“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.”
My Notes
What Does Daniel 9:13 Mean?
Daniel's prayer of confession identifies a devastating failure: despite all the evil that came upon them (exactly as written in Moses' law), the people still didn't pray. "Yet made we not our prayer before the LORD our God, that we might turn from our iniquities, and understand thy truth." The consequences arrived. The prophecies were fulfilled. And still, nobody prayed.
The connection between prayer, repentance, and understanding is explicit: prayer was the path to turning from iniquities (repentance) and understanding God's truth (illumination). Without prayer, both were impossible. The people couldn't repent because they weren't praying. They couldn't understand because they weren't asking. The absence of prayer produced the absence of change.
Daniel includes himself in the confession: "we." As with Isaiah, the prophet doesn't separate himself from the community's failure. The prayerlessness was collective, and Daniel owns it collectively. Even though Daniel himself was a man of extraordinary prayer, he identifies with the community's failure to pray.
Reflection Questions
- 1.Are you experiencing consequences that match God's warnings—and still haven't genuinely prayed about them?
- 2.Why is prayer so often the last resort instead of the first response? What keeps you from praying first?
- 3.Daniel says prayer was the path to both repentance and understanding. Which do you need more right now?
- 4.If the consequences are already here, what is prayer's purpose—to reverse them, to survive them, or something else?
Devotional
Everything Moses warned about happened. Every curse in the Law came true. And still—still—they didn't pray. The consequences arrived exactly as described. The prophecies were fulfilled to the letter. And nobody turned to God in prayer. They watched the predictions come true and still didn't ask for help.
This is one of the most bewildering aspects of human nature: the ability to experience exactly what God said would happen and still not turn to Him. You'd think that watching prophecy fulfill itself in real time would produce immediate repentance. It didn't. The people absorbed the consequences without connecting them to the source or seeking the solution.
Daniel identifies prayer as the missing link: if they had prayed, they could have turned from their sins. If they had prayed, they could have understood God's truth. The repentance and the understanding were available. They just required prayer to access. And nobody prayed.
If you're experiencing consequences that match God's warnings—if the thing He said would happen is happening—and you still haven't prayed about it, this verse names your situation. The consequences are here. The prophecy has been fulfilled. And the one thing that could change everything—prayer—is the one thing you haven't done. Not because it's complicated. Not because it requires special training. But because the same stubbornness that caused the consequences prevents the prayer that would address them.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
As it is written in the law of Moses, all this evil is come upon us,.... As it is there threatened it should, and as it…
As it is written in the law of Moses - The word law was given to all the writings of Moses. See the notes at Luk 24:44.…
We have here Daniel's prayer to God as his God, and the confession which he joined with that prayer: I prayed, and made…
Asit is written, &c. Cf. Deu 28:15 b, Deu 30:1.
yet have we not intreated the favour of (R.V.)] lit. made the face…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture