Not for Our Sake

Daniel 9:18 “O my God, incline thine ear, and hear; open thine eyes, and behold our desolations, and the city which is called by thy name: for we do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.”

One night recently, a lady came to hear me preach who did not belong to the church I was preaching at that week. In fact, she had never heard me preach! As it turned out, she heard another Rice preach years ago and appreciated it so much that she came to hear this “Rice” preach too! Most of us do not necessarily like to be favored because of someone else’s merit-we would rather be recognized for our own accomplishments. We all would like to be considered as someone who “pulled himself up by his own bootstraps!”

While it is true that we all will give account for what we do individually, there is a big sense in which favor from God comes from the merits of Another. Here in this passage, Daniel prayed to God but did not cite his own accomplishments-or even his own faith-as reasons for God to hear his prayer. Notice in verse 17, he pleads with God to hear his prayer “for the Lord’s sake.” Then in verse 18, he continues this plea by saying, “We do not present our supplications before thee for our righteousnesses, but for thy great mercies.” It is not our own goodness that gains favor with God; we must plead with Him based upon His own mercies!

If we really took an honest look at ourselves, and then at God, we would see how silly it is to think that we deserve anything from the Lord. God is completely perfect while we, even as His children, are a sinful people. I heard a man once say, “I’d like to live a day that I could find out what I can really do completely on my own!” Oh, really?  We ought to be afraid to find out what we can do completely on our own! If we are wise, we will depend upon the mercies and merit of Jesus Christ for everything.

In this chapter we see two particular areas that we can receive favor from God based on the merits of Jesus Christ. First, we receive salvation for the sake of Jesus Christ. The Lord Jesus took punishment on the cross, not for His sake, but for ours. We gain favor with God for Christ’s sake-He received punishment from God for our sake. Christ took what we deserve so we could have what He deserves! Isn’t that a wonderful truth?

So today, stop leaning on your own strength and start depending upon the great mercies of God–they are new every day!