Daniel 9:18

O my God, incline your ear and hear. Open your eyes and see our desolations, and the city that is called by your name. For we do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy.

Johnson Oatman Jr. published a song in 1897 that comes to mind: Count Your Blessings. Our blessings are more than we can count even in the darkest hours. When we live in a theology of works, we fail to see and acknowledge the great blessings of God’s mercy and grace. When we believe that God hears us because we are good, or because we have enough faith, our eyes are constantly on us. We are looking to see if we are good enough. We are trying to muster up enough faith. But the mature believer knows that our eyes are to be fixed not on us, but on our Savior. It is his mercy that grants us innumerable blessings. It is his grace that accepts us and invites us into his throne room. And it is his peace that surrounds us not because of who we are, but because of who he is.

“We do not present our pleas before you because of our righteousness, but because of your great mercy” (Dan 9:18). So, let us be honest about our weakness, our brokenness, and our sin, and let us turn our eyes to Jesus, “The founder and perfecter of our faith” (Heb 12:2). I love the lyrics of the old Irish hymn written somewhere around 14 centuries ago:

Be Thou my Vision

O Lord of my heart

Nought be all else to me

Save that Thou art

Thou my best thought

By day or by night

Waking or sleeping

Thy presence my light

 It is not about us. It is about Him.