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 seventy years. So I turned to the Lord God and pleaded with him in prayer and petition, in fasting, and in sackcloth and ashes.
Daniel 9:1–3
Daniel had been carried into exile in babylon from Judah as a young man. He had spent his whole life living in a strange land among a strange people. And perhaps more than anything what Daniel wanted was to see was for his people to return from exile to their own land.
In the verses aboive Daniel has apparently been reading part of the book of Jeremiah. And he has found where God promised Jeremiah that the Babylonian exile would only last 70 years and that after that He will restore His people to their land. (Daniel might have read this in Jeremiah 29:10). Upon reading this Daniel realizes that the 70 years of exile are almost up. And that prompts him to pray.
Think about that for a moment. Daniel prays for God to do what God has already promised He will do. As the fulfillment of God’s promise approached, Daniel didn't fall silent and wait for it to come. No! He’s like a spectator at a race who has seen his runner top the hill and start down the home stretch. Daniel cheers all the louder and prays all the more as God’s fulfillment approaches.
Here’s a lesson on prayer for us. God’s promises don’t make prayer a pointless endeavor. They encourage us to pray all the more. They give us the confidence to pray. And you don’t quit praying when God begins to answer your prayer. You pray all the harder until you have what you ask for!*
* I'm indebted to the great Puritan Pastor Matthew Henry for this insight. Matthew Henry and Thomas Scott, Matthew Henry’s Concise Commentary (Oak Harbor, WA: Logos Research Systems, 1997), Da 9:1.
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