God Who Delivers

We're making our way through. This is the last sermon in our series of the life of Daniel,

in Daniel chapter 6. But the next couple of weeks, we're going to still be in Daniel, kind of bringing

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

things together for us in Daniel chapter 7, kind of looking at the broad theme of this kingdom,

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

this eternal kingdom of God that kind of finds its way, kind of crystallizes and summarizes itself

for us there in Daniel chapter 7, where the Ancient of Days is entrusting the kingdom to the Son of

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Man. And of course, we know who the Son of Man is, who Jesus Christ, who kind of embraced that identity

and kind of wore that for himself during the Gospels. And so we're going to see this eternal

kingdom coming to us in Daniel chapter 7. And then Bill Williamson will be able to teach through

Daniel 7 · chapter mention

Daniel chapter 9, kind of the prayer that's there in a couple of weeks. We want to give you one last

Daniel 9 · chapter mention

glimpse at the life of prayer in the person of Daniel. And it is impactful. I would encourage you,

of course, to be here. Turn with me, if you would, to Daniel chapter 6. If you're using the Pew Bible,

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

it's on page 743. For those of you who have not been here in our series, I want to just kind of

try to catch you up to where we are. We're in the second half of Daniel chapter 6. And the chapter

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

kind of starts this way, kind of moving even back to Daniel chapter 5, verse 30 and 31. It says,

Daniel 5:30

that very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed. And Darius the Mede received the kingdom,

being about 62 years old. Now verse 1 of chapter 6. It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120

set traps to be throughout the whole kingdom. Now this theme that we're going to pick up again

next week is to kind of trace these subsequent kingdoms, the rise and the fall of empires, this

Babylonian empire, Babylonian kingdom, and now the rise of this Persian kingdom.

Kingdoms will come and go. Kings will come and go. But what we're going to see and what we have seen

in Daniel chapter 6 is that God's kingdom remains. It's God who is instrumental in raising up kings

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

and putting kings down. And it's God's servant, Daniel, who remains steady. This fixture of constant,

this constant fixture that has been since the beginning of Daniel and we'll now, we'll see in Daniel chapter 6,

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

as a testimony to the enduring quality of God's kingdom. Daniel will be promoted again. As we saw last week,

he's now the chief official over all of the officials over the entire kingdom of Media Persia.

We saw that while he was a gifted individual, it wasn't because of his networking ability.

It wasn't because of his LinkedIn account, pulling the right strings, positioning himself in the right way,

jockeying for position, kind of edging people out because of his skill and authority and his ability

to position himself. What Daniel does so consistently is he devotes himself to God.

The thing that has amazed me and has been an encouragement to me throughout the testimony of this book

is the absolute commitment of Daniel to trust in God regardless of the shake-up and uncertainty of situations.

Daniel was steady. Daniel was fixed. Daniel was devoted.

His character. We see the testimony of his character even last week, but then pushing into chapter 5,

where we find in verse 11 of chapter 5, the spirit of the gods was in him.

He is light and understanding like the wisdom of the gods.

Then in verse 12, an excellent spirit was in him.

Then again in chapter 6, we find in chapter 6 verse 3,

He was distinguished from the others. Why?

Well, because an excellent spirit was in him.

And when the other officials who were jockeying for position,

trying to find a way to ruin Daniel,

they go on this examination process and they, what do they find in verse 4?

They could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful.

No error or fault was found in him.

We come to understand that it's God who continues to promote Daniel to his position.

It's God who puts kings down.

It's God who raises his servants up.

It's God who keeps putting and pushing Daniel into the forefront.

It's what we find in 1 Peter chapter 5.

1 Peter 5 · chapter mention

It's the way in which God works with his servants.

Beginning in verse 5, it says,

Clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility towards one another.

For God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.

So humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God,

so that at the proper time he may exalt you.

We saw last week, and we'll see this again this morning,

that it was Daniel's humility and Daniel's faithfulness that positioned him for usefulness.

You see, God delights in using humble, faithful servants.

And God understands that his humble, faithful servants are useful.

They're useful to wait for God's timing.

They're useful to point to who God is, not to draw attention to themselves.

And that's what's happening through this entire book of the life of Daniel,

that Daniel keeps showcasing and spotlighting the work of God in his life,

not drawing attention to himself.

But this, of course, makes all of the officials in this new kingdom really upset.

Why does this foreigner keep getting pushed to the forefront?

Why is this exile from Judea in charge of everything?

So these officials concoct a plan.

They devised this plan of, after putting Daniel's life under the microscope,

they're unable to find anything to ruin him.

Instead, what they need to do is they need to use his faithfulness against him.

They essentially weaponize Daniel's faith and devotion to God

and seek to use that as an instrument to destroy him.

They've come up with this plan.

They're going to invite and pray on the pride and the seeming logic of King Darius

and convince him that he needs to kind of pull in the loyalties of his kingdom

and have all of those subjects in his kingdom pray to him.

So the king agrees.

He signs this decree.

And without realizing it, he signs Daniel's fate.

The consequence of which was to cast Daniel into the lion's den,

which we'll look at in more detail this morning.

Daniel hears this decree and immediately goes to his house.

He immediately goes up to his roof.

He opens the window of his lattice.

He directs his focus to Jerusalem, to where the temple would have been,

where the God of Israel and his presence was most fully realized.

And he prays to the God of Israel.

Of course, he's caught in the act, as it were,

and the accusation is brought before the king.

And the king, in anguish, labors to deliver Daniel.

Deliverance will be our key theme, our key word throughout this passage.

We're going to see this on several occasions.

And just at the beginning of the onset of this study,

just underline for me the words that we find in this section,

beginning in verse 14, this word deliver.

In verse 14 it says,

And the king set his heart to deliver Daniel.

That's our word.

Then in verse 16,

Then the king declared to Daniel,

May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you.

Then in verse 20,

The king declared to Daniel,

O Daniel, servant of the living God,

has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you?

Then finally in verse 27,

Speaking of God,

For he delivers and rescues.

He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.

He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.

Spoiler alert,

God saves Daniel from the lion's den.

But why?

Why would God put Daniel through the paces, as it were?

Why would God introduce this trial, this trouble, to Daniel's life?

What the enemies of Daniel sought to do to ruin Daniel,

becomes an instrument of God to push God forward as the one who can deliver.

In other words, God uses Daniel's trials to draw attention to God's triumph.

God uses Daniel's trials to draw attention to God's triumph.

What is God using in your life this morning?

What trials, what troubles, what difficulties, what pains are you working through,

even in this moment?

What challenges are you experiencing in the here and now?

Recognize that God wants to use those challenges, those trials, those tribulations,

so that you can show and draw attention to God's power.

God wants you to maximize your trials to draw attention to God's triumph.

That's what God does through trials.

And by the way, it is a joy for us.

It should be a joy for us in the midst of those trials to recognize it as an opportunity

and say, oh God, please help me to be faithful with this trial to draw attention to you.

And that's exactly what Daniel does.

Daniel faithfully devotes himself to God in and through this passage

and in and through this book of Daniel.

There seems to be this steady heart that is so at ease and at rest in understanding

that God is in control of all the circumstances of life in time, in time, in time again.

God uses those trials to draw attention to his triumph.

And God wants to do the same for you.

God wants to do and accomplish the same purposes for his people today.

God wants to do the same for you.

God wants to do the same for you.

There's a famous pastor from the 1800s.

His name is D.L. Moody.

And D.L. Moody got on board of this ship in London and he was on his way to New York.

And at some point along the way, the drive shaft of this ship broke

and it created a hole in the hull of the ship.

So the ship begins to sink.

And D.L. Moody describes this experience in this way when he says,

The officers and crew did all they could to save the vessel,

but it was soon found that the pumps were useless,

for the water poured into the ship too rapidly to be controlled.

There was nothing more in the power of man to do,

and the ship was absolutely helpless.

While the passengers could only stand still on the poor, drifting, sinking ship

and look into our possible watery graves.

It, of course, was a desperate situation.

After several more days, the ship continued to experience increasing damage.

And D.L. Moody entered in what he called the darkest hour of his life.

He describes it this way when he says,

I could not endure it.

And imagine yourself in this situation.

I must have relief, he says.

And relief came in prayer.

God heard my cry and enabled me to say,

From the depths of my soul,

Thy will be done.

Sweet peace came to my heart.

Let it be north field or heaven, he said.

It made no difference now.

I went to bed.

I fell asleep almost immediately

and never slept more soundly in all my life.

Of course, God also rescued D.L. Moody

and being able to bring him back to shore.

But there was rescue, real rescue,

that happened in the moment before physical rescue ever came.

It was rescue of understanding that God was sovereign,

even in the trial.

God wants to accomplish the same for us.

God wants us to recognize there is deliverance that can come.

Sometimes that deliverance comes from those trials.

Sometimes that deliverance happens through those trials.

Do we believe that in every situation that God is introducing into our life,

that God intends to maximize those trials for the purpose of drawing attention to him

and through us to call attention to a God who saves,

a God who delivers.

So if you're not there with me already,

turn to Daniel chapter 6.

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

We're going to be picking the story up in verse 14.

And we're going to see this contrast that will happen.

The power of men versus the power of God.

And it has been this picture that has been at the front of our story,

the front of this narrative from Daniel chapter 1 to Daniel chapter 6,

Daniel 1 · chapter mention Daniel 6 · chapter mention

from the very beginning.

Who is really the one who's in power?

Who's really the supreme authority?

Our first point this morning is the power of man will fail.

The power of man will fail.

Make sure that when you're trusting in power,

you trust in the power of God, not the power of man,

because the power of man will fail.

Notice verse 14.

Then the king, when he heard these words,

and by the way, the words were that Daniel has just been praying,

not to you, but to his God.

And so he hears these words,

and he was much distressed.

He set his mind to deliver Daniel.

And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.

Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king,

Know, O king, that it is the law of the Medes and the Persians,

that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.

The power of man will fail.

And here we find the king's desperate attempt to deliver Daniel.

The king is desperate to deliver Daniel.

We find these words.

He's much distressed.

There was some level of commitment,

some level of partnership,

some level of investment and allegiance,

even before, even between these two men,

some relationship that these two guys had,

and a dependence that Darius had on Daniel.

And he understood how significant this would be.

So he was much distressed.

And it says he labored,

which literally means he set his heart.

I think our translation says he set his mind.

He was emotionally involved.

This word deliver, of course,

will become a key word for us in the remaining parts of this chapter.

And this would have been a whirlwind day for Darius.

Sometime in the morning,

he is signing this decree.

He's thinking he's going to be able to put

all of his kingdom back together

and establish loyalty and allegiance.

All the while,

his officials were actually gunning to manipulate him.

Daniel would go,

and he would go home to pray.

He's caught.

And now,

Darius' number one official

is going to go to the lion's den.

And so the king is trying to fix the mess

that he's created.

He's frustrated.

He's emotional.

He's desperate.

No doubt he throws every resource of his power

into the mix

to undo this situation that he's created for himself.

Darius, king of Babylon,

now comes face to face with the restriction of his power.

He comes face to face with the boundaries of his authority.

He comes to a place of recognizing

how desperate he is

to actually bring any deliverance to Daniel.

In verse 16,

we find the king's desperate hope for deliverance.

His desperate hope for deliverance.

Notice,

Then the king commanded,

and Daniel was brought and cast into the lion's den.

And the king declared to Daniel,

May your God,

whom you serve continually,

deliver you.

This word for den is the word for pit.

It's another use of the word for a cistern or to dig.

It's similar to the word that was used

for the brothers of Joseph

when they threw him into the pit.

It's a similar word for us,

the difference between the Hebrew and the Aramaic.

Accounts of the Persians executing their victims

in such a manner is recorded in history.

And while the descriptions of the den

aren't given to us in detail here in Daniel,

we do find in archaeology

in parts of the world in that day

that these lion's dens

would have been like large caverns.

In our family,

when we visited Idaho,

we went to some natural caverns

that were created.

This would have been like a large square cavern

under the earth.

It would have had like a partition in the wall.

This particular one that was found in Morocco

had a partition in the wall

so that the lions could move

from one side to the other

and you could kind of close things off

and access the one side and clean it

while the lions were in the other side.

Then it would have a hole in the top.

You could kind of peer down

and watch the activities

that were taking place below,

making sure the execution was going

according to plan.

The lions and everyone would come

into the opening of this cave

and there would be a rock

that would be over the mouth

of that opening.

Probably similar to what we find here

in our passage.

This was a cistern that is filled with lions.

They would intentionally starve these lions

so the victims would be unable to escape.

So these are not a few sleepy,

lethargic old lions that we're talking about

as some skeptics have assumed.

But we get a sense of the size

and the strength

and the sheer power of these lions

when we look at verse 24.

It says,

This is the same den,

the same group of lions,

the same power that was represented here

in verse 24

is the same power that was available

earlier in the chapter.

Darius, of course, is concerned.

He has a reason to be concerned.

And God has used this situation

to call attention

to God's wonder-working power.

The miraculous display of God's power

is now brought out into the open.

Darius is forced to recognize

the limitations of his power.

He's been confronted with the limitations

of his wisdom and his foresight.

He has been forced to see

how prone he is to manipulation.

And he knows that everything right now

is totally out of his control.

So Darius offers some semblance

and what I find intriguing about this

is that Darius will offer

a semblance of a prayer in hope,

this prayer of desperation,

this long-shot prayer as it were,

because every other option is expended.

What I find fascinating

is that in this 30-day window

where all petitions and prayers

were to come to Darius,

now what we kind of see here

is that now Darius

is kind of offering a prayer

to Daniel's God

through the mediation of Daniel

where he says,

may your God,

whom you serve continually,

deliver you.

It's a mighty prayer

full of theology.

I broke this down

just in a few pieces

to briefly walk you through

how powerful this prayer is.

He begins with,

your God.

These words in the Aramaic

are in construct relationship

and basically all that means

is two words in the English

that are joined together

and become one word

in the Aramaic.

Your God.

Darius observed

the inseparable nature,

inseparable quality

of Daniel's relationship with God.

Your God belongs to you, Daniel.

and you belong to your God.

This inseparable quality

of this relationship

that is so personal,

that is so marked

by affection.

Daniel's affection for God

and God's affection for him

so that Darius even comes

to describe God in these terms.

He's not just the God of heaven.

He's not just the most high God.

He's not just the God of Israel.

He's your God.

The identity that is so intertwined

and interlaced

with Daniel himself,

the servant,

describing the love of God

for Daniel.

Then he says,

whom you serve.

And again,

this is a word

that is in a construct relationship.

It describes this intensive,

continual pattern of service

that Daniel has for God.

This continual expression

of his life.

It is this ever-present reality

for him.

You get this sense

that nothing drives Daniel

quite like his service

to his God.

Let's not forget

that here in the book of Daniel

and also throughout

the Old Testament,

we find that service

and worship

go hand in hand.

These terms are synonymous.

We saw this back

in Daniel chapter 3

Daniel 3 · chapter mention

in verse 12

where the accusers

will say of Shadrach,

Meshach,

and Abednego,

they say,

they do not serve

your gods

or worship

the golden image

that you have set up.

And then Nebuchadnezzar

in verse 14

will say,

is it true

that you do not serve

my gods

or worship

the golden image

that I have set up?

And then in verse 18,

Shadrach, Meshach,

and Abednego

will reply,

be it known to you,

O king,

that we will not serve

your gods

or worship

the golden image

that you have set up.

Darius understood

the underlying reason

for Daniel's disobedience.

Darius has come

to understand

that Daniel

is a man

who is committed

to one objective

and that is

service of God.

This was not about

defiance

to a decree.

This was not about

disloyalty

to the king.

This was about

allegiance

to the God of Israel,

to Daniel's God,

serving him,

worshiping him.

Daniel's service

and devotion

and worship

were undivided.

They were uncompromised.

They were unbroken,

unwavering,

and undeterred.

His service

and worship

were continual

and faithful

and consistent.

Then he ends with,

may this God

deliver you.

Deliver you.

Another construct

relationship

where the verb

deliver

is joined together

with a pronoun

you.

Attached

to convey

the idea

that God's power

was inseparable

with God's servant.

Where he begins

with your God.

God's relationship,

God's identity

was intertwined

with his servant

Daniel

and now

the affection

that God has

for Daniel

is met

with the power

of God

that's going to be

working out

in Daniel

so that

in Darius' mind

God's character

was bound

to the deliverance

that God

would provide

to Daniel

in the lion's den.

It was a mighty

prayer

of desperation.

but it was a prayer

of sincerity.

It wasn't a prayer

of sincerity

excuse me

because Darius

didn't know

God's power.

Darius didn't have

this relationship

with God

which now turns

to verse 17

the king's

desperate night

of waiting.

The king's

desperate night

of waiting.

It says

in a stone

was brought

and laid

on the mouth

of the den

the king

sealed it

with his own

signet

and with the

signet of his

lords

that nothing

might be changed

concerning Daniel.

Then the king

went to his palace

and spent the night

fasting.

No diversions

were brought to him

and sleep

fled from him.

Then at the break

of day

the king arose

and went in haste

to the den of lions

and he came near

to the den

where Daniel was.

He cried out

in a tone

of anguish

the king declared

to Daniel

O Daniel

servant of the

living God

has your God

whom you serve

continually

been able

to deliver you

from the lions?

The king's

desperate night

of waiting

Darius goes back

to the palace

and by the way

all of this

I believe

is by design

where God

is putting Darius

in a situation

where he's helpless

where he's come

to the end

of himself

and now

Darius

is hoping

beyond hope

perhaps

just maybe

God will

help to deliver

his servant

Daniel.

All of this

was by design.

God

bringing

and emphasizing

the king's

futility

and drawing

attention

to God's

sufficiency.

This has been

a whirlwind day.

Started with

Darius feeling

at the top

of the world

and now

has ended

with Darius

understanding

his desperate

need

for God

himself.

Now we're

back in the

palace

and one thing

on Darius'

mind

something in

his heart

believes

that maybe

just maybe

God

will save

Daniel.

Perhaps

it was the

strength of

Daniel's

conviction.

Perhaps it was

the record

of Daniel's

God

or the writing

on the wall

and testimony

of Daniel

being able

to deliver

and interpret

the words

that were

written on

the wall.

Maybe it was

the public

record of

the fiery

furnace

or maybe

the public

proclamation

from Nebuchadnezzar

himself at the

end of Daniel

Daniel 4 · chapter mention

chapter 4.

Whatever it

was,

Darius'

response

indicates

that there

is this

flicker

of hope

that maybe

God

will be

able

to save.

But as

the hours

go by,

the urgency

of the situation

is intensified.

Darius

spends the

night fasting

which is a

way to

represent his

heart of sorrow,

his heart of

grief,

his heart of

urgency.

He puts

away his

food,

he puts

away his

entertainment,

he's unable

to sleep.

And then

at the

earliest

possible

moment,

what we

find here

in the

text,

at the

break of

day,

at the

instant

the law

has been

fulfilled,

this 62

year old

man is

jetting across

the palace,

he's running

across the

city,

he's going

out to that

den,

he's got

to know

for himself,

is Daniel

okay?

He calls

out in a

tone of

anguish

and notice,

oh Daniel,

servant of

the living

God,

has your

God,

whom you

serve

continually,

been able

to deliver

you from

the lions?

This

identity of

the living

God that

he expresses

here is

really uncommon

in the Old

Testament,

but it's

used twice

here in

Daniel chapter

Daniel 6 · chapter mention

6.

It's often

associated in

the Old

Testament,

as few

of the

times it's

used,

it's often

associated

with God's

delivering

power over

the nations.

Nebuchadnezzar

will use a

similar concept

in Daniel

Daniel 4:34

chapter 4

verse 34

when he

says,

I bless

the Most

High and

praise and

honor him

who lives

forever.

You see,

God was a

living God,

not like

the dead,

lifeless

gods of

Babylon or

Persia.

It expresses

this quality

and nature

of God,

his presence,

his activity,

his involvement

in the affairs

of men,

his engagement

in the world

and active

in the lives

of his

servants.

Both

Nebuchadnezzar

and Darius

come to

understand

this identity

of God

as being

powerful,

accessible

and present.

But now

we contrast

the futility,

the failure

of man's

power.

Man's

power will

fail but

God's power

will flourish.

That's what

we find

in verses

21 to

28.

The power

of God

will flourish.

Put your

hope in

the power

of God.

Notice

in verse

21,

Then Daniel

said to the

king,

O king,

live forever.

my God

has sent

his angel

and shut

the lions'

mouths

and they

have not

harmed me

because I

was found

blameless

before him

and also

before you,

O king,

I have done

no harm.

God

sends

his angel

to deliver

Daniel.

God

sends

his messenger.

God

sends

his power.

God

sends

his presence,

his very

presence

to help

Daniel.

God

delivers.

He's a

God who

is not

distant.

He's a

God who's

not removed.

He's a

God who

is not

apathetic

or

uncaring.

He's a

God who

is present.

He's a

God who

answers.

He's a

God who

is imminently

He's a

God who

is available

to his

people.

And God

helps

Daniel.

Why?

Well,

Daniel says

here,

because I

was found

blameless.

I was found

blameless.

And because

I have

done

no harm.

Daniel's

commitment

to God

just

continued

to shine

through his

life.

And Daniel

somehow

understood

that in

the providence

of God,

he was using

this very

situation

to draw

attention

to God's

power

and to

use

the lion's

den

as a

gospel

catalyst

for this

king,

for this

heathen

king.

Somehow

Daniel

understood

at the

very

beginning

what

God

was

about

to

accomplish.

I

was

faithful.

I

was

blameless.

And

I

have

done

no

harm.

This

word

I've

done

no

harm

should

sound

a bit

familiar

because

if we

remember

at the

very

beginning

of this

chapter

when the

satraps

and officials

were put

together

they were

put together

for the

purpose

of so

that

we find

in

verse 2

Daniel

had

faithfully

served

his

God

and

that

translated

into

faithfully

serving

this

king.

And I

trust

for those

of us

who are

doing

our

service

as to

the

Lord

wherever

you are

that your

service

is to

God

and

what

that

entails

or what

that

means

is that

it's

also

helping

to

promote

and

encourage

and

advance

the

company

that

you're

in

and

the

managers

that

you

work

for

the

two

are

not

incompatible

in this

event

Daniel

knew

that

his

life

would

be

preserved

because

he

understood

what

God

meant

to

accomplish

through

it

of

course

throughout

history

not

all

people

who

are

blameless

are

preserved

in

this

way

we

can

just

look

to

the

example

of

Christ

who

through

the

divine

appointment

of

God

was

put

to

death

on

the

cross

and

was

raised

the

third

day

we

know

the

testimony

of

the

apostle

Paul

who

at

the

very

end

of

his

life

his

head

was

taken

off

and

throughout

the

course

of

his

life

the

suffering

that

he

experienced

at

the

hands

of

wicked

men

we

know

that

Peter

the

apostle

Peter

the

tradition

is

that

he

was

also

crucified

upside

down

for

the

sake

of

his

confession

of

Christ

and

then

the

martyrs

throughout

history

we

know

that

blameless

people

do not

are not

always

preserved

from

hard

things

but

we

do

know

that

God

will

deliver

them

through

those

hard

things

as

the

song

that

we

sang

I

think

it

was

one

of

the

one

last

two

songs

that

we

all

await

and

anticipate

those

of

us

who

are

in

Christ

Jesus

wait

for

the

ultimate

deliverance

from

this

life

to

be

captured

into

glory

to

be

with

our

Savior

that's

the

real

deliverance

that

all

of

us

are

looking

forward

to

to

be

reunited

with

Christ

and

Daniel

proved

Daniel

proved

that

God's

promise

to

Abraham

was

true

where

God

says

I

will

bless

those

who

bless

you

and

curse

those

who

curse

you

in

you

all

the

nations

will

be

blessed

and

that

leads

us

to

our

final

point

that

God

uses

Darius

to

vindicate

Daniel

he

used

Darius

to

vindicate

Daniel

notice

verse

23

then

the

king

was

exceedingly

glad

he

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

and

the

king

commanded

and

those

men

who

had

maliciously

accused

Daniel

were

brought

and

cast

into

the

den

of

lions

they

their

children

and

their

wives

and

before

they

reached

the

bottom

of

the

den

the

lions

overpowered

them

and

broke

all

their

bones

in

pieces

do

we

trust

in

God

to

bring

about

proper

vindication

or

are

we

working

the

system

to

get

what

we

deserve

are

we

using

the

tit

for

tat

are

we

are

we

using

the

eye

for

an

eye

a

tooth

for

a

tooth

are

we

trying

to

find

ways

to

get

even

as

it

were

or

are

we

trusting

in

God

to

purchase

and to

bring

about

the

vindication

that we

feel

like

we

deserve

are

we

those

who

like

Christ

are

willing

to

say

Father

forgive

them

for

they

know

not

what

they

do

are

the

exhortations

from

Jesus

on

the

sermon

on

the

mount

that

says

love

your

enemies

do

good

to

those

who

persecute

you

pray

for

those

who

despitefully

use

you

and

then

entrusting

ourselves

to

God

who

promises

that

vengeance

is

mine

I

will

repay

says

the

Lord

is

there

the

kind

of

confidence

in

our

heart

that

says

God

whatever

you

bring

about

in

the

situation

if

it

means

more

challenges

and

trouble

for

me

and

opportunities

to

shine

your

triumph

through

the

situation

and

I'm

going

to

trust

you

to

deal

with

those

individuals

who

are

bringing

harm

to

me

because

I

believe

that

you

are

the

God

who

is

over

all

vengeance

belongs

to

you

you

will

repay

says

the

Lord

and

God

faithfully

does

that

through

Darius

invindicating

Daniel

finally

we find

in verse

25 to

28

that

God

uses

Gentiles

to

exalt

his

name

God

uses

Gentiles

to

exalt

his

name

this

is

astounding

here we

are

in

Babylon

now

in

the

city

of

Babylon

now

the

empire

of

media

Persia

that

the

reason

why

Daniel

and

his

buddies

are

in

this

place

to

begin

with

is

because

of

the

rebellion

and

wickedness

of

their

forefathers

and

the

condemnation

of

the

judgment

of

God

the

discipline

of

God

to

bring

them

here

into

exile

and

God

has

used

that

instrumentally

as a

conduit

for the

gospel

to the

Gentiles

and now

it's a

Gentile

who will

be a

light

to the

other

Gentiles

check

check

this

out

verse

25

then

king

Darius

wrote

to

all

the

peoples

nations

and

languages

that

dwell

in

all

the

earth

peace

be

multiplied

to

you

I

make

a

decree

that

in

all

my

royal

dominion

people

are

to

tremble

and

fear

before

the

God

of

Daniel

for

he

is

the

living

God

enduring

forever

his

kingdom

shall

never

be

destroyed

his

dominion

shall

be

to

the

end

he

delivers

and

rescues

he

works

signs

and

wonders

in

heaven

and

on

earth

he

who

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

here

is

this

doxology

of

this

Persian

king

that

is

so

much

like

what

Nebuchadnezzar

will

say

in

chapter

4