Daniel 9:17

17 "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine your face upon your desolate sanctuary {for your sake, O Lord}.

Daniel 9:17 Meaning and Commentary

Daniel 9:17

Now therefore, O our God
This being our miserable case, and the seventy years' captivity being at an end, and thou still our covenant God, whom we profess and worship: hear the prayer of thy servant, and his supplications;
which he had put up in an humble manner, consisting of various petitions for grace and mercy before expressed: and cause thy face to shine upon thy sanctuary that is desolate;
the temple; its walls demolished, its altars thrown down, and the whole in ruins; a melancholy scene! the Lord, suffering these things, seemed to frown upon it, and upon his people, that used to serve him there; wherefore it is entreated that he would smile upon it again, and upon them, and cause it to be rebuilt, and his worship restored in it: and this is asked for the Lord's sake:
that is, for Christ's sake, who is Lord of all, especially of his chosen people, by creation, redemption, and marriage, as well as by their own consent and profession; and for whose sake, and in whose name, all requests are to be made to God, he being the only Mediator between God and man; and for the sake of whose blood, righteousness, and mediation, all the blessings of goodness are given unto men; and who also was Lord and proprietor of the temple, and was to come into it, as well as was the antitype of it.

Daniel 9:17 In-Context

15 "And now, Lord our God, who have brought your people out from [the] land of Egypt with a strong hand, and you [have] made for yourself a name [until] this day--we have sinned, we have acted wickedly.

16 Lord, according to all your righteousness, please let your anger and your rage turn away from your city Jerusalem, {your holy mountain}, because through our sins and through the iniquities of our ancestors Jerusalem and your people have become an object of mockery among all of our neighbors.

17 "And now, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy. Shine your face upon your desolate sanctuary {for your sake, O Lord}.

18 Incline your ear, my God, and listen; open your eyes and look at our desolation and the city that is called [by] your name, for we [are] not presenting our pleas for mercy {before you} because of our righteousness, but [rather] because of your great compassion.

19 Lord, listen! Lord, forgive! Lord, pay heed and act! You must not delay {for your sake}, my God; because {your city and your people are called by your name}."

Footnotes

• [a]. Or "let shine" or "cause to shine"
• [b]. Literally "for the sake of the Lord"