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Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
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Matthew Henry |
D A N I E L.
CHAP. VI.
Daniel does not give a continued history of the reigns in which he
lived, nor of the state-affairs of the kingdoms of Chaldea and Persia,
though he was himself a great man in those affairs; for what are those
to us? But he selects such particular passages of story as serve for
the confirming of our faith in God and the encouraging of our obedience
to him, for the things written aforetime were written for our learning.
It is a very observable improvable story that we have in this chapter,
how Daniel by faith “stopped the mouths of lions,” and so “obtained a
good report,”
The three children were cast into the fiery furnace for not committing
a known sin, Daniel was cast into the lions’ den for not omitting a
known duty, and God’s miraculously delivering both them and him is left
upon record for the encouragement of his servants in all ages to be
resolute and constant both in their abhorrence of that which is evil
and in their adherence to that which is good, whatever it cost them. In
this chapter we have,
I. Daniel’s preferment in the court of Darius,
II. The envy and malice of his enemies against him,
III. The decree they obtained against prayer for thirty days,
IV. Daniel’s continuance and constancy in prayer, notwithstanding that
decree,
V. Information given against him for it, and the casting of him into
the den of lions,
VI. His miraculous preservation in the lions’ den, and deliverance out
of it,
VII. The casting of his accusers into the den, and their destruction
there,
VIII. The decree which Darius made upon this occasion, in honour of
the God of Daniel, and the prosperity of Daniel afterwards,
And this God is our God for ever and ever.
| Daniel Preferred by Darius. | B. C. 537. |
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1 It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom a hundred and
twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;
2 And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first:
that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king
should have no damage.
3 Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and
princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king
thought to set him over the whole realm.
4 Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion
against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none
occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was
there any error or fault found in him.
5 Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against
this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law
of his God.
We are told concerning Daniel,
I. What a great man he was. When Darius, upon his accession to
the crown of Babylon by conquest, new-modelled the government, he made
Daniel prime-minister of state, set him at the helm, and made him first
commissioner both of the treasury and of the great seal. Darius’s
dominion was very large; all he got by his conquests and acquests was
that he had so many more countries to take care of; no more can be
expected from himself than what one man can do, and therefore others
must be employed under him. He set over the kingdom 120 princes
(v. 1),
and appointed them their districts, in which they were to administer
justice, preserve the public peace, and levy the king’s revenue. Note,
Inferior magistrates are ministers of God to us for good as well as the
sovereign; and therefore we must submit ourselves both to the king as
supreme and to the governors that are constituted and commissioned by
him,
Over these princes there was a triumvirate, or three
presidents, who were to take and state the public accounts, to
receive appeals from the princes, or complaints against them in case of
mal-administration, that the king should have no damage
(v. 2),
that he should not sustain loss in his revenue and that the power he
delegated to the princes might not be abused to the oppression of the
subject, for by that the king (whether he thinks so or no) receives
real damage, both as it alienates the affections of his people from him
and as it provokes the displeasure of his God against him. Of these
three Daniel was chief, because he was found to go beyond them all in
all manner of princely qualifications. He was preferred above the
presidents and princes
(v. 3),
and so wonderfully well pleased the king was with his management that
he thought to set him over the whole realm, and let him place
and displace at his pleasure. Now,
1. We must take notice of it to the praise of Darius that he would
prefer a man thus purely for his personal merit, and his fitness for
business; and those sovereigns that would be well served must go by
that rule. Daniel had been a great man in the kingdom that was
conquered, and for that reason, one would think, should have been
looked upon as an enemy, and as such imprisoned or banished. He was a
native of a foreign kingdom, and a ruined one, and upon that account
might have been despised as a stranger and captive. But, Darius, it
seems, was very quick-sighted in judging of men’s capacities, and was
soon aware that this Daniel had something extraordinary in him, and
therefore, though no doubt he had creatures of his own, not a few, that
expected preferment in this newly-conquered kingdom, and were gaping
for it, and those that had been long his confidants would depend upon
it that they should be now his presidents, yet so well did he consult
the public welfare that, finding Daniel to excel them all in prudence
and virtue, and probably having heard of his being divinely inspired,
he made him his right hand.
2. We must take notice of it, to the glory of God, that, though Daniel
was now very old (it was above seventy years since he was brought a
captive to Babylon), yet he was as able as ever for business both in
body and mind, and that he who had continued faithful to his religion
through all the temptations of the foregoing reigns in a new government
was as much respected as ever. He kept in by being an oak, not by being
a willow, by a constancy in virtue, not by a pliableness to vice. Such
honesty is the best policy, for it secures a reputation; and those who
thus honour God he will honour.
II. What a good man he was: An excellent spirit was in him,
v. 3.
And he was faithful to every trust, dealt fairly between the sovereign
and the subject, and took care that neither should be wronged, so that
there was no error, or fault, to be found in him,
v. 4.
He was not only not chargeable with any treachery or dishonesty, but
not even with any mistake or indiscretion. He never made any blunder,
nor had any occasion to plead inadvertency or forgetfulness for his
excuse. This is recorded for an example to all that are in places of
public trust to approve themselves both careful and conscientious, that
they may be free, not only from fault, but from error, not only from
crime, but from mistake.
III. What ill-will was borne him, both for his greatness and for his
goodness. The presidents and princes envied him because he was advanced
above them, and probably hated him because he had a watchful eye upon
them and took care they should not wrong the government to enrich
themselves. See here,
1. The cause of envy, and that is every thing that is good. Solomon
complains of it as a vexation that for every right work a man is
envied of his neighbour
(Eccl. iv. 4),
that the better a man is the worse he is thought of by his rivals.
Daniel is envied because he has a more excellent spirit than his
neighbours.
2. The effect of envy, and that is every thing that is bad. Those that
envied Daniel sought no less than his ruin. His disgrace would not
serve them; it was his death that they desired. Wrath is cruel, and
anger is outrageous, but who can stand before envy?
Prov. xxvii. 4.
Daniel’s enemies set spies upon him, to observe him in the management
of his place; they sought to find occasion against him,
something on which to ground an accusation concerning the
kingdom, some instance of neglect or partiality, some hasty word
spoken, some person borne hard upon, or some necessary business
overlooked. And if they could but have found the mote, the mole-hill,
of a mistake, it would have been soon improved to the beam, to the
mountain, of an unpardonable misdemeanour. But they could find no
occasion against him; they owned that they could not. Daniel always
acted honestly, and now the more warily, and stood the more upon his
guard, because of his observers,
Ps. xxvii. 11.
Note, We have all need to walk circumspectly, because we have many eyes
upon us, and some that watch for our halting. Those especially have
need to carry their cup even that have it full. They concluded, at
length, that they should not find any occasion against him except
concerning the law of his God
v. 5.
It seems then that Daniel kept up the profession of his religion, and
held it fast without wavering or shrinking, and yet that was no bar to
his preferment; there was no law that required him to be of the king’s
religion, or incapacitated him to bear office in the state unless he
were. It was all one to the king what God he prayed to, so long as he
did the business of his place faithfully and well. He was at the king’s
service usque ad aras–as far as the altars; but there he left
him. In this matter therefore his enemies hoped to ensnare him.
Quærendum est crimen læsæ religionis ubi
majestatis deficit–When treason could not be charged upon him he was
accused of impiety. Grotius. Note, It is an excellent thing, and
much for the glory of God, when those who profess religion conduct
themselves so inoffensively in their whole conversation that their most
watchful spiteful enemies may find no occasion of blaming them, save
only in the matters of their God, in which they walk according to their
consciences. It is observable that, when Daniel’s enemies could find no
occasion against him concerning the kingdom, they had so much sense of
justice left that they did not suborn witnesses against him to accuse
him of crimes he was innocent of, and to swear treason upon him,
wherein they shame many that were called Jews and are called
Christians.
| A Plot against Daniel. | B. C. 537. |
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6 Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the
king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever.
7 All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the
princes, the counsellors, and the captains, have consulted
together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree,
that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty
days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of
lions.
8 Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that
it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and
Persians, which altereth not.
9 Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.
10 Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went
into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward
Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and
prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.
Daniel’s adversaries could have no advantage against him from any law
now in being; they therefore contrive a new law, by which they hope to
ensnare him, and in a matter in which they knew they should be sure of
him; and such was his fidelity to his God that they gained their point.
Here is,
I. Darius’s impious law. I call it Darius’s, because he gave the
royal assent to it, and otherwise it would not have been of force; but
it was not properly his: he contrived it not, and was perfectly
wheedled to consent to it. The presidents and princes framed the edict,
brought in the bill, and by their management it was agreed to by the
convention of the states, who perhaps were met at this time upon some
public occasion. It is pretended that this bill which they would have
to pass into a law was the result of mature deliberation, that all
the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, princes, counsellors, and
captains, had consulted together about it, and that they not only
agreed to it, but advised it, for divers good causes and
considerations, that they had done what they could to establish
it for a firm decree; nay, they intimate to the king that it was
carried nemine contradicente–unanimously: “All the presidents
are of this mind;” and yet we are sure that Daniel, the chief of the
three presidents, did not agree to it, and have reason to think that
many more of the princes excepted against it as absurd and
unreasonable. Note, It is no new thing for that to be represented, and
with great assurance too, as the sense of the nation, which is far from
being so; and that which few approve of is sometimes confidently said
to be that which all agree to. But, O the infelicity of kings, who,
being under a necessity of seeing and hearing with other people’s eyes
and ears, are often wretchedly imposed upon! These designing men, under
colour of doing honour to the king, but really intending the ruin of
his favourite, press him to pass this into a law, and make it a royal
statute, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for
thirty days, save of the king, shall be put to death after the most
barbarous manner, shall be cast into the den of lions,
v. 7.
This is the bill they have been hatching, and they lay it before the
king to be signed and passed into a law. Now,
1. There is nothing in it that has the least appearance of good, but
that it magnifies the king, and makes him seem both very great and very
kind to his subjects, which, they suggest, will be of good service to
him now that he has newly come to his throne, and will confirm his
interests. All men must be made to believe that the king is so rich,
and withal so ready to all petitioners, that none in any want or
distress need to apply either to God or man for relief, but to him
only. And for thirty days together he will be ready to give audience to
all that have any petition to present to him. It is indeed much for the
honour of kings to be benefactors to their subjects and to have their
ears open to their complaints and requests; but if they pretend to be
their sole benefactors, and undertake to be to them instead of God, and
challenge that respect from them which is due to God only, it is their
disgrace, and not their honour. But,
2. There is a great deal in it that is apparently evil. It is bad
enough to forbid asking a petition of any man. Must not a beggar ask an
alms, or one neighbour beg a kindness of another? If the child want
bread, must he not ask it of his parents, or be cast into the den of
lions if he do? Nay, those that have business with the king, may they
not petition those about him to introduce them? But it was much worse,
and an impudent affront to all religion, to forbid asking a petition
of any god. It is by prayer that we give glory to God, fetch in
mercy from God; and so keep up our communion with God; and to interdict
prayer for thirty days is for so long to rob God of all the tribute he
has from man and to rob man of all the comfort he has in God. When the
light of nature teaches us that the providence of God has the ordering
and disposing of all our affairs does not the law of nature oblige us
by prayer to acknowledge God and seek to him? Does not every man’s
heart direct him, when he is in want or distress, to call upon God, and
must this be made high treason? We could not live a day without God;
and can men live thirty days without prayer? Will the king himself be
tied up for so long from praying to God; or, if it be allowed him, will
he undertake to do it for all his subjects? Did ever any nation thus
slight their gods? But see what absurdities malice will drive men to.
Rather than not bring Daniel into trouble for praying to his God, they
will deny themselves and all their friends the satisfaction of praying
to theirs. Had they proposed only to prohibit the Jews from praying to
their God, Daniel would have been as effectually ensnared; but they
knew the king would not pass such a law, and therefore made it thus
general. And the king, puffed up with a fancy that this would set him
up as a little god, was fond of the feather in his cap (for so
it was, and not a flower in his crown) and signed the writing
and the decree
(v. 9),
which, being once done, according to the constitution of the united
kingdom of the Medes and Persians, was not upon any pretence whatsoever
to be altered or dispensed with, or the breach of it pardoned.
II. Daniel’s pious disobedience to this law,
He did not retire into the country, nor abscond for some time, though
he knew the law was levelled against him; but, because he knew it was
so, therefore he stood his ground, knowing that he had now a fair
opportunity of honouring God before men, and showing that he preferred
his favour, and his duty to him, before life itself. When Daniel
knew that the writing was signed he might have gone to the king,
and expostulated with him about it; nay, he might have remonstrated
against it, as grounded upon a misinformation that all the
presidents had consented to it, whereas he that was chief of them
had never been consulted about it; but he went to his house, and
applied himself to his duty, cheerfully trusting God with the event.
Now observe,
1. Daniel’s constant practice, which we were not informed of before
this occasion, but which we have reason to think was the general
practice of the pious Jews.
(1.) He prayed in his house, sometimes alone and sometimes with
his family about him, and made a solemn business of it. Cornelius was a
man that prayed in his house,
Acts x. 30.
Note, Every house not only may be, but ought to be, a house of prayer;
where we have a tent God must have an alter, and on it we must offer
spiritual sacrifices.
(2.) In every prayer he gave thanks. When we pray to God for the
mercies we want we must praise him for those we have received.
Thanksgiving must be a part of every prayer.
(3.) In his prayer and thanksgiving he had an eye to God as his God,
his in covenant, and set himself as in his presence. He did this
before his God, and with a regard to him.
(4.) When he prayed and gave thanks he kneeled upon his knees,
which is the most proper gesture in prayer, and most expressive of
humility, and reverence, and submission to God. Kneeling is a begging
posture, and we come to God as beggars, beggars for our lives, whom it
concerns to be importunate.
(5.) He opened the windows of his chamber, that the sight of the
visible heavens might affect his heart with an awe of that God who
dwells above the heavens; but that was not all: he opened them
towards Jerusalem, the holy city, though now in ruins, to signify
the affection he had for its very stones and dust
and the remembrance he had of its concerns daily in his prayers. Thus,
though he himself lived great in Babylon, yet he testified his
concurrence with the meanest of his brethren the captives, in
remembering Jerusalem and preferring it before his chief joy,
Ps. cxxxvii. 5, 6.
Jerusalem was the place which God had chosen to put his name there;
and, when the temple was dedicated, Solomon’s prayer to God was that if
his people should in the land of their enemies pray unto him
with their eye towards the land which he gave them, and the city he had
chosen, and the house which was built to his name, then he would
hear and maintain their cause
to which prayer Daniel had reference in this circumstance of his
devotions.
(6.) He did this three times a day, three times every day
according to the example of David
(Ps. lv. 17),
Morning, evening, and at noon, I will pray. It is good to have
our hours of prayer, not to bind, but to remind conscience; and, if we
think our bodies require refreshment by food thrice a day, can we think
seldomer will serve our souls? This is surely as little as may be to
answer the command of praying always.
(7.) He did this so openly and avowedly that all who knew him knew it
to be his practice; and he thus showed it, not because he was proud of
it (in the place where he was there was no room for that temptation,
for it was not reputation, but reproach, that attended it), but because
he was not ashamed of it. Though Daniel was a great man, he did not
think it below him to be thrice a day upon his knees before his Maker
and to be his own chaplain; though he was an old man, he did not think
himself past it; nor, though it had been his practice from his youth
up, was he weary of this well doing. Though he was a man of business,
vast business, for the service of the public, he did not think that
would excuse him from the daily exercises of devotion. How inexcusable
then are those who have but little to do in the world, and yet will not
do thus much for God and their souls! Daniel was a man famous for
prayer, and for success in it
and he came to be so by thus making a conscience of prayer and making a
business of it daily; and in thus doing God blessed him
wonderfully.
2. Daniel’s constant adherence to this practice, even when it was made
by the law a capital crime. When he knew that the writing was
signed he continued to do as he did aforetime, and altered
not one circumstance of the performance. Many a man, yea, and many a
good man, would have thought it prudence to omit it for these thirty
days, when he could not do it without hazard of his life; he might have
prayed so much oftener when those days had expired and the danger was
over, or he might have performed the duty at another time, and in
another place, so secretly that it should not be possible for his
enemies to discover it; and so he might both satisfy his conscience and
keep up his communion with God, and yet avoid the law, and continue in
his usefulness. But, if he had done so, it would have been thought,
both by his friends and by his enemies, that he had thrown up the duty
for this time, through cowardice and base fear, which would have tended
very much to the dishonour of God and the discouragement of his
friends. Others who moved in a lower sphere might well enough act with
caution; but Daniel, who had so many eyes upon him, must act with
courage; and the rather because he knew that the law, when it was made,
was particularly levelled against him. Note, We must not omit duty for
fear of suffering, so, nor so much as seems to come short of it.
In trying times great stress is laid upon our confessing Christ
before men
(Matt. x. 32),
and we must take heed lest, under pretence of discretion, we be found
guilty of cowardice in the cause of God. If we do not think that this
example of Daniel obliges us to do likewise, yet I am sure it forbids
us to censure those that do, for God owned him in it. By his constancy
to his duty it now appears that he had never been used to admit any
excuse for the omission of it; for, if ever any excuse would serve to
put it by, this would have served now,
(1.) That it was forbidden by the king his master, and in honour of the
king too; but it is an undoubted maxim, in answer to that, We are to
obey God rather than men.
(2.) That it would be the loss of his life, but it is an undoubted
maxim, in answer to that, Those who throw away their souls (as those
certainly do that live without prayer) to save their lives make but a
bad bargain for themselves; and though herein they make themselves,
like the king of Tyre, wiser than Daniel, at their end they will
be fools.
| Daniel in the Den of Lions. | B. C. 537. |
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11 Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and
making supplication before his God.
12 Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning
the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man
that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days,
save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The
king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law
of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
13 Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel,
which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth
not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but
maketh his petition three times a day.
14 Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore
displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver
him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver
him.
15 Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the
king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is,
That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be
changed.
16 Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast
him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto
Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver
thee.
17 And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den;
and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet
of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning
Daniel.
Here is
1. Proof made of Daniel’s praying to his God, notwithstanding the late
edict to the contrary
(v. 11):
These men assembled; the came tumultuously together, so
the word is, the same that was used
v. 6,
borrowed from
Why do the heathen rage? They came together to visit Daniel,
perhaps under pretence of business, at that time which they knew to be
his usual hour of devotion; and, if they had not found him so engaged,
they would have upbraided him with his faint-heartedness and distrust
of his God, but (which they rather wished to do) they found him on
his knees praying and making supplication before his God. For
his love they are his adversaries; but, like his father David, he
gives himself unto prayer,
Ps. cix. 4.
2. Complaint made of it to the king. When they had found occasion
against Daniel concerning the law of his God they lost no time,
but applied to the king
(v. 12),
and having appealed to his whether there was not such a law made, and
gained from him a recognition of it, and that it was so ratified that
it might not be altered, they proceeded to accuse Daniel,
They so describe him, in the information they give, as to exasperate
the king and incense him the more against him: “He is of the
children of the captivity of Judah; he is of Judah, that despicable
people, and now a captive in a despicable state, that can call nothing
his own but what he has by the king’s favour, and yet he regards not
thee, O king! nor the decree that thou hast signed.” Note, It is no
new thing for that which is done faithfully, in the conscience towards
God, to be misrepresented as done obstinately and in contempt of the
civil powers, that is, for the best saints to be reproached as the
worst men. Daniel regarded God, and therefore prayed, and we have
reason to think prayed for the king and his government, yet this is
construed as not regarding the king. That excellent spirit which Daniel
was endued with, and that established reputation which he had gained,
could not protect him from these poisonous darts. They do not say, He
makes his petition to his God, lest Darius should take notice of that
to his praise, but only, He makes his petition, which is the
thing the law forbids.
3. The great concern the king was in hereupon. He now perceived that,
whatever they pretended, it was not to honour him, but in spite to
Daniel, that they had proposed that law, and now he is sorely
displeased with himself for gratifying them in it,
Note, When men indulge a proud vain-glorious humour, and please
themselves with that which feeds it, they know not what vexations they
are preparing for themselves; their flatterers may prove their
tormentors, and are but spreading a net for their feet. Now, the
king sets his heart to deliver Daniel; both by argument and by
authority he labours till the going down of the sun to
deliver him, that is, to persuade his accusers not to insist
upon his prosecution. Note, We often do that, through inconsideration,
which afterwards we see cause a thousand times to wish undone again,
which is a good reason why we should ponder the path of our
feet, for then all our ways will be established.
4. The violence with which the prosecutors demanded judgment,
We are not told what Daniel said; the king himself is his advocate, he
needs not plead his own cause, but silently commits himself and it to
him that judges righteously. But the prosecutors insist upon it that
the law must have its course; it is a fundamental maxim in the
constitution of the government of the Medes and Persians, which had now
become the universal monarchy, that no decree or statute which the
king establishes may be changed. The same we find
The Chaldeans magnified the will of their king, by giving him a power
to make and unmake laws at his pleasure, to slay and keep alive whom he
would. The Persians magnified the wisdom of their king, by supposing
that whatever law he solemnly ratified it was so well made that there
could be no occasion to alter it, or dispense with it, as if any human
foresight could, in framing a law, guard against all inconveniences.
But, if this maxim be duly applied to Daniel’s case (as I am apt to
think it is not, but perverted), while it honours the king’s
legislative power it hampers his executive power, and incapacitates him
to show that mercy which upholds the throne, and to pass acts of
indemnity, which are the glories of a reign. Those who allow not the
sovereign’s power to dispense with a disabling statute, yet never
question his power to pardon an offence against a penal statute. But
Darius is denied this power. See what need we have to pray for princes
that God would give them wisdom, for they are often embarrassed with
great difficulties, even the wisest and best are.
5. The executing of the law upon Daniel. The king himself, with the
utmost reluctance, and against his conscience, signs the warrant for
his execution; and Daniel, that venerable grave man, who carried such a
mixture of majesty and sweetness in his countenance, who had so often
looked great upon the bench, and at the council-board, and greater upon
his knees, who had power with God and man, and had prevailed, is
brought, purely for worshipping his God, as if he had been one of the
vilest of malefactors, and thrown into the den of lions, to be
devoured by them,
One cannot think of it without the utmost compassion to the gracious
sufferer and the utmost indignation at the malicious prosecutors. To
make sure work, the stone laid upon the mouth of the den is
sealed, and the king (an over-easy man) is persuaded to seal it
with his own signet
(v. 17),
that unhappy signet with which he had confirmed the law that Daniel
falls by. But his lords cannot trust him, unless they add their signets
too. Thus, when Christ was buried, his adversaries sealed the
stone that was rolled to the door of his sepulchre.
6. The encouragement which Darius gave to Daniel to trust in God:
Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee,
v. 16.
Here
(1.) He justifies Daniel from guilt, owning all his crime to be serving
his God continually, and continuing to do so even when it was made a
crime.
(2.) He leaves it to God to free him from punishment, since he could
not prevail to do it: He will deliver thee. He is sure that his
God can deliver him, for he believes him to be an almighty God, and he
has reason to think he will do it, having heard of his delivering
Daniel’s companions in a like case from the fiery furnace, and
concluding him to be always faithful to those who approve themselves
faithful to him. Note, Those who serve God continually he will
continually preserve, and will bear them out in his service.
| Daniel’s Preservation and Deliverance. | B. C. 537. |
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18 Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night
fasting: neither were instruments of music brought before him:
and his sleep went from him.
19 Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in
haste unto the den of lions.
20 And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable
voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, O
Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest
continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?
21 Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever.
22 My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths,
that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before him innocency was
found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.
23 Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that
they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up
out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because
he believed in his God.
24 And the king commanded, and they brought those men which had
accused Daniel, and they cast them into the den of lions, them,
their children, and their wives; and the lions had the mastery of
them, and brake all their bones in pieces or ever they came at
the bottom of the den.
Here is,
I. The melancholy night which the king had, upon Daniel’s account,
He had said, indeed, that God would deliver him out of the danger, but
at the same time he could not forgive himself for throwing him into the
danger; and justly might God deprive him of a friend whom he had
himself used so barbarously. He went to his palace, vexed at
himself for what he had done, and calling himself unwise and unjust for
not adhering to the law of God and nature with a non obstante–a
negative to the law of the Medes and Persians. He ate no supper,
but passed the night fasting; his heart was already full of
grief and fear. He forbade the music; nothing is more unpleasing that
songs sung to a heavy heart. He went to bed, but got no sleep, was full
of tossings to and fro till the dawning of the day. Note, the
best way to have a good night is to keep a good conscience, then we may
lie down in peace.
II. The solicitous enquiry he made concerning Daniel the next morning,
He was up early, very early; for how could he lie in bed when he
could not sleep for dreaming of Daniel, nor lie awake quietly for
thinking of him? And he was no sooner up than he went in haste to
the den of lions, for he could not satisfy himself to send a
servant (that would not sufficiently testify his affection for Daniel),
nor had he patience to stay so long as till a servant would return.
When he comes to the den, not without some hopes that God had
graciously undone what he had wickedly done, he cries, with a
lamentable voice, as one full of concern and trouble, O
Daniel! art thou alive? He longs to know, yet trembles to ask the
question, fearing to be answered with the roaring of the lions after
more prey: O Daniel! servant of the living God, has thy God
whom thou servest made it to appear that he is able to deliver
thee from the lions? If he rightly understood himself when he
called him the living God, he could not doubt of his ability to
keep Daniel alive, for he that has life in himself quickens whom he
will; but has he thought fit in this case to exert his power? What he
doubted of we are sure of, that the servants of the living God
have a Master who is well able to protect them and bear them out in his
service.
III. The joyful news he meets with-that Daniel is alive, is safe, and
well, and unhurt in the lions’ den,
Daniel knew the king’s voice, though it was now a lamentable voice, and
spoke to him with all the deference and respect that were due to him:
O king! live for ever. He does not reproach him for his
unkindness to him, and his easiness in yielding to the malice of his
persecutors; but, to show that he has heartily forgiven him, he meets
him with his good wishes. Note, We should not upbraid those with the
diskindnesses they have done us who, we know, did them with reluctance,
and are very ready to upbraid themselves with them. The account Daniel
gives the king is very pleasant; it is triumphant.
1. God has preserved his life by a miracle. Darius had called him
Daniel’s god (thy God whom thou servest), to which Daniel does
as it were echo back, Yea, he is my God, whom I own, and who
owns me, for he has sent his angel. The same bright and glorious
being that was seen in the form of the Son of God with the three
children in the fiery furnace had visited Daniel, and, it is likely, in
a visible appearance had enlightened the dark den, and kept Daniel
company all night, and had shut the lions’ mouths, that they had
not in the least hurt him. The angel’s presence made even the
lions’ den his strong-hold, his palace, his paradise; he had never had
a better night in his life. See the power of God over the fiercest
creatures, and believe his power to restrain the roaring lion that
goes about continually seeking to devour from hurting those that
are his. See the care God takes of his faithful worshippers, especially
when he calls them out to suffer for him. If he keeps their souls from
sin, comforts their souls with his peace, and receives their souls to
himself, he does in effect stop the lions’ mouths, that they
cannot hurt them. See how ready the angels are to minister for the good
of God’s people, for they own themselves their fellow servants.
2. God has therein pleaded his cause. He was represented to the king as
disaffected to him and his government. We do not find that he said any
thing in his own vindication, but left it to God to clear up his
integrity as the light; and he did it effectually, by working a miracle
for his preservation. Daniel, in what he had done, had not offended
either God or the king: Before him whom I prayed to innocency
was found in me. He pretends not to a meritorious excellence, but
the testimony of his conscience concerning his sincerity is his
comfort–As also that before thee, O king! I have done no hurt,
nor designed thee any affront.
IV. The discharge of Daniel from his confinement. His prosecutors
cannot but own that the law is satisfied, though they are not, or, if
it be altered, it is by a power superior to that of the Medes and
Persians; and therefore no cause can be shown why Daniel should not be
fetched out of the den
(v. 23):
The king was exceedingly glad to find him alive, and gave orders
immediately that they should take him out of the den, as
Jeremiah out of the dungeon; and, when they searched, no manner of
hurt was found upon him; he was nowhere crushed nor scarred, but
was kept perfectly well, because he believed in his God. Note,
Those who boldly and cheerfully trust in God to protect them in the way
of their duty shall never be made ashamed of their confidence in him,
but shall always find him a present help.
V. The committing of his prosecutors to the same prison, or place of
execution rather,
Darius is animated by this miracle wrought for Daniel, and now begins
to take courage and act like himself. Those that would not suffer him
to show mercy to Daniel shall, now that God has done it for him, be
made to feel his resentments; and he will do justice for God who had
shown mercy for him. Daniel’s accusers, now that his innocency is
cleared, and Heaven itself has become his compurgator, have the same
punishment inflicted upon them which they designed against him,
according to the law of retaliation made against false accusers,
Such they were to be reckoned now that Daniel was proved innocent; for,
though the fact was true, yet it was not a fault. They were cast
into the den of lions, which perhaps was a punishment newly
invented by themselves; however, it was what they maliciously designed
for Daniel. Nec lex est justior ulla quàm necis artifices
arte perire suâ–No law can be more just than that which adjudges
the devisers of barbarity to perish by it,
Ps. vii. 15, 16; ix. 15, 16.
And now Solomon’s observation is verified
(Prov. xi. 8),
The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked
cometh in his stead. In this execution we may observe,
1. The king’s severity, in ordering their wives and children to be
thrown to the lions with them. How righteous are God’s statutes above
those of the nations! for God commanded that the children should not
die for the fathers’ crimes,
Yet they were put to death in extraordinary cases, as those of Achan,
and Saul, and Haman.
2. The lion’s fierceness. They had the mastery of them
immediately, and tore them to pieces before they came to the bottom
of the den. This verified and magnified the miracle of their
sparing Daniel; for hereby it appeared that it was not because they had
not appetite, but because they had not leave. Mastiffs that are kept
muzzled are the more fierce when the muzzle is taken off; so were these
lions. And the Lord is known by those judgments which he executes.
| The Decree of Darius. | B. C. 537. |
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25 Then king Darius wrote unto all people, nations, and
languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto
you.
26 I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men
tremble and fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living
God, and stedfast for ever, and his kingdom that which shall
not be destroyed, and his dominion shall be even unto the end.
27 He delivereth and rescueth, and he worketh signs and wonders
in heaven and in earth, who hath delivered Daniel from the power
of the lions.
28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the
reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Darius here studies to make some amends for the dishonour he had done
both to God and Daniel, in casting Daniel into the lions’ den, by doing
honour to both.
I. He gives honour to God by a decree published to all nations, by
which they are required to fear before him. And this is a decree which
is indeed fit to be made unalterable, according to the laws of the
Medes and Persians, for it is the everlasting gospel, preached
to those that dwell on the earth,
Rev. xiv. 7.
Fear God, and give glory to him. Observe,
1. To whom he sends this decree–to all people, nations and
languages, that dwell in all the earth,
v. 25.
These are great words, and it is true that all the inhabitants of the
earth are obliged to that which is here decreed; but here they mean no
more than every dominion of his kingdom, which, though it
contained many nations, did not contain all nations; but so it is,
those that have much are ready to think they have all.
2. What the matter of the decree is–that men tremble and fear
before the God of Daniel. This goes further than Nebuchadnezzar’s
decree upon a similar occasion, for that only restrained people from
speaking amiss of this God, but this requires them to fear
before him, to keep up and express awful reverent thoughts of him.
And well might this decree he prefaced, as it is, with Peace be
multiplied unto you, for the only foundation of true and abundant
peace is laid in the fear of God, for that is true wisdom. If we live
in the fear of God, and walk according to that rule, peace shall be
upon us, peace shall be multiplied to us. But, though this decree goes
far, it does not go far enough; had he done right, and come up to his
present convictions, he would have commanded all men not only to
tremble and fear before this God, but to love him and trust in him, to
forsake the service of their idols, and to worship him only, and call
upon him as Daniel did. But idolatry had been so long and so deeply
rooted that it was not to be extirpated by the edicts of princes, nor
by any power less than that which went along with the glorious gospel
of Christ.
3. What are the causes and considerations moving him to make this
decree. They are sufficient to have justified a decree for the total
suppression of idolatry, much more will they serve to support this.
There is good reason why all men should fear before this God, for,
(1.) His being is transcendent. “He is the living God, lives as
a God, whereas the gods we worship are dead things, have not so much as
an animal life.”
(2.) His government is incontestable. He has a kingdom, and a
dominion; he not only lives, but reigns as an absolute
sovereign.
(3.) Both his being and his government are unchangeable. He is himself
stedfast for ever, and with him is no shadow of turning. And his
kingdom too is that which shall not be destroyed by any
external force, nor has his dominion any thing in itself that
threatens a decay or tends towards it, and therefore it shall be
even to the end.
(4.) He has an ability sufficient to support such an authority,
He delivers his faithful servants from trouble and rescues them out of
trouble; he works signs and wonders, quite above the utmost
power of nature to effect, both in heaven and on earth, by which
it appears that he is sovereign Lord of both.
(5.) He has given a fresh proof of all this in delivering his
servant Daniel from the power of the lions. This miracle, and
that of the delivering of the three children, were wrought in the eyes
of the world, were seen, published, and attested by two of the greatest
monarchs that ever were, and were illustrious confirmations of the
first principles of religion, abstracted from the narrow scheme of
Judaism, effectual confutations of all the errors of heathenism, and
very proper preparations for pure catholic Christianity.
II. He puts honour upon Daniel
(v. 28):
So this Daniel prospered. See how God brought to him good out of
evil. This bold stroke which his enemies made at his life was a happy
occasion of taking them off, and their children too, who otherwise
would still have stood in the way of his preferment, and have been upon
all occasions vexatious to him; and now he prospered more than
ever, was more in favour with his prince and in reputation with the
people, which gave him a great opportunity of doing good to his
brethren. Thus out of the eater (and that was a lion too)
comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness.
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