Daniel 9:4 (ASV)

Passage

And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments,

Nearby Context

Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign I, Daniel, understood by the books the number of the years whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishing of the desolations of Jerusalem, even seventy years.

Daniel 9:3 And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting and sackcloth and ashes.

Daniel 9:4 And I prayed unto Jehovah my God, and made confession, and said, Oh, Lord, the great and dreadful God, who keepeth covenant and lovingkindness with them that love him and keep his commandments,

Daniel 9:5 we have sinned, and have dealt perversely, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy precepts and from thine ordinances;

Daniel 9:6 neither have we hearkened unto thy servants the prophets, that spake in thy name to our kings, our princes, and our fathers, and to all the people of the land.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "prayed", "jehovah", "confession", "said", "lord", "great", "dreadful", and "keepeth". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "prayed" and "jehovah", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 3's "And I set my face unto the..." into verse 5's "we have sinned and have dealt perversely...", so "prayed" and "jehovah" belong inside that flow. In Daniel context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "prayed" and "jehovah" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.