Daniel 9:4

Daniel's Prayer.

‘And I prayed to YHWH my God, and made confession, and said, “O Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love him and keep his commandments.” '

In Babylon the Israelite God was called ‘the God of heaven', but in private prayer He was still YHWH, the covenant name. Or perhaps the fact of reading Jeremiah had renewed for Daniel the thought of that name, for it has not been used prior to this and yet he uses it regularly in this chapter (Daniel 9:2; Daniel 9:10; Daniel 9:13 (twice), 20) and not again after this. This would appear to emphasise a stress in this chapter on the covenant, as mentioned specifically in this verse. Outside this chapter all references to the covenant refer to the sacred covenant with YHWH (Daniel 11:22; Daniel 11:28; Daniel 11:30; Daniel 11:32). Note that Daniel, with all his experiences of the divine, does not approach God lightly. Sometimes we fail to recognise the awe and reverence we should have when we approach Him. ‘The great and dreadful God,' the powerful and awesome One Who had allowed His city and temple to be destroyed because of men's sin (see Deuteronomy 7:9; Deuteronomy 7:21; Deuteronomy 10:17).

‘Who keeps covenant and mercy with those who love him and keep his commandments.' Cited from Deuteronomy 7:9 (see also Daniel 5:10). Daniel's hope lay in the fact that God was the covenant God, and would thus respond in mercy towards those who were faithful to His covenant. The word for ‘mercy' indicates ‘covenant love'. God responds in covenant love towards those who obey the covenant commandments, not because they earn it, but because by it they reveal that they are His.