Middletown transcript., 1899-07-29
THE SUNDAY SCHOOL.
LESSON v, THIRD QUARTER, INTER
NATIONAL SERIES, JULY 80.
Text of the Lesson, Dan. vi, 1923.
Memory Verses, 21-23-Golden Text,
Ps. cxxi, documentary Prepared
by the Rev. D. NJ. stearns.

Ps. cxxi, documentary Prepared
by the Rev. d. NJ. stearns.
copyright, 1899, by D. NJ Stearns.1
10. "He kneeled upon his knees three
times day and prayed and gave thanks
before his God, as he did aforetime. A
poor time to give thanks, one might say,
when his enemies were seeking his life
| with full determination to kill him. Some
would have been full of fear and would
have thought it wise and very lawful
precaution to have at least closed the win
dow during prayer time, but this man Of
| God who lived before God and not before
men simply kept on doing as he had done
| aforetime.
l. IL "Then these men assembled and
| found Daniel praying and making supp1-
1 cation before his God" A hundred and
| their side (unwittingly against Daniel)i
| there seemed no hope for Daniel. His hope
| was in God, not in man, his mind was
| staid on God and therefore at peace Elsa.
xvi, 81, and he feared not to be found
1 praying.
12 1.-THE king answered and said, The
L Uu1uS Is Gruo dCCIU1uS W Ou0 law VI Vn0
Medes and Persians, which altereth not.
l These enemies of Daniel reminded the
l king that he had signed decree that if
| any one should ask a petition Of any god
| or man for 80 days, except Of himself, he
| should be put in the den of lions, and the
| king had to acknowledge that it was even
| so. When asked to sign the decree, the
kings vanity was appealed to, point on
L. hn NJ
had not the remotest thought of the possi-
l BILE consequences.
1S. ''That Daniel, which is of the chill
| dren of the captivity of Judah, regardeth
not thee, o king, nor the decree that thou
\ hast signed" They would have the king
| think that they esteemed him very highly,
but that Daniel, the Jew, despised both
him and his decree. The confession in
| verse 4, that they could find none occasion
| nor fault in him, makes US think of the
| confession of PLATE concerning Christ
| John xviii, 38; xix, 4, g.
a. "Then the king when he heard these
words was sore displeased with himself
| and set his heart on Daniel to deliver
him." And to that end he labored till the
| going down of the sun. He loved Daniel
and esteemed him and saw now how his
L
1 himself had unintentionally become part
| ner with them. 1t must have been sur
prise to the presidents and princes that
Darius was displeased with himself rather
than with Daniel, and that in seeking to
kill Daniel they were grieving the king.
1t is well to know the mind of the king
and to say II Sam. XIV, Is.
Is. "No decree nor statute which the
I r efoh hofh ho rho
| the third time these men assembled with
determination to kill Daniel (verses 6, ~,
each time pressing their cruelty more
earnestly. Daniel might truly have said,
"They hate me with cruel hatred, "They
hated me without cause" (Ps. Xix, a.
How persistent are the servants of satan
| to destroy lifel Our blessed Lord came to
give life and to give abundance Of it
| (John K, 10).
16. "Thy God, whom thou servest con.
tinually, He will deliver thee" Thus did
Darius, compelled by his own law to put
Daniel in the lions den, seek to comfort
him. The law cannot save any one, for
4 it is to those who break it the ministration
i of death (Gal. iii, IL, 21). Neither can
mere love always accomplish all it desires
| to, for Darius loved Daniel, and as king
he had great power. If Darius had loved
| Daniel enough to take his place and go to
| the lions den in his stead, it might have
saved Daniel; this our blessed Lord did,
| for the Son of God loved me and gave
Himself for me (Gal. Ii, 20).
| II. "And stone was brought and laid
upon the mouth of the den, and the king
sealed it with his own signet." jeremiah
said, "They have cut off my life in the
| dungeon and cast stone upon me" liam.
| iii, 53). Both jeremiah and Daniel and
every good prophet were typical Of the
greatest of all the phophets the Lord
| Jesus Christ who died in our stead, and
| His body being placed in the tomb, the
tomb was sealed (Math. xvii, 66). In
each case the sealing was to make sure the
purpose of the enemy, but it was vain
purpose and wrought the doom of those
who thus served the adversary
18. "Then the king went to his palace
and passed the night fasting" He slept
not, nor did he allow himself to be enter
tained with music. His heart was sore on
account of Daniels peril, and he longed
| for the morning that he might know if
Danief God had delivered him frUIn the
lions. The love that would deliver If 1t
could, but finds itself helpless so to do, Is
a mighty thing and yet is but faint
shadowing of the love that gave the only
begotten Son Of God to die for our sins.
10. ''Then the king arose very early in
the morning and went in haste unto the
den of lions," SO anxious was he to know
Of his friends welfare. But what shall
we say of our Lord, who continued all
night in prayer, who rose great while
before day and went out to solitary place
| to pray, and who In the garden was in
such an agony In prayer that He sweat, as
1t were, great drops of blood (Luke'Vi 12:
xxii, "A; Mark i, 85).
| 20. 20 Daniel, servant of the living
God, is thy God whom thou servest con-
| tinually able to deliver thee from the
lions?" Thus cried Darius with lamen-
table voice, hoping to and yet wondering
if he would receive an answer Daniels
| friends knew that the God whom they
served was able to deliver them from the
furnace, but that whether He delivered
them from going into the furnace or not
He certainly would deliver them from the
hand Of Nebuchadnezzar.
| 81, 20. my God hath sent His angel
and hath shut the lions mouths that they
have not hurt me-" With kind word to
the king, thus replied Daniel to the glory
Of God, and Darius was exceeding glad
and commanded to take up Daniel out of
the den. Better far to be In the lions den
or the fiery furnace with God than in the
best possible circumstances Of earthly COM
fort without Him.
s3. $50 Daniel was taken up out of the
den, and no manner Of hurt was found
upon him, because ne believed In his God. /"
The helpful thoughts from this and the
concluding verses of the chapter are more
than space will allow us to give, but may
few suggest more to you by the Holy
| Epirit The morning of resurrection viii
prove that no real evil has ever befaIlen q
child of God The enemies Of God shall
perish in that morning (u Thess. 1, 7-10).
BY Daniels faith the living God was hon.
ored In all the known world through the
epistle of Darius.