God is our SUM

Dan. 9:3Then I turned my face to the Lord God, seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes. 4I prayed to the LORD my God and made confession, saying, "O Lord, the great and awesome God, who keeps covenant and steadfast love with those who love him and keep his commandments, 5 we have sinned and done wrong and acted wickedly and rebelled, turning aside from your commandments and rules. 6 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. 7To you, O Lord, belongs righteousness, but to us open shame, as at this day, to the men of Judah, to the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and to all Israel, those who are near and those who are far away, in all the lands to which you have driven them, because of the treachery that they have committed against you. 8To us, O LORD, 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 mercy and forgiveness, for we have rebelled against him 10 and have not obeyed the voice of the LORD our God by walking in his laws, which he set before us by his servants the prophets. 11 All Israel has transgressed your law and turned aside, refusing to obey your voice. And the curse and oath that are written in the Law of Moses the servant of God have been poured out upon us, because we have sinned against him. 12 He has confirmed his words, which he spoke against us and against our rulers who ruled us, by bringing upon us a great calamity. For under the whole heaven there has not been done anything like what has been done against Jerusalem. 13 As it is written in the Law of Moses, all this calamity has come upon us; yet we have not entreated the favor of the LORD our God, turning from our iniquities and gaining insight by your truth. 14 Therefore the LORD has kept ready the calamity and has brought it upon us, for the LORD our God is righteous in all the works that he has done, and we have not obeyed his voice. 15 And now, O Lord our God, who brought your people 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 done wickedly.

16 "O Lord, according to all your righteous acts, let your anger and your wrath turn away from your city Jerusalem, your holy hill, because for our sins, and for the iniquities of our fathers, Jerusalem and your people have become a byword among all who are around us. 17 Now therefore, O our God, listen to the prayer of your servant and to his pleas for mercy, and for your own sake, O Lord, make your face to shine upon your sanctuary, which is desolate. 18 O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy. 19 O Lord, hear; O Lord, forgive. O Lord, pay attention and act. Delay not, for your own sake, O my God, because your city and your people are called by your name."

I am struck by how much similarity between the spiritual climate in Israel and America today. It seems like you could interchange many of the names listed in this passage and put modern day American words and be very close.

We have sinned against God, we have shunned His correction, we have acted wickedly, paid no attention to His Word, not listened to the voice of those speaking God's Word to us, our churches are desolate, we have acted openly against His righteousness and now we are in open shame. God may have a calamity greater than we have ever seen waiting right around the corner for us. He would be righteous in His dealings if He brings it today, and the only reason He doesn't is because of His mercy. More may come to salvation in Him if He delays His wrath on America.

Would we listen? Would a greater calamity than 911 or the 2008/9 economic collapse change any hearts in America, or would we just "pull up our boot straps" and "figure it out" on our own; leaving God out of the equation once again?

God is IN the equation, in fact God IS the equation. He is the sum of every problem we have. God and His Word are the answer to every problem every nation on earth has, but more often than not we don't even add Him into the mix. Shame be upon us. Will we learn before it is too late? I think we are going entirely the wrong way.

God does listen to the righteous. God does hold back His wrath for a righteous few. I love that Gabriel tells Daniel, "you are greatly loved". God loves Daniel, not because anything that Daniel brings to the table on his own, but that Daniel is faithful, humble, seeks the Lord's face often; not perfect but penitent. He goes to God on behalf of a nation and God tells him "you are loved".

We need to pray for America. We need a turning away from sin in America and toward God and true joy. We need our hearts to be changed. We need to deal treacherously with our sin and look only to Christ for our sufficiency. We need revival here and we need God to delay His wrath on us so more may turn from their evil ways and come to Him.
We need also to pray for Jerusalem. These are God's chosen people and they are not walking in righteousness either. Oh that they would see they have killed their Messiah and rejoice that He has spared them the wrath they rightly deserve in order that they would have time to repent.

Would that I would be "loved by God" like Daniel. Not for my glory but so that I would be battling in prayer for America, the Church, the local church, even with all the goats in it, for our ministry and for my family. God is Not going to withhold His punishment forever. How long will He endure with us? I don't know. I need to see the seriousness of what is going on around me and beg God for His mercy to continue. I need to be righteous so my prayers are not hindered and so He will listen to my cry.

Lord God of Heaven and earth, You are majestic, powerful. You allow nations to stand and by Your voice You shake them to the core. You raise up leaders and with a whisper You end their rule. You have changed history with the flick of Your finger. You have wiped out entire races by Your word over Your own creation spilling water and fire on them when they were celebrating their own greatness unto themselves. You are all powerful, able to sustain and more than able also to crush. God save our nation today from itself. May we be shaken enough to turn from our evil and look to You for grace. May we see the error of our ways, may we see our sin for what it is and turn to You for salvation. You are our ONLY hope and You hold back the calamity that awaits only by Your grace and mercy.

God continue to work in me and allow me to see the error of my ways. May I be a man who truly loves You most of all and may I be righteous so You will want to listen to my prayer. Give me a seriousness for the times we are in and for the people You want to draw unto Yourself, so I would be bold in my proclamation of Your Word to those who are dieing around me. May the boldness You give me be an encouragement to others as they do the same. Make me a man after Your own heart. Not for my glory but so that all may see the change You can bring about by one who recognizes, by Your grace and working, Your power and my own complete inability. God You can change me. Please do.