Faithful in the Lion's Den

All right. We are in Daniel chapter 6. If you want to follow along, there are handouts inside the bulletins. Additionally, there are some devotional pages on the back near where the bulletins are. The first three days kind of take you through a review of what we talked about this morning, and the next three days prepare you for where we're going to be next week. I'm going to go ahead and pray, and we'll dive right into it. Father in heaven, we thank you that you love us, that you watch over us, that you are a God of both justice and mercy. We thank you most of all for the good news of the gospel, that your son came and stood in our place. We thank you for the hope that is found therein. I just ask that as we look at what a life of faithfulness entails this morning, that you will help us to see that it is found in your strength, in your goodness,

and your providential care in all things. And so we just ask that you would be with us, you would encourage our souls. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen. So when kids asked me, specifically our oldest asked me this week, "What are you preaching on?" And I said, "Well, Daniel chapter 6, it's where Daniel ends up in the lion's den." She goes, "Oh, that's a classic." All right, it's a story we've all heard. We're probably familiar. Even if you're not part of a church or a Christian, it's a story that you likely have heard of. For me, growing up in the church, there are a couple things that stand out about this account. One is that we had growing up, it was called, I don't remember, it was like the Adventure Bible, or basically it was a graphic novel of the entire Bible.

And so instead of listening in church, I would read through the graphic novel of the Bible, which was genius, because I was sitting there reading the Bible in church, and I didn't even think that I was reading the Bible in church. And when you get to the end of Daniel chapter 6, where all Daniel's accusers take his place in the lion's den, there is that one frame from that just seared into my mind as the guards are sort of kicking them into the lion's den. And looking back on it, I was like, well, was this really appropriate for like a seven-year-old child to be looking at? Also, in one of the things, growing up we listened to a lot of radio dramas. It was the '80s, like not the 1940s, but I still love audiobooks and listening to those kind of things.

I remember there was an account, I think we had it on cassette tape, and it was a dramatization of the story of Daniel, but also set to music. And I can still remember the songs that the opponents of Daniel sang, a very catchy song about how they were going to conspire to get Daniel murdered. And so, this is a very familiar story. Most of us, if we've been in the church, have heard it, or have heard about it, or we've seen dramatizations or references to it. And so, what we find though, and something that I had probably never ever thought about growing up, is that Daniel chapter 6 is a long time since Daniel was a bold young man standing up to the king's steward saying, "There's a line in the sand I will not cross, I will not compromise, and I'd rather eat steamed vegetables than the food from the king's table."

It's been a long time since he boldly stood up and said, "We can interpret the king's dream." This event takes place a long time from that golden statue. It takes place a long time from the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Everything has changed. In fact, there's a new government. His former king has been overthrown and murdered. Daniel now is ruled by Persia. And so even though Daniel likely at this point is in his early 80s, maybe late 70s, but likely early 80s, his heart still worships and he still faithfully follows the same God. Here's the tension that I think happens in our lives because after years of walking with God, it's easy for us to sort of start easing up in regards to our faith. Maybe tell ourselves, "I've done enough. I've endured enough. I've given enough." And faithfulness sometimes can fade quietly,

maybe under the weight of weariness, maybe under the weight of opposition, or maybe under the weight of comfort. And so where Daniel chapter 6 meets us, it's in a surprising place. It's a place where we see the God who reigns calls His people to remain faithful, even when they face the den of lions. And not only that does He call them to remain faithful, and does He call us to remain faithful, but He is faithfully with us during those dark moments of life. And so I want to turn your attention first to a life of faithfulness that we see in Daniel's life. All right, the first few verses we're going to read in just a minute tell us the story of a faithful life that looks different than we might expect. We've seen, so far, faithfulness both demonstrated and tested.

And what I mean by that is we can see somebody in the demonstration. It looks like they're really faithful. Ultimately, faithfulness is revealed not just in how it looks, but in how it lives. And their faithfulness is not just a matter of words or demonstration. The faithfulness that we see happens in the tests of life. And we've probably all experienced this yesterday. We had a little bit of time, and so we went to the Berkeley Springs Apple Butter Festival with the kids. And we got there, and it was kind of a process and an ordeal. We were tired, and we were hot, and we were thirsty. I may have been a little grumpy. I've been informed by some members of my family that I was a little grumpy. I don't believe that I was grumpy, but evidently some people think that I was. And so, as we're walking down, and we meet up with some family that was there.

And we walked down, and I walked by the, I think it's the official state food of West Virginia, which is the pepperoni roll. And there were these beautiful pepperoni rolls, and I looked at them, and I said, "You know what? I'm buying a pepperoni roll." And so, Luke and I bought three pepperoni rolls, and I'm sitting there eating my pepperoni roll, and then I was just instantly disappointed, because it wasn't nearly as good as it looked. And it wasn't nearly as good as other pepperoni rolls I've had. And it was just this moment of disappointment. And here we come to Daniel, and we see faithfulness. The question is, is this faithfulness in Daniel's life, and also in our life, going to be as good as it looks? Because Daniel looks really faithful, but when that moment comes, when he's in his 80s, when he's tired, when he's weary,

when he has fought opposition, when he has stood for righteousness his whole life, what happens when it's not going according to plan? You see, you want to know who you are truly, spiritually, I would say it's often not revealed in the easy times. And we've seen faithfulness throughout this book, in the refusal to compromise, in Daniel 2, to trust God in the unknown, in the midst of opposition, intense external pressure, three men standing alone, refusing to bow. We've seen faithfulness of Daniel, declaring God's message to the most powerful men in the world, confronting their pride with God's words and without hesitation. And so far, what we find in the book of Daniel, faithfulness comes with big, big risks. Now, there are big, big risks to faithfulness in Daniel chapter 6, but that's not how it begins.

And you and I might be tempted to think that faithfulness is only in those big things, right? The conflicts, preventing compromise, and maybe in the darkness of uncertainty, trusting God to declare the truth and to call those in power to repentance. And while faithfulness is true in those big moments, it's also present in the small moments. You see, without faithfulness in the small things, we're not going to do very well when the big things come. Jesus says it this way, that he who is faithful in very little is also faithful in much, and one who is dishonest in very little is also dishonest in much. You see, faithfulness is simply not simply just not compromising or not doubting or standing tall or speaking the truth. Faithfulness can also be just getting up and going to work.

I don't want you to minimize the smallness of everyday faithfulness. Every chapter in Daniel has been one of excitement and conflict and the triumph of God. But the reality is these chapters really only represent a small picture of what Daniel has been living. It's likely been like 60 plus years since Daniel has been taken into captivity, and we get in these six chapters like six days. Out of more than 60 years, you see, what we see in Daniel is the exciting highlights we don't see, except in the beginning of chapter 6, the everyday faithfulness of Daniel. And so we are tempted to think of faithfulness only in the big things, but the reality is that faithfulness in the small things make us faithful in the big things. You see, most days for Daniel are not facing lion's dens, not correcting kings, not interpreting dreams. Most days for Daniel is he's just simply getting up and going to work.

And so the beginning of Daniel chapter 6 begins like this. It's the same day, new king, or new king, different day, I don't know. Listen to what it says. "To set over the kingdom," this is a new king, "a hundred and twenty satraps, to be throughout the whole kingdom, and over them three high officials, of whom Daniel was one." So he's one of three who governs the hundred and twenty, "and to whom these satraps should give account, so the king may suffer no loss." Then this Daniel, in his eighties, became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the entire kingdom, right? More than eighty years old at this time, and he hasn't stopped faithfully working where God has put him.

Daniel, as he approaches the end of his life, he doesn't coast, he doesn't simply say, "You know what? I've done enough. I'm taking a break." He serves faithfully where God has placed him. Now, as a young man, this may not be what he imagined, but it is where he has been taken by God. Right? And the temptation for you and I is after a time, especially when we get comfortable, to begin to drift. Look at Daniel. He just, day after day, week after week, month after month, year after year, decade after decade, gets up and is faithful to God in the kingdom. And it's not just that he's faithful, it's a life of integrity. It doesn't matter where he is, it doesn't matter who is watching. Daniel does what is right. And I think the clearest picture, and I love this about this chapter, is that Daniel, the clearest picture of Daniel's

integrity comes not from his friends giving him a glowing reveal. He's a great guy. The clearest picture of Daniel's integrity comes from his enemies. And I want you to hear what Daniel's enemies have to say. Because just like in every situation in our life, when somebody is lifted up, there are often those who will seek to surround and to tear down in jealousy and pride, saying, "I wish that spot was mine," to pull Daniel down, to lift themselves up, and that's exactly what happens. He begins as one of three over the 120, and now he's being promoted to, like, number one over those three who are over the 120, answering to the king. And so look at the jealousy that arises in the next two verses, beginning in verse 4. "The high officials and the satraps sought

to find ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom, but they could find no ground for complaint or for fault because he was faithful. And no error or fault was found in him, but these men said, "We shall not find any ground for complaint against this Daniel unless we find it in connection to the law of his God." They search his life, they pull out his actions and his decisions, and they put it under a microscope, and the only thing they can try to criticize is his obedience to God. He's too faithful in all these things. And so here's the question that I want us to consider. How is Daniel able to live a life filled with faithfulness and integrity? Not coasting, not taking the easy way, but faithfully, day after day, in good

days and bad seasons, bad days, joyful seasons, and seasons full of sorrow. We get tired. We're weary. Maybe not physically, but spiritually. Maybe we're struggling with opposition. Maybe the task ahead of us seems to tall. Maybe we're too comfortable, and we don't want to move. Is Daniel simply a better person? Maybe he's more disciplined. Maybe he's more hardworking. He's smarter, faster, stronger than we are. I don't think that's the answer. Daniel's faithfulness and integrity is not found in Daniel's identity, but in the God that Daniel serves. You see, one of the pictures we find in Scripture is that of a tree. Psalm chapter 1, those who delight in the law of God are like a tree planted by streams of water who bear fruit, and when the desert seasons come and the wind that's dry blows and the rain doesn't fall, those trees stand strong.

We've seen it in Daniel as a picture of the life of King Nebuchadnezzar. Jesus uses it as both positive and negative, the tree and their fruits. And usually when we think about our life as a tree, we think about the impact that it has. We focus on what we can see, the strength or the usefulness gives shades, the birds have a place to rest, or the fruitfulness of this tree. But I would tell you that those big things we think about, the strength of the tree, the endurance of the tree, the fruit of the tree, come not from what we see but from what we don't. They come from the roots of that tree. And for Daniel it's the same way. We see that he is faithful day after day, that he is hard-working, he makes good decisions, he stands for

what is right, but that is the fruit of the reality that his roots are anchored in the God who reigns. And so if we look at our life and we say, "How can I be faithful like Daniel?" The answer is, "Where are your roots planted?" We see it throughout this book, in Daniel chapter 1, because it's a planted in God, he is able to draw a line in the stand and stand for what's right. In Daniel chapter 2, because his roots are found in the Almighty God, he is able to both pray, praise, and proclaim God's word to the king. In Daniel chapter 3, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, as they face the fiery furnace, are able to stand for what is right because their roots are anchored to the rock that keeps them in the midst of the storm. In Daniel chapter 4, Daniel is able

to call the king to repent of his pride and stand in righteousness, because his roots are dug down deep to the place where they are nourished by the goodness of God. The same is true in Daniel chapter 5. And so what you find is Daniel's faithfulness, even though it draws the envy of others, the administrators and the satraps, they can't in his work. This integrity and this faithfulness of life comes because Daniel has put his trust in the Almighty God. And what we find is that faithfulness often involves opposition rather than ease. And so in the next section, Daniel beginning in verse 6 through verse 9, these opponents of Daniel go to the king, and they come to the king with flowery words, and they say, "Look, here's what we think should happen because you are a great

king. You should have an injunction and enforce this ordinance and injunction that whoever makes a petition to any God or man for 30 days except to you shall be cast into the den of lions." And so the king, I think flattered by this, says, "You know what? It is good. I am pretty great. I think people should pray to me." And so I think without thinking, he signs this injunction that anyone who prays to anyone, asks anything of anyone other than the king, will be thrown into the den of lions, and it ends like this, "Therefore, King Darius signed the document and the injunction." What might be our response to this if we're Daniel? Wouldn't it easy to be say, "I've done enough, I've served enough, and here I am in my twilight years going,

you know what, do I really need to fight this battle?" Right, Paul knew this battle. We were so utterly burdened beyond our strength that it made us rely not on ourselves, but on the God who raises the dead. Or a little later in 2 Corinthians, we are afflicted in every way, but not crushed. Perplexed, but not driven to despair. And what we find is opposition reveals who it is we truly trust. And what you find is as the world presses in, it drives us deeper, or it should drive us deeper, into our relationship with God. You see, Daniel's enemies plot against him, but Daniel doesn't panic. He didn't call in favors. He didn't compromise. Instead, he just does what he has always done. Pick it up in verse 10. Then Daniel knew that the document had been signed. He went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.

Notice this. He knows this document's been signed. Goes into his house. Goes upstairs in his house. He has windows. He's aware of these windows, and he has intentionally opened these windows because they're open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God. What does he do? He thanks God as he had done previously. Faithfulness that just keeps going. And then these men came by agreement, found Daniel making petition and plea before his God. Daniel knows what has happened and nothing has changed. It's one thing to be faithful when it's easy. It's another thing as you face certain death. You know what the temptation might be for Daniel? Just simply close the windows. Right? They're open. Close them. We're fine. I'm still praying to God.

I'm not worshiping another God. I just don't have to do it with the windows open. He doesn't have to make a big deal about it. Just close the windows. Or maybe pray in his mind. Maybe not with his posture, but God hears the inward thoughts of our heart. Daniel could pray like that. Daniel knows this decree. He knows the cost. He opens his windows. He kneels and prays exactly as he always has. He's not making a public scene. It's just what he's always done. It's his private devotion. You see, faithfulness for Daniel is formed in his quiet daily habits before he's even in crisis. Look at what it says, "As he had done previously." One of the reasons Daniel is so anchored in God is because he has done so in the small ways, day after day after day.

So when he gets to the big way, he is able to continue. The strength to stand for what is right is forged in the quiet place of communion with God. And your weariness might whisper, "You've done enough." What does faith answer with that God is worthy? And notice that endurance isn't about running as fast as you can, it's about the direction in which you are going. And what you practice in private will shape how you stand in public. And what happens next is these government officials in sort of the ultimate "gotcha" moment run to the king. And there's several verses where they remind the king of the decree. Remember you signed this? He's like, "Yep, I've signed it. We found somebody who's not doing it. Who are they?" They said, "It's Daniel." And when the king heard these words, he was much distressed.

He set his mind to deliver Daniel, and he will labor all day. It's likely that Daniel wakes up the morning of the decree. He prays like he always has as the sun is coming up. They run and tell the king, and now the king has all day. And he tries to rescue Daniel. He tries to find a loophole. And finally these guys come, and they say, "No, O king, that it is the law of Medes and Persians, no injunction or ordinance that the king established can be changed." And so they remind the king of what happens next. And the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions, and the king declared to Daniel, "May the God whom you serve continually deliver you." And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own swords

that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel." I want you to see God's faithful presence in the darkness of the lion's den. So the king is unable to sleep, no meals, no drink, no entertainment, and 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, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God whom you serve continually, there it is, the faithfulness again, has been able to deliver you from the lions." And then Daniel answers this way, "O king, live forever. My God sent his angel and shut the lion's mouth, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him, and also before you, O king, I have done no harm." What you find next is that as this continues, the king then, very gladly,

rescues Daniel from the lion's den. He will then take those who had accused Daniel and give them the same fate that they had planned for Daniel, not just for them, but for their families who are immediately eaten. And then Darius writes this, "To all the peoples, nations, languages that dwell on earth, peace be multiplied to you. I make a decree that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble in 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. He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth. He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions." So Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

What you find, I think, for us, is the danger for us often is not in the middle of trials, it's what happens before we get there. What is our heart focused on? Where is our hope found? It can even be found in our comfort, as we seek that above obedience. Paul once writes this in 2 Timothy, "Demus, in love with this present world, has deserted me." And sometimes, it's not the persecution, but it's the comfort that can draw our hearts away. How easy would it have been for Daniel, year after year, decade after decade, to just simply say, "My hope is found here in the things that I have." But Daniel's peace wasn't rooted in his ease, it was anchored in the living God. Notice that the promise is not that Daniel would escape the lions, and we know he does,

but it's that God is with him in the midst of it. And while the mouth of lions were shut, the praise of God rings throughout this nation. Daniel's story, as we notice, doesn't end with just simply him climbing out of the lions, a decree declaring that the God of Daniel is a living God, enduring forever. He delivers and he rescues. God's faithfulness is seen in the life of Daniel, and Daniel's faithfulness magnifies God's reign. And that's the invitation for us this morning, to live in such a way that when trials come, or comfort calls us to simply stop, our world sees that God reigns. And I want to bring two things to you this morning. One is that there is a danger in pride and jealousy. We've seen it throughout this book, this group that has opposed God's people in pride and in jealousy.

And if you are living in pride and jealousy, it will fester, it will keep you from joy. Always trying to tear down others, it ruins our contentment, and at the end it brings you to the very thing you are trying to avoid. But secondly, I want you to see there is hopefulness in the faithfulness of God, that He is the rock in every storm, and that when we face the darkness of the lion's den, we are not alone. So maybe it's the roar of opposition, or maybe it's the whispers of weariness, maybe it's the call of comfort. We hear these words by the King, directed to the nation, that God delivers, and He rescues. And the same thing to shut the mouths of lions, I think, still holds His people fast. And because He reigns, we can be unshaken.

Father in heaven, we live in a shaky world, and we live sometimes shaky lives. We ask that you would free us from pride and jealousy, and our desire to lift ourselves up, and that you would direct us to faithfulness in you. That we would see your goodness and your grace and your faithfulness, especially as we walk through the difficulties of life. It's in Jesus' name we pray. Amen.