Daniel 9:3 (DBY)

Passage

And I set my face unto the Lord God, to seek by prayer and supplications, with fasting, and sackcloth, and ashes;

Nearby Context

Daniel 9:1 In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was made king over the realm of the Chaldeans,

Daniel 9:2 in the first year of his reign, I Daniel understood by the books that the number of the years, whereof the word of Jehovah came to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishment of the desolations of Jerusalem, was 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 my confession, and said, Alas Lord! the great and terrible God, keeping covenant and loving-kindness with them that love him, and that keep his commandments:

Daniel 9:5 we have sinned, and have committed iniquity, and have done wickedly, and have rebelled, even turning aside from thy commandments and from thine ordinances.

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "face", "lord", "seek", "prayer", "supplications", "fasting", "sackcloth", and "ashes". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "face" and "lord", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 2's "in the first year of his reign..." into verse 4's "and I prayed unto Jehovah my God...", so "face" and "lord" 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 "face" and "lord" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.