Men and women of God have often born the burden of repentance of sin for their people. Daniel, chapter 9, contains the prayer of Daniel, considered by God as one of the three most righteous of all men, Noah, Job and Daniel. [Ezekiel 14:12-14]
Daniel’s prayer contains three words, repeated four times, that we should note. “O LORD, we and our kings, our princes and our fathers are covered with shame because we have sinned against you.” [Dan 9:8]
Those three noteworthy words are, “we have sinned.”
Daniel did not exclude himself from the sins of his people—even though others might have excluded him. He remained righteous as a young man after taken into captivity by refusing to defile himself with foods forbidden to Jews. He remained righteous as an old man when being forbidden to pray, he opened his window as always and prayed to His God. That faithfulness got him a visit into the lion’s den.
Still, as he prayed, he included himself in the sins of his people and took responsibility for the judgment of God upon a nation that had long since strayed from loyalty to Israel’s God.
What must we do as Christians in our nation in our time? I think we all need to stop and look around. Who are we blaming for what is happening – others? Who do we blame for the slaughter in our streets, for the sacrifices of our unborn in our cities, for the prejudices and need among the most vulnerable?
Maybe, like Daniel, we need to hit our knees in repentance and say to our LORD and KING, “we have sinned.” We have gone about our lives with blinders on. We have lost our first love and need to repent. We have sought our own good. We have been concerned with what we have and what we want. It has been all about us and that does not model our Savior … He was never concerned with Himself. He was all about us. He gave it all. Maybe it is time we do likewise.
Father, I have sinned …. I have lost my first love.