At Peace Among Predators
- Randall Brewer
- Apr 7
- 9 min read
“I, King Darius, make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom, men are to fear and be in dread before the God of Daniel; for He is the living God and enduring forever, and His kingdom is one which will not be destroyed, and His dominion will be unto the end”
- Daniel 6:26 -
King Belshazzar’s fall warns us that all our days are numbered. Hebrews 9:27 says ‘it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment.’ We have a predetermined number of days, and the only people this shouldn’t discourage are the ones prepared for death and glory. Only people of excellence know that ‘to live is Christ and to die is gain’ (Phil. 1:21). Like Belshazzar, our lives will be weighed on the scales of justice, so abandon all thoughts that what you do doesn’t matter. Whether you like it or not, one day you’ll stand before God and be judged. He’ll see you and ask: “What did you do with the life I gave you?” Will you be like Belshazzar, who squandered his life, or like Daniel who lived for God’s glory? The truth will be revealed on your day of reckoning.
If you’re too busy for God, then you’re simply too busy. Slow down and rearrange your priorities. ‘It is better to have only a little with peace of mind than be busy all the time’ (Eccl. 4:6). When Belshazzar fell, his kingdom was divided and given to another. The devil loves to bring division into the lives of fools. The only solution is to lose an earthly perspective in favor of a heavenly one. Jesus says we “are not of this world, even as I am not of it” (John 17:16). Paul said: ‘Many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things’ (Phil. 3:18-19).
Most people follow their feelings. Their sensual appetites are gods to them. Notice what Paul said next: ‘But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ’ (Phil. 3:20). This world is not our home. We are merely passing through. When the disciples felt discouraged, the Lord said: “Let not your heart be troubled…In My Father’s house are many rooms” (John 14:1-2). His solution to earthly woe was a heavenly perspective. In other words: ‘Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth’ (Col. 3:2). Feast on heavenly treasures. This is how Daniel lived and it gave him the courage (and peace) to combat pagan culture.
Foolish King Belshazzar was dead. The mighty Babylonian empire was divided between the Medes and Persians just as Nebuchadnezzar’s dream predicted. Darius was now in charge and Daniel 6:1 says: ‘It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom one hundred and twenty satraps to be over the whole kingdom.’ Satraps were protectors of the Persian realm, the eyes and ears of the king, with absolute authority over the provinces. Darius placed three choice governors over his many satraps, and wise old Daniel was made one such governor. Daniel had been promoted in the past, but not on this magnitude.
Daniel was a seasoned statesman of about 80 years of age. He was a man of character, consistency, conviction, and courage. ‘Then this Daniel distinguished himself above the governors and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him, and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom’ (Dan. 6:3). Daniel was a successful leader, demonstrating dignity to his new monarch. What separated him from his fellow governors was his excellent, outstanding, superior spirit. His every deed exceeded expectations. Darius recognized that Daniel was a rare jewel that shined brightly in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation (Phil. 2:15).
Reputation is what people think you are, but character is what God knows you are, and Daniel had both. People may doubt what you say but they believe what you do. Spiritual integrity calls for the highest standard of behavior. A person of integrity stands by their godly principles no matter the consequence. Daniel had such exceptional qualities that Darius planned to set him over the whole kingdom just as Pharaoh did for Joseph. The other governors and satraps were jealous of this, so they ‘sought to find some charge against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs’ (Dan. 6:4). The twin sins of envy and jealousy had been stirred up by the devil and a plot was hatched.
As expected, their search to find something wrong with Daniel was in vain. ‘They could find no corruption in him, because he was faithful, nor was there any error or fault found in him’ (Dan. 6:4). His integrity was beyond doubt. No dark spots were on his life due to his excellent spirit. He was loyal in his government duties, even though he gave God first place. He was content and obedient like Paul, who said: ‘Though I am free and belong to no man, I make myself a servant to all, that I might win the more’ (1 Cor. 9:19). Likewise, Martin Luther said: “A Christian man is a ministering servant in all things, subject to everybody.”
What put Daniel in the crosshairs was his faith. He was unstained by the idolatrous, immoral culture around him. There were no skeletons in his closet and, hard as they tried, these officials found nothing against him. So they said: “We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God” (Dan. 6:5). They knew he couldn’t be lured into evil but would be faithful to God. No wonder Ezekiel ranked Daniel with Noah and Job as the godliest of men (Ezek. 14:14). The evil officials would force Daniel to choose obedience to God or obedience to the king’s law.
Daniel was a righteous man, unashamed to be seen praying to God. This was how the officials would take him down, or so they thought. They hoped to appeal to their king’s pride, so they went to him and said: “King Darius, live forever!” (Dan. 6:6). They had the king’s ear and would use flattery and deceit in a bid to take down Daniel. Their ploy harkens back to Psalm 2, which asks: ‘Why do the nations rage, and the people plot a vain thing? The kings of the earth and the rulers take counsel together against the Lord and against His anointed’ (1-2). These wicked men would flatter the king by suggesting he pass a 30-day law forbidding prayers to anyone but him.
King Darius would get to be a god for a month. John MacArthur writes: “Ancient kings were frequently worshiped as gods. Pagans had such inferior views of their gods that such homage was no problem.” They knew Daniel would never agree to this law, so they said: “Whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions. Now, O king, establish the decree and sign the writing, so that it cannot be changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which may not be revoked” (Dan. 6:7-8). It is said that flattery is manipulation, not communication. So in his pride, Darius succumbed and signed a new law that even he could not overturn.
‘Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went home’ (Dan. 6:10). He didn’t deliberate for a single moment but ‘in his upper room, with his windows open toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day, and prayed and gave thanks before his God’ (6:10). Spurgeon said: “Not one jot of anxiety did Daniel betray. His faith was steadfast, his composure unruffled, his conduct simple and artless.” It is the sworn duty of the man of God to disregard every law contrary to the law of heaven. Peter told Israel’s leaders: “We ought to obey God rather than man” (Acts 5:29). Daniel served King Darius but he knew the true King of kings deserved the greater loyalty.
Daniel put his life on the line by disobeying the king’s decree but he knew the safest thing was radical obedience to God. Martin Luther King, Jr. once said: “If a man hasn’t discovered something that he will die for, he isn’t fit to live.” Indeed, Daniel discovered something worth dying for, so without hesitation he knelt and prayed like Jesus (Luke 22:41), Stephen (Acts 7:60), Peter (Acts 9:40), and Paul (Acts 20:36). He prayed three times that day, knowing his next stop would be the den of lions. The lesson is clear. If you can kneel in prayer, you will stand firm when ungodly opposition arises.
As planned, the officials caught Daniel praying, making supplication to God (Dan. 6:11). They found him breaking the new law of the land and told King Darius: “Daniel, who is one of the captives from Judah, does not show due regard for you” (6:13). This wasn’t true and they knew it. Daniel meant no disrespect to the king, only a higher respect for God. Darius saw his foolishness the second he heard their report. He ‘was greatly distressed within himself and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him; and he labored till the going down of the sun to deliver him’ (6:14). But the officials just stuck the knife in, reminding the king “that no decree or statute which the king establishes may be changed” (6:15).
So the king gave orders and Daniel was throw to the lions. The grieved king told Daniel: “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you” (Dan. 6:16). Darius had faith born out of Daniel’s trust in the Lord. He was saying: “I tried my best to save you Daniel, but I failed. Now it is up to your God.” A stone was brought and laid over the mouth of the den and the king sealed it with his own signet ring. Darius was so burdened that he ‘went off to the palace and spent the night fasting and his sleep fled from him’ (6:18). Little did he know, Daniel was down in the lions’ den sleeping like a baby.
After hours of tossing and turning, ‘the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste to the den of lions’ (Dan. 6:19). With a troubled voice he called out: “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” (6:20). Darius recognized that Daniel’s life of excellence was a shining light in a dark world. Daniel answered: “O king, live forever! My God sent His angel and shut the lions’ mouths, so that they have not hurt me, because I was found innocent before Him” (6:21-22). These words gladdened the king who gave orders for Daniel to be taken up out of the den ‘and no injury whatever was found on him because he believed in his God’ (6:23). What a statement, and what a miracle!
‘The king then gave orders, and they brought those men who had maliciously accused Daniel, and they cast them, their children and their wives into the lions’ den’ (Dan. 6:24). This was the law of sowing and reaping in action. As Psalm 7 says of the wicked: ‘He made a pit and has fallen into the ditch he made. His trouble shall return upon his own head’ (15-16). Then ‘the lions overpowered them, and broke all their bones into pieces before they ever came to the bottom of the den’ (Dan. 6:24). Thus Darius decreed across the kingdom that all men were to fear and tremble before the God of Daniel, and Daniel ‘prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian’ (6:28). Such was the miraculous life of this true man of excellence.
What shines brightest in Daniel is his inner peace. No matter his circumstances, Daniel never lost the peace that comes from knowing God is on your side. When believers are anxious for nothing, then God’s peace, which is beyond anything we can imagine, will guard our hearts and minds in Christ (Phil. 4:6-7). Godly peace replaces anxiety in the life of prayerful believers. It’s not an absence of problems but a reliance upon divine sufficiency in the midst of adversity. In other words, as Paul asks: ‘If God be for us, who can be against us?’ (Rom. 8:31).
The peace of God is beyond comprehension, yet it is not beyond experience. We walk in it each day of our lives. Pastor Dwight Edwards said: “If the peace of God is not ruling or standing sentry over our inner man, then an unwanted intruder has already entered in.” Peace is a quietness of spirit that rises above circumstances. It is a gift from God and is in complete harmony with His character. The one who places full confidence in a loving God and is thankful in any situation possesses supernatural peace. For sure, an inner calm will dominate his heart.
C. S. Lewis said: “God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself.” There is no such thing as true peace without God. He is peace, and in Him we find the answers we’re searching for. Jesus said in John 14:27: “Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” Even before Christ came, Daniel knew God and was well-acquainted with His peace. We, too, have ever-present peace when we recall the promise of Romans 8:28, that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love Him.
Men and women of excellence see God’s big plan. When we walk with God like Daniel did, we stand ‘ready to make a defense to anyone who asks for a reason for the hope that is in you…with gentleness and respect’ (1 Pet. 3:15). Daniel let his light shine in a dark, pagan world. He enjoyed peace knowing trials are simply steppingstones to where God wants us. Daniel leaned on God’s word and revelations, only ever working on His divine timeline. As you trust in God and weather hard times, remember Psalm 37:3 says: ‘Trust in the Lord, and do good; dwell in the land, and feed on His faithfulness.’ Daniel did, and God used him mightily.
Comments