We love watching movies and reading books about underdogs. Being an underdog, however, is never a part any of us would choose to play. One of the most difficult parts of feeling like an underdog is the feeling of being alone with all of the odds stacked up against you. No person wants to endure that feeling of loneliness that many underdogs face. The truth is that as followers of Christ, even when we feel like the underdog, we are never alone. God is with us, and He fights for us.
We left off our Bible study yesterday on a bit of a cliff hanger. Daniel had courageously disobeyed an order of the king of Babylon by praying to God in public for anyone to see. Today, we are going to pick up that story in Daniel 6. The king's administrators caught Daniel praying, and, ultimately, he was arrested and thrown into a den with lions because of his disobedience. The king was so angry because he had been tricked into making this rule that would harm Daniel. After all, he greatly valued Daniel and did not want anything bad to happen to him. Before Daniel was thrown into the den, he said to him, "May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you" (verse 16). And, miraculously, God did indeed rescue Daniel. Verse 22 tells us that God "shut the lions' mouths" so that the lions did not harm Daniel. God was with Daniel in the lions' den. He was not alone.
God's protection over Daniel was not the only miraculous thing that happened in Daniel 6. God also moved the king's heart. The king was so overjoyed that Daniel was rescued that he made a rule in the kingdom that everyone was to have fear and reverence for God, the God of Daniel (verse 26). God ultimately used this frightening situation to make His name known. This is what God does in all situations, even the difficult days. He works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28). He did this for Daniel. He will do it for you as well. May you rest in His provision, protection, and providence today. After all, He is the One who can take any situation and turn it for good.
Sometimes in the middle of our struggles, we need the reminder that God fights for His people. Take some time to study and memorize Daniel 6:21-22. Next, reflect on these verses and the hope that they bring to you in your own life.
Then the officials went together to Daniel’s house and found him praying and asking for God’s help. So they went straight to the king and reminded him about his law. “Did you not sign a law that for the next thirty days any person who prays to anyone, divine or human—except to you, Your Majesty—will be thrown into the den of lions?”
“Yes,” the king replied, “that decision stands; it is an official law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.”
Then they told the king, “That man Daniel, one of the captives from Judah, is ignoring you and your law. He still prays to his God three times a day.”
Hearing this, the king was deeply troubled, and he tried to think of a way to save Daniel. He spent the rest of the day looking for a way to get Daniel out of this predicament.
In the evening the men went together to the king and said, “Your Majesty, you know that according to the law of the Medes and the Persians, no law that the king signs can be changed.”
So at last the king gave orders for Daniel to be arrested and thrown into the den of lions. The king said to him, “May your God, whom you serve so faithfully, rescue you.”
A stone was brought and placed over the mouth of the den. The king sealed the stone with his own royal seal and the seals of his nobles, so that no one could rescue Daniel. Then the king returned to his palace and spent the night fasting. He refused his usual entertainment and couldn’t sleep at all that night.
Very early the next morning, the king got up and hurried out to the lions’ den. When he got there, he called out in anguish, “Daniel, servant of the living God! Was your God, whom you serve so faithfully, able to rescue you from the lions?”
Daniel answered, “Long live the king! My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths so that they would not hurt me, for I have been found innocent in his sight. And I have not wronged you, Your Majesty.”
The king was overjoyed and ordered that Daniel be lifted from the den. Not a scratch was found on him, for he had trusted in his God.
Then the king gave orders to arrest the men who had maliciously accused Daniel. He had them thrown into the lions’ den, along with their wives and children. The lions leaped on them and tore them apart before they even hit the floor of the den.
Then King Darius sent this message to the people of every race and nation and language throughout the world:
“Peace and prosperity to you!
“I decree that everyone throughout my kingdom should tremble with fear before the God of Daniel.
For he is the living God,
and he will endure forever.
His kingdom will never be destroyed,
and his rule will never end.
He rescues and saves his people;
he performs miraculous signs and wonders
in the heavens and on earth.
He has rescued Daniel
from the power of the lions.”
So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
