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. – Daniel 9:17

If you have interacted with a small child, you may have had an occasion to get down on their level and hold their chin to get them to look in your eyes, so you know you have their attention. “Are you listening?” you may ask. Hearing, possibly – listening, maybe not. So it was with Israel. God had commanded that every seven years they should allow their land to lie fallow; He would provide enough in the sixth year to carry them through to harvest in the eighth year. But they did not listen. The 70 years in the Babylonian exile would match each year they failed to observe this agricultural “Sabbath“ year.

The prophet Daniel recognized when they were nearing the end of this time of restitution. He turned to the Lord, “Seeking him by prayer and pleas for mercy with fasting and sackcloth and ashes,” confessing the wicked acts and rebellion toward God by the people of Israel. “To us, O Lord, belongs open shame… for we have rebelled [against You]” (Daniel 9:3-9). Including himself with the people who had disobeyed the Lord, Daniel pleads for mercy and asks that the Lord hear his cry.

We could utter a similar plea today. While you may see the societal drift away from the Lord’s righteousness and His justice, evaluate your own heart and mind to determine ways you have not followed the Lord. Responding to situations in anger, despair, or distrust of God’s sovereignty are reasons to cry out for His mercy, both for yourself and the people of this nation. Believe in God’s purposes and His discipline. Pray and seek the Lord with repentance, and plead for mercy for the United States, that His good will be accomplished in this land.