I love to read the story of Daniel in the lion's den as it is
recorded in Daniel 6. Humanly speaking, Daniel’s situation was without hope.
Verse 16 tells us that he had just been thrown into the lions’ den. Every
precaution was taken to make sure that the deliverance of Daniel was humanly
impossible. No one could rescue him.
In verse 16b we read that the king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” That is quite a statement. Verse 18 says that “the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.”
Every one of us is acquainted with that type of experience, when we can’t sleep because we are so deeply worried or troubled, or when we are so close to someone that we can’t sleep because of what they are suffering through. We probably are not in a literal lions’ den, however. I know from conversations with people and from the e-mails I receive that many of us are facing some personal trials, which often seem like impossibilities. Many are on the verge of giving up. Some of the trials and temptations we wrestle with seem to be getting worse.
Whatever lions’ den we may find ourselves in, now or in the future, sooner or later we must come face to face with human limitations. The truth is that it is the most spiritually productive place we could ever be! God brings us into the lions’ den because he loves us. He does so because he knows that it is only when we come to the end of ourselves that we will ever be able to taste the joys of truly knowing his presence and power in our lives. It is only in dying to ourselves that we can come alive to Christ.
In verses 19-22 we are told that “at the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel answered, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.’”
Note that Daniel was talking to the king while he was still within the den of lions. The lions were still all around him. (If you had been there and the king had come with a rope ladder under his arm and called out your name, don’t you think you would probably have crawled out first before you talked about the experience?) The king and Daniel talked back and forth as if they were meeting on a street corner somewhere. Daniel had no fear, for he had seen the angel of the Lord come and shut the lions’ mouths. We don’t know what exactly happened in the den. All we are told is that the lions’ mouths were shut. That must mean they had been open previously! Now they were as tame as kittens. We can imagine Daniel leaning up against the wall of the den with these massive lions lying all around him keeping him warm through the night. D. L. Moody said he envisioned Daniel actually using one of the lions as a pillow that night. Whatever actually happened Daniel experienced, first hand, the all-powerful hand of God.
The Lord takes great pleasure in taking the most difficult situations in life—those that seem humanly impossible to us—and using those impossibilities as a way of increasing our faith in his unlimited capability. In verse 23 we read that “the king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” This last clause is the most important clause in this entire narrative. It reads, “He had trusted in his God.”
Throughout the Scriptures we learn that temptations and trials of life are to be responded to, not by running from them, or trying to avoid them, or trying to meet them in the power of our own abilities, but by drawing near to God in faith.
Hebrews 11:33 tells us about those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions. . . .”
First Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. . . .” First John 5:4 says, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
The life of Daniel is really a model and an example of how God’s people can live in difficult conditions and come through victoriously. Even as the Jewish people were living in Babylonian captivity, so Christians today are pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign and hostile culture. We, like Daniel, must exercise our faith in God’s purposes and leading for our lives. We too must resolve in advance that we will not be defiled by the world. Whether or not our God delivers us from the lions’ den, we will remain faithful to him.
Philip P. Bliss wrote many songs and hymns, one of which is titled “Dare to be a Daniel.”
In verse 16b we read that the king said to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!” That is quite a statement. Verse 18 says that “the king returned to his palace and spent the night without eating and without any entertainment being brought to him. And he could not sleep.”
Every one of us is acquainted with that type of experience, when we can’t sleep because we are so deeply worried or troubled, or when we are so close to someone that we can’t sleep because of what they are suffering through. We probably are not in a literal lions’ den, however. I know from conversations with people and from the e-mails I receive that many of us are facing some personal trials, which often seem like impossibilities. Many are on the verge of giving up. Some of the trials and temptations we wrestle with seem to be getting worse.
Whatever lions’ den we may find ourselves in, now or in the future, sooner or later we must come face to face with human limitations. The truth is that it is the most spiritually productive place we could ever be! God brings us into the lions’ den because he loves us. He does so because he knows that it is only when we come to the end of ourselves that we will ever be able to taste the joys of truly knowing his presence and power in our lives. It is only in dying to ourselves that we can come alive to Christ.
In verses 19-22 we are told that “at the first light of dawn, the king got up and hurried to the lions’ den. When he came near the den, he called to Daniel in an anguished voice, ‘Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?’ Daniel answered, ‘O king, live forever! My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, O king.’”
Note that Daniel was talking to the king while he was still within the den of lions. The lions were still all around him. (If you had been there and the king had come with a rope ladder under his arm and called out your name, don’t you think you would probably have crawled out first before you talked about the experience?) The king and Daniel talked back and forth as if they were meeting on a street corner somewhere. Daniel had no fear, for he had seen the angel of the Lord come and shut the lions’ mouths. We don’t know what exactly happened in the den. All we are told is that the lions’ mouths were shut. That must mean they had been open previously! Now they were as tame as kittens. We can imagine Daniel leaning up against the wall of the den with these massive lions lying all around him keeping him warm through the night. D. L. Moody said he envisioned Daniel actually using one of the lions as a pillow that night. Whatever actually happened Daniel experienced, first hand, the all-powerful hand of God.
The Lord takes great pleasure in taking the most difficult situations in life—those that seem humanly impossible to us—and using those impossibilities as a way of increasing our faith in his unlimited capability. In verse 23 we read that “the king was overjoyed and gave orders to lift Daniel out of the den. When Daniel was lifted from the den, no wound was found on him, because he had trusted in his God.” This last clause is the most important clause in this entire narrative. It reads, “He had trusted in his God.”
Throughout the Scriptures we learn that temptations and trials of life are to be responded to, not by running from them, or trying to avoid them, or trying to meet them in the power of our own abilities, but by drawing near to God in faith.
Hebrews 11:33 tells us about those “who through faith conquered kingdoms, administered justice, and gained what was promised; who shut the mouths of lions. . . .”
First Peter 5:8-9 says, “Be self-controlled and alert. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour. Resist him, standing firm in the faith. . . .” First John 5:4 says, “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.”
The life of Daniel is really a model and an example of how God’s people can live in difficult conditions and come through victoriously. Even as the Jewish people were living in Babylonian captivity, so Christians today are pilgrims and sojourners in a foreign and hostile culture. We, like Daniel, must exercise our faith in God’s purposes and leading for our lives. We too must resolve in advance that we will not be defiled by the world. Whether or not our God delivers us from the lions’ den, we will remain faithful to him.
Philip P. Bliss wrote many songs and hymns, one of which is titled “Dare to be a Daniel.”
Dare to be a Daniel;
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.
May God help each one of us to dare to be a Daniel.
Dare to stand alone!
Dare to have a purpose firm!
Dare to make it known.
May God help each one of us to dare to be a Daniel.
In Christ,
Brown
http://youtu.be/c9zHn4QSH-8
Super
Summer Music Festival
Saturday, June 30, 2012 at 6:30
PM
Location: First United Methodist
Church
53
McKinley Avenue, Endicott
Sponsored by: Union Center United Methodist
Church
Musicians include: Aric Phinney, Yancey
Moore,
David
Berry, Emma Brunson, Dianne Glann
Weekly
Television outreach:
Friday
7:00 PM
Time
Warner Cable Channel 4.
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