URC Daily Devotion 2 September 2024

Daniel 6: 19 – 28

Then, at break of day, the king got up and hurried to the den of lions. When he came near the den where Daniel was, he cried out anxiously to Daniel, ‘O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you faithfully serve been able to deliver you from the lions?’ Daniel then said to the king, ‘O king, live for ever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no wrong.’ Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. The king gave a command, and those who had accused Daniel were brought and thrown into the den of lions—they, their children, and their wives. Before they reached the bottom of the den the lions overpowered them and broke all their bones in pieces.

Then King Darius wrote to all peoples and nations of every language throughout the whole world: ‘May you have abundant prosperity! I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people should tremble and fear before the God of Daniel:

For he is the living God,
    enduring for ever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed,
    and his dominion has no end.
He delivers and rescues,
    he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth;
for he has saved Daniel
    from the power of the lions.’

So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

Reflection

So we left the Daily Devotions on a cliffhanger on Saturday… is this the end of Daniel. How can he survive?

Daniel is devout and trusts God, even when facing what may seem like certain death. So this could be a simple morality tale, Daniel trusted God and was saved, so if we trust God, we too will be saved… but it’s not as simple as that, others have been as devout as Daniel and haven’t been physically saved.

There is a harshness, especially to our ears, to the punishment that follows, those who accused Daniel are thrown to the lions but also their families in line with the Law of the Medes and the Persians, an unchangeable and often brutal edict.

The thread running through this passage is that God (Daniel’s God) has authority much greater than that of a King, and this King Darius acknowledges God as a living God in contrast to the other gods of wood and stone worshipped in his Kingdom.

God saving Daniel from the lions inspires King Darius to make a new decree. He declares that the God of Daniel is eternal and powerful, it is a statement from a King bordering on humility, talking about how God can rescue, a sense that wouldn’t sound out of place in the New Testament.

I wonder if we find it easy to worship God when we are saved or spared from disaster like Daniel is. Dramatic testimonies are inspiring. But if our story isn’t as dramatic, do we recognise and bear witness to God being with us day by day?

We aren’t exempted from trials, they may not be lions, but we can be a little like Daniel. We can trust God and do what we know to be right in God’s sight. If others try to trap us and mock us for not conforming to the way the world works can we stand firm?

Prayer

God of power and rescue
Help us to stay true to you
And the people you call us to be
We man never be thrown to the lions
But rescue us from any pit.
Amen