“So I Turned To The LORD” Daniel 9:1-24 Dr. Tobey Montgomery • 10/08/17
Channel: The Cathedral
Date: 2017-10-10

As a father, a grandfather, friend, pastor, and a Christian, I find myself deeply grieved by, and profoundly lacking in the ability to address, the evil, cruelty, and wicked displays of violence filling our Land.  From Orlando to Chicago, from Charlottesville to Baltimore, from San Bernardino to Las Vegas, Darkness, division, malice, and hatred are seeking to wreak havoc.  In addition to these human acts of wickedness, nature itself seems to be groaning in despair as hurricanes have pounded Texas, Florida, the Southeast, and Puerto Rico.
 
This week I have been reflecting on all of these horrific events and have felt a surprisingly tender reassurance in my spirit.  Firstly, even though all of us, and indeed our nation, is and should be, grieving, my friends we do not “grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.  We believe that Jesus died and rose again (1 Thessalonians 4:13-14)!”  Our hope is not in a politician, a sociologist, a psychologist, a businessman, a preacher, a judge, or anyone else.  Our hope and our confidence are in the Risen Lord Jesus Christ and His great Love and Mercy for a Lost and Broken Humanity.

Finally, within my heart, I have witnessed the “gentle whisper (1 Kings 19:12)” of the Spirit urging me to call you, the Lord’s People, to prayer.  Therefore, in a few moments I will be sharing from the intercession of the Prophet Daniel this morning and like he, Elijah, and the Saints of Old, we will “call upon the name of the Lord (1 Kings 18:24),” desperately seeking His mercy and grace on our nation in this hour.
 
We are praying that the Lord helps each of us to not become immune to the horror of such wickedness, but may our hearts be broken as we “weep with those who weep (Romans 12:15).”
 
We are praying that the Lord helps each of us to cry out to the “God of all Comfort (2 Corinthians 1:3)” for the strength of those serving the wounded and brokenhearted; the comfort of those who have suffered such horrific loss; and the righteous “peace and well-being (Jeremiah 29:7)” of the Lord to reign in our nation.
 
We are praying that the Lord helps each of us to walk in the Ministry of the Prince of Peace, and become the PEACEMAKERS of our Age who minister in the OPPOSITE spirit of our times.  As the Lord Jesus Christ said…
 
Matthew 5:9 NIV - Blessed are the peacemakers, for they will be called children of God.

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