During the reign of Darius, Daniel read the words of the prophet Jeremiah and saw God’s promise to restore the people after seventy years in captivity (Daniel 9:2; cf. Jeremiah 29:10). This prompted Daniel to offer “prayer and supplications, with fasting, sackcloth and ashes” because of the people’s sin (Daniel 9:3-6).
God’s people had gone into captivity because of their unfaithfulness. Yet God’s promise to restore them to their land was not an excuse to remain in sin. Daniel recognized their responsibility to seek the favor of the Lord but also realized their failure to do so.
How were they to seek the favor of the Lord? Notice what Daniel said: “All this calamity has come on us; yet we have not sought the favor of the Lord our God by turning from our iniquity and giving attention to Your truth” (Daniel 9:13). Because they failed to do this, God had “kept the calamity in store” for them because they had “not obeyed His voice” (Daniel 9:14).
We need to be mindful of this as well. God has extended His grace to us, but we cannot “continue in sin” (Romans 6:1). We also need to “pay much closer attention” to His word “so that we do not drift away from it” (Hebrews 2:1).
So remember how to seek the favor of the Lord. We must be willing to put away our sin and strive to obey the Lord in all that we do. We also need to pay attention to His word so we can know the path He wants us to take.