"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."
Daniel 6:10
Part 1
Today: We Are Obliged to Be Thankful
“Daniel always prayed to God three times every day. Three times every day, he bowed down on his knees to pray and praise God. Even though Daniel heard about the new law, he still went to his house to pray. He went up to the upper room of his house and opened the windows that faced toward Jerusalem. Then Daniel bowed down on his knees and prayed just as he always had done” (Daniel 6:10, HSB [1]).
As he grew up in Judea, Daniel had been a faithful young man to Jehovah, his God. But like many other intelligent and strong young men of Judah, he had been ripped from his home by Nebuchadnezzar, who had laid siege to Jerusalem for 18 months. This was done while Jehoiakim was the king of Judah. After the blockade, Daniel and other young men had been taken as captives to Babylon to be trained up in the court of King Nebuchadnezzar. Through the years of Daniel’s exile there in Babylon, he had proven himself over and over to be faithful to Jehovah.
In our passage today, Darius is now the King in Babylon, and Daniel as an older man, was one of three high officials in the land over Darius’ satraps, or princes (Daniel 6:2). Being faithful, and a lover and worshiper of Jehovah, Daniel understood that some satraps wanted to bring him down. To do this, they devised a foolish ordinance and brought it to King Darius –
“All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not (Daniel 6:7-8).
Appealing to Darius’s pride must’ve got his attention quickly, and seemingly without thinking it through, he signed their document.
“Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree” (Daniel 6:9).
It was now the law of the land. What should Daniel do? If he is loyal to the king, his boss, he must pray only to him, which would be disloyal to Jehovah. And if Daniel decides to remain faithful to Jehovah, his disobedience to the law of the Medes and the Persians is treasonous, and it is worthy of death. My friend, what would you do in a situation like that? For Daniel, this was not a difficult decision. For more than 80 years, he has lived his life as the servant of Jehovah. He is well past the age of human heroics, but he will continue living as he has always lived for all these years; Jehovah and His will come first. Giving thanks to his God was more important to him than obeying mere men’s edicts.
Believers, would you still be publicly thankful to God even if it might cost you your life?
Come back tomorrow as we think about Daniel’s actions after learning that this new law was in effect.
Quote: “Christians do not have to live; they have only to be faithful to Jesus Christ, not only until death but unto death if necessary” [2] (Vance Havner).
[1] HSB is the Harvest Study Bible from Harvest Ministries in Guam.
[2] Havner’s quote was downloaded: November 22, 2021. From: https://graciousquotes.com/faithfulness/.