“And I prayed unto the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and dreadful God, keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him, and to them that keep his commandments;”
My Notes
What Does Daniel 9:4 Mean?
Daniel opens the most important prayer of his life — the prayer that will lead to the revelation of the seventy weeks — with a declaration about who he's praying to. Before the confession, before the petition, before the prophecy: identity. God's identity.
"I prayed unto the LORD my God" — possessive. Personal. Daniel doesn't pray to God in the abstract. He prays to the LORD — Yahweh, the covenant name — my God. The relationship precedes the request. Daniel claims God before he asks God for anything.
"And made my confession" — Daniel confesses. Not his own sins — Daniel is arguably the most righteous person in the exile. He confesses the nation's sins. He identifies with the guilt of his people. The confession is corporate: "we have sinned" (verse 5), not "they have sinned." Daniel places himself inside the failure rather than standing apart from it.
"O Lord, the great and dreadful God" — two attributes paired together: great (gādôl) and dreadful (nôrāʾ). God is both magnificent and terrifying. The greatness inspires awe. The dreadfulness inspires fear. Daniel doesn't soften one with the other. He holds both. The God he's about to make a desperate petition to is both wonderful and frightening.
"Keeping the covenant and mercy to them that love him" — after the greatness and dreadfulness, Daniel names the attribute he's banking on: faithfulness. God keeps the covenant. He keeps the mercy. He doesn't break promises. He doesn't withdraw chesed. The one who is great and dreadful is also the one who is bound by His own word. The terror and the tenderness are held together by covenant.
"And to them that keep his commandments" — the covenant faithfulness has a channel: those who love Him and obey Him. Not because obedience earns mercy, but because the covenant relationship has terms. Daniel is appealing to those terms. He's saying: we broke the covenant, but You are the kind of God who keeps it. Please be who You are.
Reflection Questions
- 1.When you pray, do you start with who God is or with what you need? How would Daniel's approach change your prayer life?
- 2.How do you hold 'great' and 'dreadful' together — the wonderful and the terrifying — without dropping one side?
- 3.What covenant promise of God are you banking on right now, the way Daniel banked on God's faithfulness during the exile?
- 4.How does Daniel's corporate confession — saying 'we' instead of 'they' — challenge the way you relate to the failures of your community?
Devotional
Daniel's prayer opens with the most important thing you can do before you ask God for anything: remember who He is. Not who you wish He were. Not who your anxiety tells you He might be. Who He actually is. Great. Dreadful. Covenant-keeping. Merciful.
The pairing of great and dreadful matters. We tend to pick one. Either God is great — wonderful, magnificent, awe-inspiring — or He's dreadful — terrifying, demanding, someone to be afraid of. Daniel says: both. At the same time. The God you're approaching is the most wonderful being in existence and the most terrifying. If you drop either side, you've got the wrong God. Without greatness, He's just scary. Without dreadfulness, He's just nice. He's both, and the both is what makes the covenant trustworthy.
"Keeping the covenant and mercy" — this is the phrase Daniel stakes everything on. God keeps His word. That's not wishful thinking. It's historical record. Daniel has watched God's faithfulness for seventy years of exile. The covenant was broken by Israel. The covenant was kept by God. The mercy didn't expire because the people expired. God's side of the agreement held even when the human side collapsed.
When you pray — really pray, the desperate kind, the kind that changes things — start where Daniel starts. Not with the problem. With the Person. Lord, You are great and dreadful. You keep Your covenant. You maintain Your mercy. Now hear my confession. Now receive my petition. The identity of the One you're praying to determines everything about how the prayer lands.
Commentary
Trusted original commentary from respected historical Bible scholars and theologians.
And I prayed unto the Lord my God,.... Not to idols, nor to angels or saints departed; but to the Lord God of heaven and…
And I prayed unto the Lord my God - Evidently a set and formal prayer. It would seem probable that; he offered this…
Keeping the covenant - Fidelity and truth are characteristics of God. He had never yet broken his engagements to his…
We have here Daniel's prayer to God as his God, and the confession which he joined with that prayer: I prayed, and made…
and made confession] Lev 5:5; Lev 16:21; Lev 26:40, Num 5:7, 2Ch 30:22; and in a context similar to the present one, Ezr…
Cross References
Related passages throughout Scripture