Throughout his life, Daniel focused on God the Father; he knew which direction to look (whether it was east or west). In fact, Daniel says:

Question: Why did Daniel receive personal, specific communication from God the Father?

One reason is that Daniel led a holy life; a life in which he did not worry about a divisional line between sin and not-sin, but a life in which he knew:

The way to avoid sin is to face (focus on) God the Father.

In that very same clause, we see another reason why Daniel received a special, specific word from the Lord God:

Daniel understood:

The Lord God wants to communicate with each one of us on a personal basis.

It is key to realize that the Lord God wants communication with us. We never have to force Him or go through some kind of manipulation to get Him to talk to us. The Lord God wants to talk to us! Daniel understood that, as did Moses:

God wants to be found, and God wants to communicate with us. And Daniel understood:

Daniel understood that in complete confidence and assurance — without a doubt it could happen — he could:

1. Come to the Lord God.
2. Communicate with the Lord God.

Once again, know that Daniel had a clear understanding of the following:

• He had a clear understanding of sin – it was a matter of the direction he was facing.
• He had a clear understanding of man – men are sinners.
• He had a clear understanding of God – [as we will see] two almost contradictory aspects of God: (1) He is holy and righteous [but at the same time] (2) He is merciful.

Let us see how Daniel came to God.

3 So I set my face to the LORD God, to seek Him by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

4 And I prayed to the LORD my God, and made my confession, and said, O LORD, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness to those who love Him, and keep His commandments;

Daniel understood two things:

1. All of his sins were forgiven. Daniel looked forward to the Cross — where his sins would be forgiven — and we look backward to the Cross — where our sins have been forgiven. However, time is nothing to God since Creator God stands outside of time; Daniel understood that legally all of his sins were forgiven.
2. He needed daily cleansing to maintain his fellowship with God the Father. Though believers do not lose their salvation when they sin, daily confession of sins will remove the guilt from the consciousness so they feel free to fellowship with the Lord God.

So Daniel begins confessing:

5 We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning from Your commandments and from Your ordinances.

6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Do you know what is surprising? When we look at Daniel as opposed to the other Israelites who were taken captive, we would say What a HUGE difference; these people are horrible, but Daniel works with and loves God. Undoubtedly, if the rest of Israel had been anything like Daniel, then the nation would not have been in captivity; however, Daniel is saying we to identify himself with his people – with all Israel.

Daniel did not think of himself as being different from anyone else, because he recognized that he too was a sinner and that God does not make distinctions like man does. In fact, throughout the rest of the passage, notice all the we(s) and the us(s); Daniel had a clear understanding of the simplest of man, and oppositely, of the holiness of God.

Daniel also understood another attribute of God — God's response when somebody:

• Has trusted in Him (trusted in Messiah Jesus as his Redeemer),
• Comes as an acknowledged sinner,
• Comes confessing his sins, and
• Comes desiring special communication from God the Father.

Daniel knew what God's attitude is toward that person. In fact, let us pay particular attention to the phrases in boldface (see verses 4, 7, 9, 14, 15, and 18), and see what Daniel understood about God…

4 And I prayed to the Lord my God, and made my confession, and said, O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps His covenant and lovingkindness to those who love Him, and keep His commandments;

5 We have sinned, committed iniquity, acted wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning from Your commandments and from Your ordinances.

6 Moreover, we have not listened to Your servants the prophets, who spoke in Your name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

7 O LORD, righteousness belongs to You, but to us open shame, as it is this day; to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, that are near, and that are far off, through all the countries where You have driven them, because of their unfaithful deeds which they have committed against You.

8 O LORD, to us belongs open shame, to our kings, to our princes, and to our fathers, because we have sinned against You.

9 To the LORD our God belong compassion and forgiveness, though we have rebelled against Him;

10 Neither have we obeyed the voice of the LORD our God, to walk in His teachings, which He set before us through His servants the prophets.

11 Indeed all Israel has transgressed Your law, by turning aside, not obeying Your voice; so the curse has been poured out on us, and the oath that is written in the law of Moses the servant of God, because we have sinned against Him.

12 And thus He has confirmed His words, which He spoke against us, and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing on us a great calamity; for under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what was done to Jerusalem.

13 As it is written in the law of Moses, all this has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of our LORD our God by turning from our iniquity, and giving attention to Your truth.

14 Therefore the LORD has kept the calamity in store and brought it on us; for the LORD our God is righteous in all His works which He has done; for we did not obey His voice.

15 And now, O LORD our God, You who brought Your people forth out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and have made a name for Yourself, as at this day; we have sinned, we have been wicked.

16 O LORD, according to all Your righteousness, let Your anger and Your wrath be turned away from Your city Jerusalem, Your holy mountain; for, because of our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and Your people have become a reproach to all those around us.

17 So now, our God, hear the prayer of Your servant, and his supplications, and let Your face shine on Your desolate sanctuary.

18 O my God, incline Your ear, and hear; open Your eyes, and see our desolations, and the city which is called by Your name; for we do not present our supplications before You on account of any merits of our own, but on account of Your great compassion.

19 O LORD, hear; O LORD forgive; O LORD, listen and take action. For Your own sake, O my God, do not delay; because Your city and Your people are called by Your name.

Another reason Daniel was able to receive a special, specific communication from His Father was:

I have heard people say I pray, I confess my sins (I am sorry for what I did), and I read the Bible, but I just feel more condemnation. The only thing I read in the Bible is punishment passages and how God is going to get me!

Let us say that you desire a special word from God the Father. You come to Him, you recognize you are a sinner, you confess your sin, and you meditate on His Word, but what do you hear? You just keep doing the same things. What is wrong with you? You cannot get it together, and you blew it again. You are not hearing God, because that is NOT God speaking!

It is important to discern between:

and

In the Psalms (which are prayers), many times we find individuals (psalmists) who come to God on the basis of confession of sins — I know I am a sinner and I confess my sins — and who desire communication and a word of comfort with God the Father. What do the psalmists hear? Do they hear condemnation? No! Listen on...

Do you know why they hear such words of comfort? Because God is a great forgiver. That is why I say that it is almost a paradox:

The following is a Psalm of David. [By the way, did King David ever sin? Yes, I seem to recall a few BIG ones — adultery, murder, a collection of weapons and wives — and he did confess his sins.]

The Lord God did not dole out just a little mercy Okay, I am angry, but here is a little mercy. NO!

David continues to reveal attributes of the Lord God:

It is not just a little trickle-down mercy; the Lord God is full of mercy! So if you hear You blew it again; you just keep on doing the same old things. That is NOT God speaking. From the prayers of the psalmists we know God does not say those things to a person with a contrite heart.

What should we hear [from God] if we have confessed our sins, if we recognize we are sinners, if we bring nothing but ourselves to Him, and if we want to hear a word from God our Father? We should hear:

I say carefully: God hates our sin, and though He does not really understand it (we can NOT say He understands it), He has this amazing ability to separate us from our sin. Why? God does not expect more from us than what we can do:

The Lord God knows what we are, and what we are not, capable of.

Okay, so what about our sin? The Lord hates it, however, instead of condemning us, He says that He wants to help us:

I believe God says Yes, you correctly see these things as they are to Me, and I want to help you get those things out of your life. That is not condemnation.

Again, from the New Testament Scriptures:

That is the voice of God — there is no condemnation, there is nothing but mercy to the person with a contrite heart and His voice saying I will take care of it. I am going to help you get those things out of your life.

Do you know why there is no condemnation? This is something else God communicates to His children:

Again, if we are meditating in the Bible and if we come with an attitude of confession and a contrite heart, then we can expect to hear from God. Here is what the psalmist heard:

If that is NOT what you are getting when you read the Bible, you are not hearing God. I do not know what you are hearing, but that is NOT God.

What if we do all of this — coming to God with a contrite heart, confessing our sin, understanding sin (facing away from God), understanding the opposite of sin (facing toward God), and desiring to have fellowship with God the Father — and then nothing happens? Possibly, there is another factor.

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