THEN the spies report to the king. They approach him by reminding him of a recent law of worship; and the king declares it true and unalterable. Then they present their charge against "that Daniel," the Judean captive, even he, O king, "regardeth not thee."
Too late the king saw his folly, and was "sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him." He doubtless plead with the officers to change the decree, with Daniel to yield to it; but his efforts were futile. How easy it is for man to bind with chains which he can not sunder! how easy to fetter the soul and body with shackles of sin that no human power can break! O, it is well for a human to be thoughtful. Each present moment is big with eternal possibilities. The king found himself powerless; his own law bound him; thru it he was held by the plotters against the good of his realm. "Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and Persians, that no interdict nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed." Verse 15.
The Den of Lions.
Then, at the king's enforced command, Daniel was cast into the den of fierce lions, the king expressing his own hungry hope, and endeavoring to cheer Daniel, in the words: "Thy God whom thus servest continually, He will deliver thee." It expressed the dawning of a faith which we are fain to hope was perfected, and it was a royal certificate of Daniel's faithfulness.
Then the king closed the den, and sealed the stone, that no mortal interference might occur to deliver the criminal; and then he retired to his palace and spent the night in praying and fasting. In the early morning, after a sleepless night, with mind alternating between hope and fear, he hastens to the den of lions, and cries with a lamentable voice, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?" And Daniel is able to reply, prefaced with the courtesy due, "My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions' mouths, and 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."
It was a double lesson to the king. It showed to him, even as God taught it to Babylon, that there was one Ruler who could make of none effect the puny laws of men. It revealed to him that the God who could make and preserve character in the corrupt court of Babylon, could deliver from all physical ills. It bears the same lesson to plotters, politicians, statesmen, rulers, today. Jehovah is the living God, and rules above men.
Daniel was taken from the den of lions, "and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he had trusted in his God." He was kept by the power of faith; not that his faith furnished the power. Faith was the arm that reached up and made connection with the throne. It is like the pipe that taps the fountain. It is like the trolley that reaches up and connects with the live wire. The power of God flows forever from the Great Fountain; faith opens the heart and life to receive it. It was faith that brought, in the beginning, cleansing and power to Daniel. It was because he believed God that he formed in the beginning his noble purpose. It was faith that kept his character unstained, untarnished, thru all the years of his public service. It was faith that led him to devote time to the service and worship and word of God,—time all gained, because these things made him what he was. And it was wholly because of what faith had done for him morally that God could consistently deliver him physically. What a testimony is here left the young, aspiring men of the world and the church! There is as great need now as of old for Daniels. God is as able to make them. Where are the men who are willing to be what God wants to make them?
Daniel in the Lion's Den.
Visiting Human Justice.
The king was convinced, but not converted. He visited upon those who plotted against Daniel's life the same doom they planned for the Hebrew. Then he made a decree, commendable enough, indeed, for a heathen coming to the light; but no criterion for any ruler. It had this, however, that was indeed favorable, and that was the proclamation of the Gospel, the power of the true God to deliver. Here it is:
"Then King Darius wrote unto all the peoples, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied unto you. I make a decree, that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God, and steadfast forever, and His kingdom that which shall not be destroyed; and His dominion shall be even unto the end. He delivereth and rescueth, and He worketh signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power of the lions." Verses 25-27.
The decree is foolish—that men tremble and fear before God. This may be their10duty; it is not in man's power to enforce it. But the reasons why men should fear God are indeed ample. "He is the living God," the self-existent One. Note how in this chapter the law of the Medes and Persians which altereth not is set in contrast with the living God,—steadfast forever, and His overruling kingdom enduring to the end. Note how man's purpose to destroy is set over against God's power to rescue and deliver. Happy they who can say, "This God is our God, forever and ever."
This chapter closes with: "So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian." Surely he was the "Grand Old Man" of the kingdom, simply and solely because he was, a few years before, the youth of a steadfast purpose. Steadfast toward God, he found God just what He eternally is,—steadfast in faithfulness and power to him. So will all find God who will trust Him.
