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Daniel Chapter
Six
Daniel 6
Chapter Contents
The malice of Daniel's enemies. (1-5) His constancy in
prayer. (6-10) He is cast into the lion's den. (11-17) His miraculous
preservation. (18-24) The decree of Darius. (25-28)
Commentary on Daniel 6:1-5
(Read Daniel 6:1-5)
We notice to the glory of God, that though Daniel was now
very old, yet he was able for business, and had continued faithful to his
religion. It is for the glory of God, when those who profess religion, conduct
themselves so that their most watchful enemies may find no occasion for blaming
them, save only in the matters of their God, in which they walk according to
their consciences.
Commentary on Daniel 6:6-10
(Read Daniel 6:6-10)
To forbid prayer for thirty days, is, for so long, to rob
God of all the tribute he has from man, and to rob man of all the comfort he
has in God. Does not every man's heart direct him, when in want or distress, to
call upon God? We could not live a day without God; and can men live thirty
days without prayer? Yet it is to be feared that those who, without any decree
forbidding them, present no hearty, serious petitions to God for more than
thirty days together, are far more numerous than those who serve him
continually, with humble, thankful hearts. Persecuting laws are always made on
false pretences; but it does not become Christians to make bitter complaints,
or to indulge in revilings. It is good to have hours for prayer. Daniel prayed
openly and avowedly; and though a man of vast business, he did not think that
would excuse him from daily exercises of devotion. How inexcusable are those
who have but little to do in the world, yet will not do thus much for their
souls! In trying times we must take heed, lest, under pretence of discretion,
we are guilty of cowardice in the cause of God. All who throw away their souls,
as those certainly do that live without prayer, even if it be to save their
lives, at the end will be found to be fools. Nor did Daniel only pray, and not
give thanks, cutting off some part of the service to make the time of danger
shorter; but he performed the whole. In a word, the duty of prayer is founded
upon the sufficiency of God as an almighty Creator and Redeemer, and upon our
wants as sinful creatures. To Christ we must turn our eyes. Thither let the
Christian look, thither let him pray, in this land of his captivity.
Commentary on Daniel 6:11-17
(Read Daniel 6:11-17)
It is no new thing for what is done faithfully, in
conscience toward God, to be misrepresented as done obstinately, and in
contempt of the civil powers. Through want of due thought, we often do that
which afterwards, like Darius, we see cause a thousand times to wish undone
again. Daniel, that venerable man, is brought as the vilest of malefactors, and
is thrown into the den of lions, to be devoured, only for worshipping his God.
No doubt the placing the stone was ordered by the providence of God, that the
miracle of Daniel's deliverance might appear more plain; and the king sealed it
with his own signet, probably lest Daniel's enemies should kill him. Let us
commit our lives and souls unto God, in well-doing. We cannot place full
confidence even in men whom we faithfully serve; but believers may, in all
cases, be sure of the Divine favour and consolation.
Commentary on Daniel 6:18-24
(Read Daniel 6:18-24)
The best way to have a good night, is to keep a good
conscience. We are sure of what the king doubted, that the servants of the
living God have a Master well able to protect them. See the power of God over
the fiercest creatures, and believe his power to restrain the roaring lion that
goeth about continually seeking to devour. Daniel was kept perfectly safe,
because he believed in his God. Those who boldly and cheerfully trust in God to
protect them in the way of duty, shall always find him a present help. Thus the
righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead. The
short triumph of the wicked will end in their ruin.
Commentary on Daniel 6:25-28
(Read Daniel 6:25-28)
If we live in the fear of God, and walk according to that
rule, peace shall be upon us. The kingdom, the power, and the glory, for ever,
are the Lord's; but many are employed in making known his wonderful works to
others, who themselves remain strangers to his saving grace. May we be doers,
as well as believers of his word, least at the last we should be found to have
deceived ourselves.
── Matthew Henry《Concise Commentary on Daniel》
Daniel 6
Verse 2
[2] And
over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might
give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.
Daniel was first —
Belshazzar's promise to Daniel was, that he should be the third ruler in the
kingdom, chap. 5:7,16,29. The first was general of the army,
the second president of the palace, the third of the land and provinces.
Verse 4
[4] Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel
concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch
as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him.
Concerning the kingdom — And so to have made him guilty of treason, or other high misdemeanors,
in the king's business.
Verse 10
[10] Now
when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his
windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees
three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did
aforetime.
Toward Jerusalem —
The temple was the place where the Lord placed his name, and promised to
appear, and accept his people, all being a type of Christ, through whom only
sinners are accepted.
As he did aforetime — He
did not abate his prayers for the king's command, nor did he break the law
purposely, because he did no more than he was wont to do in serving his God.
Verse 14
[14] Then
the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set
his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the
sun to deliver him.
Displeased with himself — For having made that foolish decree.
To deliver him — To
find out some way of delivering him.
Verse 20
[20] And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel:
and the king spake and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is
thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
Able to deliver —
What he doubted of, we are sure of, that the servants of the living God, have a
master who is able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.
Verse 22
[22] My
God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, that they have not
hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before
thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
His angel —
The same that was with the three children in the fiery furnace, whose presence
made even the lion's den a strong-hold, his palace, his paradise. See the power
of God over the fiercest creatures! See the care God takes of his faithful
servants, especially when they are called to suffer for him! See how ready the
angels are to minister to the heirs of salvation!
Verse 25
[25] Then
king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all
the earth; Peace be multiplied unto you.
In all the earth — In
all that great empire. It is usual with the Turk, Tartar, Chinese, to arrogate
the same universality.
── John Wesley《Explanatory Notes on Daniel》
Daniel In The Lions' Den (6:1-28)
INTRODUCTION
1. The faith of Daniel has been an inspiration to many young people...
a. Due to his faith as a young man, when only 15-17 years old
b. In which he purposed in his heart not to defile himself - Dan 1:8
2. Daniel should also be an inspiration to elderly people...
a. As an example of service and commitment in our "golden years"
b. For we can also read of his faith as old man, perhaps in his
mid-eighties
[The account of elder Daniel's faith is found in Dan 6:1-28, involving
an incident commonly referred to as "Daniel In The Lion's Den". The
story is certainly worthy of our careful consideration, and so we begin
our study by reading verse one...]
I. THE TRAP IS SET (1-9)
A. DANIEL IS SUCCESSFUL...
1. He is appointed one of three governors over the kingdom - Dan
6:1-2
a. The kingdom may be Babylon (Chaldea), recently conquered by
the Medo-Persian empire - Dan 5:30-31
b. The identity of Darius the Mede is uncertain, possibly a
man known as Gubara appointed by Cyrus of Persia to rule
Chaldea
2. Daniel "distinguished" himself above the others - Dan 6:3
a. His success was due to his "excellent spirit", not cunning
or political maneuvering
b. Proving one can be successful in business and politics
without compromising character
c. Darius contemplates setting Daniel over the whole realm
B. DANIEL IS ENVIED...
1. His success leads to envy by others - Dan 6:4
a. Even the most godly men can have their enemies (e.g.,
David, Christ)
b. Enemies by virtue of jealousy
2. His noble character is attested to by his enemies - Dan 6:4
a. They could make no charge against him, finding no fault or
error in him
b. Because he was "faithful" (i.e., trustworthy, dependable)
3. His enemies determine there is only one way to defeat him
- Dan 6:5
a. To find some conflict between the law of God and that of
the land
b. Which they then set out to do
C. DANIEL IS TARGETED...
1. The king is approached by Daniel's enemies - Dan 6:6
2. They propose a royal statute, a firm decree - Dan 6:7
a. That no petition can be made of any god or man for thirty
days, except the king
b. Under punishment of being cast into the den of lions
3. The king is encouraged to establish the decree - Dan 6:8-9
a. Which according to the law of the Medes and Persians,
cannot be altered
b. King Darius signs the decree
[Daniel's faith in God brought him success up to this point. But now
the exercise of his faith could cause him to lose it all! What would
we have done in his place? As we continue to read, we see what Daniel
did...]
II. THE TRAP IS SPRUNG (10-17)
A. DANIEL CONTINUES TO PRAY...
1. Knowing full well that the decree had been signed - Dan 6:10
2. Practicing a custom common among the Jews - Dan 6:10
a. Praying three times a day - cf. Psa 55:17
b. Praying toward Jerusalem - cf. 1 Ki 8:27-30
c. Praying on his knees (a common posture for prayer) - cf.
1 Ki 8:54
d. Praying with thankfulness to God, even in times of trouble
- cf. Ph 4:6
3. His own custom since "early days" - Dan 6:10
a. Though great and powerful, fervent prayer was not beneath
him
b. Though aged, he had not grown weary of prayer
B. DANIEL IS CAUGHT...
1. His enemies catch Daniel praying - Dan 6:11
2. His enemies report Daniel to the king - Dan 6:12-13
a. Reminding Darius of the unalterable decree
b. Accusing Daniel of disregarding the king and his decree
3. The king is forced to abide by his own decree - Dan 6:14-15
a. Displeased with himself, the king tries to deliver Daniel
b. Daniel's enemies pressure the king to abide by his decree
C. DANIEL IS THROWN INTO THE LIONS' DEN...
1. Yet the king is hopeful - Dan 6:16
a. That Daniel's God will deliver him
b. Whom Daniel had served "continually"
-- Would he have had such hope if Daniel was sporadic in his
service to God?
2. The den is closed with a stone and sealed - Dan 6:17
a. Sealed with the signet ring of the king and his lords
b. Ensuring that the purpose concerning Daniel would not be
changed
[It appears Daniel's enemies have won. He is in the lions' den and it
is sealed. Yet could any "seal" by man ever keep God from accomplishing
His plans (don't forget the "sealed" tomb! - cf. Mt 27:62-66)? And so
we read how...]
III. THE TRAP IS SPOILED (18-28)
A. DARIUS IS WORRIED...
1. His night is restless - Dan 6:18
a. He spends the night fasting, and without musicians
b. He can't sleep
2. His concern for Daniel is evident - Dan 6:19-20
a. Rising early in the morning, going in haste to the den
b. Crying to Daniel with a lamenting voice
c. Wondering if God has delivered Daniel
1) A servant of the living God
2) Who serves God continually
B. DANIEL IS DELIVERED...
1. Daniel answers the king - Dan 6:21-22
a. With respect to the king ("O king, live forever!") 1) Despite what the king had done to him
2) An example of blessing those who persecute you
b. With word of God's great deliverance
1) Saved by an angel of God - cf. Dan 3:28
2) Who shut the lions' mouths
c. With affirmation of his innocence
1) Innocent before God
2) Guilty of no wrong before the king
2. Darius removes Daniel from the den - Dan 6:23
a. The king being exceedingly glad
b. Daniel with no injury found on him
-- Daniel is delivered from the lions, because he believed in His
God (i.e., saved by faith!)
C. THE CONSPIRATORS ARE EXECUTED...
1. Cast into the same trap intended for Daniel, along with their
families - Dan 6:24
2. As often happens, those who set the trap get caught in it!
a. Cf. Haman, hung on the gallows he built for Mordecai - Est
7:10
b. As contemplated by David, warned by Solomon - Psa 7:14-16;
Pro 1:10-19
D. GOD IS EXALTED...
1. Darius makes a decree that the God of Daniel be feared - Dan
6:25-27
a. He is the living God, and steadfast forever
b. His kingdom is indestructible, and His dominion everlasting
2. Another pagan king comes to realize Who is really in control!
a. As did Nebuchadnezzar - Dan 4:34-35
b. As did Belshazzar, only too late - Dan 5:26-28
E. DANIEL PROSPERS...
1. In the reign of Darius, who ruled Chaldea - Dan 6:28
2. In the reign of Cyrus of Persia (who also ruled over Darius)
- cf. Dan 1:21
CONCLUSION
1. What were the noble qualities of this aged saint? He was a man...
a. With an excellent spirit - Dan 6:3
b. Without fault in his business dealings - Dan 6:4
c. Faithful to those over him - Dan 6:4
d. Committed to prayer throughout his life - Dan 6:10
e. Willing to obey God rather than man - Dan 6:10
-- Putting it simply, he was a man who "believed in his God"! - Dan
6:23
2. "Daniel In The Lions' Den" is a story that has thrilled many
children...
a. But its lessons are not just for children
b. Daniel is a role model for adults as well
1) For politicians
2) For everyone involved in administrative affairs
3) For all Christians, especially older ones
May we all learn from the example of Daniel, who exemplified what it
means to seek first the will of God (cf. Mt 6:33), and to obey God
rather than men (cf. Ac 5:29)!
"DARE TO BE A DANIEL"
How To Enjoy Success Without Compromise
Daniel 1:8-21; 6:1-10
INTRODUCTION
1. The Bible is filled with accounts of many godly men and women who
are worthy of our emulation
2. One such person is Daniel, a man who obtained preeminence and power
in his lifetime:
a. He started out preeminent among the children of Israel - Dan
1:3-6
b. He gained preeminence among the wise of men of Babylon - Dan
1:17-20
c. He was given power over all of Babylon - Dan 2:48-49; 5:29
d. He received similar power over the Medo-Persian empire - Dan
6:1-3,28
3. How was Daniel able to reach these positions of power and influence
without compromising his position as a godly man?
4. A close look at the book of Daniel reveals his secret, and shows how
we too can be successful without selling our souls
[First, we notice that even as a young teen-ager...]
I. DANIEL WAS A MAN OF PURPOSE
A. "DANIEL PURPOSED IN HIS HEART..." - Dan 1:8
1. A young boy in a strange land, Daniel was immediately faced
with a challenge to violate God's law by eating the king's
food
2. Despite his youth and the obvious pressures to conform, Daniel
"purposed in his heart" to uphold the law of God, no matter
the cost
3. Because of his willingness to put God first, God granted
Daniel favor in the sight of others - Dan 1:9
a. How God did this is not explained, but it happened in the
case of Joseph also - cf. Gen 39:1-4; 21-23
b. By putting God first, God blessed Joseph in such a way that
favorably impressed others
B. EVERY CHILD OF GOD NEEDS TO BE A PERSON OF PURPOSE...
1. No one respects a "wishy-washy" person, someone with no
direction in their lives
2. Whereas a strong sense of purpose often breeds respect and
admiration in others
3. What should be the "purpose" of the Christian?
a. Jesus makes it clear in Mt 6:33
b. I.e., to seek the will of God and fulfill it in our lives,
no matter the circumstances
4. As Jesus promised, this will guarantee God's favor toward us
and in turn likely gain us favor in the eyes of those around
us
[Will you "Dare To Be A Daniel" and be a person with a purpose like he
had? No matter how young one may be, it is never too early to "seek
first the kingdom of God and His righteousness"!
Throughout his life, Daniel not only had a strong sense of purpose,
but...]
II. DANIEL WAS A MAN OF PRINCIPLE
A. HE REFUSED TO COMPROMISE HIS CONVICTIONS...
1. As a young man, by refusing to eat the king's meat or drink
his wine - Dan 1:8
2. As an old man, by refusing the gifts of Belshazzar - Dan
5:13-17
3. Under the threat of persecution, by refusing to obey the
decree of Darius - Dan 6:10
B. PEOPLE ADMIRE PERSONS OF PRINCIPLE...
1. Outwardly they may ridicule them, but inwardly they wish they
had the same intestinal fortitude
2. And when they need someone that can be trusted, and depended
upon to carry through with an assigned task, who do you think
they will turn to?
3. God also admires individuals who will stand by their
principles, and by their words - Psa 15:1-5
[Our society is in great need of people with principle. Those who
"Dare To Be A Daniel", and demonstrate by example the value of being
led by "principle" rather than by "price", are not only highly valued
by God but also by their fellow man.
But having purpose and principle is not all; another element for true
success is needed. What that element is can be seen when we observe
that...]
III. DANIEL WAS A MAN OF PURITY
A. HIS OPPONENTS COULD NOT FIND ANY FAULT...
1. He was faultless when it came to management of his business
affairs - Dan 6:1-4
2. This would help to explain his rise to positions of great
responsibility and power
3. Of course, his purity in business affairs was related to...
a. His overall purpose to please God first
b. And the fact that as a man of principle he could be trusted
B. THE CHRISTIAN IS ALSO TO MAINTAIN PURITY OF CONDUCT...
1. Whether young or old - cf. 1 Ti 4:12; Ti 2:6-8
2. Whether slave or free - cf. Ti 2:9-10
3. People who maintain purity in their dealings with others are
often given positions of great responsibility and privilege,
because they can be trusted to use them wisely
[Yes, Daniel was a man of purpose, principle, and purity (and how the
world needs more like him!). But the element that likely tied all
these together in such a way to receive blessings from God and favor
from man is the fact that...]
IV. DANIEL WAS A MAN OF PRAYER
A. A GLIMPSE OF HIS "PRAYER LIFE"... - Dan 6:10
1. He knelt in prayer, a demonstration of his humility
2. He prayed three times daily, a demonstration of his continual
dependence upon God
3. He gave thanks in the midst of persecution, a demonstration of
his gratitude and the fact that he had not lost sight of God's
blessings
4. His prayers were a "custom since early days", demonstrating
his persistence and faithfulness in his service to God
-- Is it not likely that his "custom" to pray so diligently
helped him to remain a man of purpose, principle and purity,
despite his rise to power and preeminence over the empire?
B. CHRISTIANS WOULD DO WELL TO FOLLOW DANIEL'S EXAMPLE...
1. "Let us learn the lesson that the finest of God's servants
must maintain regular and fixed prayer habits in order to
continue steadfast in devotion to the Lord." (Strauss)
2. As Christians, we too are to pray often - 1 Th 5:17-18; Co 4:2
3. If our efforts to live purposeful, principled, and pure lives
are not what they should be, could an undisciplined "prayer
life" be the reason?
3. Are we willing to "Dare To Be A Daniel" in regards to prayer?
CONCLUSION
1. There is a false assumption that to "get ahead" in this world one
must conform to the sinful practices of the world
2. But even today there are many Christians who demonstrate that when
one "dares to be a Daniel" they can succeed in the affairs of men
without selling their souls to the world
3. How about you? Will you "Dare To Be A Daniel" by becoming a person
of:
a. PURPOSE?
b. PRINCIPLE?
c. PURITY?
d. PRAYER?
－－《Executable
Outlines》
06 Chapter 6
Verses 1-10
Daniel 6:1-10
It pleased Darius to set over the Kingdom.
Daniel and his enemies
Darius appointed an entirely new administration, but it does not
appear that he made any material change in the financial system of the Empire.
Daniel we may call the First Lord of the Treasury. Daniel s high reputation was
confirmed by experience of his wisdom, integrity, and self-renouncing devotion
to the public good. The King intended to set him over the whole realm, to give
him all the power over the several departments of the State, that would have
enabled him to enforce obedience, and to punish dereliction This would have
involved a grand official revolution, and the transpiring of such an intention
of the King was enough to alarm the hundred and twenty chief publicans, and
raise up the whole body of presidents and princes against their watchful chief.
A plot was planned and executed. They came tumultuously to the King, on the
strength of a conspiracy. This could hardly have taken place under the rule of
a Sardanapalus or a Nabonadius. Daniel’s enemies saw no remedy for their
discontent, except in procuring his immediate ruin. Darius was a very
weak-minded and vain-glorious prince. The conspirators knew how to play upon
his weakness. They proposed to him an easy method of rising above every rival,
at least for one happy month, during which time not even Cyrus shall be
permitted to receive a prayer. No man, no god even, shall be approached in the
language of petition. Their object, however, the King does not perceive. As to
the kind of death denounced on recusants, it is apparent, from the testimony of
Quintus Curtius, that lions were kept in dens at Babylon, and produced on
festive occasions, With regard to the immutability of the laws of the Medes and
Persians, that can only mean that, when law was made, the King could not change
it, but he might, nevertheless, find, or even make, another law to counteract
its force. Did Darius believe, or did he only struggle to persuade himself,
that the God of Daniel would deliver him, as he once delivered three of his
fellow-captives from the fiery furnace? Or did he only ejaculate a wish that
God would deliver him? For the Chaldee may mean either . . . One word in
Daniel’s answer to the King, from the den, conveys an intimation that his
enemies, not content with charging him with disobedience to the King’s
monstrous decree, had also endeavured to fix on him a suspicion, if not a
direct accusation, of dishonesty, in spite of their previous confession to one
another, that “they could find none occasion nor fault.” Now there can be no
suspicion. The loyalty of Daniel, even to so insignificant a king as Darius,
shines no less clearly than his faithfulness to God, leaving to all generations
a bright example of loyalty, a virtue commended by the supreme example of our
blessed Saviour, and strictly inculcated by the spirit of inspiration, through
His servants the apostles. (W. H. Rule, D.D.)
Of whom Daniel was first.
The promotion of Daniel
Men have to pay for all exaltation; a sense of responsibility
comes with it where it is honest and worthy, and men do not ascend to the
primary positions instantly, but gradually, and as they ascend they become
accustomed to the air, so that when they do reach the throne it seems as if
they had but a step to take from the common earth to the great altitude. Thus
we are trained, graduated, perfected, not by suddenness, abruptness, not by any
vulgarity of government, but by that fine shading and graduation which is all
but imperceptible, and which only makes itself known in all the fulness of its
reality and value when we are prepared to accept the throne, the crown, the
sceptre, humbly, modestly. How could Daniel bear all this exaltation? Because
it was nothing to him: He had been in prayer. The man who prays three times a
day, really prays, whose window opens upon heaven, cannot receive any honour;
he cannot be flattered. If Darius had asked him to take the throne it would
have been but a trifle to Daniel. A man who has been closeted with God cannot
be befooled by earthly baubles and temporal vanities. It is with these things
as with miracles. So with this greatness of such men as Daniel; it is not
greatness to them: it is but a new responsibility, another opportunity for
doing good, a larger opening for higher usefulness. The man should always be
greater than his office; the author should always be greater than his book; the
picture should be nothing compared with the picture the artist wanted to paint.
The musician does well to set aside his thousand-voiced organ because it is useless
when he wants to express the ineffable. If we prayed aright, if we loved God
truly, then all honour would be accepted with an easy condescension, and every
gift and recognition and promotion would be used with modesty, and every honour
given by men would not be despised, but would be used to the promotion of the
highest ends of being. It is thus the Daniels of the world sit upon their
thrones; verily, they sit upon them; they use them, they are mere temporary
conveniences and symbols to them; the real king is intellectual, spiritual,
moral, sympathetic, invisible, divine. It is useless for us to wish to be what
Daniel was; we shall be what Daniel was, and where he was, when we have the
same qualifications. The universe is not being built by an unskilled carpenter;
it is being constructed--I mean that inward and spiritual universe of which all
other universes are but the scaffolding--by a divine Builder; and He will not
put the top stone in the foundation, or the foundation stone in the pinnacle;
He will put us just where we ought to be. Daniel and Paul, Peter and John, the
seraph all aflame, the cherub all contemplation, each will have his place. O
foolish soul, do not build thyself into God’s wall; let the Builder handle
thee, and be glad that thou hast any place in the spiritual masonry. (Joseph
Parker, D.D.)
The Second Throne; or Character Honoured
Daniel shows us that the law of life is this--character shall be
honoured with respect, confidence, high place, and success. If the law does not
work out these results, in any particular case, it must be because of some
special hindrance. Sooner or later every man finds his place, and gets what he
is worth. Life is not a lottery. In speaking of Daniel’s honour, it will at
once appear that it was political, And we need more Godly men in high places.
Daniel did not reach his position by any sudden spring. He had lesser offices
first, in which his faithfulness was proved. Daniel won his position because
“an excellent spirit was in him.” Before dealing with the honours that wait on
character, a word must be said on the relation between talent and character.
These two things are often separated. Men of genius are not always men of
character. Byron is an extreme instance of this. And men of character are not
always men of talent. We have very often to say, “Yes, he is a very good man,
but not very clever.” No man of genius can afford to despise character; and no
man of character should rest until he has added to it ability and skill. Daniel
took every advantage of Persian culture, and in him we find talent and
character blended. With what honour then will God, and the world, crown good
character?
I. THE WORLD HONOURS CHARACTER WITH ITS
RESPECT. And that is far better thing than position, riches, and
fame. Have character rooted in God, and if men mock you to the face, you may be
sure that in your deep heart they think of you as Balaam did of Sarah. The
respect in which the good man is held comes out when he is dead.
II. THE WORLD HONOURS CHARACTER WITH ITS
MATERIAL BLESSINGS. This is not an invariable rule. Some cannot
bear the risks of prosperity. Many of us do well to pray, “Give me neither
poverty nor riches.” Yet it is generally true that character wins the places of
trust, and character keeps the places it gains. Illustrated by Joseph and
Obadiah. But how does God honour character? With His approval, and with the
sense of that approval in a man’s own soul. With His special acceptance in the
world to come. By making it witness for him here on earth; as in this case of
Daniel God makes the men of character to be in His world as “salt,” as “cities
on hills,” and as the “Light.” Their highest honour lies in their influence,
their witness, and their work. (Robert Tuck, B.A.)
The Power of Christian Principle
It is the silent but continuous and irrepressible power of
Christian principle which really tells upon the world around us. It is not a
mere syllogism that will convert a sceptic. It is not a powerfully constructed
argument that will alone convert a Roman Catholic; it is not such specimens of
Christianity as Church and Chapel often furnish, which make men feel that
Christianity is the ambassadress of God, and the benefactress of mankind. It is
when the world sees Christianity softening all, sweetening, subduing, sanctifying,
inspiring, directing all--giving its tone, shape, colour, and freshness to all;
it is when the world sees Christianity in self-sacrifice--in submitting our own
temper and inclinations to those of others--in giving way and suffering, rather
than appearing to dictate and presume--it is in the quiet by-paths of human
life, that Christianity acts with the greatest force, and in which, if detected
by the sceptic, he owns that there is there the finger of God, the evidence of
a power greater and holier than human. So Darius saw Daniel’s Christianity; he
understood not his sublime creed, but he appreciated his honesty, his
integrity, his truthfulness, his faithfulness. The world itself, if it do not
practice, yet appreciates faithfulness and integrity. The merchant on the
exchange understands character, when he neither studies nor subscribes a creed.
Hence the pulpit is not the only place for preaching. (John Cumming, D.D.)
The Supremacy of Character
“This Daniel”--what surprises and scorn, what bitter jealousy and
mortification, rankles beneath this apparently simple allusion. That this
Hebrew stranger and captive should have won any place at court; that when
admitted he should be allowed to defy its customs; that he so gained the favour
of his royal master as to be called into his most intimate counsel, and to be
placed above those who had preceded him in office--these circumstances
constituted a grievance of no common magnitude, and for which there was no
forgiveness. What led to the rapid promotion of one who had neither rank or
friends to recommend him? On this point a clear and satisfactory explanation is
afforded. “Because an excellent spirit was in ‘this Daniel’, the king thought
to set him over the whole realm.” What have we here but a signal testimony to
the intrinsic sovereignty of character, a testimony which ever succeeding age
reveals with greater calmness and recognises with deeper veneration. It has
been affirmed that the religion of the day is reverence for character. The
archbishop of Canterbury, in addressing a mass meeting of working men in
connection with the Church Congress, and pleading for the establishment of more
satisfactory relations between employers and employed, warned his hearers
against seeking, from the enactments of Parliaments or the rules of trades
unions, for the solution of problems which could only be effectually met by a
“conversion of character” alike in masters and servants. What, then, do we
understand by this word so constantly upon, the lips of great leaders in Church
and State? Strange to say, we search for it in vain in our translation of the
Bible, and only find it once in the original text. But many of you are aware
that it comes to us from a Greek word which signifies a graving tool.
The first mention of such a thing occurs curiously enough in connection with
the act of Aaron in making the golden calf. Though he would fain have us
believe that the molten gold took that peculiar shape of its own accord, it
appears in evidence that he “fashioned it with a graving tool”--a “cheret” as
it was called in the Hebrew tongue--in which we distinctly trace the original
derivation of our word “character.” At first, then, this term stood for an
instrument--a means to an end. But by a very natural transition it came to be
applied to the result. From the tool attention is inevitably directed to the
work of art, from the pencil to the painting, from the chisel to the finished
sculpture. We preserve, however, the original use of the word when speaking of
a man of parts. We say, “He is a character,” thereby signifying that he
impresses others, that he cannot be overlooked, that he is indeed a graving
tool with the added element of life. It is, in fact, this power of impressing
others by the force of our own personality that distinguishes man from the
brute creation. Charles Dickens once remarked that “some very fine ladies and
gentlemen might as well have been born caterpillars for any good they do, or
any impression they make on the world.” But, dear friends, God has not placed
us here to be caterpillars lazily crawling over the smooth surface of things,
and leaving no trace behind. He intends that we should be carving tools; that
under His hand, and each in his own sphere, we should press heavily upon and
cut deeply into this disordered world, seeking to shape it more after the mind
and will of its Lord. This brings us at once to the practical question. We
cannot stop at the tool.
That is often a very rude and primitive affair. But the design or
inscription written or graven therewith, what vast and varied possibilities are
there? Even animals can make marks after a fashion--as some of us
possibly know by experience--very ugly and painful ones. But they can usually
be predicted. Every youth secretly hopes to make his mark and to pass for something
in the world. What sort of a mark will be yours. No one can predict that. We
can only hope and pray. Much might be said as to the elements of character,
for, as Bishop Butler reminds us, it is, of a complex nature, there being
greater variety of parts in it than there are features in a face. “Giving all
diligence add to your faith virtue, and to virtue knowledge; and to knowledge
temperance, and to temperance patience, and to patience godliness, and to
godliness brotherly kindness, and to brotherly kindness charity. For if these
things be in you and abound, they make you that ye shall be neither barren nor
unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. These being the elements
which make a manly and Christian life a word may be said as to their
cultivation. Human nature is the raw material out of which character has to be
manufactured, and very tough stuff it is. It has to pass through the mill a
good many times before it is good for anything. Not forgetting the requirements
mentioned by the apostle in the passage just quoted, we may add one or two
others that go to the making of a man. One important factor is Labour. Dr.
Arnold insisted that the difference between one man and another was not usually
ability but energy; and Lord Lytton tells us that he made it a rule never to
trust to genius for what could be won by toil. Another and most unwelcome agent
in this process is trouble. “Great sufferings,” says a powerful writer, “swell
the soul to gigantic proportions.” This had probably much to do with the
strength of Daniel. Simplicity of aim, sincerity of aim, and modesty of manners
are also essential to a healthy nature. And so is a perfectly trained will. The
importance of arriving at and adhering to an intelligent decision cannot be too
strongly emphasized. We are all acquainted with the description of the
irresolute man who wastes the first half of the day in hesitating which of two
courses to take, and the other in reproaching himself for not having taken the
other. Only when all these qualities are present and active; only when those
springs of action--our thoughts, desires, and affections--are cleansed by the
Spirit of God and fed by communion with Him, do we attain our complete and
destined development. We fall short of our own capabilities if we fall short of
God. The result of this varied discipline and careful training is to exhibit
what comes out so clearly in the life of Daniel. One of the most accomplished
scoundrels of the last century declared that he would give ten thousand pounds
for a character, because he could make above twenty thousand by it. Considered
even from this sordid standpoint character represents capital, commands credit,
and is a negotiable asset. The day has passed when is this land a man could
rise to the highest place in the estimation of his fellows merely by the
circumstance of noble birth. He must be and do something. Merchants and
tradesmen often complain of the havoc and loss entailed by excessive
competition. But there is a rising market for moral integrity and a brisk
demand for it. To men of different callings I often put the question, “Is there
s good prospect now for a young fellow in your business?” And the answer is
almost invariably this, “Yes, he may do nicely if he is square, sober, and
industrious; there are so many of the other sort, you know.” So it is vice not
virtue that is the drug on the market. Cleverness minus character--the world
reeks with it. Most of the world’s woes are in fact traceable to this
pestilence, Satan himself being the chief example and promoter of it. In the
hour when, after sufficient trial, it becomes known that you at least can be
depended upon, you will become a person of importance. The world surely needs
and is waiting for such as you. King Darius had that gift so essential to a
ruler--the power to discern moral excellence. And finding it, he had a courage
to utilise and reward it. He is worthy to be king who prizes virtue above rank.
Hence “this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes; and the king
thought to set him over the whole realm.” Only when men of sincere conviction,
high principle, and indisputable integrity are at the helm of affairs is there
any hope for the prosperity of any people. Not politics, not commerce, not
creed, but character is the supreme test of prosperity and the harbinger of
peace. When the righteous are in authority the people rejoice. Thus the welfare
of nations comes at last to be simply a matter of the individual spirit and
conduct. (A. E. Hutchinson.)
Verse 3
Daniel 6:3
Because an excellent spirit was in him.
The man of an “excellent spirit,” or of a good conscience
All men have what we call a conscience, something within that
concerns itself with the right and wrong of actions. A good conscience is
something more than a sincere conscience. Many sincere consciences are bad
consciences. We learn here certain facts concerning the man of a good
conscience, or excellent spirit.
I. THAT HE IS INFLEXIBLY HONEST IN ALL
HIS WORLDLY TRANSACTIONS. Where there is true loyalty to God,
there will be honesty towards men.
II. THAT HE OFTEN EVOKES THE ANTAGONISM OF
UNJUST MEN. What led to the Crucifixion of Christ but this?
III. THAT HE IS INVINCIBLE IN HIS LOYALTY
TO HEAVEN. In extreme danger he did nothing, but just went on
with his ordinary life.
IV. THAT IS A DISTURBING FORCE TO THE SOUL
OF HIS PERSECUTORS. The king had a miserable night.
V. THAT HE IS EVERMORE IN THE SAFE
KEEPING OF HEAVEN. Daniel ascribed his deliverance to an angel.
What better angel has God in his universe than a good conscience?
VI. THAT HE IS SURE TO MEET WITH A
RETRIBUTIVE VINDICATION. What became of the enemies of Daniel?
VII. THAT HE IS THE BEST AGENT TO BRING THE
WORLD TO TRUE WORSHIP. “Then King Darius wrote unto all people,”
etc. Learn
An excellent spirit
It was not mere talent that raised Daniel to his high position. No
doubt he was a shrewd, able, and clever man. Intellect, like ice, is
colourless. Let a young man have large mental capacity, it will not weigh for
much, if that be all. His real strength or weakness is closely linked with his
moral nature; the heart, even more them the brain, determines the man. In
Daniel we see a man whose conscience holds a tight rein over his lower nature;
we see that stern loyalty to principle is not inconsistent with the urbanity
and courtesy of the perfect gentleman; we learn that the busiest man may be a
man of prayer; that fervent piety may be sustained under circumstances most
unfavourable to its growth; that a robust faith in God can carry one through
the most trying outward conditions it is possible to experience. This
“excellent spirit” was
1. A spirit of self-control. He kept his body under. He held the
mastery of his animal nature. He laid an iron hand upon his appetites and
passions here is a lesson on a temperate and physiological habit of life that
young men would do well to attend to, who propose to invest any capital in
their brains.
2. A spirit of genuine piety, He was, above all, a man of God. I
believe that his convictions were the fruit of early training. To him, God was
a reality, a living and reliable friend, to whom he could take every
difficulty, and on whom he could trust in every danger. It was this that
carried him through. It was his “excellent spirit” that led to his preferment.
His piety actually led to his promotion.
3. A spirit of unshaken faith in God. All through his troubles, he
never lost confidence in God, never failed to betake himself to him in prayer.
Daniel’s faith in God was too deep mud strong to suffer any serious shock from
spurious philosophy. (J. T. Davidson, D.D.)
A Man of Excellent Spirit
The key to Daniel’s splendid fidelity may be found in the
statement of my text, repeated in other parts of the book, “an excellent spirit
was in him.” This statement literally means that in Darnel spirit predominated,
was uppermost, was enthroned. We are accustomed to use the word “excellent”
with other values and intentions, all of which may be right in certain
connections. For instance, we say “excellent” means fine, noble, admirable. Yet
the etymology of the word has another signification. Excellent is something
that excels, goes beyond, predominates, and the word lying beyond this word
excellent carries exactly that meaning. We may with perfect accuracy, read our
text thus--it would not be rhythmic or admirable as a translation, but it would
at least be accurate--“A spirit that excelled was in him” a spirit that jutted
out was in him. Not flesh, but spirit was the chief thing. This is evident at
the very beginning of the book of Daniel. Not king’s dainties, not wine from
the king’s table; these are not the principal things, but rectitude, which
means life harmonising with the infinite and the true and the eternal. The principal
thing in Daniel was not the physical, though he was fair, ruddy, and splendid;
spirit was the dominant factor in the personality of this man. Daniel was not a
man who thought of himself within the physical, as possessing a spirit; he
thought of himself within the spiritual “as possessing” a body. “An excellent;
spirit was in him.” He was a man who began his life in the spiritual, and from
that centre governed the material. Darnel was a man proportioned after the
pattern and ideal of Deity. He recognised in himself and in all his
relationships the supreme quality, to be spirit. “A man of an excellent
spirit.” Let us examine the qualities of fruit “manifested in the life-story of
the man in whom spirit excelled and was the principal thing. I want to say four
things about Daniel, as revealing that life where spirit excels, is dominant,
is enthroned. The man of excellent spirit, in whom spirit excels was
Two things tell the cause, two things describe the effect. The
cause is found in the fact that this man of excellent spirit was a man of
purpose, and a man of prayer; and the effect is seen in that he was a man of
perception and a man of power. Purpose and prayer, these are the words that
indicate our own responsibility. Perception and prayer, these are the words
that declare what will follow in some way in the life of every man in whom
spirit is dominant, and who, therefore, is a man of purpose and a man of power.
Daniel was a man of purpose. “Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not
defile himself with the king’s meat,” (Daniel 1:8.) Notice carefully what this
means. Purpose is at the beginning of everything. Directly he found himself in
a place of peril “he purposed m his heart.” That is a matter of supreme
importance. Thousands of men drift into evil courses for a lack of a definite
and positive committal of themselves to some position, for lack of having
purpose, something in their heart. To delay at the first consciousness of perilous
surroundings is to compromise presently, and, unless we are very careful, it is
finally to apostatise. Purpose in a man’s life is all important. It affords him
anchorage in the time of storm, creates for him a base in the day of battle. To
have committed oneself to some definite thing is always of value whatever walk
of life you are in. In every walk of life, when a man has formed his purpose,
he is halfway to victory. This is so with a boy who is looking forward to his
life work. When he knows what his purpose is, he is half-way to victory. Every
man has, underlying his life somewhere, a purpose. But Daniel found it, named
it, announced it, stood by it. It is quite impossible for s man to live without
a purpose of some sort. Purpose lies at the back of will, and purpose operates
through all activity. Some men have a score of purposes, but never one named,
defined, announced, to which they are committed. Daniel’s purpose was a very
simple one, and yet sublime; simple in its expression, sublime in its great
underlying reach. What was the simple purpose announced as he came down into
the midst of the Chaldean Court and its corruption? “I will not touch the
king’s dainties, I will not drink the king’s wine.” That is the simplicity of
the purpose, but not the sublimity of it. What underlay it? “He purposed in his
heart that he would not defile himself with the king’s dainties, nor with the
wine which he drank.” He purposed in his heart that his spirit was the supreme
thing. He would not permit fleshly indulgence of any sort to rub the bloom from
spiritual life, to weaken the nerve of spiritual endeavour, to dim the vision
of spiritual outlook. Daniel’s deepest purpose was that of loyalty to God,
expressed in separation from the corrupting influences of his position; and
because at the beginning he stood there, through all the coming days he was
strong and victorious. To-day, amid the allurements and enticements of a
godless age, let every man purpose in his heart that he will be loyal to Jesus
Christ. That is the simple purpose for to-day. You and I live in a much easier
age than Daniel did, with forces far more potent than had Daniel. This age may
be more complex in its temptations, more subtle and insidious in the way it is
likely to spoil men. But it is also an age when true life is become possible
because of the simplicity of the purpose is just that I commit myself to
Christ; I am His, avowedly; His, confessedly His. I will follow Him. That is
the first and the simple purpose to which I invite every man. Remember that the
purpose of loyalty to Christ, formed in the heart, confessed with the lip, is
simply the centre from which a man is to correct everything else in his life.
Purpose loyalty to Christ, affirm it, and then from that centre you are to
begin to construct your circumference and set the externalities of your life
right. I meet scores of men who say, I try, but I fail. I want to be a
Christian, but this or the other thing stands in my way.” I reply, “You are not
to do these things to be a Christian; you are to become a Christian to do these
things.” Do not attempt to construct your circumferences in order to be in
right relationship with your centre. Find your centre in order to correct your
circumference. We have not forgotten how impossible it is to form a
circumference until we have found the centre. Daniel was a man of prayer.
Nothing stands out more clearly than this fact. When the interpretation of the
king’s dream was asked, he called his friends together into a compact of
prayer, asked them to pray with him, that he might have the necessary light for
interpretation. As the story moves on it reveals the truth that he was a man
who had regular habits of prayer, who three times a day turned his face towards
old Jerusalem, thought on God, spoke to God.. Here we touch the secret that
underlies his fulfilment of purpose. Strong purpose is only powerful in
execution as we are dependent upon God. The heart may be firmly determined to
loyalty, but, unless we know how to lean hard upon God, the forces against us
will prove too much for us. A man meaning to do right and depending on God is
absolutely invincible. What lies behind the fact of a man’s praying? First, his
sense of personal limitation; secondly, his profound conviction of Divine
sufficiency. What is prayer with these things lying in the background? It is
the use of the means of communication between his weakness and God s power, his
limitation and God’s sufficency. Now, if you desire to live this life in which
spirit excels, the life of victory and of power, to have purpose is not enough.
You and I must recognise our own limitation, frailty, weakness. In the days of
our young manhood we feel so self-sufficient. We can do the high thing, the
noble thing in our own strength. Oh, that God may reveal to you at once that
this is not so, that the life godless is always sooner or later a failure and a
wreck! Was there ever man of stronger personality or individuality, apart from
Christ, than Saul of Tarsus? Yet he confessed, “When I would do good, evil is present
with me.” Be that as it may, unless you learn the secret of dependence on God,
sooner or later, on one side or other of your nature, you will be wrecked and
ruined. I shall never tell you that all you have to do is to realise your own
manhood and fight the battle and conquer. I am here to tell you evil is too
strong for you, that the forces that lure are the forces that ruin. In your own
strength you cannot overcome. But there is another truth, the truth that Daniel
knew, the truth that God and Daniel were stronger in combination than all
Chaldean corruption and idolatrous evil, the truth that you and God in London
are invincible against all the forces that will sweep against you. Doubtless I
speak to some who have fallen, who have sinned, and they know it. I take you
back to the point of your fall, and tell you that your fall was due to your
independence. Had you been a dependent soul, trusting in God, recognising His
power, communicating with Him by prayer, always leaning hard upon Him, you
would have won where you failed. Form habits of prayer, Daniel prayed with his
face towards Jerusalem every day. I urge you to have special times, special
seasons; I urge you to continue in prayer. Then follow the two results I have
mentioned. A spirit of perception. There is no doubt that the gift of
interpretation which Daniel received was specially bestowed by God for special
purposes. The immediate application to us is, that to the man who has made his
purpose and prays, there will be given a clarity of vision which will enable
him to accomplish the divine work allotted to him. It may be, as in the case of
Daniel, that of interpretation, or it may be in some other department. The
thing is that the man will be of quick understanding in the fear of the Lord.
Have you not felt that you need spiritual perception to discern between right
and wrong, and that quickly? How often a man says, “I had done it before I knew
it; I had fallen before I was conscious of the temptation.” But to the man of
purpose and prayer there comes a growing keenness of insight, sensitiveness of
soul, quickness of perception in the commonplaces, and a keen vision in the
crises of life, special illumination from God flashing upon the pathway, saving
him in the moment of his peril. Finally, Daniel was a man of power; first, as
we have seen, in small things, but also in great things. I am not suggesting
that if you take this position of purpose and maintain it, take this life of
prayer and follow it, that if you have this quick, keen perception of God by
the Holy Spirit, you will come to a place of worldly power. It certainly is
remarkable that this man held office in three kingdoms--in Babylon, in Media,
and Persia. The man of purpose, the man of prayer, the man of perception, was
recognised by the men of his age and trusted, and put into places of power,
and, as the text says, “the king thought to set him over the whole realm.” I am
not saying that will necessarily follow, but I am saying that the man of
purpose, of prayer of perception, becomes the man of power--power that enables
him to say No. The highest courage is not the courage of the battlefield; it is
moral courage--the power to say No. The thing that nerves a man to say No in
the presence of temptation is the fact that he has taken his stand and is a man
of purpose, is perpetually a man of prayer, and, therefore, a man of
perception, seeing the issues, understanding the virtues, and able to say No
when the moment comes. Our age wants men who are superior to it, not men who
are driven by it. (G. Campbell Morgan, D.D.)
The Uncompromising Young man
The grandest object for human contemplation is s noble character.
A lofty type of a true and regal man, great and good, is humanity’s richest
heritage. Such is the character which is the subject of our present study. We
cannot contemplate it without feeling the fires of inspiration kindle in our
hearts. Daniel is a model character for the study and imitation of all who
would achieve anything worthy in life. The foundation of all Daniel s
after-greatness and success is true personal merit. If God favours and honours
him, it is because of a subjective ground for such favour in himself; and the
same favour awaits everyone who would bear himself in similar manner. What
awaits young Daniel in his new sphere of life? A test of character which thus
early exhibits his uncompromising spirit, and unswerving fidelity to the truth
he holds. Daniel, though firm of purpose and invincible in his integrity, is
yet well-mannered and courteous. An incorruptible conscience does not imply a
sour temper, or incivility of manners. Daniel’s religion and temperance proved
no hindrance to his advancement, but helped him up the way of promotion. This
praying Daniel is a young man of highest honour and truest humility. The lofty courage,
the sublime moral heroism of this Daniel deserves special notice, as seen in
the later acts of his eventful life. Never did man occupy so high a position
who was more deserving of it. But
honour and merit are always targets for the malicious arrows of envy. Daniel’s
colleagues seek occasion for his overthrow, but seek in vain for any fault in
his character or administration. They have to declare there is but one point at
which he can be assailed, and that is, his fidelity to God! Thus true and faithful
to the last was Daniel. What Daniel’s God was to him, that He will be to you.
Learn to honour and serve the God of Daniel; learn that true principle is true
expedience; learn that the busiest man may be a praying man; learn to do right,
though the heavens fall. (C. H. Payne, D.D.,
LL.D.)
Christian Character--Daniel
One of the most dangerous beliefs of the present day is that an
earnest religious life is not compatible with success in business, or with
promotion in public life. The success and promotion of Daniel, and of Joseph,
Moses and Samuel, prove that an upright life, lived in fellowship with God, is
not a hindrance, but a help to success in life. A life of piety and obedience
to God cultivates in us the best possible business habits--diligence, integrity,
patience, control of temper, control of appetite, an interest in the welfare of
others, and a trustful confidence in ourselves, as the result of firm reliance
on God. See some of the principles illustrated in the life of Daniel.
1. It is always safe to do right. There are many who think otherwise.
They will try to soothe conscience by saying that they approve the right, and
that, under more favourable circumstances, they would certainly do it. But
swerving from duty makes it easier to do wrong again; and there lies the
danger. When we are resolutely doing God’s will, He will open up a way for us.
A man of weak faith and weak will, yields to circumstances, and excuses himself
by saying that he could not help it. We should rule circumstances, and not allow
circumstances to rule us. Fortune follows in the footsteps of faith.
2. Daniel’s love of private prayer. That man is always strong for
duty, and strong against temptation, who has learned to prevail with God!
Daniel not only maintained communion with God in spirit, but he had also stated
times for prayer. His public life was upright and beautiful, because his inner
life was devout and prayerful. He made it the habit of his life to take
everything to God in prayer. Special times for private prayer may soon enable
the Christian to live constantly in the atmosphere of heaven.
3. Daniel’s decision of character. A man may be pious and prayerful,
and yet, if he lacks decision of character, he is liable to be led into any
form of evil. What the world and the Church want to-day are men who have some
backbone in them; men who will do right, and do it at all hazards.
4. Daniel’s Faithful Friendship. When he was promoted by the king he
did not forget his three companions.
5. Daniel’s Contentment and Resignation to his lot. We find no murmur
or complaint that God dealt hardly with him in allowing him to be carried away
captive. He was able to see the providence of God in his captivity. No man has
ever risen in life by repining at his lot, and by spending his strength in
lamenting over lack of opportunity. Daniel’s success depended largely upon that
contentment that always accompanies a loving confidence in God, and cheerful
submission to His will.
6. Daniel was most courteous and amiable in his manner. This gave him
great power over men. He was a true gentleman--that is, he was both gentle and
manly. He was too manly to be weak and irresolute; and he was too courteous to
be coarse and offensive. Courtesy and gentleness give a man great power over
his fellow men.
7. Daniel’s Business Fidelity. Some narrowly pious people would have
said that he had far too secular duties on his hands. They would necessarily
interfere with his spirituality of mind and his intercourse with God. Daniel
did not think so. Because he gave himself to prayer he could busy himself with
secular things and not suffer; and because he was so busy with secular affairs
he needed his frequent seasons of prayer. It was because Daniel lived in the
presence of God that he was able to leave such a noble record of the
administration of the affairs of the kingdom We may make Daniel’s life our own,
if we have Daniel’s faith, and trust as Daniel trusted. (S. Macnaughton,
M.A.)
Verse 4
Daniel 6:4
Then the Presidents and Princes sought to find occasion against
Daniel.
The Hebrew Confessor
It is the nature of the carnal mind, even to hate God, and so it
hates that which has God in it. His enemies hated Daniel on account of his
faith: Amidst the rabble of deities, gods and goddesses, with all their
splendour, and all their circumstantial authority, in Babylon, he was true to
his worship of the one living God, true to Jehovah, and true to the covenant,
true to the counsel of God, which was then working under all events, and
flashing up from time to time, through all secrecies, giving hints of what was
understood to be when Christ himself would come; and the mighty spirit of
revelation rose in the soul of Daniel. There was nothing in Daniel’s life that
ought to have excited hatred. All through life he had maintained his
stedfastness of holy life; and they hated that holy life. They hated him also,
because he was a man of rare gifts. Notice the effect of the conspiracy. It
brought out Daniel s confession: In consequence of his confession, Daniel was
thrown into the den of lions. Would you be ready, if the call were to come
forth to the lions for Christ’s sake, could you be ready? (C.
Stanford)
Daniel: His Trial and his Triumph
I. Let us look at
the conduct of there Presidents and Princes as affording illustrations of THE LENGTHS OF WRONGDOING TO WHICH
THE SPIRIT OF ENVY, WHEN IT IS ONCE YIELDED TO, WILL CARRY MEN.
II. Let us see, in
their speech concerning Daniel, an instance of THE TRIBUTE WHICH, IN ONE FORM OR ANOTHER, VICE IS ALWAYS COMPELLED TO PAY TO
VIRTUE.
III. Let us
meditate upon the feeble and wicked compliance of the king with their
blasphemous request, as revealing THE POWER OF FLATTERY TO LEAD MEN ASTRAY.
IV. Let us study
the behaviour of the man of God in the hour of trial, that we may ADMIRE HIS COURAGE, IMITATE HIS SPLENDID EXAMPLE,
AND, BY GOD’S HELP, MAKE HIS GLORIOUS VICTORY OURS.
(Anon.)
Plotting Presidents
There are four things relating to the proposed statute which are
worthy of being noted.
I. One is the
influential character of the deputation. It consisted of presidents and
satraps, two presidents and perhaps a considerable number of the satraps. It is
not likely that all the one hundred and twenty satraps were present in Babylon
at one and the same time. The deputation therefore consisted of the highest and
most influential officers of state.
2. Another is the turbulence of their zeal. They are said to have
“assembled together,” or rather, as in the margin, “came tumultuously.” They
approached the king in his palace, not with calm deliberation, but in stormy
haste. And the excited eagerness of such influential men, especially as the
kingdom had been only recently subjugated and received, could not fail to
impress the king.
3. Another is that the proposed statute was recommended by the whole
body of his rulers. This was certainly false, as Daniel, the wisest ruler of
them all, had never been consulted; and possibly there were others, especially
in the remote provinces. It seems, however, likely that all the rulers who were
consulted were of one mind as to the desirableness of getting such a statute,
and of thereby effecting the favoured Jewish statesman. Such a representation
on the part of this influential and resolute body of men would naturally have
much weight with the king.
4. And another is the high honour which the statute would confer on
Darius. He was to be regarded not only as a god, but as the god for the
period of a month. This certainly was a most extraordinary proposal; but it
would not seem so extraordinary to Darius as it does to us. His grandfather,
Deioces, the king of the Medes, sought to inspire hie people with the idea that
he was more than a man; and it was the belief of the Persians that their kings
were an incarnation of the Deity. Their proposal was thus in the line both of
the popular belief and of the king’s natural desire for self-exaltation. (Thomas
Kirk)
.
Religion behind righteousness
These presidents should have said, A religion that keeps Daniel so
right in his action and policy must be a good religion, although we cannot
understand its metaphysics, and although it is opposed in deadly hostility to
all our Babylonian and Chaldean conceptions and imaginings. Why not reason so
in modern civilization? Here the Christian has great opportunity, for doing
good; he may not be able to explain the metaphysics of his Christianity, but
what a chance he has for verifying its morality! And to morality the whole
thing must come at some point or other. A man can never be so transcendently
pious as to take out a licence to be wicked. If you are not correct in your
accounts you cannot be correct in your prayers. Your piety is a mistake and a
farce if it be not upheld and elucidated with dazzling illustration by your
behaviour. Men then in some instances will be constrained to say that a piety
which expresses itself in such conduct must be good. Through your morality men
may come into God s own sanctuary; through your noble behaviour men may begin
to inquire about the Cross which accounts for it: that is your chance. The
penetration which belongs to metaphysical reasoning you may not possess; the
power which inheres in expository and hortatory eloquence may not be your gift;
but the humblest, youngest, simplest man may show what his Christianity has
done for him by his industry, his punctuality, his faithfulness, his obedience,
his reliableness in all circumstances, his ability to bear the test of every
analysis and every pressure. So thus we may form ourselves, by the grace of
God, into a great body of witnesses, each in his own way, explaining the divine
kingdom, and accounting for the holiest conduct in human life. (Joseph
Parker, D.D.)
The Envious Presidents
Lessons to be learnt.
1. That marked outward peculiarities of worship afford a ready
subject of attack! Elaborate ceremonials oftentimes vex the minds of plain and
practical men, and stir up all kinds of strife and controversy. Therefore it is
well not to assign an undue importance, or an undue prominence, to outward
ceremonials.
2. That we should not be ashamed frequently and openly to make
confession of our faith. The days of religious persecution are past, it is
hoped never to return. But the days when a religious profession excites
ridicule and scorn are by no means vanished. Many a man who could not be
tempted out of his faith has been laughed out of it.
3. That impiety ever is at war with piety, and injustice with
justice. Good and evil can never agree together, they must ever be at war.
4. That all of us, like Daniel in the Scriptures, and like Christian,
in the “Pilgrim’s Progress,” must pass through the lions to the palace
beautiful. This world oftentimes in our hour of gloom seems to us but a den of
darkness, a den filled with the wild beasts to which our sins and errors may be
fully compared. If we walk along the narrow road of life, we see on both sides
dangers and roaring lions, temptations and snares of all kinds, ready to
overwhelm us. If we but advance, we shall find that the dangers which appeared
to threaten us disappear, the mouths of the lions are stopped, the lions, it
may be, are chained. (R. Young, M.A.)
Verse 5
Daniel 6:5
Except we find it against him concerning the law of him God.
Fruit in Old Age
This ancient story is as vital and beautiful as ever. Each deed of
holy courage, each life of truth and purity, lives on in recorded or unrecorded
influence. He works (immortal as He who inspired it), in one generation after another
with the “power of an endless life.” Beautiful the thick blossomed trees of
spring, but not to be compared for the beauty of usefulness with the
fruit-weighted trees of autumn Beautiful the piety of youth with its sweet
promises, but more beautiful the piety of aged men and women when, so many
tempests outlived, they “still bring forth fruit in old age.” What fruit do we
find m Daniel’s old age?
I. AN EXCELLENT SPIRIT. In
him, and seen to be in him. For be a man’s spirit excellent or the reverse, it
cannot be hidden. It comes out. The churl, the cruel, the malignant man, may
mask the spirit, and hypocritically appear what he is not. But such are often
surprised into conduct in which the real bad spirit is revealed; or they weary
of playing a part. The spirit of Daniel was the secret of his elevation by
Darius. How it showed itself is not told. He was a man of rare sagacity, and of
incorruptible integrity. He had a kingly soul, with a spirit that thrilled his
very silences, looks, tones, with excellence. We are more as forces in the
world, than speakers and toilers. The Spirit we are of is an essential part,
the largest part of our influence. It is the eloquence of tone and look and
silence--it is ourself. Let the spirit be right and the life will be.
II. FAITHFULNESS TO DUTY.
Daniel had enemies. They plot against him. He was faithful to his earthly
master, because in all faithful to his Master in heaven. The secret of his
faithfulness was that very piety through which his foes sought to assail, and
take his life from the earth. There still is the secret of well doing, and
continuance in well-doing, whatever be the station.
III. PRAYERFULNESS. Busy had
been Daniel’s life. But he was never too busy to pray thrice a day. From this
habit, not even peril of death could daunt him. Daniel knew that the writing
was signed, but it made no difference. For he knew also the helpful and sublime
privilege of prayer. The baffled king sought by delay to save Daniel. It was in
vain. The den probably was an underground cave. This method of punishment is
attested by the discovery of statues and bas-reliefs among the ruins of
Babylon. Daniel was willing to meet his fate. Prayer to God was the necessity
of his life. Life might be surrendered rather than prayer. Life fruitful is
ever life prayerful.
IV. TRUSTFULNESS. What a
moment when the aged prophet was cast into the den! Daniel was calm. He trusted
in God. From early youth, through manifold perils, Daniel had trusted in his
God. He had never been put to confusion, nor would he be now. The angel Jehovah
was with him. (G. T. Coster.)
The authority of conscience
Fault-finding is not a difficult science. A practised critic will
find blemishes in the most beautiful works of men. The judges of a century ago
who passed capital sentence on cases that were more than doubtful consoled
themselves by the reflection that there was enough in every man to justify a
hanging. So strong has been the sense of human guilt that it had been satisfied
with nothing less than theories of total depravity. Many countries have sought
for stainless statesmen, many masters for spotless servants, many Churches for
immaculate ministers, but the supply has not been equal to the demand. And
every fresh failure has only served to intensify the depth of the conviction
that the best men have in them the principle of evil. And I go further and say
that this conviction has forced itself on those who have not set themselves to
find out the faults in others. Our failings, as a rule, are so obvious that the
most charitable must acknowledge them. It does net need a jealous or envious
eye to detect our flaws. And if this is true of our experience of private life,
it is doubly so of public life. The “fierce light that beats upon a throne,”
beats with no less fierceness upon the guiders of a throne. Their most private
failings are magnified into public evils. It might also be said that a public
man has no privacy. The more widely a man is known the larger is the circle of
his critics. Daniel was a public man. He was one of the three presidents of
Darius’s kingdom, and we are told “the king thought to set him over the whole
realm.” It would not have been easy to play perfectly so exalted a part before
the most friendly spectators. But they who watched Daniel were hostile in the
worst degree. Theirs was no manly, open hostility, that thought his actions
wrong, and opposed them because they thought so. Theirs was a mean, underhand,
jealous and envious hostility, that could not bear to see virtue rewarded. And
for them the sting was in the virtue. Daniel was faithful. His conduct would
bear the severe scrutiny of his enemies. We do not suppose this to mean that
Daniel was no sinner, but there was no open departure from righteousness and
justice which could be made the basis of an impeachment. There remained one
chance of striking a blow at the man they hated. Daniel was a religious man.
His religion was a part of his life. They knew him well enough to know that on
no consideration would he forsake or neglect his religion. We have here, I
think, a very striking illustration of a very great truth that conscience
derives its power over men as it is recognised by them to be a law of their
God. The gospel of Christ appeals to the most savage and slavish of people, as
well as to the most civilised, because it appeals to those great principles of
our nature that distinguish us as mankind. And of all our common qualities,
conscience is one of the most undeniable. With more or less distinctness it
defines for every class of men certain broad lines of right and wrong. But it
is evident that its power over us will depend on how we regard it. It may be to
some a mere uncomfortable sensation that may be removed in time; the result of
a passing feeling of sorrow for harm done or wrong tolerated. In such a ease it
is not likely to speak with much force. But to others it is sacred with the
monitions of God Himself. They have seen an inner law in all men, and have
agreed that there was a great Lawgiver. They have heard an inner voice calling
them to righteousness, and have felt there was somewhere a Source of
righteousness. The history of the world is full of instances of the conduct
that is the result of these two ways of regarding conscience. Its Pilates, even
when to the reproaches of their consciences have been added superstitious
fears, have washed their hands and declared themselves innocent of just blood
it was in their power to save. But its Luthers, when they might have stood
aloof and declared their innocence of declines and practices that had degraded
the Church, felt compelled to suffer persecution with the people of God rather
than enjoy the pleasures of sin for a season. If the world has had its King
Johns who could consent to make their kingdom tributary to the Pope, and hold
their crown from his command, it has also had its William the Silents who for
the sacred cause of liberty could endure all personal sacrifice that they might
finally bequeath to their successors the inheritance of a free people, whose
rights were assured, and whose consciences were respected. Again I say,
obedience to conscience as to the law of God makes the hero. I plead that there
is no way in which we can better serve our Master. Here, if in any way, is our
best opportunity of serving our day and generation. We live at a time when,
with shame be it said, in many trades custom has done its best to condone
dishonesty: to patronise sham commodities has become general; many an honest
living has beech ruined by unfair competition; cheapness of material has been
secured by lavish expenditure of human suffering. There is very serious danger
that our national conscience may become dull as our national sins become
common. There is very serious danger lest good Christian people should act the
part of Pilate through mistrust of their powers to stay the wrong. There is
very serious danger lest we should become so accustomed to hear the voice of
pain as to shut our ears to its cry and be absolutely dumb. We pass on to
notice how the law of God is superior in authority to the law of man, and how
the law of man only derives its validity and authority as it reflects and
realises the law of God. Daniel’s enemies saw that it was possible to frame a
law that Daniel’s conscience would not permit him to obey; and they knew that
no matter what penalties were attached, if obedience to the law of man meant
disobedience to the law of God, Daniel would be s law-breaker rather than be
false to his religion. Now, how would the opinion of a certain class of people
regard Daniel? They say the law is sacred: obedience to the law is imperative.
They who go to Rome must do as Rome does. They must at least bow down to the
house of Rimmon, even if it was only an outward formality. It is possible to
act like a heathen and think like a Christian. God regards the heart--and to
Him lip-service is insignificant, the worship of the heart is everything.
Outward formality is nothing, inwardly reality is all. To them, then, Daniel’s
action may have been brave and grand, but it was the action of a fanatic, not
of a careful and prudent man. Christian manhood shrinks in horror from
conformity even in appearance to the false. It may be the law of the country,
but no country has a right to make the law. Nay, human law has its province:
there are certain broad rules of morality that no one has a right to
transgress. But human law has no right to interfere with man’s religion: here
he passes into a sacred realm; here his relationship is with God. Oh, that our
characters may so bear the scrutiny of our enemies that our religion may be in
their eyes our only fault? In a sense our lives are public ones. A godless
world will eagerly pounce on any un-Christian conduct, and make it an occasion
against us. (C.S.Horne, M.A.)
A Tribute from Enemies
I. THE VERY UNFAVORABLE SOIL IN WHICH A
CHARACTER OF SINGULAR BEAUTY AND DEVOUT CONSECRATION MAY BE ROOTED AND GROW.
What sort of a place was that court where Daniel was? Half shambles and half
pigsty. Luxury, sensuality, lust, self-seeking, idolatry, ruthless cruelty were
the environment of this man. In the middle of these there grew up this fair
flower of a character, pure and stainless, by the acknowledgment of enemies,
and in which not even accusers could find a speck or a spot. There are no
circumstances in which a man must trove his garments spotted by the world.
There were “saints in Caesar’s household.” It may sound a paradox, but it is a
deep truth that unfavorable circumstances are the most favorable for the
development of the Christian character. For that development comes, not by what
we draw from the things around, but by what we draw from the things in which we
are rooted, even God himself, in whom the roots find both anchorage and
nutriment. The more we are thrown back on him, and the less we find food for
our best selves in the things about us, the more likely is our religion to be
robust, and thoroughgoing, and conscious ever of his presence. He that has
vitality enough within him to keep hold of Jesus Christ has thereby power
enough within him to turn enemies into friends, and unfavorable circumstances
into helps instead of hindrances. Purity, and holiness, and communion with God
do not depend on environment, but upon the inmost will of the man.
II. THE KEEN CRITICS THAT ALL GOOD MEN
HAVE TO FACE. In this man’s case their eyesight was meaded by the
microscope of envy and malice.
However unobtrusive and quiet a Christian person’s life may be,
there will be some persons standing close by who, if not actually watching for
his fall, are at least by no means indisposed to make the worst of a slip, and
to rejoice over an inconsistency. We do not need to complain of that. There
will always be a tendency to judge men who by any means profess that they are
living by the highest law, with a judgment, that has very little charity in it.
And it is perfectly right that it should be so. Be content to be tried by a
high standard.
III. THE UNBLEMISHED RECORD.
These men could find no fault. They were very poor judges of his religion, and
they did not try to judge that; but they were very good judges of his conduct
as Prime Minister, and they did judge that. The world is a very poor critic of
my Christianity, but it is a very sufficient one of my conduct. If we call
ourselves Christians, we are bound, by the very name, to live in such a fashion
as that men shall have no doubt of the reality of our profession, and of the
depth of our fellowship with Christ. And it is by our commom conduct men
will judge us.
IV. OBEDIENT DISOBEDIENCE.
The plot goes on the calculation that, whatever happens, this man may be
trusted to do what his God tells him; no matter who tells him not to do it.
Daniel brushes the preposterous law of the poor, shadowy Darius on one side, in
order that he may keep the law of his God. If earthly authorities command what
is clearly contrary to God’s law, a Christian is absolved from obedience, and
cannot be loyal unless he is a rebel. Obedience to God needs always to be
sustained. In our little lives, the motto, “This did not I, because of the fear
of the Lord,” is absolutely essential to all noble Christian conduct. These
people calculated upon Daniel, and they had a right to calculate upon him.
Could the world calculate upon us? (A. Maclaren, D.D.)
The Example of Daniel
Daniel is presented to us as a man, as well as a prophet of God.
In the Bible men are seen as they really are, and the changes which grace made
in their natural characters, are easily traced. Through a long life, Daniel’s
was a record of consistent, firm, unflinching fidelity. What was the clew? In
four aspects we may view him
I. IN CHILDHOOD, There is
intense personality of teaching in the example here presented. As he was a
child of the captivity, so are we. We are heirs of another kingdom. That
kingdom is to come; we are to be trained for it. Parents are to follow a higher
standard than this world can give. As the Chaldean lore of Daniel was all
sanctified by piety, you are to see that the wisdom which is from above is made
prominent in the training of your child for God.
II. IN HIS YOUNG MANHOOD. In
Daniel’s treatment of himself young people may learn a useful lesson.
Self-indulgence emasculates moral as well as physical vigour. The purity of
innocence retained is better than that which comes by repentance and pardon.
III. AS A MAN, FULLY OCCUPIED. He was
a statesman, and scientist as well. No man in this city is as busy to-day as
was he. Yet he found time to pray thrice a day. He took time, and so may you.
IV. IN THE DEN OF LIONS. It
was his prayerful communion with God that now risked his spiritual life and
fortified him against perils which otherwise would have destroyed him. The den
of lions was, indeed, a historic reality. Yet it was no less a figure of the
tribulations into which our Lord Jesus and all his followers are thrown. We are
powerful if we are in communion with God, and powerless if we attempt to cope
with Him alone. (Bishop W. C. Doane.)
Eminent Piety and Efficiency in Business not incompatible
Daniel is a man fitted to excite our admiration at whatever point
in his remarkable career we regard him. Two things in the text invite our
attention.
I. THE HONORABLE TESTIMONY BORNE BY HIS
ENEMIES TO HIS EFFICIENCY IN OFFICE. By the death of Belshazzar,
and the conquest of Babylon, Darius, the Mede, had added an extensive territory
to his empire, teeming with a numerous population. Such an addition required a
corresponding increase in the staff of officials requisite for its management.
Darius, admiring the administrative talents of Daniel, and having unbounded
confidence in his character, formed the purpose of making this Daniel prime
minister over the whole empire. Hence arose a conspiracy among Daniel’s
associates in office. They have become jealous of Daniel, and seek his
downfall.
1. The enemies of Daniel had powerful motives to seek his downfall.
Motives impure indeed, but powerful. The spirit of envy had seized them. It
cost them something to tolerate the Jewish statesman as an equal, but they
could not brook his being their superior. Promotion to him was degradation to
them.
2. They had ample scope. When men are bent on doing mischief, they
can generally succeed, even where the sphere is limited, and the chances
comparatively few. Shortcomings in accounts, and cases of maladministration on
the part of Daniel could not have escaped the quick eye of his two rivals.
Errors of this kind would have served their purpose. But they found “none
occasion nor fault.”
II. THE LAST RESORT OF HIS MALICIOUS
ENEMIES. They basely plot for his ruin concerning his religion.
The cowardly conspiracy, together with its terrible recoil on the conspirators,
is fully developed in the remainder of the chapter. The enemies of Daniel are
“taken in their own trap, and are fallen into the pit their own hands have
digged.”
1. There was another chance, and that chance lay in the man’s
religion. Daniel was known to be eminently devout. Prayer was the element of
his soul’s existence. Thorough honesty and honour might sufficiently explain
the accuracy of Daniel’s accounts. But his religion was something beyond common
honesty and honour. Without true religion, without a life of prayer, without a
life of faith on the son of God, and obedience to his commands, without a life
in which the moral nature shall have its share of attention, in which the soul
shall get spiritual culture, and preparation for the future, your life, however
satisfactory in other respects, is an incomplete thing, and if persisted in,
will eventually prove a failure.
2. Daniel’s religion was reliable. His enemies and rivals knew this,
and matured their plans accordingly. They saw in Daniel an honest and fearless
professor of religion; a man of decision, the tone of whose piety was elevated,
whose religious habits and exercises were fixed and punctual. They could make
his frequent prayers to God a sure basis of calculation, in forming their
schemes for his overthrow. Nor did they over-rate his constancy.
3. Eminent piety and thorough efficiency in business are not
incompatible. Some have a notion that personal religion and proficiency in any
trade or profession cannot go together. And, indeed, we do not always find
piety and skill united. It need not be that the two are separated. And religion
supplies the highest motives for the efficient discharge of all duties.
III. Religion not
only places us under the power of mighty motives, IT ALSO SUPPLIES IN ITS HOLY EXERCISES THE BEST PREPARATION
FOR MEETING THE CLAIMS OF OUR EARTHLY CALLING. There is a wear
and tear of the system incessantly going on, in the pursuit of any trade or
profession which demands occasional relief. The wheels of life want oiling.
There is a fountain of strength free to all. Daniel knew its power. He found
relief at the throne of grace, in his prayers and regular communings with God.
Three times a day he retired and prayed. Here was the secret of his strength.
Our religion, while it is spiritual, is practical.
IV. SUCH A COMBINATION REFLECTS HONOUR ON
RELIGION, AND
MATERIALLY AIDS ITS ADVANCE. Manifest discord between the
religious profession and the common life, dishonours the name of Christ,
creates doubt in the minds of men as to the power of His truth, fills their
minds with a false and unfavourable impression of its general influence, and
thus tends to strengthen those prejudices, already too strong, which prevent
their forming a just estimate of a true Christian life. In this respect we have
all to confess manifold deficiencies. Let us, however, remember and imitate
Daniel’s conduct, and we may yet render the cause of Christ important service.
Combine thorough effciency in business with all the exercises of piety, and you
will in your own person demonstrate that the two things can co-exist. (David
Jones, B.A.)
The True Believer’s Conflict with, and triumph over, the world
Human nature is the same in every age; the same alike in principle
and in practice. It is no wonder that Daniel’s exaltation should prove a source
of enmity, and that those who were placed in a lower point of dignity should
seek occasion against him, that so they might accuse him to their common
Master. Still there are many who watch for the failing of the righteous man.
I. WHAT THE BELIEVERS MAY EXPECT FROM THE
WORLD. The world is very little altered since the days of Daniel.
Occasion against the believer is sought with equal earnestness, though not
perhaps, with equal openings. This enmity should not come out on the Christian
as a strange and unexpected thing. It should enter into his reckoning.
II. WHAT THE WORLD WILL EXPECT FROM THEM.
It is evident from the context what opinion had been formed concerning Daniel’s
moral character, by those who had leagued together to compass his overthrow. We
should take heed that we knowingly afford no vulnerable point, no exposed and
unguarded quarter, on which we may be assailed by the envenomed arrows of the
ungodly. Like Job, we should put on righteousness that it may clothe us. To
this a great auxiliary is singleness of mind. The human mind is so constituted
that man is always under the guidance and control of some one master-principle
to which all Others are subordinate or subservient. To realise consistency of
conduct we should seek unity of motive.
III. THE HAPPY CONSEQUENCES THAT MAY RESULT
HERE, AND THAT
WILL RESULT HEREAFTER. If actions be ours, consequences, even as
to the present life, are in the hand of God alone. It is ours to purpose, but
he fulfils. (T. Dale, A.M.)
The Incorruptible Courtier
There are two kinds of courage recognised among men. There is
another kind of courage, often idolised, that seems a compound of rashness and
foolhardiness, that delights in going anywhere and undertaking anything. There
is another kind of courage which we call moral courage, which is of the highest
and noblest character; a courage dependent wholly on the mental and not on the
physical characteristics. Observe
1. The baseness of envy. Daniel’s character was, long ere this, fully
established in Babylon. Darius had promoted him. We can easily imagine how
distasteful such a promotion must have been to the Persian nobles. How hard do
we find it to bear quietly the promotion of others. Let us tremble lest
anything in the advancement or welfare of others excites a malign sentiment in
our minds, lest we come to envy them that which, by the appointment of
providence, has become theirs, and which they have a right honestly to keep and
to enjoy:--the moment such a disposition arises in our minds, that moment are
we Daniel’s persecutors, without the power.
2. Daniel’s Crime. In what way his ruin was to be accomplished does
not as yet seem clear to those who have resolved on that view. Possibly they
were not as incorruptible as he. Possibly they had consciences that allowed
them to do what Daniel’s conscience forbade him to do. How very unpleasant it
is to have an upright person near us when we want to do wrong! Very perplexing
and annoying this Jew Daniel, a perpetual decalogue before them, telling them
they have broken all its precepts. He must be removed. To get rid of him,
however, will require considerable skill, nothing less than the invention of a
new crime hitherto unheard of in the annals of idolatry.
3. The rash-resolve of a weak king. On the side of his
self-importance the poor king was caught; He forgot the impiety of the request,
and established the statute framed by Daniel’s enemies.
4. Daniel’s unmoved perserverance. All through his life he has been a
man of prayer. Prayer is with him a necessity of his nature. Learn a lesson
here. Religion must be all, or it is nothing. Every day of your life it will
say to you, what Daniel s said to him, “Without me ye can do nothing,” and the
religious life which in youth was your calm and deliberate choice, whose power
and beauty you so imperfectly apprehended, will then become the necessity of
your nature, the secret of your happiness, the source of your inspiration and
the blessing of your house.
5. Darius the Mede had gone too far to retract. He is obliged to
think now, after the act is done, instead of thinking beforehand, and he cannot
sleep.
6. An
interposition by miracle God had sent his angels and the mouths of the lions
had been shut. How this was done we know not, nor can there be much profit, in
our speculations on the matter. But it was done. If any of you ever resolve to
serve God, never fear the lions’ den that may come. God will interpose in some
marvellous way at the right time; a friend will be raised up that will be as an
angel of God; troubles will disappear as soon as you meet them. God says, “Them
that honour me I will honour.” (W. G. Barrett.)
The Character of Daniel
I. HIS CHARACTER.
1. His consistent integrity. For this we have the evidence of his
enemies.
2. His habitual piety.
3. Daniel’s special confidence in God. Not professed with his lips,
but calmly and touchingly exhibited in his actions.
II. GOD’S MYSTERIOUS DEALINGS WITH HIM.
1. They were deeply mysterious. God permits his enemies to succeed.
So God often deals with the world; in his Church; with individual Christians;
and with his own son he did so deal.
2. See Daniel delivered and God’s dealings explained. Consider the
effects of this deliverance on Daniel; on the King; on the enemies of God; on
the people and cause of God. Apt representation of God’s universal
providence--all things shall terminate as He wills, and shall glorify Him-in
the world at large; in the Church. Individuals continually perceive the blessed
results of their afflictions, trials, darkness, and fears. How truly this was
shown in the Son of God, need hardly be observed. Let the timid, the undecided,
or the inconsistent, go and study the character of Daniel. Let them confess
their faith as he did. (F. Close, M.A.)
Seeking Cause of Offence
It is the penalty of greatness that envy ever follows in its path.
Nor is goodness any protection. In Daniel there was very much to abate envy. It
was probably upon its becoming manifest that the King intended to raise Daniel
to still higher honour, and to “set him over the whole nation,” that the anger
of the satraps became too violent for restraint. They resented it, not because
they were corrupt, and Daniel’s honesty kept them from enriching themselves,
but more probably because they were ambitious, and deemed that it was a slight
to the conquerors to give the highest office in the realm to one of a race
vanquished by those whom they had now defeated. Daniel was a slave in their
eyes, and was he now to rule over those who had beaten his masters? National
antipathies are ever things difficult to control. And they have a good side;
for patriotism is closely allied with them. These envious men sought their
opportunity, first of all, in matters respecting the Kingdom. Eagerly they
watched Daniel’s administration, and hoped to find something neglected, or some
failure. There was no probability of their discovering corruption or
partiality, but they did hope to find something that might have been managed
more skilfully. And they sought in vain. They despaired of finding anything
against him save “concerning the law of his God.” The word used for law is not
the old Hebrew name Thorah, but a late word, used only here, and in Ezra and
Esther. Of the Thorah of Moses these men knew nothing, but they had heard of
Daniel’s religious practices, and they felt that dislike with which men
commonly regard the rites and usages of other forms of worship. And one thing
is very remarkable. They were convinced that Daniel so valued his prayers and devotions
that he would endure any loss or punishment rather than discontinue them ever
for a time. Doubtless they called him a fanatic, and despised him for being
narrow-minded. But fanatic is a term often applied to men of strong
convictions. The words “assembled together” would better be, “came
tumultuously.” As if they would take the King by storm; moved with a fervid
zeal to honour their beloved Darius. They had consulted among themselves, and
had been moved to make this urgent demand by an outburst of feeling which had
hurried their whole body to this tumultuous proceeding. They so wrought on the
vanity of Darius that their request was granted. The outward semblance of the
request was permission throughout a lunar month to acknowledge Darius as the sole
deity to be invoked by prayer. The Persian kings claimed to be representatives
of Pennized, and as such had a sort of right to divine honours. To Darius this
deification of his person seemed not unreasonable.
1. Daniel does not go out of his way to show his determination to
honour his God before his king. He simply persists quietly in a practice which
he felt to be his duty. Come what would, he must honour God at any risk and st
every cost.
2. Daniel prayed thrice a day. We might have expected prayer only at
the morning and evening sacrifices. It has been objected that three times was a
Parsee, not a Jewish custom. But see Psalms 55:17; and for mid-day prayer, see
Acts 10:9. (Dean Payne-Smith.)
Verse 7
Daniel 6:7
Consulted together to establish a royal statute.
The Faith of Daniel Tested
It was common for the Chaldeans to administer capital punishment
by burning. To the Persians, who were worshippers of fire, this was regarded as
something of an abomination, and hence they destroyed their condemned criminals
by casting them to savage beasts. Whatever may have been the deficiences of
this Darius, he had the shrewdness to find out the best and most competent man
in Babylon to serve him as his prime minister. He made Daniel chief of the
three presidents. Such a man, in such a position, administering affairs with
rigid exactness and impartiality, strictly honest himself and tolerating no
dishonesties or falsities in others, and ever growing in the esteem of his king
and in favour with the people, could not, in the nature of things, escape the
envy and malice of those who suffered by comparison, and who found him in the
way of their selfish ambitions. It is part of the disease that is upon depraved
humanity to be dissatisfied and unamiable toward the excellences and honours of
others. It is loath to bear anything above itself. It is their delight to
humiliate those who happen to be more favoured than themselves. But see what
the true fear of God will do for a man! With all the determination of the
malignants to ruin Daniel, they could find no fault in him. Piety was rooted in
him, and it wrought for him a pureness, dignity and integrity of life and
character on which the most envious tongues could obtain no hold. They could
sustain no charges against him as a man, or against his administration. His devotion
to his God made him true in all his life and faithful to all his trusts. Having
satisfied themselves of the impeccable integrity of Daniel, both as a man and
as a competent officer, the eyes of these plotters should have been opened to
their unreasonableness in wishing to overthrow him. But when the devil of
selfishness, envy and malice takes possession of the heart, no charms of
virtue, no beauties of goodness, no adornments of innocence, no excellences of
merit, are sufficient to cast him out or break his dominion. The more convinced
these men were of Daniel’s unimpeachableness, the more desperate they became in
their determination to destroy him. Look at the cunning baseness of their
proceeding. The movement of these conspirators was to prove how much they were
devoted to the sublimest honour of their sovereign, and to induce him to unite
with them in establishing some royal decree which should memorialize his divine
dignity, and bring to him the sacred reverence which belonged to his person.
The holding of the laws of the Medes and Persians to be unalterable was founded
on the assumption that the king is something of a deity, and can make no
mistakes. And this divinity of their king these men professed to be most
anxious to bring forward, and to have impressed upon all the subjects of the
realm. Such was their scheme. It had a heathen lie for its basis; it was a huge
hypocrisy in its suggestion; and it was nothing but a scheme of cold-blooded
murder to destroy the greatest, best and purest man in the kingdom. Great was
the king’s sorrow when he found who was struck by his insane decree. But vainly
did he now reproach himself for his wicked folly. He had played the fool. He
had permitted himself to be flattered into a measure which was now about to put
out of the world the most faithful friend he had on earth. Under the
Medo-Persian laws Daniel could not be delivered. Sycophants and flatterers are
always tyrants in their hearts. They will oppress when they get the power. But
Jehovah can bring to naught the machination of princes, and shut the mouths of
lions. And in this case he did both. Learn from this that there is righteous
and merciful God at the helm of things, however crooked or unevenly they may
seem to go. This is a mixed world. Excellence and virtue do not exempt from
earthly ills and adversities. Learn also, how we may best conduct ourselves
with reference to all these things. From early youth Daniel gave himself to
God; he was diligent in his devotions; and always dared to obey God rather than
man. (Joseph A. Seiss, D.D.)
Verse 9
Daniel 6:9
Therefore King Darius reigned the Writing and the Decree.
A Hero in Babylon
The Jews passed into the hands of the conqueror of Babylon, and
became the subjects of the great Cyrus, whose viceroy at Babylon is called in
the Bible by the common name of Darius. The Persians were not idolaters. They
believed in two principles the good and the evil, and they held that the former
of these principles was visibly incarnate in the person of their kings. Hence
arose the unalterableness of the royal edicts of the Medes and Persians. They
could not be changed without reflecting on the sacred character of the king.
This pretension enables us to understand the strange decree about prayer. It
was promulgated in order that Darius might obtain from his new subjects in
Babylon recognition of himself as the supreme personage, the representative of
the supreme God. It was to wring from the conquered, idolatrous Babylonians an
acknowledgment of the conqueror’s Divinity. Observe that it was a negative, not
a positive, decree. They were not commanded by it to worship any other god,
they were not even required by it to pay any divine honour to the king.
Persecution was not attempted; open apostasy was not required. Why, we may ask,
should Daniel have fallen into a trap it was so easy to avoid? He need not drop
one petition out of his daily prayers. He need not, by word or gesture, pay
blasphemous honour to the new sovereign. Why should he obtrude his
disobedience? There is something unspeakably sublime in the line taken by that
Hebrew courtier, Daniel. No fanatic, no headlong zealot, but the wisest and
most diplomatic of statesmen, and the farthest sighted of men, calmly continued
his religious habits precisely as afore-time. Compare the Apostles before the
Sanhedrin saying “We ought to obey God rather than men.” There was no balancing
of consequences, no thought of compromise. Most of us have some idea of what
truth is, of the rights and claims of truth, and, above all, of the deepest
truth given to us to know that which is the hope of our own spiritual life. We
have an idea that we are ourselves in possession of some truth--that we know
something which is important, sacred, sublime; something which others in the
world do not know relating to this subject,--but which of us will dare to say
that he has a deep hold, and a passionate love of truth, such as inspired these
men to resist for the sake of it, and to strive against falsehood and sin?
These are days of loose beliefs and hazy views, days when it is fashionable to
be an honorary member of all creeds. To one who is infected with the
indifferentism of such a time, the stand made by the heroes of the Book of
Daniel must seem little better than fanatical folly, and sheer waste of life.
So must all martyrdom appear to the man who is a spectator and not a disciple,
who has never understood the claims or felt the value of the truth he professes
to hold. Babylon has fallen, but it has had its counterpart in every age, for
it is the type of that world, with its still subtler pomps and vanities, in
which you and I have to pass through our probation; go where we will we cannot
escape from it. It sets up its idols and demands worship for them; it has
issued its imperious edicts, and attaches formidable penalties to the defiance
of them. This will ever be the secret of moral victory--the victory which will
overcome the world, even unto the end--our faith. The true self cannot
be touched with the mightiest of persecutors or the cruellest of
inquisitors,--the true self which comes from God, and belongs to God, and
witnesses for God, cannot be delivered to the tormentors. It defies captivity;
it is indestructible and immortal. (Canon Duckworth.)
The Edict of Darcius
We find that Darius--who was probably one of the high military
commanders engaged in the siege of Babylon--takes the kingdom, while Cyrus is
off conquering other parts of the world. As soon as he attains the throne he
makes his arrangements for governing the country. He divides the kingdom into
one hundred and twenty provinces; and he appoints a prince or ruler over each
province; and over the princes he puts three presidents to see that these
rulers do no damage to the king, and do not swindle the government. And over
these three he places Daniel, as president of the presidents. Very possibly
Darius knew the man. He may have been in former days at the court of
Nebuchadnezzar; and if so, he probably considered Daniel an able and
conscientious statesman. We do not know how long he held that position. But
sooner or late the other presidents and the princes grew jealous, and wanted
Daniel out of the way. It was as if they had said, “Let us see if we cannot get
this sanctimonious Hebrew removed: he has ‘bossed’ us long enough.” You see he
was so impracticable: they could do nothing with him. There were plenty of
collectors and treasurers; but he kept such a close eye on them that they only
made their salaries. There was no chance of plundering the government while he
was at the head. “If we had matters in our own hands it would be different; for
King Darius does not know half as much about the affairs of this empire as does
this old Hebrew: and he watches our accounts so closely that we can get no
advantage over the government. Down with this pious Jew!” Perhaps they worked
matters so as to get an investigating committee, hoping to catch him in his
accounts. But it was no use. Now I want to call your attention to the fact that
one of the highest eulogies ever paid to a man on earth was pronounced upon
Daniel at this time by his enemies. These men were connected with the various
parts of the kingdom, and on laying their heads together they came to this
conclusion--that they could “find no occasion against this Daniel, except they
found it against him concerning the law o his God.” What a testimony from his
bitterest enemies! Would that it could be said of all of us! Young man,
character is worth more than money. Character is worth more than anything else
in the wide world. I would rather have such a testimony as that borne of Daniel
than have all that this world can give. The men said, “We will get him out of
the way. We will get the king to sign a decree; and we will propose a penalty.
It shall not be the fiery furnace this time. We will have a lions’ den--a den
of angry lions; and they will soon make away with him.” Probably these plotters
met at night, for it generally happens that if men want to do any downright
mean business they meet at night; darkness suits them best. The chief-president
himself was not there: he had not been invited to meet them. Very likely some
lawyer, who understood All about the laws of the Medes and Persians, stood up,
and talked something after this fashion: “Gentlemen, I have got, I think, a
plan that will work well, by which we may get rid of this old Hebrew. You know
he will not serve any but the God of Abraham and of Isaac.” We know that very
well. And if a man had gone to Babylon in those days he would not have had to
ask if Daniel loved the God of the Bible. I pity any man who lives so that
people have to ask, “Is he a Christian?” Let us so live that no one need ask
that question about us. And these plotters said one to another, “Now, let us
get Darius to sign a decree that if any man make a request of any God or
man--except of the King Darius--for thirty days, he shall be put into the
lions’ den. And let us all keep perfectly still about this matter so that it
won’t get out. We must not tell our wives, for fear the news may get about the
city. The king would never sign the decree if he found out what the object
was.” Then they may have said, “We must draw it so tight that Darius will not
be able to get out of it after he has once signed. We must make it so binding
that if the king once signs we shall have that Daniel in the lions’ den: and we
will take good care that the lions shall be hungry.” When the mine is all
ready, the conspirators come to the king, and open their business with
flattering speech: “King Darius, live for ever!” When people approach me with
smooth and oily words, I know they have something else coming--I know they have
some purpose in telling me I am a good man. These plotters, perhaps, go on to
tell the king how prosperous the realm is, and how much the people think of
him. And then, perhaps, in the most plausible way, they tell him that if he
signs this decree he will be remembered by their children’s children--that it
would be a memorial for ever of his greatness and goodness. “What is this
decree that you wish me to sign?” And running his eye over the document he says
“I don’t see any objection to that.” “Will you put your signet to it, and make
it law?” He puts his signature to the decree, and seals it with his seal There
was probably a long preamble, telling him how popular he was; saying that he
was liked better than Nebuchadnezzar or Belshazzar. They most likely tickled
his vanity, and told him that he was the most popular man that had ever reigned
in Babylon; and then they may have gone on to tell him how attached they were
to him and his rule, and that they had been consulting together what they could
do to increase his popularity and make him more beloved; and now they had hit
upon a plan that was almost sure to do it. If you touch a man’s vanity he will
do almost anything; and Darius was like most of the human race. They touched
his vanity by intimating that this would make him great. It was not only Daniel
they were thus going to get out of the way, but every conscientious Jew. There
was not a true Jew in the whole of that wide empire who would bow down and
worship Darius; and these men knew that: and so they were going to sweep away
at a stroke all the Jews who were true to their faith. They hated them. And I
want to tell you that the world does not love Christians nowadays. The world
will persecute a man if he attempts to live the life of a true Christian. The
world is no friend to true grace: mark that! A man may live for the world, and
like the world, and escape persecution. But if the world has nothing to say
against you, it is a pretty sure sign that God has not much to say for you;
because if you do seek to live unto Christ Jesus you must go against the
current of the world. And now they are ready to let the news go forth; and it
is not long before it spreads through the highways of Babylon. The men of the
city knew the man: knew that he would not vacillate. Daniel was none of your
sickly Christians of the nineteenth century; he was none of your weak-backed,
none of your weak-kneed Christians; he had moral stamina and courage. I can
imagine that aged white-haired Secretary of State sitting at his table going
over the accounts of some of these rulers of provinces. Some of the timid,
frightened Hebrews come to him, and say: “Oh, Daniel, have you heard the latest
news ?” “No. What is it ?” “What! have you not been to the king’s palace this
morning?” “No! I have not been to the palace to-day. What is the matter?”
“Well, there is a conspiracy against you. A lot of those princes have induced
King Darius to sign a decree that if any man shall call upon any God in his
kingdom within thirty days he shall be thrown to the lions. Their object is to
have you cast into the den. Well now, just you get out of Babylon. Or, if you
stay in Babylon, do not let anyone catch you on your knees. And if you will
pray, close that window, draw a curtain over it; shut the door, and stop up
every crevice. People are sure to be about your house listening.” And some of
our nineteenth century Christians would have advised after the same
fashion:--“Cannot you find out some important business to be done down in
Egypt, and so take a journey to Memphis? or can you not think of something that
needs being looked after in Syria, and so hurry off to Damascus? Or, surely you
can make out there is a need for your going to Assyria, and you can make a stay
at Nineveh. Or why not get as far as Jerusalem, and see what changes fifty or
sixty years have wrought? Any way, just be out of Babylon for the next thirty
days, so that your enemies may not catch you: for, depend upon it, they will
all be on the watch. And, whatever you do, be sure they do not catch you on
your knees.” How many men there are who are ashamed to be caught upon their
knees! Men have not the moral courage to be seen praying. Ah, the fact is--we
are a pack of cowards: that is what we are. Shame on the Christianity of the
nineteenth century! it is a weak and sickly thing. Would to God that we had a
host of men like Daniel living to-day! I can picture that aged man, with his
grey hairs upon him, listening to the words of these “miserable counsellors,”
who would tempt him to “trim,” and “hedge,” and shift--“to save his skin,” as
men say, at the cost of his conscience. And their counsel falls flat and dead.
I can fancy how Daniel would receive a suggestion that he should even seemingly
be ashamed of the God of his fathers. “They will be watching you; they will
have their spies all around. But if you are determined to go on praying, shut
up your window; close all your curtains stop up the keyhole, so that no one can
look through to see you on your knees, and so that no one can overhear a single
word. Accommodate yourself just a little. Compromise just a little.” That is
just the cry of the world to-day! It is, “Accommodate yourself to the times.
Compromise just a little here; and deviate just a little there, just to suit
the opinions and views of a mocking world. True as steel, that old man goes to
his room three times a day. Mark you, he had time to pray. There is many a
business man to-day who will tell you he has no time to pray. “If you have so
much business to attend to that you have no time to pray, depend upon it you
have more business on hand than God ever intended you should have.” But look at
this man. He had the whole, or nearly the whole, of the King’s business to
attend to. Yes, he could take up the words of the fifty-fifth Psalm, and say:
“As for me, I will call upon God;
And the Lord shall save me.
Evening, and morning, and at noon, will I pray and cry aloud;
And he shall hear my voice.”
So Daniel went to his room three times a day: he trod that path so
often that the grass could not grow upon it.” He goes to pray as aforetime; and
he has his windows open. Like Paul, in later days, he “knew whom he had believed”;
like Moses, he “saw Him who is invisible.” He knew whom he worshipped. There
was no need to trace back the church records for years to find out whether this
man had ever made a profession of religion. See him as he falls upon his knees.
He is not careful to inquire whether there are any outsiders, or whether they
can hear. There are men listening there near the open window: the hundred and
twenty princes have taken good care of that. (D.L.Moody.)
Verses 10-28
Verse 10
Daniel 6:10
Now when Daniel knew that the Writing was signed.
Faithful Serving
The grandeur of the Book of Daniel is not only the sweep of these
majestic visions which opened the mysteries of future time, but the vivid
portrait it holds before us of a man who has all the springs of his actions in
faithfulness to God:--A man so thoroughly forgetful of himself that the one
only question which rises in him, when anything is to be done or suffered, is
whether that thing is his Lord’s will. If it is, no doubt remains; nothing is
to be said or thought about costs and consequences. If it is not, no
consequences will justify it. The
probable consequences of our actions are one proper test, among others for
deciding, in doubtful cases, before we act, whether a given course is, or is
not according to God s will; but when that last point is once settled, whether
by Scripture, an enlightened conscience, or any rightful authority, the
expected consequences can never furnish ground for hesitation. What is right is
to be done. What will come of doing right--whether dens of lions or chairs of
state--is not our concern. Still, the weakness of human virtue makes men more
prompt and stedfast in well-doing, if they know beforehand how it will come
out, and that no hurt will be found upon them. Recall Daniel’s four great
experiences. Each of these four sorts of hostility to Christian faithfulness
has its ever-present examples.
1. The royal meat, dishes, and wine-vessels, in the low opportunities
of the flesh, tempting the senses to excess
2. The golden image set up on the plains of Dura, as the
thousand-fold attractions of outward possession and prosperity, office and
station sanction the lust of them.
3. The princely court and crown and ceremony of Babylon, over-riding
common consciences, in the whole fascination and imposing influence of earthly
power, invested with the highest advantages and brilliant paraphernalia of
social distinction.
4. The decree of an idolatrous worship, in everything among us which
goes to put man in place of God, man’s opinions in place of Gospel truths, and
human fancies for a revealed and justified faith. We need not use the hard
names, which describe the extreme indulgences and servitudes of these four formidable
passions; we need not say, gluttony, avarice, sycophancy, or infidelity. Let us
choose moderate words, and try to put it home to ourselves fairly, just as it
is. Look at the same four thus: sins of the appetites; sins of selfish
accumulation; sins of inordinate desire for position; sins of religious laxity
and negligence. These beset us all, with all the artful and boundless
possibilities of growth, mastery, perdition of the soul. Over all these
perilous tempters we are shown here one steadfast and victorious
master--religious fidelity. It wears in this saintly prophet a peculiar charm.
It is a fidelity intensified, yet without boasting or pretension, incorruptible
without self-confidence, fixed without obstinancy, patient without
pusillanimity, invincible in front of men and princes, but humble and docile as
the pet of’ the Lord. For a fidelity like this there is an involuntary and
almost universal admiration among men that fall farthest short of it. So far
the best sentiments of human nature second the requirements of our religion.
Place a Daniel, an Elijah, a Gideon, or a Joshua before them, and they see,
they confess the stamp of greatness on his spirit. So far the Bible and the
soul answer to each other. The same divine hand that has wrought this feeling
into the common human heart has woven traces of it into human history.
The four successive steps which mark the birth and growth of each
great cause, institution, or reformation among men, are these:
1. The great truth wakened m the mind of some man or men, in the form
of an idea, and a faith by the Spirit from whom all good gifts come.
2. The jealous and the selfish opposition of worldly interest--the
Pharaohs and Caesars and Herods, the Nebuchadnezzars and Belihazzars, the
scribes and Pharisees, of Society, of the state, and even of the
church--carrying on a determined warfare with the light.
3. The triumph of fidelity, brave and patient.
4. The general recognition and confession of the glory and beauty of
the faithful life. Only let in time enough after a man sacrifices himself for a
true principle, and the common testimony of men will honour him. More than
that, it will not effectually and unanimously honour anything else on earth,
but such fidelity. It is one of the most striking proofs that a righteous God
really rules the earth, to see this constant reversal of human judgements going
on--the humble exalted, and the rejected canonised. Recall the case of Bernard
Palissy, a poor, but thinking and believing mechanic of France, thrown into the
old Bastile, on St. Bartholomew’s day, for his Protestanism. Charles the Ninth
came to visit and threaten him in the prison, saying to him, “Palissy, I am
forced to give you up to death, unless you renounce your religion.” “Forced!”
answered the triumphant prisoner; “they that force you, King Charles, cannot
force me. I can die, and so I am free. But you and all your nation cannot
compel me, simple potter as I am, to bend my knee to an idol, or a lie.”
Everybody knows whence the spirit in that man came, and everybody acknowledges
its power. Men are heard to say, “There are terrible times coming.” It may be
so, we know nothing of the future. But prosperity is a harder test of fidelity
to Christ than misfortune. But instead of looking out for dangers that shall imperil
men’s souls when worse days come, we should be wiser if we were looking for
them just where we are. In business, in politics, in company, in families, in
schools, the question will have to go forth once more like a dividing sword,
“Who is on the Lord’s side?” Many persons are now pleading for mild and liberal
exhibitions of Christian conviction. The greater truth is, we are all servants
answerable only for doing declared duties, for confessing Christ before men,
and seeking not our own glory, and being found faithful unto death. Ours is not
to order results, but to do duties. The prophet stands in just this trial-place
of his holy independence The special peril of this sort of character, is that
it becomes conscious of its strength, proud of its independence, and before it
is aware, substitutes the human heroism of self-reliance for the holy fidelity
of Christ’s self-sacrifice. How many high examples of Christian courage have
fallen by that cunning temptation--the humility of the cross vanished! See in Daniel
the graceful freedom from that ostentation of conceited and opinionated
firmness. Christian fidelity is as meekly dependent on God as it is fearless of
his enemies. (Bishop Huntington, D.D.)
The Character of Daniel
I. HIS PIETY. It was not
mere profession. It was in the heart, real, deep, and vital. He had brought his
religion into Babylon, and it grew and flourished in that most unfavourable
climate. It was tried--and tried severely, and it is only by trials such as
those which Daniel endured, that a man’s religion is proved to be sincere. He
was so devoted, and so holy and excellent a character, because he was a man of
prayer. The remarkable thing about his piety is, that it made him a thoroughly
consistent character.
II. HIS PERSECUTION. Though
he was a good man, he had many enemies. A man may be hated and persecuted,
merely because he is religious.
III. HIS UNCOMPROMISING DECISION.
He had never yet swerved from the path of duty--that duty which he owed to God,
all the time that he had been at Babylon. If lie had yielded, or seemed to
yield, by not praying, as he did before, what would his enemies have said of
him? Doubtless, that his principles were not worth much, his religion was no
better than that of others. What then does he do? Precisely what he did before.
IV. THE BOLDNESS OF DANIEL ARISING FROM HIS CONFIDENCE IN GOD. He looked at the
lion’s den, and was not afraid of it. He knew that God could be with him there.
O this cold, calculating prudence, this worldly forethought! It thinks only of
the present. Let it not enter--never let it be once harboured in your breasts.
Act with decision, act with uncompromising boldness: do your duty at all times,
and under all circumstances, and leave results to God.
V. HIS WONDERFUL DELIVERANCE.
The king did all he could to save his servant; and was delighted when he found
Daniel’s God had proved able to protect him. Adhere then to your principles, at
all times and under all circumstances; adhere to those principles that will
answer conscience, and practise them at all times, and under all circumstances,
and then God will give you his blessing. (William Girling.)
Daniel,--or the Believer in Persecution
Daniel’s example is left as an encouragement in stripping off the
incumbrances of worldlings and sin, so that we may witness steadfastly in our
career till we receive the seed of faith, even the salvation of our souls. In
Daniel we have a believer persecuted for righteousness’ sake, and delivered
from the hands of his persecutors, and blessed in his very tribulation.
1. The encouragement this narrative affords us to make a faithful and
becoming stand for the truth, and, 2, against any encroachment upon its sacred
boundaries. It will be necessary
Scriptures.
Character and Conduct of Daniel
In all ages the truth has had its champions, those who have stood
for righteousness and for God. It seems quite right to say that God has never
left himself without witnesses. This text comes from the lip of one who was a
brilliant example.
I. DANIEL’S CHARACTER. It may be
almost doubted if any one in the Old Testament of whom we learn as much was so
entirely free from faults and sins. No one can doubt for a moment that Daniel
was subject to the infirmities which mark our poor human nature; but the
blemishes are not recorded. The character of Daniel appears all the more
beautiful if we consider where and when the owner is supposed to have lived. In
an Eastern Court. Learn,
1. This man is a marvellous example to us all. His pure life is a
proof that God can keep his people in all positions.
2. This man’s good life in high office shows that faithfulness to God
is quite consistent with the faithful discharge of proper duties in the highest
office. Daniel did not neglect religious duties, yet he did not neglect his
duty to his King.
3. This man’s conduct teaches us that our first duty is to conscience
and God. Here is a man who cares more for God than for his own ease, comfort,
and safety. This was the spirit of the martyrs.
II. DANIEL’S TRIALS. His were
real. And yet he does not seem to have felt them much. Some of the holiest and
best men have had crosses to bear. All the saints of God, ancient and modern,
have had them.
III. DANIEL’S CONDUCT UNDER TRIAL.
He kept silence while the plot was being hatched. He did exactly what he was
accustomed to do when the decree was signed.
IV. DANIEL’S DELIVERANCE. It was
as complete and glorious as were his obedience and faith. The deliverance is a
remarkable illustration of the power of faith and prayer. More things are
wrought by prayer than some men think. Do not lose your belief in a God who
hears and answers prayer. (Charles Leach, D.D.)
Daniel a man of religious principle
I. THIS CASE TEACHES YOU THAT GOD SOMETIMES ALLOWS HIS PEOPLE TO BE PLACED IN SITUATIONS
IN WHICH THEY ARE SHUT UP BY HIS PROVIDENCE EITHER TO SUFFER OR TO SIN.
II. LEARN FROM DANIEL TO POSSESS YOUR SOUL IN
PATIENCE AND PRUDENCE IN THE DAYS OF SEVERE TRIAL. Daniel adds
nothing, by way of insult, to his persecutors, nor of defiance toward his
sovereign, nor yet does he omit any thing from fear of danger. He worships God
just as he had been accustomed to do. It is sometimes said Daniel did wrong in
disobeying a law which had been passed by the highest legislative power in the
country. First, I have no sympathy with the “higher law” faction of our times;
but it is certainly clear that the foundation of all law is the will of God.
Governments are ordained of God. The will of God is aback of and above all
social compacts or civil enactments. Secondly, as all the authority which man
possesses over man is derived from God, so that authority is limited by the
Divine law, and therefore the laws of man only bind when they are not
inconsistent with the law of God. The moment any decrees of man require what
God has forbidden, or forbid what God has commanded, they cease to be binding
upon the conscience, and in such cases it is our solemn duty to protest against
them, and to disobey them. Resistance and passive obedience may be pressed to a
point when they become sinful. The edict of Darius, thirdly, was tyrannical,
and opposed to the plainest commands of God. It would have been, therefore,
sinful in Daniel to obey it.
III. Learn then,
young men, THE DUTY OF
SURRENDERING YOURSELVES AT ONCE CORDIALLY AND WITH A WHOLE-HEARTED MAGNANIMITY TO THE SERVICE OF
GOD.
Daniel kept back nothing. He did not waver or hesitate. But as soon as his hour
of prayer comes, though he knows the decree is signed, he goes to his chamber,
there to offer his protest against this impious decree, and to give his testimony
for the supremacy of his God. Why do you peril your life, Daniel, for a mere
form? why will you make yourself a martyr for the little matters of keeping
your windows open, kneeling down, and speaking your prayers aloud? Surely, you
are not going to sacrifice your splendid emoluments and high station by
refusing to obey the king for the short space of thirty days. Consider too, O
mighty man! chief of the presidents, how valuable your life is to others.
Consider how much you owe to your countrymen, whose cause is in your hands, and
to the Church of the Living God. Surely, you will not put in peril all these
great matters by such obstinacy. How many, or which, or whether any of these
pleas were suggested to Daniel, I know not. There are always plausible
apologies at hand for treachery to the immortal soul, and treason to God; but
no one can doubt how Daniel replied to such cowardly proposals, if indeed any
one ventured to name them to him. I would rather refrain from praying
altogether, than pretend to neglect it while I was secretly engaged in it. (W.
A. Scott, D. D.)
Daniel, a Model
The character of Daniel is a very noble one. His princely spirit
shone in his captivity. He was one of those noble natures that no circumstances
can keep from rising to the proper level
I. HIS UNIMPEACHABLE INTEGRITY.
Not even his most virulent enemies could find occasion against him or detect a
flaw.
II. HIS UNFAILING FIDELITY.
III. HIS UNFLINCHING COURAGE.
He served his God without ostentation on the one hand or concealment on the
other.
IV. HIS HABITUAL PIETY. He
was not hardened by his captivity nor exalted by his honour.
V. HIS CHILDLIKE FAITH. He
never distrusted his Lord’s purposes, plans or power. (Homilist.)
Daniel: the Man and the Book
Daniel was a heroic believer. He was marked by
I. FAITH. This was the life
of his life.
1. His faith was an early possession. As a youth he believed in
right, and in the Invisible God of right. It was this principle that was the
moulding force in his boyhood’s character, conquering all that was adverse to
him in the temptations of his masters, or the example of his companions, and
compelling the admiration and trust of those who could not understand the
secret spring of his conduct.
2. His faith was cherished in adverse circumstances. Not only was
there the temptation to paganism, and materialism, and animalism which
Babylonish life cast like so many meshes about the young captive, but there was
the deprivation of all the ordinary outward aids to religious faith. No temple,
no ceremonial, no sacrifice came to his aid. He had solely to depend on the
personal but, thank God, inalienable “means of grace,” of private prayer.
3. His faith discovered in him a glorious future. He had visions of
the colossal dynasties of men falling under the blessed dominion of the Son of
Man.
4. His faith realised the Invisible Present. True faith ever does
that, even though it cannot always descry the future. His faith saw God, Duty,
Conscience. And so, whilst it was, in its visions of the future, “the substance
of things hoped for,” it was, in its perception of the present, “the evidence
of things not seen.” He was marked by,
II. HUMILITY. He does not
talk of his faith; he simply and, as in the act before us, with all the
simplicity of naturalness, manifests it. Dr. Pusey strikingly calls attention
to this reserve of Daniel “Chief statesman of the first empire in the world, he
has not recorded one single voluntary act of his own.” Notice,
1. The signs of his humility. He says little of himself or his exploits;
his book tells much more of what befell him than of what he did.
2. The producing cause of this humility. It was doubtless his faith,
his vision of the unseen present and the unseen future, that hushed and awed
and humbled him. Just as grandeur of scenery hushes all thoughtful men, making
them feel nothing amid its immensities so the scenery of the invisible world
and the sight of the Invisible God abashes all pride, and quickens, in Daniel
as in Isaiah, the spirit that cries, “Woe is me: I have seen the Lord of
Hosts.” Unbelief may be proud, half belief may be conceited, thorough belief is
ever reverent and lowly.
III. CONSTANCY. The very name
of Daniel has come to be a synonym for resolution and endurance. And
deservedly, for his faith enabled him to be firm.1. In spite of subtle
temptation. The great ordeal of his life was much more searching than that
which came to the three Hebrew youths. They were challenged to open idolatory;
and they nobly refused, choosing rather the “burning fiery furnace.” Daniel was
invited simply to neglect prayer to the true God. He was constant,
2.
In spite of protracted trial. There were repeated efforts on the part of the
envious and the malign. There was a long-continued captivity. He taught, and he
worked, even as he prayed, at the end just “as he did aforetime.” He was marked
by--IV. COURAGE.
This is involved in constancy, and yet is so conspicuous that it commands
separate notice. Evidenced by
1. His openness.
2. His dignity.
3. His calmness. The spirit of the worked towards the godly remains
unchanged. (U. R. Thomas.)
Lessons from the history of Daniel.
1. In order to succeed in life a man must possess decision of
character. Sir Fowell Buxton says, “The longer I live the more I am certain
that the great difference between men, between the feeble and the powerful, the
great and the insignificant, is energy, invincible determination, a purpose
once fixed, and then death or victory.” The reason why so many men fail in life
is want of purpose. They start for a certain goal, and then allow themselves to
be diverted from their purpose.
2. Success begets jealousy. Daniel’s excellent spirit was a crime in
the eyes of the other officials. Scripture says, “Jealousy is the rage of a
man.” “Substitute for jealousy an everlasting emulation. Seeing others good let
us try to be better. Seeing others industrious, let us work more hours. Seeing
others benevolent, let us resolve on giving a larger percentage of our means
for charity.”
3. Learn how to meet trouble. When trouble came, what did Daniel do?
He went into his house and prayed. He placed the matter before the Most High.
How differently men act when in trouble! The real man does what Daniel did.
“There is only one explanation of the mystery of sorrow possible, and that is,
that life’ is an education.” Then learn from each trial.
4. Sin always brings punishment. “It is a terrible thing to have done
evil. It comes up again from ten thousand points.” Look at the brethren of
Joseph after thirteen years. Life is uncertain, and the unexpected often
happens. Do not lose everlasting happiness for any earthly consideration. Look
at the end--keep your eyes on the unfading crown, and then sin will lose its
attraction. (Ernest R. Gill.)
Daniel and the Den of Lions
Such an exalted station as Daniel occupied would put to the test
the spirit and, character of this servant of God. There are great temptations
in high places. Daniel’s integrity and uprightness gave him supremacy above all
others. The favour shown to him, a foreigner and a Jew, soon excited an envious
spirit in the breasts of the other courtiers. They began to plot against
Daniel. They could find no occasion in his official conduct; so they sought to
make occasion in connection with his religion. Darius was an easy monarch, ambitious
and fond of flattery, and his courtiers thought that by proposing to him a plan
that should flatter his pride, show his power over the people, and be a test of
their allegiance to him, while they entirely concealed from him their designs
against Daniel, they should be able to prevail. They gave him no time to
deliberate--no opportunity of consulting with Daniel. They had it all prepared
to present before him; they entreat him at once to sign the writing, and the
decree: Without suspecting anything of the kind, he consented to sign what his
envious courtiers intended to be the death-warrant of the favourite counsellor.
How did the servant of God conduct himself under these peculiar circumstances?
Daniel saw that there was but one course for him, he must simply and
unostentatiously go forward; just do “as he had done aforetime.” A striking
admonition against subterfuges in duty and devotion; against contrivances at
once to quiet conscience, and preserve an immediate self-interest. Here we see
what is the real spirit of a genuine religion; it is a firm, decided,
steadfast, regard to God and His will, whatever may arise. There is such a
thing as a religion which bends to circumstances, which turns with the wind and
tide. That which is inward and vital abides under all the varied circumstances
in which its possessor may be placed. Real principle stands the test, and
becomes the stronger and the brighter the more it is tried. Again notice that
the spirit of a true religion is a spirit of devotion. Here was the secret of
his consistency and excellency of character; he had much communion with his
God, and he drew down wisdom and grace from the fountain above that supplied
him for every emergency, guided him through every difficulty, strengthened him
for every duty, and supported him in every scene of danger. Learn also, when
found in the path of duty, to leave everything with God. Daniel appears not to
have been anxious about the event; he was only concerned about pleasing
God--all the rest he can leave. The great thing for us all is to know the will
of God, and do it. (Thomas Coleman.)
His Windows being Open in
his Chamber towards Jerusalem.
The Open Windows
The open window assists our thoughts. As they take wing into the
broad expanse, they gain freedom and enlargement; just as a bird imprisoned in
a room flings itself with a thrill of song into the free air and sunshine.
Sitting there, his mind could spurn the limitations of space and time. The
favour or displeasure of the Persian king mattered but little to him. The
chamber of life with some of us may seem poor and straitened enough, but God
has given us windows in it with a distant outlook upon brighter and fairer
scenes. And these windows we must keep open, and sit at them, or kneel at them,
forgetting the loneliness and weariness of Babylon’s exile in the prospect of
some fair Jerusalem of joy, and love, and faith.
1. First and foremost of those windowed outlooks with which God has
so graciously endowed us, is that of FAITH. The prophet said he “saw visions of
God,” and if he did, it must have been through this window of faith, because
through it eternal realities become as though they were present. Other windows
may become closed or dim; the more reason why we should keep steady and bright
this blessed outlook of faith into things spiritual and eternal.
2. There is another window through which the soul may look out upon
the ideal and the fair; and that is the window of HOPE. The natural attitude of the human soul
is an expectant one. Hope is an important element in the Christian life. Life
will go merrily on under the power of a sunbeam on a distant spot in the path.
Through the window of hope we see the breaking of a golden dawn upon the
distant prospect; the narrow chamber of earthy circumstances gives place to
sweeter possibilities, which may become present realities under the
transforming influence of Christian hope.
3. Then there is the window of MEMORY. It may be that Daniel was not
unmindful of this outlook into past scenes and associations. To be often at the
window of memory keeps the heart young amid the ageing and withering influences
of the present. (G. Onslow.)
Daniel’s Undaunted Courage
Daniel had been exalted to very great worldly prosperity, but his
soul had prospered too. Oftentimes outward advancement means inward decline.
Tens of thousands have been intoxicated by success. Though they bade fair in
starting in the race of life to win the prize, they were tempted to turn aside
to gather the golden apples, and so they missed the crown. It was not so with
Daniel--he was as perfect-before God in his high estate as in his lowlier days;
and this is to be accounted for by the fact that he sustained the energy of his
outward profession by constant secret communion with God. He was, we are told,
a man of excellent spirit, and a man abundant in prayer; hence his head was not
turned by his elevation, but the Lord fulfilled in him his promise to “make his
servants’ feet like hinds’ feet, that they may stand upon their high places.”
Yet, although Daniel preserved his integrity, he did not find a position of
greatness to be one of rest. As the birds peck at the ripest fruit, so his
envious enemies assailed him; and as the most conspicuous warriors must attract
the arrows of the foe, so the honours of Daniel brought upon him the enmities
of many. Better to pine with Lazarus than feast with Dives, for the love of God
more than compensates for temporary disadvantages. Better an ounce of divine
grace than a ton of worldly goods. Though the good things come not as the
left-handed blessings of outward prosperity, be thou more than content if thou
win the right-handed benediction of spiritual joy.
I. First, let me
invite your attention to DANIEL’S HABITUAL DEVOTION: it
is worthy of our study. We might never have known of it if he had not been so
sorely tried, but fire reveals the hidden gold. Daniel’s habitual devotion. We
are told that aforetime, before the trial, he had been in the constant habit of
prayer. He prayed much. There are some forms of spiritual life which are not
absolutely essential, but prayer is of the very essence of spirituality. He
that hath no prayer lacks the very breath of the life of God in the soul.
Daniel always had subjects for prayer and reasons for prayer. He prayed for
himself that in his eminent position he might not be uplifted with pride, might
not be taken in the snares of those who envied him, might not be permitted to
fall into the usual oppressions and dishonesties of Eastern rulers. He prayed
for his people. He saw many of the house of Judah who were not in such
prosperous circumstances as himself. He remembered those who were in bonds, as
being bound with them. He pleaded, for the return from the captivity, which he
knew was ordained of his God. He prayed for the glory of his God, that the days
might come when the idols should be utterly abolished, and when the whole earth
should know that Jehovah ruleth in heaven, and among the sons of men. We read
next, that with all his prayers he mingled thanksgiving. Do observe it, for so
many forget this, “He prayed and gave thanks to God.” Surely, it is poor
devotion which is always asking and never returning its gratitude! Am I to live
upon the bounty of God, and never to thank him for what I receive? Good Daniel
had learned to praise as well as to pray, and to offer to God that sweet
incense which was made of divers spices, of earnest desires and longings
mingled with thanksgivings and adorations. It is worthy of notice that the text
says, Daniel prayed and gave thanks “before his God.” This enters into the very
soul of prayer--this getting before God. I shall not care if you do not use a
single word, if you feel the majesty of God to be so overwhelming that words
are out of place; and silence becomes far more expressive when you bow with sobs
and tears, and groanings that cannot be uttered. That little word “his” I must
not let slip, however. He prayed and gave thanks before his God. He spake not
to God merely as God who might belong to any man and every man, but unto his
God, whom he had espoused by a solemn determination. “His God.” Why, it seems
to me to bring up that word “covenant”--his “covenant God,” as though he had
entered into covenant with God according to the language of the Most High, “I
will be their God, and they shall be my people.” Yes, here lies power in
prayer, when a man can talk with God as his covenant God. Some other
particulars in the text are not quite so important, nevertheless, observe that
he prayed three times a day. That does not tell you how often he prayed, but how
often he was in the posture of prayer. Doubtless he prayed three hundred times
a day if necessary--his heart was always having commerce with the skies; but
thrice a day he prayed formally. It has been well said that we usually take
three meals in the day, and that it is well to give the soul as many meals as
the body. We want the morning’s guidance, we need the eventide’s forgiveness,
do we not also require the noontide’s refreshment? If you find from morn till
eve too long an interval between prayer, put in another golden link at mid-day.
Notice, also, the posture. That, also, is of little consequence, since we read
in Scripture of men who prayed on the bed, with their face to the wall. We read
of David sitting before the Lord. How very common and acceptable a posture was
that of standing before God in prayer! Yet there is a peculiar appropriateness,
especially in private prayer, in the posture of kneeling. It seems to say, “I
cannot stand upright before Thy majesty; I am a beggar, and I put myself in the
position of a beggar; I sue of Thee, great God, on bended knee, in the posture
of one who owns that he deserves nothing, but humbles himself before Thy
gracious majesty.” One more observation. We are told that Daniel kneeled upon
his knees with his windows open towards Jerusalem. This was not done with any
view to publicity. It may be that nobody could see him, even when his window
was open, except the servants in the court. I suppose the house to have been
erected as most Eastern houses were, with an open square in the centre! and
though he would be looking towards Jerusalem, the windows would be looking into
the court, where he could only be observed by those who were residents in the
house or visitors on business. Probably his fellow counsellors knew the hour
which he usually set apart for devotion, and therefore called in so as to find
him in the act. The window being open towards Jerusalem may have been suggested
by the prayer of Solomon, when he asked that if the Lord’s people were banished
at any time, when they sought the Lord with their faces towards that holy
place, God would hear them. It may have helped him also to recollect that dear
city towards which every Jew’s heart turns with affection, even as the needle
trembles towards its pole. The thought of its ruin assisted his earnestness,
the recollection of its sin humbled him, and the promises concerning it
comforted him. He turned towards Jerusalem. And what does this say to us? It
tells us that we ought to take care when we pray, to have our window open
towards Calvary.
II. We must now
turn to a second consideration, DANIEL’S ACTION UNDER TRIAL.
There is nothing that kings and queens are much fonder of than meddling with
religion. Though the Prussian king tried to make a number of watches all tick together,
and could not do it, yet notwithstanding the experiment and its failure, there
are always evil counsellors who would force mens’ consciences to keep stroke.
Folly is in the throne when monarchs patronise or oppress religion. Caesar
always muddles when he meddles with the things of God. When this act of
uniformity was passed, several course, were open to Daniel. He might, for
instance, have said, “This does not answer my purpose. I have a high position
in society. I am chief president over all these dominions, and though I am
willing to suffer something for my religion, yet gold may be bought too dear,
and therefore I shall cease to pray.” He might have found many precedents and
many companions. What crowds, when it has come to a question between life and
truth, between honour and Christ, have made the evil choice and perished
infamously? Daniel does not seem to have raised that question. Yet he might
have said, “Well, well, we must be prudent; God must be worshipped certainly,
but there is no particular reason for my worshipping Him in my usual room, nor
even in the city where I live; I can retire in the evening, or find some more
secret spot in my own house, and especially there is no occasion to open the
window. I can pray with the window shut, and I shall be just as acceptable
before God. I think, therefore, I shall keep my conscience clear, but not
obtrude my religion in these evil days.” Daniel did not so reason; he was a
lion-like man, and scorned to lower his standard in the presence of the foe. He
would not seek the secrecy which prudence might have suggested. Still, it might
have suggested to him that he could pray inwardly. Prayers without words are
just as acceptable to God; could not he do this? He felt he could not, inasmuch
as the decree was not inward, and the king’s opposition to religion was not
inward. He did not believe in opposing outward falsehood by an inward truth.
Observe with care what Daniel did. He made up his mind to act as he had done
aforetime. Note how quietly he acted. He did not say to any of his enemies, “I
mean to carry out my convictions.” Not at all; he knew that talk was lost upon
them, so he resorted to actions instead of words. Note again, how he acted
unhesitatingly--immediately! He did not pause; he did not ask for time to
consider what he should do. In matters of perilous duty, our first thoughts are
best. When there is anything to be lost by religion, follow out the first
thought of conscience, namely, “Do the right.” Who needs to question where duty
points the way? Where God commands, there is no room for reason to raise
cavils. It is never right to do a little wrong to obtain the greatest possible
good. You will observe also, that Daniel did not act under excitement, but with
a full knowledge of the result. The record expressly hath it--“When Daniel knew
that the writing was signed.” Many people will do right in a hurry, and under
strong excitement will go further than they would have done in cold blood; but
Daniel, probably shut out from the council by some crafty device of the
counsellors, no sooner heard that the statute stood good than, without parley,
his resolution was formed, and his mind made up. I like that word, and most go
back to it again “as he had done aforetime.” Here he makes no alteration; he takes
not the slightest possible notice of the king’s decree. If you have worshipped
God under the smile of your Christian friends, worship him under the frown of
the ungodly. If you have, as a tradesman, pursued a course of honest action in
more prosperous times, do not for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, tamper with
that honest course because the times have changed.
III. Let us turn to
the third point, with which we conclude, THE SECRET SUPPORT OF DANIEL. There was something in the man which
gave him this backbone; there was a secret something which made him so
magnanimous. What was it? It resulted from several things. It sprang from the
fact that Daniel’s religion was not the offspring of passion, but of
deep-seated principle. You will notice that, after this long drought which we
have had the flowers in our gardens are drooping much, but the forest trees are
as verdant as if showers had been failing every day in the week. Is not this
because they strike their roots deeper in the soil, and suck nourishment from
provision which is not exhausted by the heat of the sun? So there are some men
whose religion is like the flower which lives upon the surface--they soon dry
up when the sun of persecution burns; but there are others who, like the forest
trees, send down their roots into the deep soil of principle, who know what
they know, have learned thoroughly what they have learned, and hold fast what
they have received, and these, in the time of trial, are sustained by springs
of secret grace, and their leaf is not withered. Because the Holy Ghost has
inwrought into Daniel’s spirit the principles of faith, he was sustained in the
time of trial; but I doubt not that Daniel was also supported by what he had
read of the works of God in the olden times. Besides, the prophet’s spirit was
sustained by what he had himself seen. He had been brought in close contact
with the three holy children who were brought before Nebuchadnezzar. His own
experience helped to strengthen him. He had this conviction, that God could
deliver him, and that if God did not deliver him, yet still such was his love
to the God of Israel that he would be content to give himself to die. It is
blessed to have such a confidence as this. You good people who are tried, and
who may expect to be tried yet more, you will never stand unless you come to
this: “God can deliver me; but if he does not deliver me, still I am well
content to be a sacrifice for Jesus’ sake.” Daniel failed not, because his love
to his God rested deep in his inmost heart: it had become part and parcel of
himself, and, sustained by the two hands of love and faith, he was graciously
upborne over the rough and thorny places. Remember that Daniel is a type of our
Lord Jesus Christ. Jesus had enemies who sought to destroy him; they could find
nothing against him except, “touching his God.” They accused him of blasphemy,
and then afterwards, as they did Daniel, they brought a charge of sedition. He
was cast into the den, into the grave: his soul was among the lions. Now, if
Daniel is a type of Christ, and the Lord Jesus is the great representative Man
for all who are in him, you, believer, must expect, that there will be those
who will attack you, who will assail you especially in your religion. (C.
H. Spurgeon.)
Windows towards Jerusalem
That was Daniel’s ‘native land.’ Daniel kept his window open
toward Jerusalem, because it was the capital of sacred influences. But Daniel
at the window is not standing and looking out, he is kneeling and looking out.
Daniel found that a man can see farther on his knees than on tiptoe. There is
another Jerusalem toward which you and I will do well to keep our windows open.
It makes one heavenly-minded to think much of heaven. (T. De Witt Talmage,
D. D.)
Daniel facing the lions’ den
I. Our first
point will be that DANIEL’S PRAYERFULNESS WAS THE SECRET OF HIS
POWER. Daniel was always a man of prayer. If you saw him great
before the people, the reason was because he was great before his God. He knew
how to lay hold of divine strength, and he became strong. He knew how to study
divine wisdom, and he became wise. We are told that he went to his house to
pray. This showed that he made a business of prayer, and finding it neither
convenient to his circumstances nor congenial to his mind to pray in the midst
of idolaters, he had chosen to set apart a chamber in his own house for prayer.
It is well to have, if we can have, a little room, no matter how humble, where
we can shut to the door, and pray to our Father who is in heaven, who will hear
and answer. He was in the habit of praying thus three times a day. Perhaps he
thought that this was prudent economy, for, if he had so much to do, he must
pray the more; as Martin Luther said, “I have got so much to do to-day that I
cannot possibly get through it with less than three hours of prayer.” So,
perhaps, Daniel felt that the extraordinary pressure of his engagements
demanded a proportionate measure of prayer to enable him to accomplish the
weighty matter he had on hand. A singularity in his manner is noticeable here.
He had been in the habit of praying with his windows open towards Jerusalem.
Thus openly did he ignore the decree! With such a royal courage did he lift his
heart above the fear of man, and raise the conscience above the suspicion of
compromise. He loved Jerusalem, and his prayers were for it. Hence he looked
that way in his prayer. And I think also he had an eye on the altar. We worship
with our eye to Christ. Oh, for Daniel’s prayerful spirit!
II. We pass on to
DANIEL’S DIFFICULTIES, OR THE PRIVILEGES OF PRAYER.
Daniel had always been a man of prayer; but now there is a law passed that he
must not pray for thirty days, for a whole calendar month. I think I see Daniel
as he reads the writing. Not proud and haughty in his demeanour, for, as a man
used to govern, it was not likely that he would needlessly rebel; but as he
read it, he must have felt a blush upon his cheek for the foolish king who had
become the blind dupe of the wily courtiers who had framed a decree so
monstrous. Only one course was open to him. He knew what he meant to do; he
should do what he always had done. Still let us face the difficulty with a
touch of sympathy. He must not pray. Suppose we were under a like restriction.
Why, some people will say, “I will give it up.” Ah, and there are some who would
boastfully say, “I will not give it up,” whose bold resolve would soon falter,
for a lions’ den is not a comfortable place. Many thought they could burn in
Queen Mary’s days that did not dare to confront the fire. Now it is a great
privilege that we enjoy civil and religious liberty in our favoured land; that
we are not under such cruel laws, as in other times or in other countries laid
restrictions upon conscience; and that we may pray, according to the conviction
of our judgment and the desire of our heart.
III. Having thus
dwelt upon Daniel’s difficulty, I now want to draw your attention to DANIEL’S DECISION. The king
says he must not pray. Daniel did not deliberate for a single minute. When we
know our duty, first thoughts are the best. I greatly admire one feature in
Daniel’s decision. He did not alter his accustomed habit in any single
particular. Without disguise and without parade he pursued the even tenor of
his way. He does not appear to have taken council of his friends, or to have
summoned his servants, and charged them not to let any intruder come in.
Neither did he adopt any measure to escape his enemies. Not one jot of anxiety
did he betray. His faith was steadfast, his composure unruffled, his conduct
simple and artless. Doubtless Daniel felt that he was the greatest man in
Persia, if he, a worshipper of Jehovah, the God of the Hebrews, failed in any
degree, he would set a bad example to others, and greatly discourage any poor
Jew who might have grace enough to stand out, provided his example led the way.
Persons who occupy high positions should know that God expects more of them
than of other people. It might be asked, perhaps, “Should not Daniel obey the
king?” Certainly kings’ laws are to be respected; but any law of man that
infringes the law of God is, ipso facto, null and void at once. It is
the duty of every citizen to disregard every law of earth which is contrary to
the law of heaven. So Daniel felt that the risk of being put into a den with
lions was nothing to the risk of being put into hell, and he chose the smaller
risk, and in the name of God he went straight on. Look at John Bunyan when they
bring him up before the magistrates and tell him he must not preach! “But I
will preach,” said he, “I will preach to-morrow by the help of God.” “But you
will be put in prison again.” Never mind, I will preach as soon as I get out.”
“But you will be hanged, or kept m prison all your life.” “If I lie in prison,”
said he, “till the moss grows upon my eyelids, I can say nothing more than
this, that with God’s help, I will preach whenever I get a chance.” Do not tell
me that these are non-essentials. To men who will follow the Lamb whithersoever
he goeth, even the opening or the shutting of a window, if need be, is
essential. Be jealous over what are called “trifles.” They may be mere straws,
but they show which way the wind blows.
IV. Our last point
is DANIEL’S DELIVERANCE. With
that we will conclude. The evil that threatened Daniel did come. He was to be
put into a lions’ den, and into a lions’ den he was put. So, young man, you
say, “I will not do wrong.” You hope to escape unscathed. Yet it may be that
you will be discarded by your friends, and discountenanced by your associates.
Expect it, go through it. If you are a tradesman, and by saying you will not
submit to an evil custom of the trade you will become a loser, be willing to be
a loser; expect that the lions’ den will be there, and that you will be put
into it. Daniel came there, but there was not a scratch upon him when he came
out of it. What a splendid night, he must have spent with those lions! I do not
wonder that in after days he saw visions of lions and wild beasts; it seems
most natural that it should; and he must have been fitted by that night passed
among these grim monsters to see grand sights. Daniel had a smooth time of it
afterwards. The counsellors never troubled him again; the lions had taken care
of them. There would be no more plotting against him. Now, believe me, to be
decided for the right is not only the right thing but the easiest thing. It is
wise policy as well as true probity. If you will not yield an inch, then
somebody else must move out of the way. If you cannot comply with their
proposals, then other people will have to rescind their resolutions. So you
will find that, if you suffer, and perhaps suffer severely at first, for
decision of character, you will get speedy recompense for all you endure, and a
grand immunity in the future. There will be an end to the indignities that are
offered you. Give the world an inch, and it will take many an ell. Be resolved,
therefore, that no inch you will give, that to the lions’ den you would sooner
go than there should be equivocation, prevarication, or anything approaching to
falsehood. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Opened Window, or Character Formed
The history of the world is mostly the history of individual
lives, and the influence they exerted. It is not so much the story of the
movements of masses, as of masses under leaders. This may be illustrated in
This view must, however, be set under due qualifications. It is
also true that great men can but find expression for the spirit of their age,
as is shown in the case of Luther. The Reformation was in Germany before Luther
found it a voice. Daniel one of the best illustrations of this point--on what a
man is must depend what he does, and what he is must depend on his
relations with God. Daniel is heroic from both the secular and the sacred
standpoints. The thing impressed by his story is the value, force, and assured
triumph of sterling character. Is character a gift, or a growth? Is it
something with which we are endowed, or something which we have to culture? It
may be likened to a tree, and under that figure we now consider it.
I. THE ROOTINGS OF CHARACTER.
Stability and vigour depend on rooting. The character of Daniel threw down two
chief rootings of principle. It held fast by and fed itself on this:
1. A noble life must be ruled by something better than world-maxims;
but to live by them is like trying to make a boat lie still on the heaving sea.
2. No shame, only strength and honour, can ever come by cleaving to
God. It is sad and strange that ever young folk should think that shame can
attach to a life of faith and prayer. Illustrate by contrasting the tree roots
twining only about themselves, or clasping firmly the rich and fertile soil.
II. THE BRANCHINGS OF CHARACTER.
The manifestations of it in the duties and responsibilities of life. Character
well rooted, shows, above the soil, moral strictness, trustworthiness,
judgment, truth. Illustrate Daniel’s power of decision, and also Joseph’s. Show
the relation of decision, as an element of character, to the act of decision in
religion.
III. THE FLOWERING OF CHARACTER,
or the lighter manifestations of it in the intercourse and relationships of
life. Hanging on the branches are such things as peace, joy, purity,
gentleness, patience, long-suffering, all the graces of the spirit. Daniel’s
character then was rightly founded. His decision for God involved a
God-fearing, prayer-loving life. Look in at that opened window of Daniel’s
house, and see how Godly character was nourished. There we find the secret of
strength for the overcoming of all temptation. Daniel believed in God, and
sought him. (Robert Tuck, B.A.)
The Open Window
What was the good of praying at this window that looked towards
Jerusalem? Jerusalem was five hundred miles away across the wide Assyrian
plain. You could not see it from Babylon. You brought it no nearer by gazing
into the blue distance. Why be so careful about this open window? At best it
was a piece of sentiment. And what use is there in idle sentiment? But all
sentiment is not idle. There is a kind of sentiment which is foolish and worse
than useless. But sentiment will sometimes prove to be of extraordinary power,
and there is a sentiment which is not inconsistent with the finest manhood and
the most impressive dignity of character. If it helped him, when he was
praying, to remember that there, far away in the distance, was Jerusalem, why
should he not accept the help? We may not think that it would have helped us
very much. We may say that we could have prayed anywhere. But that is not the
question. If it helped him, that was enough. There was a great deal in his
circumstances and pursuits to shut out from him the vision of his early days.
And if, among all the scenes of his daily life, in which was so much that was
distracting, so much that was evil, it helped him, and kept him true to the
past and true to God, to have that window open, who is going to smile at him?
Who will condemn him? I think, on the contrary, that we might well imitate him.
We who may be carried by the force of circumstances far away from our old home,
and from things that were sacred to us in our childhood, may very fitly and
reasonably see to it that we do not let those old and sacred things pass
utterly away from our thoughts. It is good for us, too, to have an open window
towards Jerusalem. There are those who, amid the stress and storm of life, have
lost all remembrance of their Jerusalem. It is out of sight, out of mind.
Heaven lay about them in their infancy. God seemed to be near to them when they
were little children. Things spiritual and eternal were realities. The eye was
clear. The ear was open to the divine voices. The heart was warm. The
conscience was sensitive. Life was full of sacred meanings. But they were
carried into a new world where other voices were heard and other influences
were at work. Then the shades of the prison-house began to close upon them. The
spiritual eye grew dim. Who can guess how many people there are to-day,
middle-aged, prosperous people, who have been cut adrift from the Jerusalem of
their early days and have almost forgotten how they once felt. They are much to
be pitied. It is the experience of Daniel which suggests the association of
these two things. For Jerusalem was to him first his old home, and next, in a
special sense, the home of God on the earth. And there must be many whose
experience would compare with his in this respect. They are to be congratulated.
For there is nothing for which we have better reason to be thankful in
after-life than for fathers and mothers who made us feel in our childhood that
God was about us, and that our home was the gate of heaven. There are those who
do not seem to believe in any such necessity. It was said by Napoleon that
Jerusalem did not come within the sphere of his operations. It is what many say
in effect. They do not trouble about religion. They can do well enough without
it. They have plenty to interest them in this wonderful world without the
religious interest. It may not be so with others. Very well. Let each follow
where his own taste and fancy lead him. Let him who is religiously disposed
occupy himself with religious matters. As for them, they prefer to concern
themselves with things of a more practical kind. I think, however, that those
who talk in that light fashion are making a very grave mistake. For, after all,
life must be a dull and poor affair if we are wholly without religion. Alas for
us, if we are without any kind of heavenly vision! Man cannot live by bread
alone. If, then, it is our wisdom not to forget Jerusalem, what are some of the
windows through which we may look towards that fair city? Prayer, let me say
first, is such a window. Heaven lies about us now, and ever will, as the air
and the sunlight are about the houses we dwell in. But if we keep the windows
shut, the air will not come in; and if we keep the shutters up, the light will
not come in. Therefore, men throw back these shutters, and fling open wide the
windows, that the glory and the freshness of the sunlight world out of doors
may come in. And that is what we do when we pray. Obedience is another window
by which we may look into this divine glory. If you are living a selfish and
worldly life, you cannot expect to have any deep sense or clear vision of
eternal things. You are refusing to listen to the voice of the Highest. But
repent and obey the call of duty, and as you follow where duty leads you will
begin to get some glimpse into the deep things of God. The way of duty is the
way of peace, and it is the way of light. Let any man follow Christ closely,
and the moment will come when Christ will, as it were, turn and look upon that
faithful follower and make him feel that he is indeed at the gate of heaven.
There are many causes that may account for it. But the rule is that obedience
to duty is a true window to the soul, a window that looks towards God, and
through which God will shine upon us for our infinite comfort and help. Another
window that looks towards Jerusalem is the Bible. What does the Bible mean to
us, I wonder? It means different things to different persons. Another window
looking towards Jerusalem is Sunday. The world for many is like Babylon. It is
full of cares, full of distractions, full of appeals to elements other than the
highest in human nature, and their pleasures and recreations, though, it may
be, innocent enough, are often not such as to raise and dignify the soul; and
it is well if when they come into church they find it to be as the delectable
mountains from which the glory of the heavenly Jerusalem may be at least dimly
descried. A church may serve many noble uses and not the least profitable is
that which it serves when it enables men who are often in darkness, and who
feel that they are remote from the best and highest things to look for a little
time into the world of spiritual realities, and to feel, upon the jaded mind
and dull heart, the vivifying breath of the Spirit of God. (A. H.
Thomas, M.A.)
And prayed.
Good Prayer-habits
Every man ought to form, early in life, good religious habits, and
especially habits in relation to private, personal and intercessory prayer.
They should be carefully arranged in view of his actual daily circumstances,
opportunities, and needs, they should be maintained with a stedfast regularity,
even at heavy cost of self-denial, and there should be a constant and a holy
anxiety lest they should degenerate into mere forms, and the spiritual life and
feeling in them fade down, or fade out.
I. MAKE GOOD PRAYER-HABITS. It is of the
first importance that these should be formed early in life; and you may well be
reminded of the duty that lies on all parents, school teachers, and often
nurses, in regard to the shaping of early prayer-habits. When life has become
fixed, relations are settled, and habits are formed, it is hard indeed to get
new shapings and fittings when the duty of daily prayer is brought home to us.
Those parents do an unspeakable good for their children, who, from the dawn of
intelligence, make prayer as essential as daily bread. Prayer habits should be
formed carefully, with due estimate of our circumstances, and relations, and
opportunities. And our prayer-habits should, include all the kinds of prayer
which make up this Christian duty. There are proper habits of confession, of
thanksgiving, of petition, and above all, of intercession; and they will never
come to any man as an accident; they are the blessed fruitage of thought, and
strife, and care.
II. WHEN YOU HAVE MADE GOOD PRAYER-HABITS, YOU MUST KEEP THEM. It
is only necessary to state this very important addition, and to say: Beware of
slight negligences and failures. There is nothing in our life which we need to
maintain so resolutely. Let Daniel show you that quietly, simply,
unostentatiously, you should persist in praying just when, and where, and how,
you have arranged to pray. (Robert Tuck, B.A.)
The Propriety of Daniel’s Conduct
It may be said,
1. That Daniel was chargeable with rebellion, because knowingly, and
avowedly he violated a law which had been passed by the highest legislative
power in the country. We reply that God is the supreme lawgiver, that all the
authority which man possesses over man, is derived from God, and limited by the
divine law, and therefore the laws of man only bind when they are not
inconsistent with the law of God. The moment they command what God has
forbidden, or forbid what God has commanded, they cease to be obligatory upon
conscience, and in such cases, so far from being sinful to disobey them, to do
so is a solemn duty. The edict of Darius, being palpably opposed to the
plainest commands of God, Daniel, in refusing to serve such a law, only acted
the part which was incumbent on every loyal subject of the Most High.
2. It may be said, that Daniel might have prayed unto God in the
heart, in despite of his enemies, and God would have heard him. Or, if he
wished to pray unto him with the lips, he ought to have retired into some
secret place; or at least, if he prayed in his own chamber, he should have
allowed the windows to remain closed during these thirty days. Was it not,
therefore, sinful in him to pray so ostentatiously as he did? Was not this
unnecessarily to expose his life to danger? Was it not to forget that God is a
spirit, and to place too much dependence upon that bodily service which
profiteth little? We remark that, while the Scriptures assert that bodily
service profiteth little, they nowhere assert that it profiteth nothing. There
are occasions, when bodily exercise profiteth much, in which it is even a
better test of a person’s devotedness to God, than the inward frame of his
mind. When God calls upon us to believe with the heart unto righteousness, no
outward action, such as fasting, or praying with an audible voice, or the
giving of our goods to feed the poor, or even the giving of our bodies to be
burned, will be accepted by him as a substitute for faith. On the contrary,
when God in his providence calls upon us to make confession of him before men,
no inward frame of spirit, neither faith, nor love, nor self denial, nor
heavenliness of mind, will be accepted by him as a substitute for our open and
visible adherence to the cause of his truth, and of his glory. In a time of
trial, a testing-time, it is not the reward feeling of loyalty to God, it is
the outward manifestation of this; it is not the image of God in the heart, it
is his “name on the forehead,” which proves an individual to belong to the
“called, and chosen, and faithful.” Apply these remarks to the case in hand.
Praying to God in the spirit was not prohibited, but only such prayer as came
under the observation of men. Persons were not interdicted from believing in
God, but only from rendering to him the outward acts of homage that were due
unto his name. The point, therefore, on which the authority of God and man came
into collision, was about the external acts of Divine worship. God had said “In
all thy ways acknowledge thou me, and I will direct thy steps.” Darius and his
nobles, on the other hand, said, thou shalt not ask a petition of God for
thirty days. In the present instance, therefore, loyalty to God could not be
evidenced by what was inward, but only by what was outward, not by believing
with the heart, but by confessing with the lips. The attitude of Daniel’s body
while praying, nay, the position of the windows of his chamber, was as
important in the sight of God as the inward devotion of his soul. If he had
shut his windows, if he had ceased to kneel, if he had ceased to speak to God
with his lips, and rested content with the utterances of the heart, this would
have been to homologate (approve, give assent to) the impious decree, and to
deny God before men. That edict invaded the rights of Jehovah, not by
prohibiting them from worshipping him in their hearts, but by forbidding them
to worship him with their bodies. Bodily-service was therefore the only
evidence of heart-loyalty to God, and worship that was purely spiritual would
have been looked upon as the homage of a coward and a traitor--of a man who
wished to serve two masters. Considering the weight of Daniel’s character, and
the importance of his situation, it will appear that a peculiar responsibility
attached to his conduct in this emergency. Any indecision, any appearance of
compliance with the decree, would have been productive of most baneful
consequences. We may learn, from the passage before us, that God sometimes
places his people in such situations that they must either sin or suffer. Learn
also, that when God, in his providence, couples our performance of any duty,
with circumstances of trial, the discharge of the duty thus circumstanced, is
the test of our fidelity. And we may learn, that even when the performance of
duty exposes to danger our adherence unto God should be open and avowed. (William
White.)
Daniel’s Prayers
Dean Stanley writes,--“Daniel is, to all outward appearances, an
Eastern sage rather than a Hebrew prophet. Well did the traditions of his
country-men represent him as the architect of Ecbatana, or even of Sura, as
buried in state--not, like the other saints of the captivity, in a solitary
sepulchre, but in the stately tower which he himself had built, in the tombs of
the Kings of Persia. Well did the mediaeval legends make him the arch-wizard
interpreter of dreams. Rightly did the Carthusian artist at Dijon represent him
amongst his exquisite figures of the prophets in the garb, posture, and
physiognomy of an Oriental magnate. Well did Bishop Ken, when he wished to
pourtray an ideal courtier before the Stuart Kings, take the man greatly
beloved: ‘Not of the sacerdotal but royal line; not only a courtier and a
favourite, but a minister--one that kept his station in the greatest
resolutions, reconciling policy and religion, business and devotion,
magnanimity and humility, authority and affability, conversation and
retirement, interest and integrity, heaven and the court, the favour of God and
the favour of the King.’”
I. DANIEL AS A MAN OF PRAYER.
It was his characteristic feature. How regular and stedfast he was in private
prayer. He was willing to suffer, but he would not give up his prayer. What a
strength for toil and duty he found it ever to be! Note his example of praying
in the very midst of daily business.
II. DANIEL AS AN INTERCESSOR.
So a type of Christ. He took up his nation’s burden on himself; made himself a
representative, and pleaded with God on the nation’s behalf. In the same way
good people now take upon their own hearts the troubles and sins of their
times, and speak to God just what the people around them ought to be feeling
and saying. Illustrate by the work of the High Priest, and of Jesus, our Great
High Priest. Without being appointed to the office, each one of us may become
an intercessor.
III. DANIEL AS A CONFESSOR.
Or as one who gives an example of making confession. This is the sign of
penitence and humility. Only when men have learned thus the lessons of God’s
judgments can his restorations come. How full, sincere, and hearty are Daniel’s
confessions! Observe that in our Lord’s prayers, or conversations, there is no
sign of confession. Explain why, and why confession is such a necessary part of
our prayer.
IV. DANIEL AS A PLEADER.
Especially dwell upon his example of importunity, as illustrating our Lord’s
parable of the unjust judge. The pleading is to be found in verses 18, 19 shows
how graciously God hears and answers such prayers as Daniel’s. (Robert Tuck,
B.A.)
The Way of Success in -Prayer
Ill success in prayer is so common that men scarcely know it is
ill success; they pray and nothing comes of it, so they are not disappointed.
They take fruitlessness as the rule, and do not travel back to ask why prayer
should be fruitless. In the history of opinion, Daniel has an unique place.
When we look to Daniel for teaching we look to a man placed by his own age,
which is apt to find out a man’s inconsistency, supreme in spiritual
achievement. What was, then, the meaning of Daniel’s ritual in prayer?
1. He sought to place himself in the presence of God. To look away
towards Jerusalem was to be delivered from servitude to the splendours of
Babylon by the apprehension of a greater splendour. We need to remember the
disadvantages with which we commonly start in our prayer; how disinclined our
spirits are, and how ill the common circumstances of life prepare us for it.
Our tempers have have been fretted, our interests scattered, our judgments
debarred; we have been meeting men on a low level of mutual mistrust, or in the
interchange of social frivolities. And all of this has to be got rid of before
prayer can have its perfect work. The larger soul in us must be called out,
that we may even see what the objects of prayer may be. There are prayers
offered which, without intention, exhibit every possible fault. They are
irrelevant to the situation, asking what is not needed, and omitting what is
needed; they are fretful instead of jubilant; their tone is distrustful, as if
God were trying to outwit us. And nothing can sweep such prayers away except
the noble use of memory. How can you thank God if you have not sought to
remember all His benefits? What could Daniel look to? One object filled the
hearts of all the Jewish patriots, a lamentable object. Their glorious city, of
ancient story, and solemn observance, was desolate. The city was a heap of
ruins; desecrated by sin first, and now by heathen conquest, and the land kept
Sabbath in an awful loneliness. And Daniel strained his eyes across the endless
plains, that sight filled his mind, and drew from him the importunate
cry:--“How long, O Lord? “ If his daily life furnished no other matter for
prayer, there was matter enough in this.
2. After exercise in the thought of the presence of God, there is no
discipline so necessary as this of letting visions of need rise before the
mind. There should be pity given to the man who says he does not know what to
pray for, and ampler pity for his neighbour who asks for what he does not want.
The world is full of need, and its cry rises continually before God, sounding
in the ears of all who can hear. There is no need of seeking or of refining in
petitions; one day of life brings us into contact with need of all sorts--the
helplessness of little children, the sigh of men overtasked, the care which has
furrowed the brow and bent the shoulders, the satisfaction with a selfish life,
the servitude to evil passion; there is no crushing the images of need which
flit past our eyes even in the street. And a little thought deepens the awe; in
ourselves we know so dark a world of discontent and defeat, of reproach and
fruitless effort, of fear and sin, and all the men and women about us repeat
the same story. And outside is a whole world of gloom, of life without colour
or joy, of men without God or hope. And rising a little, we see to the farther
horizons embracing the great world which does not know the very name of Christ,
and which is full of horrid cruelties. We may not shut our eyes to it in
prayer; the world needs joy. And as we watch like Daniel, the thoughts of that
overwhelming need thronging in upon us will wring from us prayers rising to
passion. To have all that sorrow pressing on our heart would bring madness with
it; our comfort is in being permitted to share the burden with Him whose heart
is pierced as ours, and who by His strength has marked for it all a blessed
end. (W.M. Macgregor, M.A.)
Prayer better than life
God’s people are not often found in the high places of the earth.
They do not covet such distinctions. But when he is
pleased to call them to posts of worldly honour, he gives them
strength according to their day. Daniel’s elevation was remarkable. What a
testimony do worldly men sometimes give to the value of religious characters!
Darius the Mede soon found out his value. But he had enemies. He had only one
vulnerable point--one point in which his character was open to attack from an
ungodly world. His enemies said, “We shall not find any occasion against this
Daniel except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.’” What a
testimony did these men give unconsciously to the character of him they hated.
But how could these men make Daniel’s religious character a handle against him?
Explain their ingenius plot. How did Daniel meet it? He was a man of prayer--he
lived by prayer--he was frequent, fervent, zealous in the exercise--his hours
of prayer were his most precious hours--and as for parting with this privilege,
as for laying it aside for thirty days together, he would sooner part with life
itself. Let worldly people plead necessity as an excuse for interrupting their
devotions; the godly man knows no necessity so great as that of seeking God
from day to day. Might not Daniel have evaded such a law as this, by praying to
God in secret? He evidently felt that this was an occasion to show that he was
not ashamed of his religion, and not to be deterred from it. He would not even
seem to be obedient to a wicked law which went to rob the God of heaven of the
worship due to him. Note the description given of Daniel’s prayers. One thing
to remark, upon, is their frequeney--three times a day. Another thing is, he
prayed before his God--prayed as in God s presence, as one who was really
speaking to his God. Daniel’s prayers were attended with thanksgiving. This is
the Apostle’s rule. Philippians 4:6). Notice his posture.
“Kneeled.” A posture surely best befitting creatures like ourselves when we go
as beggars to our Great Creator. Daniel prayed with his face toward Jerusalem.
That circumstance in his devotions we are not called to imitate. The rule for
us to follow is to have an eye to Christ in all our prayers. The rest of
Daniel’s history is a grand exhibition of what the Lord can do both in his
saints and for them. Questions.
1. What do you think of Daniel?
2. What do you think of Daniel’s God? (A. Roberts, M.A.)
Fearlessnes and perseverance in prayer
Daniel made no secret of his prayers; he might have made excuses
to his conscience, he might have said to himself that during those thirty days
it would be better for him to pray without the possibility of being observed;
to keep up his prayers secretly, and avoid openly breaking the King’s decree.
But Daniel was too honest to make to himself any such false excuses; he was not
ashamed to confess his God openly. He prayed and gave thanks before his God.
Faithful as Daniel was to the King, and attentive as he was to his interests,
there was a point at which his obedience stopped. In all worldly matters he was
ready to give way, but once bid him dishonour his God, and he was instantly
inflexible. No love of worldly prosperity, no fear of human punishment could
shake him. Here you see the secret of Daniel’s character. He was a man of
prayer. Daniel knew what it was to draw near to God--day by day to live in his
presence--to look up to him--to seek his favour and protection--to make him and
not man the standard to which he referred allhis thoughts and words and
actions. This has ever been the mark of the saints of God in all the ages. And
if there is any true life in our soul, we also shall live in the constant habit
of prayer. Consider what prayer is. It is the link which connects us with the
next world--with the unseen yet ever present God, in whom we live and move and
have our being. Once give up prayer, and you cut yourself off from God, you
create a silence between your soul and God, you become a stranger to God, and
God Ceases to speak to you. But if we are really in earnest about our prayers,
we may be quite sure that the devil will raise up obstacles in our path--that
he will endeavour to hinder us in one way or another. Sometimes he tries to
frighten us. But why should any of us be ashamed of our religion, or of saying
our prayers? Sometimes it will seem to people that they have not time to pray;
that their duties are so numerous, and so pressing, they have no leisure, no
time to themselves. This is almost certainly a false excuse. It is entirely
their own fault that they do not find or make time. Our time, really, very much
depends on ourselves. If it is the ease, that we have very little time we can
call our own, yet let us do our diligence gladly to give God of that little.
There are those who complain that they are much hindered by wandering and idle
thoughts in prayer, and perhaps they are tempted to think that it would be
better to leave off praying than to go on in spite of the thoughts which
trouble them in their devotions. But something may be done in this matter by a
vigorous effort on our own part; a great deal lies in the power of the will.
There are others who are tempted to give up prayer, because they do not, as
they say, find such comfort and enjoyment in prayer as they expect. They cannot
attain a sense of God’s presence; they seem dull, and cold, and lifeless in
their prayers. This may be the effect of some sin or self-indulgence, and if
so, the remedy lies in greater strictness of life, and watchfulness over self;
but it may be also that it is a trial sent by God to test their faithfulness.
Let them persevere. And let us not be discouraged if God does not at once
answer our prayers--if we ask, and for a time receive not. It is certain that
God hears every prayer addressed to him. He will be sure to answer, in his own
wise way. You can scarcely go wrong, if you continue instant in prayer; if you
give up prayer you enter on the road which leads to destruction. Let nothing
then be allowed to hinder you from your prayers. (S. W. Skeffington,
M.A.)
The Characteristics of Daniel’s Piety
Daniel was equally distinguished for probity in his secular
calling, as for fidelity towards God. If you would act your part well on great
emergencies, it is necessary that you should attend to everyday duties. To
overlook them is at once a proof of something radically defective in the
judgment and character.
I. THE REGULARITY OF HIS DEVOTION.
In a man of leisure this praying three times a day would have been less
remarkable. Daniel was not in private life. But, without being neglected,
business was made to yield to piety. Prayer, so far from increasing his
difficulties, was his consolation under them. It is the mental inquietude of a
life of business which much more than bodily exertion tends to oppress the
faculties.
II. THE PLACE OF HIS DEVOTION.
It would have been less wonderful had Daniel been thus regular in religious
observances at Jerusalem. There were all the incitements which place and
example supply. But the unpropitious character of Daniel’s situation did not
influence him in the discharge of his duty.
III. THE POSTURE OF HIS DEVOTION.
No particular attitude is essential to the acceptance of the petition of a
sincere suppliant. If the inward, spiritual qualities essential to devotion are
wanting, it matters not what are the outward positions. But everything should
be avoided that savours of irreverence, or which is incompatible with fixedness
of mind in devotional exercises. Kneeling is well suited to the nature of the
exercise--prostration of body will correspond with humility of mind!
IV. THE HEROISM OF HIS DEVOTION.
It was the heroism of the confessor and martyr rather than of the soldier. Apparently
reasonable excuses for yielding a little in this matter of prayer might have
been found. Daniel allowed no weak accommodation to circumstances. We are not
to do evil that good may come. Disobedience to what God enjoins, can never be
required in order to the fulfilment of his purposes.
V. THE GRATITUDE OF HIS DEVOTION.
He “prayed and gave thanks.” Prayer has been well defined as the “offering up
of our desires to God, for things agreeable to his will, in the name of Christ,
with confession of our sins, and thankful acknowledgement of his mercies.” The
situation of Daniel might appear, at first sight, ill adapted to the exercise
of thanksgiving, however proper on fitting occasions, that duty might be. But a
devout heart will discover reasons for gratitude when others can perceive
nothing but occasions of lamentation. No condition of life is really so
disastrous as to be incapable of suggesting motives of thankfulness to a
spiritual mind. For the stream of life has always its interminglings of
alleviation and comparative good. He could think of past mercies; and that he
had been kept by divine grace. And he could be thankful for an opportunity of
bearing witness to the religion of the God of Israel. Improvement.
Daniel’s Daily Prayers
Daniel is one of the brightest and loveliest characters of
Scripture biography. He seems to have been the only prophet who enjoyed a large
share of worldly prosperity.
I. THE DEVOTIONS OF DANIEL.
1. The character of his devotion. In token of his humility, and of
his veneration for the divine majesty whom he approached, he kneeled on his
knees. See also his confession of sin; recognition of the divine mercies; and
pleading importunity. Daniel’s prayers were pious and patriotic. They were
accompanied with thanksgiving. Praise is comely.
2. The scene of Daniel’s devotions. His chamber. He chose seclusion:
yet his windows were open towards Jerusalem. Not that he courted attention, but
that he conformed to the established mode of Jewish devotion.
3. The seasons of his devotion. Three times a day. Prayer is a
preparation for our every-day duties in life. Daniel is an example to men of
business.
II. THE SPIRIT IN WHICH DANIEL MAINTAINED HIS DEVOTIONS.
He was faithful to his God and his religion. The Prime Minister was not compelled
to profess the State idolatry. Daniel acted most advisedly. His spirit was one.
1. Of enlightened piety. Martyrdom he held preferable to the
suspension of his hallowed communion with God.
2. Of courage. He feared God, and none but God. He braved all dangers,
uninfluenced by the favours of his royal benefactor. Allowing no temporising
considerations. His was the courage, of piety.
3. Of prudence. He did not invite persecution. Nothing insolent,
nothing ostentatious, nothing disloyal, was in Daniel. He obeyed the monitions
of conscience. He prayed, as before.
III. THE RESULTS.
1. To Daniel.
2. The spread of Jehovah’s honour. The name of the living God is made
known in all the empire.
3. The restoration of Judah followed the prayers of the faithful; e.g.,
of Daniel. (W. L. Thornton, M.A.)
Daniel at Prayer
1. DANIEL’S DEVOTIONS. He prayed.
Prayer is said to be a calling, crying, knocking, seeking, asking, making
supplication, pouring out of the heart, lifting up of the soul, lifting up holy
hands, making intercession, etc. Daniel
1. Humbled himself when he prayed. The being whom we address, the
circumstances in which we stand, the punishment we deserve all serve to inspire
us with humility.
2. He confessed his sins, and the sins of his people, when he prayed;
So did David and Jeremiah. This is the most effectual way to obtain pardon.
3. He deprecated punishment, and implored mercy, when he prayed. Sin
deserves punishment,--God might justly pour out his indignation upon us. We
have no appeal but to his mercy, through the blood of the covenant.
4. He pleaded with God when he prayed. We may plead with God also;
plead his mercy, his promises, the sacrifice of his Son, and his glorious
intercession in heaven.
5. And Daniel gave thanks. We can always find reasons and subjects
for thanks to God. Daniel thanked him for what he was in himself--for what he
did in the kingdom of providence, and for what he had done for him.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH HE PERFORMED THEM.
1. He went into his house, and into his chamber. The Jews were
accustomed to set apart rooms as oratories, or places of devotion. Each house
had generally one of these rooms, a chamber, most removed from noise and
disturbance. Retirement is necessary to prayer.
2. He prayed and gave thanks three times a day. He evidently had
stated times for private devotions.
3. He kneeled upon his knees and praised. The position of the body is
not of so much importance in devotion as the disposition of the mind. The
Scriptures sanction different attitudes of prayer.
4. He looked towards Jerusalem when he prayed. The meaning of this
will be understood by referring to the consecration of the temple. (Kings
8:44-48) Hence all those who were in Jerusalem turned towards the temple when
they prayed, and all those who were in foreign lands opened their windows
toward Jerusalem in performing their devotions.
5. Daniel’s prayers were regularly performed. “As he did aforetime.”
Inconstancy is the fault of multitudes. There was a decision of character, and
a uniformity of conduct, in Daniel, which all should be anxious to emulate.
III. THE PECULIAR CIRCUMSTANCES IN WHICH HE
WAS PLACED.
1. Be was in a foreign land, far from his native country.
2. He was surrounded by the most; inveterate and designing men, who
meditated his ruin. Men who envied his popularity sought to find occasion
against him, and did their utmost to persecute him, even unto death. Yet he
maintained his integrity, stuck close to his devotions, and served his God with
a constancy that nothing could destroy.
3. He was in high life, surrounded with temptations to pride,
infidelity, idolatry, and a whole train of evils that swarm amidst the
splendours and dissipations of a court. But he was innocent from the great
transgression of apostatizing from God.
4. He was involved in most important business. He had the affairs of
a kingdom to transact. How often is the urgency and press of business made an
excuse for the neglect of religion.
5. He was prohibited from praying by a cruel, senseless and
atheistical decree. But nothing could shake the steadfast purpose of Daniel’s
soul.
IV. THE INFERENCES TO BE DRAWN FROM THE
WHOLE.
1. Whoever you are, and wherever you live, learn (if you serve God)
to prepare your heart for temptation. Enemies you have. Temptations you must
endure.
2. Whatever snares may be laid for your feet, never swerve from the
line of duty.
3. The way of duty is the way of safety.
4. Persecutors often defeat their own object.
5. The wicked are snared in the work of their own hands. (Sketches
of Four Hundred Sermons.)
Daniel in Prayer
We have here recorded an action of great piety and religious
courage. The account here given of the prophet’s piety, who “kneeled upon his
knees three times a day,” is a description of his religious exercises, not only
for thirty days, but during, his whole life. “He prayed, and gave thanks, as he
did aforetime.” And upon this knowledge of his usual and daily course of
devotion, the plot of his enemies was founded. We here see a person of great
endowments of nature, and improvements of learning, eminent for skill in civil
and sacred affairs, taking more delight in the humble exercise of prayer, than
in all those high speculations of science for which his mind qualified him; or
in the public honours, to which has station entitled him; or in the ease and
repose, which his great age seemed to require, in the vacancies of business.
For this exercise, he allotted a considerable part of every day; and seems to
have made his high offices, and large employments, a reason for increasing,
rather than an excuse for omitting his prayers. Another thing that offers
itself to our consideration, is the firmness and deliberate courage of this
good man. His usual exercises of devotion were now under the interdiction era
law, and he was not one of those who pay no deference to the laws of men: the
proper power of the magistrate he allowed, but not that of commanding what God
forbade, or of forbidding what he commanded. The firmness and fortitude are
shown in his continuing in all simplicity his fixed prayer habits. He retired.
He kneeled. He did this three times a day. He both prayed, and gave thanks. (T.Townson,
M. A )
Constacy in Religion
It is peculiarly pleasing and useful, to be able to contemplate an
instance of genuine, decisive, impartial, persevering, unrebukable religion
before God and the Father. Such an one we have in Daniel. He had doubtless his
infirmities; for there is not a just man upon earth that doeth good, and
sinneth not; but nothing is alleged against him. I do not remember that any
other individual recorded in the Scriptures has entirely escaped censure.
I. THE EMPLOYMENT OF DANIEL.
It was pious. He prayed and gave thanks before his God. He was not one of those
who are satisfied with morality without godliness. He well knew, that our
greatest connections are with God; and that with him we have principally to do.
He was a good neighbour, a good citizen, a good master and a good magistrate;
but this did not excuse him from the worship of God.
1. He prayed. Prayer is the breathing of the desire towards God.
Words are not essential to the performance of it. The expediency, the
necessity, of prayer, results from our indigent, and dependent state. We need
mercy and grace. God has determined, and revealed, the method in which he will
communicate the blessings he has promised. In this appointment, his wisdom
appears as conspicuous as his sovereignty; and his goodness as clearly as his
wisdom. Nothing can be so beneficial to us as prayer is, not only by the relief
it obtains, but by the influence it exerts; not only by its answers, but by its
energy. Beyond everything else that is instrumental in religion, it improves
our characters, it strengthens our graces, it softens and refines our tempers,
it contributes to our spirituality, and promotes our holiness.
2. He gave thanks. This should always attend prayer. Whenever we go
to God for new favours, we should be careful to acknowledge old ones. While we
implore deliverance, we should be grateful for alleviations and supports. I am
sorry to say, that this is so commonly neglected. There is no state that does
not require gratitude. There is always much more to be grateful for, than to
complain of--however afflicting our circumstances may be.
3. Daniel did all this “before his God.” By which we are to
understand, that he placed himself in his religious exercises under the eye of
Jehovah, and realised his presence. When we engage in devotional exercise,
whether public or private, we are considered as withdrawing from the world, and
appearing more immediately before God. And to impress our minds with this truth
is the way to secure our profit. It will banish hypocrisy, and formality and
carelessness; and unite our hearts to fear God’s name.
II. THE CIRCUMSTANCES OF THE ACTION.
1. As regards the place. “He went into his house.” Every house not
only may be, but should be, a house of prayer. In every family there ought to
be an altar. And Daniel worshipped God alone, in privacy.
2. The posture. “He kneeled.” Though “bodily exercise profiteth
little,” God is to be glorified in our bodies, as well as in our spirits.
Kneeling seems to be the most proper and advantageous posture of devotion. It
preserves us more from distraction, it is more expressive of reverence,
humility and submission.
3. The direction in which he performed his devotion. His windows were
open towards Jerusalem. Here we see the love a pious Jew bore to his native
land, and the city of his solemnities. He hoped for the release and restoration
of the Jews. Hence in his prayers he always remembered Zion, and would give God
no rest till he established, and till he made Jerusalem a praise in the earth.
A public spirit is a great excellency.
4. The Frequency of the exercise. He did it “three times a day.” This
is little enough, considering the demand, “Pray without ceasing.” Habitual
devotion is what we should seek to maintain; but, with many people at least,
that which may always be done, is never done.
5. The constancy and invariableness of the practice. “As aforetime.”
There was nothing new in it. It was not an extraordinary fervour, produced by
the spur of the occasion. It was not occasional impulse; but the regular
effects of principle and disposition. Daniel was a man of vast business but he
could find time for prayer--three times a day.
III. THE KNOWLEDGE THAT ENHANCED THE VALUE
OF THE PERFORMANCE. We all know that an action we admire, would
not discover the same degree of principle in all circumstances. When a man is
surrounded with honour and applause--then--to think of himself soberly--this
evinces his humility. When a man is insulted and injured--then--to rule his own
spirit, and render blessing for cursing--this marks his patience and meekness.
When a man sees his danger, but says “none of these things move me,” this is the
trial and the triumph of his conviction and resolution. Daniel knew that the
writing was signed, yet he determined to stand his ground. Whence we learn,
that no danger should hinder a man from doing his work. Some, no doubt, would
press Daniel to yield. Some would plead loyalty. Some would plead usefulness.
Some would have recommended a plan of accomodation. When Sir Thomas Abney was
Mayor of London, he made no scruple at the Lord Mayor’s feast, to rise in the
evening and inform the company that he was going to withdraw, to perform the
worship of God in his family, after which he would return again. Daniel by his
example, rendered himself peculiarly useful. He obtained by this example the
most distinguished honour. Whatever the world may think, there is a reality in
religion; and it more than indemnifies its followers. (William Jay.)
On the Devotions of Daniel
Daniel, as his enemies expected, honoured God rather than man, set
at nought the imperious mandate, and punctually performed his accustomed
devotions with a fearlessness of the results that did him honour.
1. THE COURAGE AND
STEDFASTNESS OF DANIEL.
Christians in any state, should, to a certain extent, submit, for the sake of
quiet, even to overstrained demands, and to regulations which their judgment may
disapprove. Yet there are bounds to this forbearance; and a faithful servant of
God will be content to endure any extremities, though with due reverence to the
powers that be, sooner than comply with orders that violate conscience, or that
clash with the discharge of paramount and higher duties.
II. THE RETIREMENT OF DANIEL, AND HIS SPIRIT OF DEVOTION.
What was his moral regimen? Retirement. Three times a day he withdrew into
solitude, to compose his thoughts, to plume his ruffled spirits, to adjust his
principles, and to commune with his God.
III. THE TOPICS OF HOLY DANIEL’S MEDITATION AND DEVOTION.
There would be direct reflection towards his active services; for he would
judge contemplation to be preparatory to usefulness, as the leaves precede the fruit.
This eminent example is pregnant with various instruction. Note the courage and
stedfastness, the importance of devout retirement, which is the nursery of
genius, the school of meditation, the forge of profound thought, of lofty
enterprise, and of solemn purpose. Note also the religious turn of Daniel’s
meditations. Indicated by his looking towards Jerusalem as he prayed. (J
Grant, M.A.)
Daniel in Babylon
The text states the result of the scheming of his enemies, so far
as Daniel’s conduct was concerned. He altered not his course in the smallest
degree. We observe in him no levity; no sarcastic defiance of the unrighteous
law; no vain boasting of his superior religious knowledge; but a calm, serious,
steady perseverance in the worship of God, which he knew that he could not
neglect without exposing himself to a punishment infinitely more terrible than
any that the courtiers of Babylon could devise, or the King of Babylon inflict.
I. THE NATURE OF DANIEL’S DEVOTIONS. “He
prayed, and gave thanks before his God.”
1. He prayed of all religious duties there is not one that is more
important than prayer. It is, in fact, essentially connected with the origin
and progress of personal goodness, with all spiritual blessings and enjoyments;
and with the right discharge of our several obligations. Prayer is the grand
means of receiving acceptance with God, and a participation of his holiness.
The promises of Scripture are addressed to our faith, and their fulfilment is
granted to persevering and believing prayer, and to that only. Numerous are the
duties enjoined on us by the law and gospel of God. We cannot render to him
acceptable obedience but under his gracious aid; nor will that aid be
vouchsafed but in answer to prayer. Various are the evil influences which are
perpetually erected upon the minds of good men, to draw them aside from the
path of obedience. By the power of God only can they be preserved. The
seasonable interposition of that power is to be sought in earnest prayer. Many
are the sorrows connected with our present state of probation. Only by prayer
can these afflictions be sanctified. It is by prayer especially that the people
of God express their sympathy with the general misery of the world. Man was
created for intercourse and communion with God. Whatever may be the dictates of
what is called “natural religion,” the revelation which God has made of himself
in his word directly tends to impress the minds of men with the necessity of
prayer, and to encourage them in this holy duty.
2. He “gave thanks before his God.” Thanksgiving to God is a very
delightful part of religious duty, and one which always accompanies the excuse
of true prayer. The men who pray aright receive many blessings from God; and
these kindle their hearts feelings of lively gratitude to the Giver of all
good. The spirit and habit of thanksgiving to God are peculiar to those who,
being born from above, are made new creatures. Thanksgiving to God refers to
the benefits which we have received from him. These benefits are numerous beyond
calculation; they are inconceivably great; and they are all absolutely
unmerited and free. Daniel’s thanksgivings were not interrupted by any of the
calamities that he met with.
II. THE MANNER IN WHICH THEY WERE
PERFORMED.
1. They were performed in his chamber. He courted not the public
attention. There are sins, imperfections, wants, and temptations, of which we
are individually conscious, and which it is our duty fully and freely to
confess to God; yet many of them it would be highly improper distinctly to
specify, either in the domestic assembly, or the public congregation.
2. His devotions were performed on his knees. No wise man will
despise the outward decencies and proprieties of divine worship. With reverence
end humility all our attitudes, the very tones of our voice, should strictly
correspond.
3. Daniel performed his devotions with his face towards Jerusalem.
Partly because of his affectionate regard for his native land. It seems,
however, to have been a common Jewish custom.
4. His devotions were performed with frequency and regularity. This
is a proof of sound wisdom, as well as of an eminently devout spirit.
5. His devotions were performed with unswerving fidelity and
perseverance. The history of Daniel presents
Christian Firmness
Daniel was a man greatly beloved of God. Though an unbending
advocate for truth and righteousness, though a thorough opposer to idolatry, he
was raised by a holy providence to the first station under the Persian Monarch.
It is worthy of notice that the ungodly ordinarily assail the servants of the
Most High, in those particulars respecting which God has claimed their
services. Obedience to the moral law, or to any positive statute of Christ’s
Kingdom, has often been an occasion of calling forth their severe censure, and
awakening a determination to overthrow them. There was one characteristic of
Daniel which had not escaped the knowledge of these presidents and princes.
They knew that he was a man of prayer, They understood that he was so attached
to his work, as not easily to be driven from it. They supposed that he could
not live thirty days without prayer. You will readily see what opinion the
Babylonian idolaters had of the piety of Daniel. Here was a time when the mind
of Daniel must have been brought to look distinctly at the consequences of
perseverance in calling upon God. He could look forward to the day when, from
his high elevation in the government, he should be taken and cast alive into
the den of lions. See how he might have reasoned with himself, and excused,
yielding, and giving up his prayer habits for a time. He might have adopted the
opinion that, under such circumstances, compliance with forms is not essential.
But the prophet could not be turned aside from true worship of Jehovah. He
never seems to have sought for a way in which he might evade, on the one hand,
a full performance of his duty to God, and on the other, the vengeance of
Babylon. It is as impossible to have a spirit of prayer, which does not put its
possessor into the attitude and the work of prayer, as it is to have a
principal of natural life which does not set the heart to beat, the blood to
circulate, and the limbs to move. Prayer should ordinarily put into undivided
and combined use the feelings, the thoughts, and the tongue. This last was the
manner in which Daniel prayer. Will you now go to Daniel’s God, and take him to
be your God? The care which he showed to Daniel, the protection which he gave
to this servant in an hour when the ungodly rushed upon him to destroy him,
ought to commend him to your affection and confidence. He is worthy to be
believed, obeyed, and adored. To those who call on his name, he will surely
reveal himself in hours of calamity and distress. But remember the example of
the prophet and walk in his steps. In some respects the lives of the saints
illustrate portions of duty, which could not be exemplified by our Lord Jesus
Christ. Though Jesus was a perfect example of obedience to the law, and in this
respect ought to be followed, yet he could not be a pattern of the exercise of
the Christian graces, for he had no occasion to repent, believe, or humble
himself for sin. But all these Christian graces are illustrated in the feelings
and actions of the ancient saints; and hence they are set before us everywhere
in the New Testament as examples. While you meditate on this wonderful man, and
on his wonderful deliverance, walk in his steps. Be neither intimidated, nor
flattered, nor deluded into an abandonment of such prayer as that of the
prophet. Let the warmth of internal piety control, and bring them into the work
of supplication; and as it flows forth, let it employ your members as
instruments of righteousness, and let your tongues call upon God, and speak his
praise. (J. Foot, D.D.)
The Efficacy of Prayer
To be prepared for the future, and to make some provision against
the contingencies and misfortunes of life, is a duty, the propriety of which we
all admit. The same principle operates on most of us with regard to religion.
We have a consciousness, a conviction that existence does not terminate with
death, and therefore to the prudent and thoughtful the future seems to demand
the most anxious attention and most careful preparation. There is, therefore,
in most minds, a desire to secure some ground of hope, some interest in the
favour of that great and awful Being into whose hand we are again to commit the
disembodied spirit, and who regulates all the affairs of the world, and the
business of life. It must be the height of human felicity to have in addition
to other grounds of confidence, the persuasion that we are under the mighty
guardianship of God, and have, in the assurance of his power and love, a remedy
for those evils which are beyond bureau control. Christ came to sweep away at
once every obstacle and every doubt as to the character of God. We require you
to associate God with all your affairs, to look to Him in all your distresses,
to rely upon Him in all your difficulties. The Almighty is just what the
psalmist describes when he calls Him a “refuge,” and a “very present help in
trouble.” Man, from his circumstances and necessities, is constantly in need of
such a refuge, of timely aid, of present help. It is of importance to know how
this assistance may be reached, how this shelter may be secured. The answer is
simple and obvious, by prayer. Prayer is the password which admits us into the
presence of God; prayer is the spring which sets in motion the beneficent
machinery of the invisible world, the summons which stirs the throng of
ministering spirits, and causes them to rush down to our rescue. Prayer is the
putting forth an appeal which, though weak in its argument, is irresistible
with God, which moves Him at once to exercise His power on our behalf, and His
mercy in our salvation. Daniel came to be placed in circumstances of great
danger, and had a wonderful escape. The enemies of Daniel were just those which
everybody finds who is in a better position than his neighbours. The charm
which he employed, the miraculous help he called forth, was simply--“He kneeled
upon his knees, and prayed before his God, as he did aforetime.” Such is an
instance which the Scriptures supply, to show the power and success of prayer.
It only remains for me to urge you to acquire and make trial of the prayerful
gift. We are all more or less acquainted with the duty, but not many of us are
aware of its comfort and value. When a man’s heart is filled with the love of
God, he delights in prayer he derives his happiness from it. Prayer is with him
the breathing of the soul--the means by which he obtains his spiritual
food--the channel by which he carries on converse with his dearest and best
friend. What food is to the body, what sunshine is to the earth, what health is
to the sick, and joy to the sorrowing, such is the privilege and happiness of
prayer to the Christian believer. Hence Daniel would allow nothing to hinder
him from his prayers. He could bring himself to do without comforts and
luxuries, so as to live on pulse and water; he could afford the loss of rank
and honours, and the favour of his sovereign; he could even risk the peril of
the lion’s den, but he could not live without conversing with his God.” This
too is the custom, this the solace, of the true believer now. Whatever the form
of temptation which assaults him, whatever the sorrow that befals him, he can
find relief from all. If you approach him in prayer, all his power, and all his
goodness will be exercised on your behalf. (A. O. Wickstead, M.A.)
Secret Prayer
It has commonly been taught that prayer consists of four
parts--adoration, thanksgiving, confession, petition. There is a fifth part,
total surrender to God. If you would know whether there is anything in prayer,
try an experiment of prayer of the genuine sort. At a later stage of the
progress of the soul towards the attitude of the complete consent of all its
faculties to the supremacy of conscience, it usually happens that secret
meditation and secret prayer have been measurably reduced to a habit.. The time
then speedily comes when, not merely in glimpses of light, but with
considerable steadiness, the man desires to see the truth, even in relation to
his own most secret sins; a period arrives when he is no longer willing to feed
himself upon sophistries; he wishes to face the facts of existence as they are.
This wish is propounded when he is most completely alone, and most
penetratingly conscious of the Divine Omnipresence. The point to be proved is
the value of secret meditaton, and prayer. The single proposition by which the
point is proved, is that secret meditation and prayer have a peculiar
adaptedness to secure the commencement of continuation of Christian life in the
soul. This proposition is itself supported by four considerations.
1. Their peculiar adaptedness to promote religious thoughtfulness.
2. Their peculiar tendency to secure the supremacy of conscience.
3. Their peculiar adaptedness to preserve in the soul a sense of the
Divine Omnipresence.
4. Their influence is attested by all that is known of the inner life
of the best examples of religious experience among men. It is no new
theological doctrine that God changes the soul according to the laws of the
soul. (Joseph Cook.)
Daniel’s Time of Trial
1. In the eagerness of rationalism to discredit the Book of Daniel,
exception has been taken to the practice of praying at the three points of the
day. Such a devotional plan is said to have filtered from India “into the
neighbouring countries of the West,” and that not until Maccabean times. But
the objector had forgotten Psalms 55:17, or has to move it also to a
later date. To ascribe this praying thrice to a Parsee origin is to forget that
Parsee worship is a worship not merely at the turning-points of the day, but a
worship of those portions of time.
2. This chapter contains a vivid picture of human nature, corrupt
nature. The fact than Daniel was placed “above the presidents and princes”
excited their envy. But what a witness we have in Daniel’s integrity, that his
enemies could find nothing to lay hold of except “concerning the law of his
God.” Then the shadow creeps again across the scene; and the intoxication of
power, and the fascination of flattery and vain glory, is a sickening spectacle
of human folly and deceit. See how Daniel behaved under the circumstances.
I. HIS CALMNESS.
1. There was enough to call up resentment. He was marked out as a
victim by a secret cabal.
2. He did not angrily complain or demand any explanation. He retired
to his chamber and prayed to God.
3. Calmness is the result of confidence in God.
4. Prayer was nothing new; it was the prophet’s habit. The affairs of
state, and the vast concerns which demanded his attention, did not thrust aside
the claims of God. He found time for prayer, and turned to the fountain of
light for guidance in the discharge of his daily duties.
II. HIS DEVOTION.
1. Its regularity. “All nations and all faiths of cultivated men have
chosen the twilight hour, morning and evening, for their devotion.” Though the
midday prayer was not so general, yet pious souls at noontide refreshed
themselves with an act of divine communion.
2. The posture. Kneeling. The higher spirituality which affects to
disregard the posture of the body in acts of worship, finds no countenance in
the Scriptures.
3. The direction. “Toward Jerusalem.” Perhaps in obedience to the law
Deuteronomy 12:11), or to the Sotomonic
injunction (1 Kings 8:44). Thus reminded of
God’s promises.
III. HIS COURAGE.
1. The open windows are evidence that Daniel did not wish to hide his
actions.
2. His faithfulness to God is more meritorious when his history is
taken into account. Lessons.
Religion in a Busy Life
It is always interesting to catch a glimpse of the private life of
a distinguished man. A public career is seldom a revelation of character.
History is constantly reversing the partial imperfect judgments of a passing generation:
Heroes are destroyed or ennobled, as conduct is traced to its motives, and as
motives discover character. A single passage of Holy Scripture conducts us to
the private room of an Oriental statesman, and permits us to observe his daily
life.
1. We see a statesman at prayer. Prayer is the best evidence of
religion. Religion begins in the prayer of penitence, and it culminates in the
prayer of “fellowship with the Father, and with his Son, Jesus Christ.”
Therefore we have a right to conclude that Daniel was a religious man. He had
ever been loyal to God, and had ever enjoyed the restraints and encouragements
of religion. He held firmly to the religion of his ancestors. He was not
ashamed to be known as a godly man! His career was certainly a remarkable one.
The religion of the Bible, as we see it in Daniel, is adapted to a busy life.
Indeed, the concerns or occupations of a busy life demand the restraints and
encouragements which this religion imposes. Besides religion places the present
life in true relations to another the future life. Religion consoles us when we
are disappointed, and cheers us when we are sad, and makes us conscious of
God’s help and blessing, and teaches us the great lesson that to be is better
than to yet; to possess a noble character is the purpose of our existence. The
offering of a noble character is the best tribute that a mortal can render to
God, who creates, preserves, redeems, and sanctifies.
2. As we observe that the windows of Daniel’s chamber are open toward
Jerusalem. There the glory of God rested upon the mercy seat, which could be
reached only through the appointed mediation of the High Priest. The redemptive
idea was thus emphasized. Jerusalem was the city of redemption, because it had
the temple. The pious emotions of devout men turned instinctively to Jerusalem,
where the sacrifices were constantly offered. And through Christ we have access
to the Father. His redemption is a constant appeal. The redemptive element in
the divine character is always attractive. Men do not get very near to God, nor
do they ever keep very near to him, unless they feel the constraint of
redemptive love.
3. As we learn that Daniel is accustomed to kneel in his chamber
three times each day, we are impressed with the necessity of frequent and
stated seasons of prayer. Note the frequency and the regularity of this busy
man’s prayers. Have your stated seasons of prayer, and then believe that, at
any hour, and in any place, you may cry unto God, and that he will hear you.
4. As we watch the enemies of Daniel, who rejoice that they have
succeeded in their designs against him, we realise that the calm fulfilment of
duty will ever meet with opposition, which God is able to over-rule. When
Daniel knew that the work of his enemies was accomplished, what did he do?
Moved calmly forward with the momentum of his devoted life, entering his
chamber each day as usual, and praying there as he had been accustomed to pray.
The pressure of an emergency was not to be the occasion of his fall. He was in
God s hands. And the duty of prayer was evident. The conclusion of the whole
matter is, to bring God consciously into life; to live with reference to his
approval; to exercise a wise discrimination; to advance calmly but steadily; to
be religious in the market place, and in the parlour, as well as in the
sanctuary--such are a few of the lessons which we may carry away with us as we
turn from the Chamber of Daniel, and go again to meet the toil and the conflict
of a busy world. (Henry M. Booth, D.D.)
For Young Men
From this event in Daniel’s life we learn,
I. PRINCIPLE IS THE CENTRAL POWER OF LIFE.
The principle which distinguishes morally between men is a conviction of the
difference between right and wrong, ascertained on good grounds, and carried
out in the details of life. The orderly, irreproachable character of Daniel’s
behaviour in ordinary matters is remarkable. We sometimes meet people with
great principles who do not seem to have discovered the application of them to
their usual habits. It is by doing small and common things with uncommon care
that we form the habits by which the highest end is attained. Daniel’s conduct
was guided by principle. This will become plain if we notice where he lived.
His neighbours were pagans, and their scoffing jests, and unrestrained
licentiousness were at variance both with the profession and the practice of a
godly life. Mark also how Daniel was occupied. The common excuse for the
neglect of religious duties, that men have no time for them; strikingly refuted
by the instance before us. Then look at what Daniel was threatened with.
Principle must have had a strong hold of his heart to enable him to resist his
fears. There were so many loopholes by which a less resolute heart might have
escaped the danger. Seldom is a situation outwardly so sublime as Daniel’s; but
we greatly err if we forget that there are parallels to it on every side of us.
If there are no lions’ dens, there are the snares of business, and the power of
fashion, and the fear of the world’s laugh.
II. PRINCIPLE IS NOURISHED BY HABITS OF
DEVOTION. Daniel’s case not only enforces the duty of prayer, but
explains its nature, and in every aspect in which we look at him as he prays,
we are instructed by the sight. See what we learn about the manner of prayer.
The need of privacy and retirement. The attitude--kneeling. The frequency of
the praying. Observe what we can gather concerning the matter of prayer. In so
far as it consisted of supplication, we easily imagine what he would pray for.
He addressed God as “his God.” How instructive it is to learn that Daniel gave
thanks. Three thoughts in conclusion.
Let them try the good old plan of principle as the central power,
and prayer as the unfailing oil by which that principle is lighted. It was thus
that our ancestors made such strong men in contending for their faith. They
were men of one Book, and they were much given to prayer. Let young men take
with them faith in Daniel’s God, with prayer to Him as their Father and Friend,
and they will step forth to labour on the opening fields of life, hearing their
Master’s voice, “My son, go work to-day in my vineyard.” (A. MacEwen,
D.D.)
The Man of Prayer
Are we taught to pray that those good things which by nature we
cannot have, may yet by the goodness and peace of the Spirit be worked in us?
Then there is offered to us the life of Daniel--the man especially of prayer,
and by a consideration of the circumstances in which Daniel was placed, the
fidelity with which he persisted in supplication to God, and the deliverances which
were wrought for him, we learn how very much the prayer of the righteous
availeth, and that God is indeed both a hearer and an answerer of prayer. This
prayer was the characterising pecularity of Daniel.
1. No changes of life, or of abode, or of companions, could interrupt
or shake the constancy of his adoration to God, and his hourly sense of
dependence upon the Almighty.
2. Notice the
example which Daniel has set us in his habit of prayer. How frequently he
prayed. The posture he assumed in prayer. His indifference to the observations
of wicked men. In conclusion, I would explain what are the blessings which you
may look for, if you do imitate him (A. Gatty, M. A.)
The Force of Prayer exemplified in Daniel
Daniel appears from first to last to have kept innocent, and to
have done what was right before God. The explanation is in the text. Daniel was
a man of prayer. The Lord whom he sought upheld his goings. This was the secret
of Daniel’s strength, his habit of daily earnest prayer.
1. When Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his
chamber and set open its windows toward Jerusalem. That opening of the window
was a mark that Daniel kept true to the worship of his fathers, and was not to
be induced by any threat or promise, to go after other gods and serve them. In
this, he is a pattern to us.
2. The text says, he “kneeled upon his knees.” His custom was to
worship God with his body, soul and spirit; to omit nothing in his act of
worship, which might serve to express the earnestness of his supplication, and
the depth of his humility.
3. Notice the frequency of his prayer. “Three times a day.” At nine,
at noon, and at three in the afternoon. No doubt, Daniel lived a life of
constant communing with God; but, with this, he had fixed hours for distinct
acts of devotion. How is it then that we are found neglecting prayer? We might
all of us find a few minutes in every day, for lifting up our heart to God.
4. Daniel had long been in the habit of praying. He did now only what
he had been accustomed to do aforetime. Prayer was not a new thing to him--not
something taken up in haste, and on an emergency, but the regulardaily practice
of his life. This teaches us a lesson. If we are to know the privilege and
blessing of communion with God--if we are to have God always at hand for our
support and succour, we must accustom ourselves betimes to call upon him.
(R. D. B. Rawnsley, M.A.)
Daniel continuing in Prayer
There is an instance of true courage rising out of right
principles. It was not defiant, not obtrusive; but calm, cool, strong. Daniel
was eighty-five years old. Though great, he bowed before God. Though busy, he
found time to pray. Though wise, he did not escape envy.
I. LOOK AT HIS WORSHIP.
1. It was his established custom. Not commencing with the danger. Not
ceasing before the danger.
2. It was in his chamber. Where he retired into his individuality.
Where he returned to his nationality. Where he reverted to his inferiority.
3. It was on his knees. (18). So Stephen (Acts 7:60); Peter (Acts 9:40); Paul (Acts 20:36); Christians at Tyre (Acts 21:5); Solomon 1 Kings 8:54); Jesus (Luke 22:41). The attitude of humility.
The posture of reverence. The position of creaturehood.
4. It was towards Jerusalem. His Father’s God. His native temple. His
heart’s home.
5. It was three times a day. So David (Psalms 55:17). Punctuality. Continuity.
(21). Frequency.
II. LOOK AT HIS TEMPTATION.
The king asks no homage. The cessation only for a season. The conditions very
severe.
III. LOOK AT HIS SUPPORT. God
may interpose. If not, death sets him free for heaven. Whether he lives or
dies, God glorified.
IV. LOOK AT HIS DELIVERANCE.
His own heart cheered. Israel’s spirits raised. The monarch’s testimony given.
Jehovah’s name made known. The servant of God stands out in glorious contrast.
Flatterers, plotters, are round him. He in his integrity, sincerity,
simplicity, faith, has shamed them all. (John Richardson, M.A.)
Daniel’s Prayer-Chamber
People imagine that Daniel went into his house, and opened his
windows that everybody might see him. This was not the fact. To have done so
would not have been religious courage, but foolhardiness and ostentation. Such
conduct would have been mere bravado, a trifling with death. Religious courage
is a calmer, wiser, braver thing. In a warm climate, the windows would be, as a
matter of course, open, as we throw wide our windows in the summer. In later
times, perhaps at the time of the captivity, the houses of Jews were built with
an upper chamber, a room not in common use, a room in which to receive guests,
and to which the people of the house might retire for meditation and prayer.
Dr. Robinson’s description of the house of the American consular agent at Sidon
may help us to conceive aright of Daniel’s house at Babylon. “His house was a
large one, built upon the eastern wall of the city; the rooms were spacious,
and furnished with more appearance of wealth than any I saw in the country. An
upper parlour, with many windows, on the roof of the proper house, resembled a
summer palace, and commanded a delightful view of the country towards the east,
full of trees and gardens and country houses, quite to the foot of the
mountains.” Into such a chamber Daniel was wont to retire. Perhaps this was
known to be the habit of his life. The windows (similar to our venetian blinds)
were usually open, so they must be open now, for to seem to forego a duty or a
principle is to forego it! (H. T. Robjohns, B.A.)
The Necessity of Prayer
One of the first things we notice about Daniel is his persistence
in prayer to his God. He was a man, not of intermittent but of constant prayer.
In the Old Testament we find examples of prayer, but not express commands to
pray. Daniel not only prayed regularly, but he persisted in doing so, in the
face of the enmity of the great ones of the kingdom, in defiance of the very
edict of the Viceroy, Darius himself, and with the knowledge that he would be
exposed to great peril, perhaps to loss d life in consequence. Though he was
not actually a martyr, he was one in spirit, if not in reality. It is not
always easy to find sufficient moral courage to persist manfully in one’s duty
to God in the face of difficulties and dangers. The world in general attaches a
higher value to physical than to moral courage; but in this, as in so many
other cases, its judgment is quite wrong. There are sure to be many occasions
in our daily life, in which we shall all need this moral courage. Some of us
have it naturally in higher degree than others: but the weakest of us has a way
to obtain strength from God, in which he can clothe himself as in unpenetrable
armour--and that way is prayer. Another trait in Daniel is the unostentatious
manner of his piety. We do not read that he ever paraded his love of God before
the eyes of those who were around him, or that he made a show of it in public.
His religion was of that quiet and unobtrusive kind which insensibly wins the
hearts of those who behold it, and convinces them of its earnestness and
reality. The same spirit of modest and retiring devotion he showed all through
his life. It would be well indeed if Daniel’s modest and unobtrusive piety were
imitated more generally than it is now-a-days. We live in an age of deception
and sham. Men appear to have arrived at the conclusion that no success can be
achieved in any way without constant advertisement--self-advertisement. It
seems to have come to this--that no man is to be considered worthy of any
regard who does not trumpet forth his own merits in the loudest key. Not only
in public but in private there seems to be a lessening of that reverent respect
which should enshroud all that relates to God and his holy religion. There is
another lesson we may learn from the history of Daniel, and that is, that God
will not forsake those who truly love and worship him. But if we would have
Daniel’s reward, we must also have Daniel’s faith; and if some now-a-days think
that they are forsaken by their Heavenly Father, they must search and try their
hearts and see whether the fault be not their own, before they presume to doubt
the power of the Almighty to help them, for he will not listen to those who
pray to him to him with their lips and not their hearts, as he has commanded
them to do. The Jewish prophet did not try to temporise, to obey Darius and the
dictates of his own conscience at the same time--he saw clearly what his duty
was, and persisted manfully and honestly in carrying it out. Let us too try to
serve God with singleness of heart, and uprightness of purpose, let us be, as
Daniel was, prayerful, resolute, full of genuine and unostentatious piety, so
that we may have the continual countenance of God with us, as he had. (E.
Martin Venn, B.A.)
Piety and Business Compatible
This incident yields us a glimpse of the ordinary tone and temper
of Daniel’s mind. “As he did aforetime.” Piety gets reckoned sometimes as a
supernumery grace, as though, without it, religion could reach as fine a point
as is needful, practical, or practicable. The general scope of piety is not
hard to appreciate. It is a subjective matter. It relates less to what a man is
seen to do outwardly to relations than he is supposed to sustain inwardly.
Daniel’s piety betrayed itself by his thrice daily devotions, and otherwise. It
consisted not so much in his belief in God, as in his constant intimacy with
Him. He was a man whose integrity was beyond question; but quite beside this,
God stood near to him, and was very real and personal to him. Piety denotes the
holy affection with which we draw nigh to God, and in response to which he
draws nigh to us. The common disesteem of piety proceeds from its supposed
inutility. Character is rated as an utility, piety only as a luxury. Nowadays
the utilities and the humanities are sharply discriminated. Piety is treated as
a kind of annex to character. Another ground of the disfavour is that piety is
so easily shammed. Piety is a matter between man and God, and so can be assumed
with considerable ease and safety. But the greatest hindrance to piety is the
half-formed, suspicion, that piety, all things taken into account, is not
exactly practicable. Very likely we have not any of us got this matter so
exquisitely adjusted that we can both pray in such a way as not to lose
interest in our business, and do business in such a way as not to lose interest
in our prayers. There are two or three principles, in the recognition of which
all successful efforts at adjustment of piety and business will have to
proceed.
1. A Christian, to be such in anything like its New Testament sense,
has left him no choice to stop short of anything less than
spiritual-mindedness. Devoutness, prayerfulness, entrance into God’s intimacy,
or call it by whatever name you will, is not a thing that Gospel Christianity
can don and doff at its option. Christianity is not believing that there is a
God; it is believing God; and so, fresh from the start, it is a matter surely
personal between him and us. We begin to be Christians by drawing near to God.
If we are trying to be Christians without being spiritually-minded Christians,
we are attempting to compose the music of our religious life in a key nowhere
set in the Holy Word. Such piety is no matter of unpractical extravagance. And
our existence is not met by listening on occasion, to the devout supplications
and spoken communings of any who may happen to be standing in fellowship with
God. His spiritual-mindedness is valid for him, not for ethers. Devoutness is
not transferable.
2. Whatever our secular occupation may be, provided always it is a
proper one, that we are to thrust ourselves into with just the came intensity
of energy and heartiness of resolve! We shall never make a success of life, and
compose its contradictions, by entering into its business pursuits with
halfheartedness. It is in us, whatever vocation we have chosen, to enlist in it
all our powers. We run against ineradicable instincts when we do otherwise. Of
course, there is an extreme to which this might be pushed that would work
mischief. Much confusion has come from assuming that secular life and religious
life, necessarily work at cross purposes, so that what is taken from one is
added to the other. On the contrary, a man’s chances for holiness are bettered
by his laborious intercourse with things, as certainly a man’s chances in
business are enhanced by his intimacy with God. Piety regularly retrogrades
when it draws away from the business and contracts of secular life. Hermit
religion is spindling and stalky, like wheat grown in the shade. (Charles H.
Parkhurst, D.D.)
Daniel’s Piety
If we consider the prophet’s situation, it will surely teach us
much concerning both the frequency and the mode in which we ought to pray.
Daniel was in a heathen country. He had much and laborious occupation. His
situation was one of danger. The question now before us is not so much whether
we ought to pray, as in what manner we should fulfil this essential duty.
Remember that upon this occasion he was in much tribulation. Yet with all his
prayers he offered also a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving. Let us abhor
the sin of ingratitude. Perhaps you complain that the duties of your station in
life, duties which you cannot lesson or omit, render it impossible for you to
give that attention to those religious services which you feel to be due from
the creature to his Creater. Take a lesson from busy Daniel, O that we may have
his wisdom in discerning that no intensity of business can justify or palliate
the neglect of prayer and praise. Learn also that this man who prayed “three
times a day,” acted thus “as he did aforetime”; and our services should be systematic,
frequent, and persevering. There was no unusual fervour in Daniel’s prayers and
praises under these unusual and unexpected trials. If rule and system be
necessary to the success of worldly transactions, surely, we might infer their
important use in all the concerns of religion. As to the mode or manner of
prayer, we notice that Daniel, when he prayed, attended to certain forms. He
opened the windows of his chamber. He kneeled upon his knees. He looked towards
Jerusalem. Enough has been said to prove that, however willing Daniel was to
obey the laws of the land when not in opposition to the laws of God, he was
determined, if the case required, to die rather than dishonour his God; being
anxious only that God should be magnified in his body, whether it were by his
life, or by his death. (Beaver H. Blacker, M.A.)
The Character of Daniel
In every age there have been witnesses for God men who have stood
pre-eminent among their brethren for piety, rising above the ordinary level of
spiritual attainment, and shedding around them, in the midst of darkness, the
steady light of a holy conversation. The exigencies of times required that such
faithful witnesses for the true God should be raised up by a special
providence, should be qualified for the task assigned to them, and carried
through all its difficulties with credit to themselves, and to the cause in
which they were embarked. The histories of such eminent individuals are
preserved, on the imperishable record of inspiration, for the instruction of
future ages. Their examples are held forth as models of imitation; and in this
manner, “though dead,” they “still speak to the world and to the Church,” in
the language of reproof, of encouragement, and of faithful admonition. The
words of the text stand connected with a very distinguished character.
1. The history of Daniel. One of the children of the captivity, who
showed early signs of genius. A circumstance soon occurred which at once proved
the strength of his faith, and the supernatural character of his gifts, while
it brought him into notice, and paved the way for his future advancement.
Interpreting the forgotten dream of the king. His exalted station only rendered
his piety more conspicuous, and its practical exertions useful on a larger
scald. When Darius became King, he honored Daniel with high trust. Then came
the envious scheme to destroy him, which seemed to succeed. It was a scheme
characterised at once by impiety and absurdity. Daniel remained calm and
unmoved amid the dangers which now surrounded him. The paramount rights of
conscience and God, he fails not to respect. God defends his faithful servant.
The time of man’s extremity is often the time when God signally interposes in
behalf of his people, and at this particular time and place, a supernatural
testimony to the true religion, in the person of its distinguished
representative, was essentially necessary. The effect on the mind of Darius was
deep and powerful.
2. Lessons of practical piety, which the conduct of Daniel, in the
instance before us, is designed and fitted to furnish to our minds.
Daniel in Babylon
Never, surely did the spirit and power of devotion shine forth
with greater lustre, than at this time, in the person of Daniel, upon his
knees, in such circumstances. Nothing ever ought to make us omit our daily
devotions. It had been no wonder to have seen Daniel devout in Jerusalem. For
there was the temple, the true church and worship. But he was now in a strange,
heathen land. Perhaps, we think we have too much business upon our hands, to
spare time for our devotions. Time is very precious with most people, when they
are to perform their devotions; and if they have not enough for everybody, they
generally make free, in the first place, with their Creator. Let these men of
business consider the case of Daniel. It would puzzle one to conceive a man in
a situation that would afford him less leisure. Yet all this business did
Daniel discharge faithfully and punctually, and found time to pray, and give
thanks before his God, thrice every day constantly. And this he continued to
do, even when the law was passed, which made it certain death. We may learn
from this great example, as to the place, posture, time, and matter of our
daily devotions. Prayer and thanksgiving were the two parts of Daniel’s daily
service. Constancy in prayer can open the way to all blessings. (Bishop
Horne.)
Character aided by prayer
Evidently trials of moral integrity and earnest religiousness have
been as keen in days of old as in our own time; and the power whose tone and
force they embalm is a power which is available for us.
I. THE CHARACTER REQUIRED OF RELIGION IN
THE WORLD IS A COMBINATION OF FIDELITY TO GOD AND FIDELITY TO MAN--OR GODLINESS WITH UPRIGHTNESS.
There maybe fidelity to man where there is not fidelity to God; but we cannot
reverse this statement, and yet accord the truth. For a man to be faithful to
his Lord, and unfaithful or deceiving towards his fellow-men, is simply
impossible. The impenetrable gulf is, however, attempted. The man who fulfils
what is due to his fellow-men, and also that which is due to God--who wears the
worthiness belonging to morality, and the dignity belonging to spirituality--he
alone represents the true character of religion in the world. Like a stately,
tree, he strikes his roots downwards to draw all that is adapted to his life
from the soft; and spreads his boughs, and opens his leaves, to catch the rain
and the light of heaven. Such an one was Daniel. His enemies regarded him as a
servant of God so firmly attached to him, that he would endure any loss in
preference to being unfaithful. Surely such should be the views taken of every
religious man.
II. HIS RELIGIOUS CHARACTER IS OFTEN
DISLIKED. Daniel was no favourite with the other officers of the
Median despot. I do not doubt that the dislike was rather to his uprightness
than to his godliness. The secret homage which is paid to righteous proceedings
prevented those high officials from directly attacking Daniel’s administration.
They scheme to overturn it by means of his fear of God. Uprightness is
certainly worth something in our market, though it is not found at every stall.
It may be as well to add that there is often a qualification of this dislike,
in that worldly men are not always unwilling to use the consciousness and ability
of a godly man. In trying circumstances they are known to pass by their most
intimate friends and confide their cases to him who, by his fidelity to God and
man, has been a butt for their frivolity, yet compelled their respect.
III. THERE IS A WAY OF SECURING THIS
RELIGIOUS CHARACTER. Supposing a man to be the possessor of the
right character, how is he to maintain it notwithstanding all oppositions?
Undoubtedly by his help who has impressed the character upon him. One of the
methods he has chosen is prayer. Daniel was not wrongly judged by his enemies,
and his course sets prayer in its human aspect before us. How prayer keeps step
with the unswerving march of God’s established laws, neither Scripture nor
speculation determines. God enjoins, teaches, and hears prayer, and our concern
is more with the right employment of this mighty instrument than with the way
in which it operates on the government of God, if it is to be a support to
godliness and uprightness.
1. Prayer demands a decisive step. Daniel went to pray at once. He
went to pray undisguisedly.
2. Prayer must express various convictions. Daniel made it the medium
of showing dependence upon, and the gratitude towards God. He affords an
instance of the morally sublime. The conviction that God can help forms our
addresses to him into requests; the conviction that he has helped, and will
help, constitutes the framework of thanks.
3. Prayer should have suitable aids. Daniel kneeled, with his face
toward Zion.
4. Prayer should be frequent. Daniel set apart three times a day for
this exercise. And he did so, not under the pressure of threatening calamity,
but from a settled desire of his soul. (D. G. Watt, M.A.)
The Prayer of Daniel
When we contemplate the character of Daniel, one thing to be
remembered is, that by the grace of God he was what he was. He was not only a
moral and virtuous man, in the highest degree in which morality and virtue have
ever been displayed by men, but he was a man of spiritual godliness. With God’s
special grace, Daniel could not have been what Daniel was, any more than Paul
would have been what he became by grace. There was spiritual life in his soul.
Without the regenerating, and sanctifying, saving grace of God, you may be
amiable in your disposition and conduct, respected and honoured as useful
members of society, but you cannot, because you are such, conclude that the
life of God is in your souls. The chief points in the religious character and
conduct of Daniel are his courage and consistency. See in him the wide difference
between godly fear, and natural cowardice and terror. Godly fear was the very
thing which made Daniel brave and fearless? The true fear of God, is another
name for the love of God. This fear, this love, dismissed all other fear from
Daniel’s soul. If there is one situation more than another in which it is
difficult to hold peaceful communion with God, it is where we know and feel
ourselves to be watched by the eyes and ears of scoffers, who hate personal
religion, and ridicule prayer, and what they think overmuch righteousness. But
Daniel’s soul was able, resolutely and devoutly, to meet such circumstances,
and to rise above them; so courageous, so consistent, so calm was he in the
service of God, through the grace which was given to him. See also, in Daniel,
how the grace of God is able to preserve a man, as it did him, in the midst of
earthly prosperity and power, from the manifold snares which surround them. (Henry
S. Richmond, M.A.)
Verses 11-14
Daniel 6:11-14
Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with
himself.
The Nemesis of Flattery
Daniel sought neither publicity, nor avoided it. He was too well
acquainted with the methods of Oriental government to suppose that his
disobedience to the King’s decree could be concealed. Because he had given God
his, heart, he sought no evasions. He would have been untrue to his own
feelings if he had cared for his own selfish ease and safety more than for
God’s honour. But he made no parade, or ostentatious exhibition of his piety.
Amidst all the weighty cares and pressure of public business, this holy man
found time for regular prayer. (verses 12-14) Alas! Poor King! But a day or two
ago he had scaled the giddiest height of human ambition. His courtiers had made
him divine. Darius the infallible! It must be very trying to an infallible
personage to have any of the ills that flesh is heir to--such as a
headache--and not be able to predicate for certain what will cure it. There was
something worse here. These courtiers had snared Darius with his own vanity. So
much adulation for bait, and when it was taken the trap would fall, and the
King be caged. The Persian law rendered him impotent. He might repent, but
repentance availed nothing. As a rule this Medo-Persian law probably worked
well. It was intended as an obstacle to the too hasty enactment of a law. But
the tumultuous entry of the conspirators demanding leave to pay him extravagant
honour, was too much for Darius’s prudence. He fondly imagined that their
flattery was genuine, and that it arose from heartfelt respect for his great
qualities. And now he was “sore displeased with himself,” for he felt that he
had been weak indeed. He had let himself be duped. Our sins, and even our
follies, punish us with just retribution. For vain Darius there was
self-contempt. By a just retribution God uses our own vices and weakness as the
scourge wherewith He punishes us. Were we wise we should take the warning. But
it is in vain that the moralist warns us that only the edge of folly’s cup is
tinged with honey, and that the long drought which follows ever grows in
bitterness, and must be drained to the last foul dregs. But this, with us, is
not inevitable. We do not stand, like Darius, sorrowful, reluctant, displeased
with ourselves, labouring to escape, but with no outlet for deliverance. For us
Christ has died, and he is our way of safety, our door for admittance into the
fold of the free, and also our strength. He gives swiftness to the weary feet,
power to the feeble arms, peace to the aching heart. (Dean Payne Smith.)
Conscience at Work
Why this uneasiness? Is he afraid of foreign invasion? Does he
dread some internal rebellion or has disease assailed his constitution? No. His
uneasiness arises, not from his body, but from his soul; not from his kingdom,
but from his conscience. In the matter of Daniel’s condemnation, he had acted a
most unworthy, most unkingly, most unmanly part. No sooner is the act
completed, than his heart reproached him with his weakness, and his conscience
accused him of his sin. Why was he, on any account, accessory to the death of
an innocent man? Why did he suffer a faithful servant to be basely betrayed and
murdered? Why did he consent to tarnish his honour, to compromise his dignity,
by becoming the reluctant accomplice, and the degraded tool, of envious and
perfidious men? The more he broods over the matter, he becomes the more
excited, till the fever of his mind was communicated to his physical frame, and
rendered sleep impossible. From this we may learn, that sin, even when yielded
to from weakness, will leave guilt upon the conscience, which sooner or later
will cause uneasiness and pain. Conscience, it is true, may be so debilitated
and exhausted by habits of sin, that it may allow the sinner to lie long under
guilt without raising an accusing voice. God, however, can at any moment
quicken it by one single beam of light, and so kindle and inflame it, that the
most hardened sinners in Zion shall tremble, and fearfulness seize the most
seared and hardened among the hypocrites. And when conscience is once
quickened, the guilty man cannot escape from its accusations. Wherever he goes,
he carries his accuser in his bosom. And the conscience will never be truly pacified,
until it is sprinkled by the atoning blood of Jesus, and purified by the
sanctifying influences of the Holy Ghost. When in this state of mind, Darius
used no carnal methods to silence the voice of his inward monitor. He gave it
full scope. He communed with his heart in the night season. “Then the king went
to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of music
brought before him.” The conduct of this heathen king reproves many, who, when
their consciences are quickened by the word read or preached, or by some
dispensation in providence, use means to lull it asleep, such as pleasure, or
company, or dissipation. When conscience speaks, let us ever attend. Give ear
to her faintest whispers. Be not afraid to listen to her loudest accusations.
These may work your soul’s eternal health. Those times, when a man’s conscience
is specially awakened, ought to be regarded as constituting eras of
incalculable importance in his history as an immortal being. Let us, in such
cases, looking up to God for wisdom to guide, and for grace to strengthen,
endeavour to perform the first duty pointed out by the light which we have, and
in the way of doing so, we will ever see the light shining before us, as we
advance, and ever shining more and more, the farther we proceed. (W.
White.)
The Conscience of the Wicked King
Study the character of Darius.
I. HIS VANITY. He was proud
of his position and power. He was attacked on his weak side. He would not make
himself a god, but merely assumes God’s prerogative for thirty days. But the
one bad step brought its calamity; for sins are social--one of them is never
alone. One of his presidents would worship his God all the time. The king sees
the evil, but too late. He had done wrong, and he is now the slave of wrong. So
with every man. Selfishness is his weakness. If he gives way, the first stone
of his dungeon is laid. Then comes the unexpected evil; that one sin brings
another. In any crisis, small or great, when the question is between Christ and
ourselves, if we do not crucify self, we open the long avenues of guilt, of
which often there is no shutting afterwards.
II. HIS PERPLEXITY. The
king’s conscience is aroused. Daniel! he cannot do such a thing with him, he
must not do it. But he cannot help it. Surely Daniel can be saved. No--not even
that. Then comes the actual evil. He cannot go back, he must go forward. He
sinks lower, to sins of deed--weakness, cowardice, and even blasphemy.
III. HIS REMORSE AND GOOD INTENTIONS.
The king was sorry. Surely he was penitent. Now the tide was turned. Darius
makes a new decree: the God of Daniel must be served, and no other. But we are
not told that he turned to the Lord, that he learned His law, or kept it. So
with us when the cloud breaks and the passion has spent its force, then the
reaction comes, and repentance and remorse. If we repent partially, not
because we have sinned against God, but have disturbed our own conscience or
brought disgrace upon ourselves, if we are ready to go back to temptation
afresh, then a new cloud hangs, threatening night. Come, not to boast, but to
be forgiven; not to offer, but to receive. (W. Murdoch Johnston, M.A.)
And set his heart on
Daniel to deliver him.
Darius and Daniel; or the Necessity of an Atonement
Why could not Darius deliver Daniel? He was an absolute monarch,
and had the whole power of the realm at his control. His inability did not
arise frown a want of disposition. The king was most sincerely disposed to
deliver him, if he could. He passed sentence upon Daniel with great and evident
reluctance. There are many things which a monarch, however powerful, cannot
consistently perform. An absolute monarch may be so surrounded with checks and
restraints, that he has really less liberty than almost any of his subjects. He
cannot abrogate his own laws, or trifle with his own authority, or introduce
principles of administration which shall go to encourage transgression, or to
release his subjects from their obligations el obedience. There were but two
ways in which Darius could deliver Daniel. The one was by rescinding and
disowning his rash decree; and the other by forbearing to execute it, or, which is the same, by
pardoning Daniel. In the first case he would have dishonoured the law, and
disgraced himself for passing such a law. Could he not forbear to execute his
rash decree? Could he not give this beloved officer a full and free pardon?
Nay, he could not pardon Daniel, even if Daniel would consent to be pardoned,
without dishonouring his entire system of government, weakening its authority,
and exposing it to contempt. The consequence was, that the transgressor of the
law must feel its penalty, and Daniel must go into the den of lions. The case
of Darius and Daniel goes to illustrate another case, in which we are
personally and immensely interested. We are the rightful subjects of an
absolute Monarch--the mighty Monarch of the universe. He has issued good laws
for the regulations of our hearts and lives, and has annexed to them a just,
but a dreadful penalty. These laws we have broken; this penalty we have all
incurred. In what way can we be delivered? True, our Sovereign has physical
power enough to deliver us, for He is omnipotent. And He can have no pleasure
in our ruin, for He is infinitely benevolent. Still, there are some things
which He cannot with propriety do. He cannot deny Himself. He cannot disgrace
Himself. He cannot bring dishonour upon His holy law. He cannot do anything to
weaken His authority in the eyes of those whom He rules, anything to invite or
encourage transgression. How then are we, who have broken the law of God, and
incurred its penalty, to be delivered? The laws of God are perfectly good laws;
to set them aside would be inconsistent with His holiness. If God were not
infinitely wiser than men, and infinitely more benignant and merciful, there
would be no hope. What Darius could not do for Daniel, God has been able to do
for us. He has devised a way in which His holy law can be honoured, and its
authority maintained, and yet the penalty be remitted to penitent transgressors.
By the voluntary sufferings and death of Christ, in place of the transgressor,
the violated law has been honoured, and a way of deliverance opened. Sinners
cannot be saved without an atonement, and they can be saved in no other way
than by an atonement. (E. Pond, D.D.)
Verse 15
Daniel 6:15
That no decree nor statute that the king establisheth may be
changed.
Inviolable Law
These men were constitutional persecutors. They were
constitutional liars. Some men are nothing if not constitutional. They would
die for constitution; they dream of constitutional order: these men who are so
addicted to constitution precedent and usage could kill a man. That is the
difficulty we always have to deal with. You cannot convert a scribe: with man
this is impossible; with God all things are possible. Once let a man become the
victim of the letter, and the case is hopeless. See how these men deport
themselves: all for a law, nothing for a life; on the one side full of
constitutional obedience, on the other without feeling in reference to a human
soul, a brother’s life; only shed man’s blood, but keep the letter of the law.
The great complaint we have to make against this in all ages and countries,
that it has about it a taint of respectability. You cannot get at the scribe on
account of the scroll which he holds us between you and him.He is not worth
getting at. He has the law, the chapter, the verse, the letter; he has no
genius of law, no spirit of liberty, no inspiration and enthusiasm of human
nature. The thing that was given to him as a hint, a help, a temporary
assistance, is pressed so as to become an excuse, if not a defence, in the
matter of murder. The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath; the
law was made for man, not man for the law. We must take care how we throw
things out of proportion and perspective, how we overweight the one side or the
other; let us see what it is that is really involved: if it is criminality, it
must be put down; if it is a difference of judgment, if it is an exercise of
conscience, then we must see what relation the law has to such spiritual or
intellectual relationships and possessions and responsibilities. What is God
always doing? Setting law aside. That seems strange. Certainly, God must be
strange. God’s Government must be immeasurable in its inner thought, in its
outward relation; it must be under his hand; it must lie well within the sweep
of his omnipotence. (Joseph Parker, D.D.)
Verse 16-17
Daniel 6:16-17
Then the King commanded and they brought Daniel.
The Example of Daniel
It is the property of pure religion to invest the man who
possesses it with excellencies which bear no resemblance to the “fashion of the
world.” His ambition rises beyond all human distinctions. Those endowments of
mind and of character which arrested the admiration of Darius, and induced the
smile of his complacency, awakened at the same time the direful spirit of envy
in the breast of his courtiers, who could not endure to contemplate the rising
glory of the “man whom the king delighted to honour.”
1. The text records the sentiments of an inspired prophet respecting
the interference of human authority in the concerns of religion. Daniel
honoured the King, but would not render to him the homage which interfered with
the claims of God and the rights of conscience. Does it become Christians to
evince less of fortitude and firm decision of soul?
2. In the temper and conduct of Daniel we may learn how all good men
should act under the rod of oppression. To lawful authority obedience is due;
but to yield submission to the will of a capricious tyrant, arrayed in the
trappings of assumed and self-constituted authority, to a task dreadfully
irksome to a reflecting mind. Absolute power cannot govern the region of the
soul. If the Christian had power, he has no disposition to render evil for
evil. His temper is that of meekness, and peace, and goodwill towards men. He,
therefore, is not fitted to subvert establishments and to dethrone tyrants. His
spirit gives him patience to endure, but inspires no feeling of resistance; and
he prefers being made the victim rather than the agent of vengeance.
3. The case of the afflicted prophet reminds us how religious
persecution defeats its object, by extending the cause which it is intended to
repress. It was Daniel’s fortitude in subduing misfortunes, and his faith which
conquered death, that made his religion popular.
4. The holy fortitude and triumph of the persecuted prophet, show
that God affords support to his servants under the pressure of their heaviest
trials. (Chap. 6:16, 28) (S. Curwen.)
The Den of Lions
The precedency given to Daniel did not suit the mind of the other
presidents and princes for various reasons. They were still jealous of the
power of this foreign worshipper of Jehovah, and doubtless they were well
convinced that, so long as Daniel had the final authority over the treasury
accounts, there would be small chance for them to enrich themselves at the
expense of the king’s exchequer. They therefore immediately formed a plot for
Daniel’s overthrow. They perfectly understood that they could not sustain any
ordinary charge against this man of blameless character and spotless integrity.
So they resorted to craft. If Daniel was to be caught at all, it must be
through his religious fidelity. The light that had shone so steadfastly and
brilliantly in that great city for more than sixty years was not now to be
hidden under a bushel. He disdained to condescend to unworthy compromises or
cowardly evasions.
I. DANIEL DELIVERED TO THE LIONS.
In the delivery of Daniel, to be cast into the den of lions, we are reminded at
once of the similar fate which befell the three young princes, his early
friends. Darius had been more boastful in the decree which made him god for
thirty days, than had Nebuchadnezzar, who only ordered that his god should be
worshipped by everybody; yet he had less power than his more modest predecessor.
We cannot but reflect on the latent sarcasm involved in the boasted despotic
power of earthly monarchs. Their power is always absolute to do evil, but
limited to do good. Zedekiah could consent to the imprisonment of Jeremiah, but
said he had not power to deliver him out of the hands of the nobles, his
enemies. Herod had power to deliver John the Baptist to the executioner, but no
power to save him from the result of his rash vow. Pilate seemed to have no
power to save Jesus from his malicious enemies, but had power to deliver Him to
the cross. And so we might further illustrate this power for evil, this
impotence for good, when it is vested in the hands of the kings of the earth;
but these cases will suffice. It was thus that Darius exercised his power and
exhibited his powerlessness, when he ordered Daniel to be cast to the lions.
1. The king’s speech.
“Thy
God, whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee.” Thus he shifted
responsibility from his own hands upon the God of Daniel, whom he had denied.
So perhaps Herod hoped that somehow John the Baptist might be delivered out of
Herodias’ hands. So perhaps Pilate may have thought. Darius seemed not only to
desire that God would deliver Daniel, but had a strong hope that he would.
Perhaps Daniel had told him how, forty or fifty years before, God had delivered
his three friends out of the fiery furnace; for Darius seemed to know a good
deal of Daniel and his God. But this good-will, and even this gleam of faith in
the power of God to deliver his servant, did not excuse his own evil act in
delivering the innocent to death. If God does not interpose to frustrate our
evil doings or overrule them for good, that does not make our sin the less,
though it brings equal glory to God.
2. The double sealing of the den.--“And a stone was brought and laid
upon the month of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet and with
the signet of his lords, that the purpose might not be changed concerning
Daniel.” This reminds us very much of what the rulers of the Jews did when
Jesus was buried. Did these lords fear that somehow Daniel would come out of
that den of lions? It would almost seem so. There is always a fear in the heart
of those who fight against God that he will defeat them.
II. THE DISTRESS OF THE KING.
1. A troubled conscience.--“The king went to his palace and spent the
night fasting; and his sleep went from him.” It was well that he did so; though
it had been better had he boldly delivered Daniel. How often, when we weakly
yield to sin, and suffer the torture of an offended conscience, we try to
compensate for our sin by some acts of self-denial. If the fasting was a sign
of repentance, it was well; but if it was simply to ease the pain of
conscience, and seek in that way to atone for the evil, it was a mere mockery.
We are so often quick to sin and slow to repent; prompt in doing wrong, but
dilatory in making reparation. We are not sorry that the king had a bad night
of it. We have had bad nights ourselves, and know how he felt. On the other
hand, we cannot but think how differently the night was spent, by Daniel. Peter
slept quietly in his gaol while the angel was coming to deliver him; and Paul
and Silas waked the prison’s echoes with nightly song. Happy children and
servants of God, who can be at peace, can sleep soundly or sing gleefully in
lion’s den or prison’s dungeon, while the monarch persecutors spend nights with
tortured consciences in their splendid palaces!
2. A morning drive.--“The king arose very early in the morning, and
went in haste to the den of lions.” He could not spend the whole night in his
bed. With the first suggestion of dawn he was up and his chariot was ordered,
and he drove in haste to the place where Daniel was quietly reposing with the
lions and God’s angel. This indeed is a strange spectacle, for the monarch of
the world thus to be attending upon a condemned servant of God. The spirit of
God working in the conscience of Darius, compelled him to do the same thing; as
once before the fear of Zedekiah brought him to the dungeon of Jeremiah, the
imprisoned prophet. God knows how to bring down the head of the proud as well
as how to lift up the humble. Happy we if we also may always repent in time.
3. The king’s lamentable cry.--“O Daniel, servant of the living God,
is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions?” The king was deeply distressed and in an agony of anxiety. He had
admired Daniel, and had listened to the old prophet’s teaching concerning
Jehovah. It all came back to him now; and he was both ready to publicly confess
the excellency of the believer’s character, and the dignity and sovereignty of
the believer’s God. In this “lamentable cry” there was both penitence and
acknowledgment. What a splendid character he gave to Daniel: “Servant of the
living God, whom thou servest continually.” He also confessed God in a
wonderful way: “The Living God.” Thus he brushed aside all the pretensions of
the idol gods, and gave honour to Jehovah. Daniel’s teachings had not been in
vain.
III. DANIELS’S TRIUMPH. That must
have been a welcome sound to the king’s ear, when the voice of Daniel answered
back in clear, calm, and humbly triumphant tone, “O king, live for ever.” Human
nature would have been inclined to have added. “But no thanks to you.”
1. Praise to God.--“My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the
lions mouths, that they have not hurt me.” In this he takes pains to ascribe
his deliverance to his God. Here is a strong emphasis upon the fact that the
Living God is not to be confounded with the false gods of the heathen. He is a
God of providence, who watches over his servants and keeps his promise with
them.
2. A defence of his innocency.--“Forasmuch as before him innocency
was found in me; and also before thee, O king, I have done no hurt.” Daniel
does not boast of his goodness, but would set before the king that the favour
of God to his servants in such a case is not regardless of the law of
righteousness. Daniel had honoured God at a time when the world-power was
denying and deriding him.
3. Daniel delivered out of the den.--Then was the king exceeding glad
for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel out of the den.” Thus was
Daniel delivered out of the den, and out of the hands of his enemies. His
character was vindicated, and better still, his God was magnified and honoured.
IV. THE EDICT OF THE KING.
God has never left the world without a witness for him; and now the last
witness is being given to the nations by the preaching of the Gospel of Jesus
Christ. When this testimony is complete he will take to himself his great
power, and finish the work in righteousness; he will set up his King upon the
double throne of heaven and earth, and reign therein world without end. (G.
F. Pentecost, D.D.)
The Den of Lions
Almost every bas-relief exhumed in recent years, has some figure
of the lion. Dens of them were kept for the royal pleasure, or to be the swift
executioners of the realm. Here, in this lesson, is a series of striking
contrasts, between the King and his Jewish officer.
1. The one does wrong and hopes; the other does right and trusts. The
deification of rulers was their general, as still the Russians regard the Tsar,
and till lately, the Japanese the Mikado. The jewelled crown and sceptre were
the signs of omnipotence. Darius had the ideas of his own time. In a way, he
believed in his own divine nature. The flattery of courtiers was pleasing, and
the imposing displays, in capital and campaign, helped to foster the
self-delusion. It would never do for the Median lord to confess a mistake. We
turn to look at that sincere, calm soul, whose love for his home wavered not
through a life-time. A life of devotion was not to be abandoned because of any
proclamation from men. Spiritual communion was as essential, after the famous
behest, as before it was issued.
2. The one regards death as a sure agent, the other as under divine
control. The love of life is an instinct. No one in his senses courts death.
The taking of life is the last dread resort of the civil law. The unscrupulous
ruler can rely on it to work his will. Daniel felt that if God had more for him
to do in witnessing to the truth here, all the brute creation could not harm
him. Death is not a certain victor when it suddenly confronts us.
3. The one decreed a universal religion; the other preached and
practiced it daily. The safety of Daniel was proof enough to the king that the
God of Daniel was no myth, but the living God. So he published an edict,
demanding of all homage to Jehovah. But piety can never be the fruit of
proclamation. In striking contrast with such, pretensions and wholesale
religionism, there went forth, from the testing place, the plain lover of God,
and preacher of righteousness, to take up his responsible duties as before, and
to kneel in grateful acknowledgment of Jehovah’s protection and furtherance. (De
Witt S. Clark.)
Verse 20
Daniel 6:20
O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
The Lions’ Den
The empire of Babylonia and Chaldea passed into the hands of a new
dynasty, and King Belshazzar was slain in a night-assault upon his capital. On
that very night he had clothed Daniel in scarlet, and made him the third ruler
in the kingdom. This was providential; for, had Daniel been in obscurity, he
would have been little likely to attract the notice of Darius; but, observing
him in the palace, clothed in scarlet, Darius would naturally ask who he was,
and enquire into his antecedents. The fame of his wisdom would he quickly told.
Hence it was not at all surprising that Darius took great notice of Daniel,
weighed his character, observed his conduct, and, after a while, exalted him to
be prime minister of his realm. Daniel’s prosperity and honours excited the
envy of the courtiers. Can they discover a flaw in his accounts? Can they
question the impartiality of his judgment? Can they detect a lack of loyalty in
the administration of his government? Can they find fault with his private
life? Nay; but is there nothing against him? Is Daniel such a four-square man
that he is more than a match for them? At length the devil, who does not often
run short of devices, puts them up to a fresh plot. O Satan, thou art full of
all subtlety! “Let us contrive a new law,” say they, “that shall bring his
piety and his patriotism into conflict.” They managed to involve the king
himself in their iniquitous device, and to entangle him in such a way that he
must either sacrifice his favourite courtier, or compromise his own
truthfulness, and violate the sacred traditions of the empire. A royal statute
was framed, and a decree published, forbidding any petition to be asked of God
or man for thirty day. How preposterous! But when was there ever a despot who
was not, sooner or later, deserted of his wits? The passion for power, when
indulged without restraint, will lead a man to the utmost foolishness, and urge
him to a madness of vanity. There are many, nowadays, who hate nothing so much
so a religious man. All the epithets in the catalogue of scandal are too good
for the man who offers homage to God in everything. An infidel may be reputed
honest, intelligent, and worthy of respect; but a genuine Christian is at once
denounced as a hypocrite. So they told the king that the laws of his empire
must be kept inviolate; good, loyal souls as they were, that would not have a
statute broken for the world! There is an end to your monarchy if your royal
proclamations are not to be respected! God, in his providence and grace,
preserved his servant.
I. First, I want
to set before you DANIEL’S EARLY AND ENTIRE CONSECRATION TO
THE SERVICE OF GOD.
The king said, “Thy God whom thou servest continually.” This was no empty
compliment. His scrupulous uprightness had become so habitual that it was like
an instinct of his nature. Daniel began to serve God in his youth. They, who
give their morning to God, shall find that, in beginning early, they can keep
pace with their work all the day. Happy Daniel, thus continually to serve his
God from his youth up! For a while, Daniel retires into the shade. You hear
nothing of him till Belshazzar ascends the throne, but he is still serving his
God; I doubt not, sometimes ministering to his poorer brethren, and visiting the
sick; but often in his chamber, by prayer and by study of the Scriptures,
seeking and finding communion with the Most High. On a sudden, Belshazzar
summons him to his presence. There is a mysterious writing on the wall, which
can be read by no eye, and interpreted by no lip, but his. How confidently he
speaks, “This is the writing”! And again, “This is the interpretation.” His
word commends itself to the conscience; no man dares to gainsay it. He is
promoted to the highest honour in the realm; now what will he do? There has
been a change of monarchs, but there is no change in Daniel. No time-server, he
stand to his principles at all times. “Servant of the living God” is still his
title. He had taken for his motto, when he began life, “I serve God” and he retains
the motto to his life’s close. The glory of his God was his one object
throughout all his days; he never swerved. He is prime minister of the greatest
monarch of the age; yet he abhors the idolatry of the heathen, and maintains
his allegiance to him who ruleth in the heavens. They can find no flaw in him,
though the eyes of envy watch him from early morning to dewy eve. O, it is a
hard thing to serve God in high places! Many a man did seem to adorn the
doctrine of God our Saviour when humbly earning his livelihood by the toil of
his hands, and eating his bread in the sweat of his face; but, afterwards, when
advanced to ease aria opulence, he turned his back upon his friends, and
forsook the Lord. Be very jealous of yourselves If you are rising in the world.
Now note the effect of what Daniel did. It is comparatively easy to follow the
Lord in bright days; but the sun of prosperity suddenly darkens, and the man of
God is encompassed with perils. If he continues in his holy course, he will
forfeit the king’s favour, and lose his life in the most dreadful manner. What
will Daniel’s determination be? Oh, the true grit is in him! He is a blade of
the true Jerusalem manufacture, and is not to be broken. He will do just as he
did before. Ah! some of us little know what these pinches mean. There are a few
of you who do; you have endured torture without accepting deliverance. Witness
the man who has a shop, which brings him in more profit on a Sunday than it
does all the rest of the days of the week; and who says, “It must be one thing
or the other; I cannot go to the Tabernacle, and keep my shop open too; which
shall it be?” His faith proves stronger than his fear. The shutters are closed
on the first day of the week. I daresay, had Daniel gone to consult Mr. Prudent
Thrifty, and asked his advice, he would have said, “Well, you see, it is a very
important thing for us to have you at the head of affairs; I do not think you
ought to throw away such an opportunity as you have of doing good. It is not
absolutely necessary for you to pray for thirty days! Would it not be better
for you to trim a little, and yield a point or two? You do distinguished
service to our cause; and, by keeping your position, you will be putting
yourself to the non-plus. By compromise you will obtain concessions. Worldly
wisdom is worth your study.” At the call of duty, never parley with danger.
Here I would remark that the only service to God which is real, genuine,
remunerative, is this continual service that sticks at nothing. Any hungry dog
will follow you in the streets if you but entice him with a piece of meat, or a
bit of biscuit. How closely he keeps to your heels! But, after a while, the
bait is gone, and the dog retreats. That is like many a professor. There is
some little pleasure in religion, or some advantage, and so he follows Christ
but, after a while, there is an attraction elsewhere; and, impelled by greed
rather than gratitude, he pursues it. Oh, those time-servers, who look one way
and pull the other, like the wherry-men upon the stream! As for Lord
Fair-Speech, Lord Time-Server, Mr. Smooth-Man, Mr. Anything, Mr.
Facing-both-Ways, Mr. Two-Tongues and all the members of their club, Mr.
By-Ends included, the entire company of them will be swept away when the Judge
comes with the besom of destruction. I know you feel the force of this truth.
How you loathe a friend who will not stick to you in dark times! This is but a
picture of yourselves if you try to follow Jesus Christ only when you are in
the society of his people, and as easily lend yourselves to sing a frivolous or
lewd song when you are with the ungodly. That faith which lives on Jesus only,
rests on Jesus solely, builds on Jesus wholly, and shows itself in earnest
prayer, will give you a consistency and decision of character that will make
you like Daniel in your days.
II. Now, secondly,
WHO WAS THIS GOD WHOM DANIEL SERVED CONTINUALLY?
Let me ask,--Is Daniel’s God worthy of our worship? I ask the question in all
earnestness, because I feel positive that multitudes of men have a religion
that, in their own judgment, is hardly worth debating about, far less worth
dying for. Is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ worthy of our love
and our life? Words are wanting to tell the gratitude and joy that we cherish
towards God, who is rich in mercy, for his great love wherewith he loved us
even when we were dead in sins. By faith, I understand that the blessed Son of
God redeemed my soul with his own heart’s blood; and, by sweet experience, I
know that he raised me up from the pit of dark despair, and set my feet on the
rock. He died for me; this is the root of every satisfaction I have. You must
be the best judges of your own religion, whether or not it is worth suffering
for. If it is not full of immortality, I would not advise you to risk your
reputation on retaining it. If it is only a fair profession, you may well blush
for it as a foul delusion. Then there comes another question,--Is Daniel’s God
able to deliver us from the lions? You who are suffering just now for the cross
of Christ, you who know what it is to be losers for Jesus, to stand out and to
endure pains and penalties as Daniel did,--you are well aware that the lions
are fierce and furious creatures. They are not stuffed animals, having the name
without the nature of those beasts of prey. So, the sufferings of a Christian
are not sentimental, they are real. The lions have sharp teeth, and they would
have devoured you, only divine grace has found a means of delivering you out of
their mouths. I ask the man, who has given up a profitable appointment because
he would not be false to his convictions, whether, on shorter commons, he has
not found the sweeter luxury of contentment? I asked him whether he has not
enjoyed, on a harder pillow, more refreshing sleep! But should we even dwell
among lions till we die, what joy it shall be to leave the lions, and be linked
with saints and holy angels in the beatific hereafter! “Is thy God, whom thou
servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” And with a cheerful
shout, loud as the voice of thunder, they cry, “In all these things we are more
than conquerors through him that loved us.” I look down upon another lions’
den. There, sons and daughters of sorrow are tossed on beds of sickness. Thus
they have lain for months, perhaps for years, all hope of health extinguished,
all prospect of pleasure passed; their limbs paralyzed, their sight failing,
their hearing dull; calamities of every kind have befallen them. God has
permitted the great lions of affliction to come howling round. Tell me, ye
Daniels, has your God been able to deliver you out of the mouths of the lions?
And I hear each one say, “Bless the Lord, O my soul!” and all in chorus sing,
saying “Not one good thing hath failed of all that the Lord our God hath promised;
our shoes have have been iron and brass, and as our days so has our strength
been.” Shall I strain my parable too far if I turn my eye upon another lions’
den? It lies in a deep valley. We call this place “the valley of the shadow of
death.” Methinks I am gazing now on the forms of shivering men and women as
they are dragged down by the lions. One after another my familiar friends
descend into the grave; and I ask them, in the hour of their departure, “Is thy
God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?” Calm
is their countenance, and clear their voice, as each one chants his solo, “O
death, where is thy sting? O grave, where is thy victory? Thanks be to God,
which giveth us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!” So, at length, this
lions’ den loses all its terror. Then I look into another den; it is almost
empty. There is a lion in it,--a grim old lion, but I do not see so much as a
bone to tell the tale of itsvictims. Of a sudden, I look upwards, and, lo! I
see myriads of immortal souls, and they all tell me, “Our God delivered us from
the grave, and rifled the tomb of its prey. By a glorious resurrection, he has
brought all his ransomed people forth to meet their Lord at the great day of
his appearing. There shall they stand before the throne of God, for he hath
broken the teeth of the lion, and rescued all his children from the power of
the adversary.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Servant of God Delivered
I. THE KING’S DENOMINATION OF DANIEL is worthy of
remark. He does not address him as first of the presidents; but says, “O
Daniel, servant of the living God.” This was an honour above any official
station--angels and archangels can occupy no higher position. It was better for
Daniel to have been a servant of the living God than to have been the first
president of Persia. His piety was not a sickly, fitful, feverish, fashionable
thing; his devotion was deeply rooted; he served God continually, not
occasionally. His religion was so natural to him that he could not hide it; everything
he did proved him to be a man that feared and loved God. O, what a living power
there would be in religion if it were acted out in our social walks and public
conduct, and not shut up to mould all week within the walls of our churches!
Why should your labour and talents, influence and time, be principally devoted
to the world which is passing away? The surest way to peace, and honour, and
usefulness, is in the service of God.
II. THE REASON FOR GOD’S INTERFERENCE IN DANIEL’S BEHALF WAS NOT THAT HIS CONDUCT
REALLY MERITED SUCH AN INTERPOSITION. The meaning is, that God,
being a witness of his innocence, indicated it by this interposition. You may
learn, therefore, from this case, that God is the vindicator of his people.
III. THE PERSONAL PROPERTY IN GOD, referred to both in
the king’s words and in Daniel’s reply, is remarkable. The king said to Daniel,
“Is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the
lions?” And Daniel replies, “My God hath sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths,
that they have not hurt me.” Mark the difference. Darius had heard of God by
the hearing of the ear, Daniel was acquainted with him as a friend and father.
(W. A. Scott.)
Verse 21-22
Daniel 6:21-22
My Lord hath sent His Angel.
Daniel’s Marvellous Deliverances
These words are Daniel’s religious and thankful acknowledgment of
his deliverance.
1. Here is a reverend compellation. “O king.” Darius was a heathen
prince; an enemy to God’s people; and he here makes a wicked law, forbidding
religion, and inforcing to idolatry. Yet the prophet acknowledges and honours
him, as his king and sovereign.
2. A loyal and pious salutation. “Live for ever.” He prays for him,
wishes him both length and prosperity of life here, and eternity of life and
felicity hereafter. He upbraids not the king with tyranny and impiety; charges
him not with the cruelty of his usage; threatens him not with vengeance, and
judgments from God. He will not pray to the king, but he ceases not to pray for
him.
3. Thankful declaration of his marvellous deliverance.
Daniel’s Deliverance from the Den of Lions
I. THE ANTECEDENTS OF DANIEL’S MIRACULOUS DELIVERANCE.
1. They remind us that the penalty of greatness is the envy of
inferiors. Daniel was as the sun in the Persian kingdom, showing to all who
come under his influence what a good ruler really was. But the intense light of
his character was too strong for men whose conduct he then condemned, and who
were thus made painfully conscious of their own shortcomings.
2. Envy will seek an opportunity of false accusation. It was the envy
of the Jewish rulers which was the foundation of their false accusations
against Christ.
3. They remind us that it may be the penalty of moral greatness to be
condemned by legal greatness. The law of a nation may be a very strong law
because of its great antiquity, but it may be a very wicked law
notwithstanding, and whoever obeys it may bring himself under the penalty of a
much more powerful and a much older law, the law of moral rectitude--a law
older than the creation of man.
II. THE MIRACLE ITSELF. The
lions did not act according to the instincts of their nature. This holding back
of the appetite of the lions is the more remarkable, because the instinct
returned as soon as Daniel’s persecutors took his place in the den. Lessons:
1. The most pressing demands of business are not incompatible with
daily waiting upon God in prayer.
2. Escape from trial of our constancy at one time is no guarantee
that we shall not be called upon to prove it at another.
3. Sometimes disobedience to man is the highest virtue in the sight
of God. When man’s laws are in opposition to God’s, the breaking of them is
righteousness.
4. We are in the path of obedience to God, even though the obedience
leads to death. (Outlines by a London Minister.)
Daniel’s Preservation from the Lions
For unshaken confidence in his God, zeal in His service, and for
His honour, for fearlessness in danger, and for virtuous disregard of all human
power and human threatenings, when employed against God and religion, the
prophet Daniel is justly conspicuous in Bible history. No character in
Scripture has attained more honourable distinction. Three things deserve our
attention.
I. THE CONDUCT FOR WHICH DANIEL WAS THROWN INTO THE DEN OF
LIONS. Daniel’s enemies contrived to obtain the king’s consent to
a wicked decree, binding all men to abstain from worshipping any god, or asking
a petition of any god or man, except the king himself, for thirty days. But the
prophet, knowing that when human laws are found to clash with the divine
commands, it is right to “obey God rather than man,” continued, regardless of
consequences, to pray to his God three times a day, as he had heretofore done.
In the discharge of his duty to God, he had no real cause for dismay. God, he
knew, was with him. Having, therefore, faithfully performed his duty, he
submits to the will of his enemies, commits himself to Him that judges
righteously, and calmly and steadily leaves the event in His hands.
II. THE EXTRAORDINARY FACT RECORDED,
THAT DANIEL WAS TAKEN UP OUT OF THE DEN
UNHURT. By this signal preservation of the life of Daniel among
the lions, God displayed at once His power over the creatures of the forest
which He had made, and His care over His servants when He calls them out to
suffer for His cause. Under the protection of the Almighty, Daniel was as safe
in the den of lions as he would have been in the palace, and under the
protection of Darius. This God is our God for ever and ever. He will still
honour and preserve them that honour Him, still bear up and support His
faithful people.
III. The reason
assigned for the miraculous interposition of God on Daniel’s behalf. “Because
he believed in his God.” Mark what honour God puts upon faith. Faith was the
spring of Daniel’s holy obedience to God. Faith gave him peace and comfort, and
brought down the angel of God into the lions’ den. This holy principle has
never failed to attract the divine regard, and to insure the approbation of
God. This subject may teach us:
1. The importance, under all circumstances, of stedfast adherence to
the path of duty. “Duties are ours, events are God’s.” One common duty of
Christians is that of calmly resting under affliction, in patient submission to
the will of God.
2. The importance of steady trust in God, especially in the great
event of death, that last trial of the Christian.
3. This subject affords a ground of consolation to all faithful
Christians in tribulation, and to the surviving friends of the departed saints.
(J. Jaques.)
Daniel taken out of the den
His case at first seemed very hard to flesh and blood. But here we
see the end of the Lord. All was so over-ruled, that Daniel had no reason to
repent of his conduct, or lament the result of it. How much did Daniel’s
stedfastness conduce to the glory of God, and the advancement of his cause!
Christians never honour God more than in the fires. But the result terminated
in Daniel’s own honour and welfare. When taken up, how would every eye be drawn
to him. What influence would be attached to his character! What weight to his
advice and counsel! He is restored. He is promoted by his Sovereign to a higher
station. And who would not have done what Darius did? He who had been faithful
to his God, was more likely to be faithful to his king. This is indeed one of
the ways in which Godliness naturally conduces to a man’s present advantage.
Constantius, the father of Constantine the Great, wished to know the character
of those about him. He, therefore, called together before him, all the chiefs
in his suite, and ordered them to offer Sacrifices to his gods (he was a
heathen), on pain of being deprived of all their honours and functions. The
trial was severe. Many sunk under it. They could not give up everything that
was dear and valuable. But some were inflexible. They had bought the truth, and
they would not sell it at any price. Whatever they suffered, they were resolved
to have a conscience void of offence. But what happened? Those who basely
complied, he drove from his presence, while those who nobly refused, he
entrusted with the care of his person, and placed them in the most important
offices, saying: “On these men I can depend--I prize them more than all my
treasures.” And we know who hath said: “Them that honour Me I will honour; but
they that despise Me “ shall be lightly esteemed. (William Jay.)
Verse 24
Daniel 6:24
Those men which had accused Daniel.
Righteous Retribution
The Bible from first to last is a revelation of God’s active,
personal, and intelligent presence in the affairs of men; and its elementary
principles without which all approach to God is impossible, are, first, that
there is a God, and secondly, that he rewards and punishes. (Hebrews 11:1-40; Hebrews 6:1-20). Daniel recognised the
presence of this divine power when he said that “God had sent His angel, and
shut the lions’ mouths.” The sole difference between miracle and providence is,
that in the former ease the ordinary laws of nature are suspended and
interfered with by a higher power; in the latter nature is made to do the will
of God in conformity with its usual way of working. And these two ways of
acting have had each a suitableness for the times when God used them. The
reason of this deliverance Daniel finds in the just government of God. For
Daniel’s enemies there was a fearful retribution. They had digged a pit, and
fallen into the midst of it themselves. In Daniel’s wonderful preservation both
the king and all who had not shared in the crime saw emphatic proof of the
guilt of the conspirators. Their own execution was most just, but our feelings
revolt at the inclusion in the sentence of their wives and children. But that
seems to have been the Persian custom. It is explained by the solidarity of
interest between the members of the same family or of the same nation. The sins
of one member of a family often involve all in ruin. A whole nation has to pay
the penalty of the fault of its statesmen; a whole army is destroyed by the
incapacity of its general. But equally all share in the results of the virtues,
the wisdom, the ability of their leaders, and it would be a poor world if it
were not so. (Dean Payne Smith.)
Verse 26
Daniel 6:26
Men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel.
The God of Daniel
Religion has furnished the widest field for persecution.
1. The God of Daniel permits His children to be tempted and tried.
Generally, trials are regarded as punishments and corrections. What divine end
should we regard as attained by undeserved trial and suffering? Many evils
befall good people because your bearing under the yoke conveys impressions of
himself, and the work of grace in your hearts, which no other ministration can
impress on the adamant heart of the ungodly.
2. Trials are also permissible as occasions of the revelation of
God’s special presence with His people. Not only was there something
extraordinary in Daniel, but there was something more extraordinary around him.
The animals were quiet. Daniel was protected by a divine hand.
3. There is here also the principle that faith is the link between
the feeble and their God. “Because he believed in his God.” It was faith that
saluted the throne on high three times a day. It was faith that brought the
assurance all would end well. It was faith that breathed calmness and patience
in the breast. It was faith that made the heart rest securely on the Rock of
Ages. O for a touch of that ancient faith. The angel of the covenant recognises
faith, and helps her in her struggles with sin.
4. Here we see the God-revealing man. The king might have said, “The
Daniel of God.” What he said is more revealing, “the God of Daniel.” What an
association--the God of Daniel. (T. Davies, M. A.)
Verse 27
Daniel 6:27
He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth.
The Idea of God as affected by Science
The picture formed of the Creator of the world has varied
according to the strength or culture of the age through which the idea is
passing. To the American Indian God is only a good spirit, the owner of a happy
hunting ground larger than their own forests or plains To the Hindoo, God is a
great, idle, luxurious prince, passing his time in pleasure or sleep. The Greek
Zeus, or the Latin Jupiter, was only a great statesman, and warrior, and judge
combined. The greater an age became in its mental and moral development, the
richer its offerings to the character of its Deity. The idea of God is always
the store-house in which each nation treasures up all its slow accumulations of
the true, the beautiful, and the good. It does not follow from this that God is
only an intellectual image, a shadow of man’s mind seen externally, just as man
may see the shadow of his body in a glass. There are those who declare the idea
of God to be only this external projection of human thought. The ever-changing
ideas which the human race cherishes as to its deity, prove only that man
passes through many gradations of thought, a fact which no more blots out the
Heavenly Father than it blots out the stars or the ocean. The modifications
which the conceptions of the divine nature constantly undergo ought to be
expected, and confessed as perfectly legitimate, in a world where all truth is
approached by gradual advances, and where nothing is seen to-day in the colours
of yesterday. That each tribe has cherished a peculiar conception of God, and
heaven and hell weighs no more against the absolute fact of these entities than
the notion of Plutarch that the moon were a bunch of vapour, would destroy
belief in the moon as an absolute external reality. The God is unchanging. Man
passes from infancy to manhood in the search of the truth. Reflect then upon
the wonderful works of God. It touched the spirit of Darius that there was a
Being who could accomplish such strange things on earth or in heaven. In the
classic ages there seems to have been little conception of divine power. The
earth was the centre of a little system, and the stars not far away. So humble
was the public estimate of God, that one of the Roman emperors asked the people
to declare him a god. It is possible that there was less atheism in early
periods than in the present, resulting from the fact that the ideal of God lay
nearer to the ideal of man. The gigantic studies of all science and inquiry of
late centuries have widened the gulf between man and God by declaring that
there is but one God, and that he is measureless, formless, unthinkable. Under
the revelations of science the name of God becomes daily laden with power, and
indeed has wholly outgrown the grasp, and even the highest imagination, of
minds, either scientific or theological. If the universe is so measureless,
equally measureless must be its Creator. He must be a God of wonderful work
also in the world of spirit. To man, another life seems difficult; to many, it
seems impossible. The mystery of futurity is no greater than the mystery of the
past. For ages men have been trying to find how life came into the insensate
world. The gateway to life is just as impossible as the gateway to a second
existence. The Testament has given us a Heavenly Father, science has given us
an Almighty. So far, all well. Now the result we fear is, that science is
teaching us God is doing all his wonders in regions apart from the soul. Never
did any age so need the Christ as our era now clamours for His life and
teachings. (David Ewing.)
Verse 28
Daniel 6:28
So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign
of Cyrus the Persian.
Daniel
The prosperity of this noble ruler clearly appears from the whole
history of his life. Such another instance of long and increasing prosperity in
public life, we presume to say, cannot be found in the whole history of man.
Successful men has always been revered as well as admired. The Greeks and
Romans held those in high estimation who appeared to enjoy the peculiar smiles
of the invisible powers. What extraordinary qualities did Daniel possess, which
mutually conspired to promote his prosperity in the management of public
affairs? This prosperous and excellent ruler possessed
I. SUPERIOR POWERS OF MIND.
The Father of spirits has been pleased to display the same sovereignty in the
bestowment of intellectual faculties, as in the bestowment of inferior favours.
The minds of different men are differently constituted. In Daniel the various
natural powers were equally strong and well-proportioned. His quick
apprehension and retentive memory were happily united with a strong and
penetrating judgment. He acquired knowledge with the greatest ease and
rapidity. He was able to excel in every branch of science to which he turned
his attention.
II. A LARGE SHARE OF GENERAL INFORMATION,
WHICH CONTRIBUTED TO FORM HIM A
GREAT AND SUCCESSFUL POLITICIAN. Civil government is extremely
complicated and extensive, both in theory and practice. No species of human
knowledge is foreign to the business of a statesman, who needs to be
universally acquainted with men and things. And he had the best sources of
information in his own hands, the sacred books of divine inspiration.
III. EXTRAORDINARY WISDOM.
Before he was thirty, his eminent wisdom was universally known and celebrated,
not only through the empire, but through all the neighbouring nations. Wisdom
is a term of various and extensive meaning; it includes not only invention, but
foresight and sagacity.
IV. DANIEL WAS A. MAN OF INVINCIBLE FIRMNESS.
This was but the natural effect of his wisdom. He was able to think for
himself, to form his own opinions, and to comprehend the nature and tendency of
his own designs. This confidence inspired him with irresistible vigour and
fortitude, in the prosecution of all his public measures.
V. DANIEL WAS A PATTERN OF INVIOLABLE
INTEGRITY. He always aimed to do justice, and to treat every man
according to the eternal rule of right. As a ruler, he acted upon principle, in
guarding the lives, properties, and characters of his subjects. He derived his
moral sentiments from the pure source of divine inspiration. The promotion of
justice is the ultimate object of every branch of civil government. The
exercise of justice is the indispensable duty of all civil rulers. Fidelity in
civil rulers is, of all other virtues, the most acceptable to the people, who
universally feel its happy influence in every condition of life. Aristides
among the Greeks, Cato among the Romans, and Daniel among the Jews, will be for
ever celebrated for their incorruptible integrity.
VI. NOTE DANIEL’S EMINENT PIETY AND DEVOTION.
His religion was neither a glowing enthusiasm, nor a gloomy superstition; but a
pure and steady principle of universal benevolence. He gave God the supreme
affection of his heart; and was neither afraid nor ashamed to profess the true
religion, in the midst of a country and a court that were involved in the
grossest idolatry. He walked within his house with a perfect heart, and every
day called upon God at the head of his family. The first thing suggested by
this excellent character is, that great and good rulers are worthy of the
highest respect. Who can contemplate the pious, virtuous, and useful life of
Daniel, without paying him the sincere homage of the heart? All civil rulers of
the same character are equally objects of the highest veneration and regard.
The life of Daniel also admonishes civil rulers how much they are capable of
doing, to promote the religious as well as civil interests of the people. We
may learn, also, that those who sit in the highest seats of government, have no
excuse to neglect the profession and practice of vital piety. Real religion is
necessary on their own account, as well as on account of those who live under
the influence of their powerful example. The faith and piety of Daniel reprove
the ignorance and presumption of those politicians who profess and propagate
the principles of infidelity. Also learn, that civil rulers had no occasion for
the use of art or intrigue in any of their public measures. Those who conduct
the intricate affairs of government ought to be wise and prudent, but they
should never be artful or designing. And it may further be remarked that civil
rulers have sufficient encouragement to be faithful in the discharge of all
their public duties. Daniel found, by happy experience, that honesty was the
best policy. (N. Emmons, D.D.)
Daniel’s Steadfast Piety
The lives of eminent men are a subject which seldom fails to fix
the attention. The admiration excited by their talents and their virtues is a
pleasing sentiment; our curiosity is gratified by marking the steps of their
fortune; our views are enlarged by tracing the effects of their conduct, and
our heart is made better by contemplating the generous principles from which
their actions proceeded. No person introduced in scripture is more illustrious
than Daniel.
I. THE WISDOM OF DANIEL IS THE FIRST FEATURE IN HIS
CHARACTER. That subordination and mutual subserviency which is
the best cement of society, arises from the variety in the kinds and measures
of wisdom which individuals possess; and the extraordinary degrees of it which
raise some men above the rest of their species, are ordained of God to be the
blessing or the scourge of the times in which they live. To Daniel was given to
understand the secret things which belong to the Lord, and which are wisely and
graciously hidden from all except those in whom it pleaseth the Father to
reveal them.
1. This wisdom of Daniel was of use to the Jews.
2. To the Babylonians the wisdom of Daniel demonstrated the
sovereignty of the true God.
3. To the world, the wisdom of Daniel opens a series of prophecies of
general importance.
II. THE PIETY OF DANIEL IS THE OTHER FEATURE OF HIS
CHARACTER. By applying this word to express the moral character
of Daniel, I mean to intimate that the principles which animated his conduct,
are discriminated from a peculiar temperature of constitution, from a sense of
honour, from a regard to the opinion of the world, from all the other
circumstances which produce the morality of those men who have not the fear of
God before their eyes. The word piety marks the sentiment of religion as the
support of his integrity, the spring of his exertions, the source of his
comfort and hope, the companion and the quickener of every good affection in
the breast. Wisdom and piety are not always joined. Daniel confessed upon every
occasion, that the superiority of his knowledge was derived from that God who
revealeth secrets. The innocence of his life is mentioned with honour by the
Jewish writers. Scripture classes him with Noah and Job.
1. The manner in which the piety of Daniel was displayed.
2. The manner in which the piety of Daniel was rewarded. Were piety
in every instance overwhelmed by suffering, our faith in that which is future
and unseen might be shaken, and many would be tempted to say that it is vain to
serve God. Daniel’s reward was not less eminent than his piety.
Learn from this example to despise the truckling, time-serving
manners of those who shift their principles according to circumstances, and who
make it the study of their lives to accommodate their discourse and their
actions to the wishes of other men. Dare to be honest; and let your
conversation in the world be in simplicity and godly sincerity. Follow the
piety of Daniel, who, in all the changes which he saw, did his duty, and held
fast his integrity. Do not expect, however, that the general goodwill which you
may attain, will never meet with any interruption. You may experience the
effects of that rivalship and envy which animated the breasts of those who sought
to find occasion against the blameless Daniel. If you have a conscience void of
offence, the favour of heaven will furnish you with a shield which all the
shafts of malice shall not pierce. (H. Hill, D.D.)
How Daniel Prospered
His temporal prosperity comes clearly and manifestly from his
spiritual fidelity. We profess Daniel’s faith; only, with this difference, that
we ought really to have a more open vision of God and the verities of eternity
than Daniel had. For heaven has been more widely opened since his day to the
open eye of a believer’s soul. Notice that when once a man, especially a young
man in a great city like this, gives his heart, his destiny, openly,
unreservedly, into the hands of a covenant God, his life enters into a
wonderful simplicity. Then you have only one thing to do. Blow high or low,
come rain or shine, whatever be the circumstances in which you are placed,
there is only one thing to be done--and that is in all to keep yourself true to
God. Sailing across seas of time and sin to God’s haven in eternity is the
plainest sailing. You have simply all the time to keep on the one tack and set
the bow the one way. Look at this narrative. There is a man here whose life is
threatened. He was the best hated man in the city, and those who hated him were
not fools. They baited the trap so skilfully that even King Darius jumped at
it, and Darius was no fool either, but they fooled him. They put Darius in a
trap. They failed to put Daniel in one. When he knew that the writing was
signed, and he knew that if he prayed his enemies would be listening, he just
went on praying as aforetime. It is not otherwise with us than it was with
Daniel. The world still says, “We could put up with those Christians well
enough if it were not for their Christianity.” These men got to see that Daniel
was the man he was because he was true to his God. They saw that God was the
strength of his mind, as well as the name upon his tongue in worship. A
Christian has only one thing to do. “Forgetting the things that are behind, to
reach forth unto those that are before,” and he must disregard everything that
comes against him as he seeks in the way of whole-hearted consecration to live
for God and for eternity, and to do his duty in the world, making God his mark,
way and end, and being utterly done with self pleasing. This Daniel was a manor
prayer. But Daniel was a busy man. He really had the government upon his
shoulders. Yet this man found time three times a day to kneel and pray to the
God of heaven. And the best method for the working of a heavy business, for
getting through a heavy day’s work, is to be a man of prayer. This principle of
prayer--this fixed habit of communion with God--is like the policeman at a busy
crossing. In his prayer Daniel “gave thanks.” Think of that! Think of that hunted,
badgered, persecuted man on that critical day going in before his God, and
saying, “My God, I thank thee!” If you give your heart to Jesus Christ, you
will never be without cause of thankfulness. The man who fears God only need
have no other fear . . . But suppose the lions had killed Daniel. What then? He
still would have work. “They never fail who die in a great cause.” If you are
wholehearted towards God, there is no defeat. See John the Baptist. Because he
was faithful to God and conscience, his head rolled off the block into the
basket. But he did not fail. There is no reverse, there is no possible disaster
in any true sense, to the man who, like Daniel, has just one thing to do--to
kneel down upon his knees in the high and awful crisis of his history to give
thanks to God. (John McNeill.)
──《The Biblical Illustrator》