In what is certainly one of the most incredible acts of God's providence, Israel is taken into captivity, just as Jeremiah predicted, for exactly 70 years. When God makes a promise, He keeps it. So, too, His promise to bring Israel back from exile and restore Jerusalem and the temple. Daniel knew all of this about God. He knew that he could count on God's faithfulness to His word, to His promise. So, in Daniel 9, we find the prophet realizing that 70 years has passed and crying out to God to fulfill His promise and restore Jerusalem. But before Daniel asks God to relent from judgment, he confesses the sins of his own heart and the sins of his people. This, too, is part of God's plan for restoration. There is no short-cut to being restored. It doesn't matter if it's the restoration of a nation or the restoration of a single human life. God's plan must be followed. It's a plan that we find perfectly followed by Daniel and applied by God to the future of Israel, right here in chapter 9 of Daniel. Let's pay attention to Daniel's example and see if might find some application for our own lives. We, too, are in constant need of restoration.