The Everyday Prayer

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day three)

“Then the king went off to his palace and spent the night fasting”

Was Darius’s way of passing the night a type of prayer that God actually heard? One could claim that Darius simply engaged in an attempt to manipulate a deity: If I do A, God will be bound to do B. But the sense of the passage does not seem to indicate a cynical attitude on the part of the king. Instead, we see in Darius a genuine concern for Daniel, a high regard of God’s character, and a recognition of God’s power. Taken together with his self-denial through the night – no food, no music – Darius seems to have placed himself in an humble posture of prayer. If this was the case, God inclined himself favorably towards Darius’s righteous behavior. When anyone seeks God earnestly, God will be found.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 6:1-28 (day two) 

 Now when Daniel knew that the document was signed, he entered his house (now in his roof chamber he had windows open toward Jerusalem); and he continued kneeling on his knees three times a day, praying and giving thanks before his God, as he had been doing previously. vs. 10

We have said this more than once in the past few weeks, but it bears repeating: Daniel’s faith was not a faith of crisis. Daniel did not turn to God because things weren’t going well for him or his people. Daniel did not panic and remember that God could deliver him from trouble. Daniel’s faith was born out of a life committed to following the Lord as a matter of course. It was his duty, his act of obedience, his love for Jehovah that created the core of his person. As a result, when things looked grim around him, he was already in a place of security. He knew the Lord, and the Lord knew him. Our relationship with Jesus needs to be the center of who we are, not a remedy for the current crises around us. Center on Him and you will begin to gain a heavenly perspective on everything else.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day seven)  

“That same night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was slain.” vs 30

This was not a Seal Team 6 type of operation where a small band of militants swoop in unannounced and eliminate their target. This was a full out war to take over the kingdom. In order for this to have happened that same night, the Persians would have been camped just outside the walls of Babylon preparing for battle while the “king” was throwing a party inside his palace. Whether it be a false sense of security in the strength of Babylon or an attempt at pleasure prior to destruction, Belshazzar was not leading his people well.

God has entrusted each of us with leadership. You may not think of yourself as a leader, but you lead families, coworkers, businesses, classrooms, etc.  In a day where an enemy of fear and uncertainty are camped outside our walls, how are you leading your people? How are you instilling hope and courage?

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day six)

Though sorrow may last for the night, joy comes in the morning! -King David, Psalm 30:5

On the eve of Babylon’s destruction (the Persians just walked into Babylon without a fight) the king had a drunken party with his rich and powerful friends; debaucherous worship of the gods of gold, silver, iron, and wood. Adding fuel to fire they willfully drank and ate from vessels normally used for special offerings in God’s temple in Jerusalem. It was the proverbial fist to heaven, the height of wickedness.

They were partying as if everything was just fine. It wasn’t fine. Nothing was fine. God’s hand of judgment was literally knocking on the front gate.

I certainly don’t think any of us are acting as if everything is “just fine;” we are not oblivious to the suffering existing in our world, especially now in light of the COVID-19 pandemic, but we can forget that human suffering comes at the hands of our own sin, wickedness (personal, national, and global) and brokenness.

As we approach Easter, let us lament our sin and brokenness. Look what it has done.

And then let us rejoice! For we have a God not content to leave us where we are but forgives us and redeems us from our pit!

“What a wretched man I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death? Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ our Lord!”– Paul, Romans 7:24-25

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day five)

“Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. They drank the wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, of bronze, iron, wood and stone.”

Belshazzar commits a sin that is not uncommon these days- idolatry. There was the obvious idolatry (misusing holy vessels) and there was subtle idolatry too. Belshazzar doesn’t deny the existence of Yahweh, but in using the gold vessels to drink to the Babylonian gods, he declares Yahweh subservient to the Babylonian gods.

We have the same tendency in 2020. We acknowledge/worship God on Sunday’s, yet the rest of the week we exalt the gods of sports, money, family, and pleasure- placing God alongside these other things. God has harsh words for those that do this… ““I am the Lord; that is my name! I will not yield my glory to another or my praise to idols.” Isaiah‬ ‭42:8

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day four) 

It is easy to see why Belshazzar might have thought it was a good idea to mock the God of the Hebrews.  When one nation was conquered by another (Israel conquered by Babylon), it was commonly believed that the conquering nation’s god was more powerful than the other nation’s god.  The concept that a powerful god would allow his people to lose was foreign to them.  That a sovereign God would use another nation (pagan) to discipline His people and turn them back to Him just did not compute.

Have you ever heard the phrase or question, “Why would a loving God allow bad things to happen to good people?”  Wrong question…it should be a ‘what’ question.  “What is God doing or teaching me through His activity?”  The Sovereign God uses the events of our lives to draw us close to Him.  A relationship with the personal, sovereign God is a prerequisite to understanding the truth of our circumstances.  Are we asking the right questions?

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day three)

“Mene, Mene, Tekel, Upharsin”

When God sees that a person can still hear him, he’s going to speak. And he spoke to Belshazzar. Actually, he sent the king an engraved invitation to pay attention to God, something Belshazzar had decidedly not done during his reign. As Aaron pointed out in yesterday’s post, Belshazzar had been keenly aware of God’s past activity, and of the particular necessity to wield power by God’s wise counsel. But Belshazzar didn’t steward power, he drank it. The kind of sophisticated and elegant communication such as dreams by which God spoke to Nebuchadnezzar apparently didn’t give Belshazzar pause, so finally God spelled it out plainly for him: Your kingdom is now at an end. Even when the news is bad, even when one has willfully rejected God, God will pursue until the last lamp goes out.

Re:Verse passage – Daniel 5:1-31 (day two)

Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God which was in Jerusalem; and the king and his nobles, his wives and his concubines drank from them. vs. 3

Yet you, his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, even though you knew all this, but you have exalted yourself against the Lord of heaven; and they have brought the vessels of His house before you, and you and your nobles, your wives and your concubines have been drinking wine from them…vs. 22-23

We know little of Belshazzar as he grew up under his father Nebuchadnezzar, but we do know from Daniel that we has aware of his father’s rise and fall. His story should serve as a cautionary tale for all of us then in light of how we behave when given authority. It is one thing to witness someone abuse privilege and swear that we would never behave in a manner like that, only to be placed in power and fall into the same traps. Absolute power corrupts absolutely. Will power is not enough to stave off the demons of our past or those we inherit. It is only complete reliance on Christ for strength and hope that we are able to put those tendencies to the side.