9:6
Perhaps the defining feature of this prayer is the acknowledgement of sinfulness, and Daniel is praying both on behalf of himself and of the nation as a whole. Today we seem to want to try and get people into the kingdom without mentioning sin until the last moment. God had sent prophet after prophet, they gave the clearest of warnings, but the nation did not listen to them. The prophets spoke both to the leaders and the powerful, and to the ordinary people.
9:7
“Lord, you are righteous, but we are covered with shame”. And this applied to all of God’s people, whether they were in Jerusalem, Judah, Israel, or in one of the countries to which many of them had been exiled. This distinction between the righteousness of God and the shame of the people is crucial. And it goes right against the common perception of people today. Today society considers God to be covered with shame, and mankind to be righteous. We have got it so completely wrong. The Israelites were scattered because of their unfaithfulness.
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