Daniel 7:1-28
‘There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven... His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14). We thank You, Lord, for these great words. They point us to Christ’s description of His Second Coming, the Coming of His Kingdom: ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). In Revelation 1:7, we have another echo of Daniel’s ‘vision.’ As we think of these great things, may we be inspired to lift up our hearts to You in praise: ‘Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him’. ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending... Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee, high on Thine eternal throne; Saviour, take the power and glory, claim the Kingdom for Thine own. O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly! Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’ (Church Hymnary, 316).
‘There before me was one like a son of man, coming with the clouds of heaven... His Kingdom is one that will never be destroyed’ (Daniel 7:13-14). We thank You, Lord, for these great words. They point us to Christ’s description of His Second Coming, the Coming of His Kingdom: ‘They will see the Son of Man coming on the clouds of the sky, with power and great glory’ (Matthew 24:30). In Revelation 1:7, we have another echo of Daniel’s ‘vision.’ As we think of these great things, may we be inspired to lift up our hearts to You in praise: ‘Look, He is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see Him’. ‘Lo! He comes, with clouds descending... Yea, Amen! let all adore Thee, high on Thine eternal throne; Saviour, take the power and glory, claim the Kingdom for Thine own. O come quickly! O come quickly! O come quickly! Alleluia! Come, Lord, come!’ (Church Hymnary, 316).
Daniel 8:1-27
We read, Lord, about a ‘vision’ concerning ‘the distant future’, ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 8:26,17). We catch a glimpse of Satan, the very powerful enemy of God’s people. Satan’s power is very frightening - ‘His power shall be great, and he shall cause fearful destruction...’. It was the power of Satan which lay behind the ‘stern-faced king’: ‘He will become very strong, but not by his own power’ (Daniel 8:23-24). We thank You, Lord, that Satan’s power will be broken. We thank You that Satan faces certain defeat - ‘He will be defeated.’ How will he be defeated? We will not defeat him - ‘He will not be destroyed by human power.’ There is only one Power able to destroy the power of Satan: ‘He shall be broken by the hand of God’. ‘Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Daniel 9:1-27
‘O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!’ (Daniel 9:19). How, Lord, do we know that You will hear and answer our prayer as we look to You for salvation? - ‘The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him’ (Daniel 9:9). We come to You with our sin - We are ‘dead in our sins and wickedness.’ You come to us with Your grace - ‘By grace you have been saved through faith.’ We come to You, Lord, deeply conscious of our sin. We know, in our hearts, that we can do nothing to save ourselves. The way of salvation can never begin with the word, ‘I’. It always begins with You, Lord. It begins with Your love - Your great love for us’: ‘God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sins’ (Ephesians 2:1,4-5,8).
We read, Lord, about a ‘vision’ concerning ‘the distant future’, ‘the time of the end’ (Daniel 8:26,17). We catch a glimpse of Satan, the very powerful enemy of God’s people. Satan’s power is very frightening - ‘His power shall be great, and he shall cause fearful destruction...’. It was the power of Satan which lay behind the ‘stern-faced king’: ‘He will become very strong, but not by his own power’ (Daniel 8:23-24). We thank You, Lord, that Satan’s power will be broken. We thank You that Satan faces certain defeat - ‘He will be defeated.’ How will he be defeated? We will not defeat him - ‘He will not be destroyed by human power.’ There is only one Power able to destroy the power of Satan: ‘He shall be broken by the hand of God’. ‘Thanks be to God who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ’ (1 Corinthians 15:57).
Daniel 9:1-27
‘O Lord, listen! O Lord, forgive! O Lord, hear and act!’ (Daniel 9:19). How, Lord, do we know that You will hear and answer our prayer as we look to You for salvation? - ‘The Lord our God is merciful and forgiving, even though we have rebelled against Him’ (Daniel 9:9). We come to You with our sin - We are ‘dead in our sins and wickedness.’ You come to us with Your grace - ‘By grace you have been saved through faith.’ We come to You, Lord, deeply conscious of our sin. We know, in our hearts, that we can do nothing to save ourselves. The way of salvation can never begin with the word, ‘I’. It always begins with You, Lord. It begins with Your love - Your great love for us’: ‘God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in our sins’ (Ephesians 2:1,4-5,8).
Daniel 10:1-11:13
Daniel came to God in great weakness - ‘I am helpless... My strength is gone...’ (Daniel 10:16-17). We thank You, Lord, that Daniel received great strength from You - ‘The One who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength... When He spoke to me, I was strengthened...’. Daniel’s strength came from Your love and Your peace. You assured him of Your love for him. You called him a ‘man greatly beloved.'. We thank You, Lord, that You spoke Your Word of peace to Daniel: ‘Peace be with you.’ As You revealed Your love and peace to him, he came to realize that there was no need to be afraid. He could ‘be strong’ in You (Daniel 10:18-19). When we are weak, help us, Lord, to come to You and receive your strength - ‘His grace is sufficient for us. His strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Daniel came to God in great weakness - ‘I am helpless... My strength is gone...’ (Daniel 10:16-17). We thank You, Lord, that Daniel received great strength from You - ‘The One who looked like a man touched me and gave me strength... When He spoke to me, I was strengthened...’. Daniel’s strength came from Your love and Your peace. You assured him of Your love for him. You called him a ‘man greatly beloved.'. We thank You, Lord, that You spoke Your Word of peace to Daniel: ‘Peace be with you.’ As You revealed Your love and peace to him, he came to realize that there was no need to be afraid. He could ‘be strong’ in You (Daniel 10:18-19). When we are weak, help us, Lord, to come to You and receive your strength - ‘His grace is sufficient for us. His strength is made perfect in weakness’ (2 Corinthians 12:9).
Daniel 11:14-45
Help us, Lord, to live for You - ‘The people who know their God shall be strong and do great things.’ Help us to stand against Satan - ‘The people who know their God will firmly resist him’ (Daniel 11:32). Teach us that, if we are to live for You and stand against Satan, we must ‘put on the whole armour of God’. ‘Strong in the Lord’, we ‘take our stand against the devil’s schemes’ (Ephesians 6:10-11). Help us to rise to the great challenge of living for You and standing against Satan: ‘Soldiers of Christ, arise and put your armour on, strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son... From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray, tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day that, having all things done and all your conflicts past, ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand complete at last’ (Church Hymnary, 441).
Help us, Lord, to live for You - ‘The people who know their God shall be strong and do great things.’ Help us to stand against Satan - ‘The people who know their God will firmly resist him’ (Daniel 11:32). Teach us that, if we are to live for You and stand against Satan, we must ‘put on the whole armour of God’. ‘Strong in the Lord’, we ‘take our stand against the devil’s schemes’ (Ephesians 6:10-11). Help us to rise to the great challenge of living for You and standing against Satan: ‘Soldiers of Christ, arise and put your armour on, strong in the strength which God supplies through His eternal Son... From strength to strength go on, wrestle and fight and pray, tread all the powers of darkness down and win the well-fought day that, having all things done and all your conflicts past, ye may o’ercome through Christ alone and stand complete at last’ (Church Hymnary, 441).
Daniel 12:1-13
We read, Lord, of two very different futures - ‘everlasting life’ and ‘everlasting contempt’ (Daniel 12:2). We thank You that we receive ‘eternal life’ through ‘believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.’ Through faith in Him, we ‘know that we have eternal life.’ You give us Your promise: ‘He who has the Son has life.’ To those who ‘overcome’, through ‘believing that Jesus is the Son of God’, You give this promise: ‘I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life.’ Alongside Your promise, there is also Your warning: ‘He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ To those who refuse to come to Christ for salvation, You give this warning: ‘If anyone’s name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire’ (John 20:31; 1 John 5:5,11-13; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 20:15). Help us, Lord, to heed Your warning and trust Your promise.
We read, Lord, of two very different futures - ‘everlasting life’ and ‘everlasting contempt’ (Daniel 12:2). We thank You that we receive ‘eternal life’ through ‘believing that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.’ Through faith in Him, we ‘know that we have eternal life.’ You give us Your promise: ‘He who has the Son has life.’ To those who ‘overcome’, through ‘believing that Jesus is the Son of God’, You give this promise: ‘I will never blot his name out of the Book of Life.’ Alongside Your promise, there is also Your warning: ‘He who does not have the Son of God does not have life.’ To those who refuse to come to Christ for salvation, You give this warning: ‘If anyone’s name was not written in the Book of Life, he was thrown into the lake of fire’ (John 20:31; 1 John 5:5,11-13; Revelation 3:5; Revelation 20:15). Help us, Lord, to heed Your warning and trust Your promise.
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