This whole lion’s den story is cool enough, but it’s the little phrases and details in a lot of this that got me fired up this time through. For example, in verse 3, it talks about how Daniel distinguishes himself “because uan excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned vto set him over the whole kingdom.” It’s subtle but important to note that it’s not through Daniel’s doing that there’s this excellent spirit in him. He isn’t excellent in himself, but the excellence comes to him through the spirit that dwells in him. I know that for myself, I like to attribute the excellent parts of myself to, well, myself. I mean, obviously God made me this way, but I own that excellence as part of who I am. This little phrase, “an excellent spirit was in him,” reminds me that God put this excellence in me. That, in fact, it’s God’s spirit in me. That’s a nice humbling reminder to give credit where credit is due. And it reminds me of what I wrote yesterday about reflecting God’s light from people back to people, in the spirit of our yogic closing to each practice: Namaste! (which we say so peacefully, but it really is more of a joyful declaration)
Next up, this phrase from verse four: “ because he was faithful, xand no error or fault was found in him.” but that doesn’t keep Daniel safe. I like to think that I’ll be safe and life will be smooth if I am faithful and don’t do crappy things. Not so! Unfortunately, in the last year, I wrecked my relatively clean record of not being a shady person. Still, even when I was in the clear, life wasn’t easy and free from attack. I think that’s important too. We have to be good anyway.
Manipulation comes up in this chapter, too. In verse seven, the other satraps and governors use basic peer pressure to get Darius to sign the decree, saying “All the shigh officials of the kingdom, the prefects and the satraps, the zcounselors and the governors are agreed.” First of all, this is a flat out lie because Daniel’s not part of this decree. This isn’t anything Darius wanted, but he goes along with it because so many people suggested it’s a good idea. I have done this over and over in life. Where I get hung up is when it’s that moral grey area where I struggle to navigate on my own because it’s hard to discern the best course of action. So I turn to the counsel of the people around me and let their advice sometimes trump the words in my heart. When I listen to others instead of myself, that’s when I’ve made some of the more questionable decisions in my life. That’s when I feel more regret and get myself into quicksand. I’m still working on this trusting myself thing. It’s a process. I always thought I was pretty secure in myself and knowing what is best for me, but in the past year I see how much I’ve let other people tell me what I need even when I know better. I think I could have avoided a lot of pain if I let fear and others’ opinions govern my life less and listen to the signs around me more. What a dummy I can be sometimes. =)
Verse 10 : “he went home.” Daniel hears about this decree and instead of confronting anyone, he just keeps to himself and does his own thing. This reminds me of the opposite of the showy, name brand Christians that sometimes get under my skin. When Daniel realizes his society has turned against him again and tried to get between him and his God, he just goes along slow and steady like always. Yeah, he could have flaunted his piety and prayed in public, but he doesn’t. He doesn’t try to make a point or stand his ground in some kind of show-down with the king and officials. I really respect that. That’s how we know it’s really about Daniel’s devotion to God and not any claim to fame or political posturing. It’s important for us to examine our pious actions and be aware of when they are externally driven and when they come from a true yearning and devotion to God. I guess I could be thankful that my pride doesn’t pull me in this way (plenty of other ways, but not this one), but it’s something I think I see a lot. And honestly, when I observe it in a group or person, it makes me skeptical and I get all cynical. So the holy example they are trying to set gets polluted by the publicity they seem to be seeking or posturing they seem to be doing. I guess the best thing to do is to pray for them that their motivations are more genuine so they don’t turn more people off.
This part of Daniel is also a reminder of the power of habit and how important it is for us to build dedicated prayer time into our lives. He doesn't seem to have to think very hard about whether to pray or where or when. On SheReadsTruth, one of the companion scriptures was 2 Tim 3: 15 “and that afrom childhood you have known bthe sacred writings which are able to cgive you the wisdom that leads to dsalvation through faith which is in eChrist Jesus.” If our prayer lives are ingrained in us, it’s harder to falter when that steadiness is under attack.
Finally, we get a king whose head is screwed on a little straighter. After he realizes his decree busts Daniel, he doesn’t get defensive or make excuses. In verse 14 he “was greatly displeased with himself.” And then he doesn’t try to impress anyone or show his power, but he retreats to his palace to pray and spend the night working toward Daniel’s deliverance.
Just like the kings are changing, Daniel is too. In verses 16-18 Daniel doesn’t even say anything when he’s in trouble this time. It’s like he doesn’t need to anymore. Is it because Darius already realized what he did wrong or is it more because Daniel is resigned to his fate and to all the behavior of these silly kings. Is it Daniel’s maturity now that he’s a grown man, mature and wise, instead of a youth like he was in Chapter 1? I’m not sure what to make of this change. What do you think?
Finally, I like that we don't know what happened in the lion's den or what it was like for Daniel. That ambiguity is important because it allows us as readers of this story to put ourselves in Daniel’s place and imagine lions analogous to our own. This is so much more powerful than describing exactly what happened in there that night. What craftiness on the author’s part! The lit teacher in me is all drippy with appreciation of author’s craft. Ha! And it is echoed by this other scripture that SheReadsTruth paired with Chapter 6: 1 Peter 5:9 (NASB) 9 1aBut resist him, bfirm in your faith, knowing that cthe same experiences of suffering are being accomplished by your 2brethren who are in the world.” We all have lions to contend with. The exact details aren’t important. Our problems are proportional to what we can handle and the difficulty of contending with them is quite subjective.
I was just rocking out this verse in my journal last week. Here it is again, but it seems like people focus on verses 6 and 7. That’s handier for it’s bite-sized-ness, but the whole passage is just LOVELY.
Philippians 4:4-9
4 pRejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice. 5 Let your reasonableness be known to everyone. qThe Lord is at hand; 6 rdo not be anxious about anything, sbut in everything by prayer and supplicationtwith thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And uthe peace of God, vwhich surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.
8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things. 9 What you have learned and wreceived and heard and seen xin me—practice these things, and ythe God of peace will be with you.
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