"Preserve me, O God, for in you I take refuge;
I say to the LORD, 'You are my Lord;
I have no good apart from you.'" Verses 1-2
In some ways it is true that I have "no good" apart from God. Oh, sure there are lots of "good" things in my life, but the reality is, I would have none of them if it weren't for God. The unbelievers in the world don't realize that the same is true for them. Anything "good" that they have in their lives comes from God. They are just too blind to give him thanks for it. God is good to all people, both the just and the unjust.
Daniel 9:4-9,18
Daniel is praying a prayer of confession for the entire nation of Israel in this passage. Are there some similarities between Daniel's Israel and our nation today? I think so. Look at some of the phrases he uses.
"We've...dodged and taken detours around your clearly marked paths."
"We've turned a deaf ear to your servants the prophets, who preached your Word to our kings and leaders, our parents, and all the people in the land."
"You have done everything right, Master, but all we have to show for our lives is guilt and shame, the whold lot of us..."
Has our nation done any of these things? Absolutely. We have, as a people, generally turned a deaf ear to the servants of God, his "prophets." Where there is not just ignoring of the message, there is out-and-out hostility to the message and its messengers.
The paths of God are clearly marked, and our people are almost going out of their way to dodge them, seemingly purposefully taking the wrong paths, sometimes out of sheer defiance. Even those of us who call his name aren't always doing such a hot job of staying on those paths.
But the hope of Daniel is in the eternal qualities of God. Look at the phrases he uses to describe God...
"You never waver in your covenant commitment, never give up on those who love you and do what you say."
"You have done everything right..."
"Compassion is our only hope, the compassion of you, the Master..."
"Our appeal is to your compassion."
God never wavers in his commitment. To those of us who love him, he is ever faithful, even when we aren't. His compassion is eternal and infinite. And, as in the case of Daniel, when his beloved pray to him, he will hear and act.
"Confession is good for the soul." I don't know who said that, but somebody did. And it's true. It should not be a time of beating yourself up. We've all messed up; done "bad stuff." But confession should be a time of release and then rest in the presence of our Father.
Let us rest in his grace today.
Grace and peace, friends.