adoring, confessing, thanking, and supplicating prayer. Hear us, Heavenly Father. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.