David Bahn – Reflections

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Today’s readings: Daniel 4-6, Psalm 96.

Daniel 6:25-30

[Daniel is thrown into the lion’s den, for continuing to pray to his God rather than praying to the king. He survives the night because “God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they had not harmed [him].” Daniel gives glory to God and the king issues a new decree.]

Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. ²⁶ 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,
    and his dominion shall be to the end.
²⁷ 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.”

²⁸ So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

I love these accounts of Daniel in his encounters with the kings and his minions. One day he is the most favored son. The next day it’s into the lion’s den. One day he’s interpreting the king’s dreams. The next day he is accused of insurrection before the king. Each time Daniel was vindicated. His faith in God’s faithfulness was well placed. God’s rescue and protection of him is the stuff of faith. That’s why we have these great accounts in the Bible.

But the contrast is not to be ignored. Against the backdrop of God’s faithfulness and Daniel’s faith is the fickle nature of these powerful kings. A decree is given: I’m going to kill all the wise men because they cannot tell me my dream and its meaning. Then, when Daniel reveals the dream and its meaning to Nebuchadnezzar, the king declares, “Truly, your God is God of gods and Lord of kings.”

The same happens with Darius when he – due to the foolish edict he decreed – was forced to throw Daniel into the lion’s den. When Daniel is saved, the same result ensues: the king gives glory to God and recognizes the Most High as the true and only God.

I like to make the point when I am helping churches make strategic mission plans: “Man proposes. God disposes.” We may have ideas about the way things ought to be, or make plans we are convinced will come to pass. But we do not know what tomorrow will bring. This calls for humility and faith. It calls for us to remember God is God and we are not. That’s where humility resides. But we can also remember that God’s will is good and shaped by his steadfast love. That’s the focus of our faith.

Two thousand years ago a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. Little did he know that God would use that decree in the fulfillment of the Old Testament prophecy that the Savior would come from Bethlehem. Even when a king’s decree is allowed to stand, God has a way to work it into his plan to redeem and save a lost and fallen world. His decree is a decree of grace. And, as even King Darius rightly decreed 2500 years ago, our God “is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.”

Follow the Word is a daily Bible reading and devotional ministry of St. John Lutheran Church, Cypress, Texas.