Arizona republican., 1917-09-22

den of lions Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, Thy God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee. QO And a stone was brought, and lald 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 (that nothlnS mighD be changed concerning Danlei. GS) Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neltner were instruments of music brought oe
 fore him; and his sleep fled rom nlll' Q9) Then the king arose very early Ill the morning, and went in haste lnto the den of lions. (20) And when he came 10 (near unto) the den (to DanleD, ne cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel; and the king spake and said 70 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 forever. (22) My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions mouths, and they have not hurt me- forasmuch as before him in- nocency was found in me; and also be-
 
 (23) Then was the king exceedingly 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. Time-537 B. C. Place.-Babylon. Exposition-I. Daniels Fearless Loy- atty to Jehovah, 10-13. He kneeled down upon his knees three times a day and prayed" the secret of Daniels [ marvellous life of victory is found in these words-he was emphatically q man of prayer (cf oh. 2: IT, IS; g: 3. l 4) He knew to whC--l 10 pray, when to 1 pray, and how to pray. So he knew how to get the victory in every con- ceivable emergency of life. To human reason there were only two alternatives 1 open, to compromise or to die for con- l science. But to the eye of faith there was another way open, the way of | prayer. He must "obey God rather | than men" (Ac. 5; 29; 4: 19, 20) He was willing if God so willed, to take the ' consequences, but he knew if God did not so will he would not die, for his | God was able to deliver He did not 1 shut his windows that looked out to- ward the city where God had put His name q Xxi. s: 30, 9S, 1850; ? Chron. 6: 3S.) Three times a day" his prayer i went up. In this too he was in fellow ] ship with the saints of all ages CPS. 55 IT; Ac. ?: l, ?, 15; 31: 10, g. His prayer was accompanied with thanks to God CPhil. 4: G. l Thes ,: r, 1S.) ! Those who forget to return thanks l when they pray need not expect thail | prayers to reach the ear of God. Hi. goddess enemies were watching for then 1 opportunity. They thought they haf found it but it only proved to be al 1 opportunity for God to display Hi. power and grace and resulted in Dan. ieTs promotion and not his ruin They found Daniel in intense earnestness II prayer praying and making suppllca l ton (cf Eph. 6: 1S.) They would hay, done well to have listened to the praye
 instead of hurrying off to the king. Il trying to blast Daniel they bore a tes
 timony to all ages to his devotion
 H. The Wretchedness of the King 14-1S. The king was sore displeaseC
 with himself" well he might be- In hi
 impious pride he had walked into ;
 trap. he seemed about to lose his wises
 and most trusted counsellor. He trie. hard to eXtricate himself from the snar
 but all in vain. Any man who put
 himself in the place of God will hay
 occasion to be displeased with himsel
 before he gets through. And many
 man today is putting himself in tn
 place of God. At last the king yielde, and they brought Daniel, and cast hln into the den of lions" The fear 0
 man kept Darius back from doing wha
 m his heart he longed to do (cf Prov
 Z9: 25.) AS Pilate at later day sough to appease his conscience and cover ul
 his own infamy by washing his hands
 so Darius here seeks to cloak his in
 fanny by saying, Daniel. thy God whor
 thou servest continually He will deliv
 CT thee. That was true, but it was
 truth used to excuse sin. Darius ha
 no right to do wrong trusting God t
 overruie the wrong he did But afte
 lll Darius was not as sure that Go
 would deliver Daniel as his statemen
 would indicate (v 20) The king ha,
 I bad night of it. He deserved to have
 Daniel had a far better time in th
 lions den than the king in the palac. It is far better to be in a lions den vii God than in palace with a guilty con science
 TIL God is Able to Deliver. 19-a.
 For once at least the king was up earl,
 Dignity was forgotten and he hastene
 to the man he had wronged. He erie , with lamentable voice: o Daniel, ser
 want of the living God thy Go whom thou servest continually" Tha IS a grand testimony to a man. Danie had made great impression upon hi potent but time-serving king The tes , timony was true as the whole recor
 shoWs No better testimony than tha
 10 a mans character could be givcl
 And remember Daniel was a statesma nearly all his life, and he was no- nearly ninety. There is a Striking ir
 consistency between Darius testimon to Daniel and his treatment of hin Such friend is scarcely worth havin
 but Daniel had a better one Daniel