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Our Duty
| Bro Obed Mafifi (Kempton Park, South Africa)
O
n reading Daniel 9 there are a number of
good lessons we learn. One of these is the
humility portrayed by Daniel himself and I am
sure we can take this as a good example. He
says in verses 4-5, “Oh Lord,
the great and awesome God
who keeps his covenant of love
with those who love him and
obey his commands, we have
sinned and done wrong. We
have been wicked and have
rebelled, we have turned away
from your commands and
laws.” He acknowledges the
greatness of God and his faith-
fulness and contrasts that with
the wickedness and sinfulness
of himself and those on whose
behalf he is praying, and
consequently realizes how
desperate they are for His
mercy.
Now Daniel himself, as we know him, was not
a bad man yet he speaks subjectively of Israel’s
wickedness. This means he is aware that
nothing good lives in his sinful flesh (Rom.
7:18). Unlike the Pharisee he does not consider
himself holier than the rest. Instead he realizes
that there’s no difference, for all have sinned
and fallen short of the glory of God (Rom.
3:23). But perhaps the most beautiful verse in
Daniel 9 is verse 18; “We do not make requests
of you because we are righteous but because
of your mercy.” Is this sincerely the spirit in
which we pray? If it is not, then may I suggest
some introspection here?
You see, if we fail to realize the simple truth
that we are not necessarily entitled to what we
request, then we are not only self-righteous
but we are also effectively commending
ourselves. It means that we are saying, “Why
have we fasted and you have not seen it? Why
have we humbled ourselves and you have not
noticed?” (Is. 58:3). And the apostle Paul says,
“It is not the one who commends himself who
is approved, but the one whom the Lord
commends.” (2 Cor. 10:18).
Many will agree that often we request some-
thing from God and when we don’t receive it,
we are upset. Why? Could this be because, in
our self-righteousness, we feel that we are
doing so much for God that it
is unfair for him to deny us
this little thing that we are
asking for? If so, our sense of
duty is suspect! The Lord
Jesus Christ says, “So when
you have done everything you
were told to do, say we are
unworthy servants, we have
only done our duty” (Lk.
17:10). Against this back-
ground Daniel is a good
example in that, although it
was said of him, “You are
highly esteemed”, he did not
see this as any ground for self-
righteousness. Let us take his
example. When we make requests let us not
be presumptuous, because we don’t know for
sure what is good for us and what is not. You
see, “a man’s life is not his own, it is not for
man to direct his steps” (Jer. 10:23). Let us
therefore trust in the Lord with all our hearts
and lean not on our understanding. In all our
ways let us acknowledge him and he will make
our paths straight (Prov. 3:5-7).
One thing is needful
M
any of us run energetically
around, almost grimly deter-
mined to serve Him, growing weary
in our labour and perhaps a little
angry with our brethren. Let us
learn the lesson that Jesus taught
Martha, that our service is not a
self-inspired attempt to minister to
Him. It is for us to resort to Him,
allowing Him to feed us, so that we
can rise in quietness of spirit and
deep humility of mind to minister to
His needs.
Melva Purkis
“A Life of Jesus”
Daniel prays in sackcloth
and ashes (Dan 9:3)