The Washington herald., 1922-07-22
Daniels Example Is Guide
To Centuries, Says Bryan
Courage and Faith in the Power Of Righteous.
ness Needed Today No Less Than
Then, He Declares.

the blDle Stofle1 Wntcn tne young
are most familiar.
The child early learns the differ.
ence between the domestic and the
ferocious animals. The puppy and
the kitten are its first pets. while
the lion and the tiger are the first
to arouse its sense Of fear. 1t, Is
easy to understand, therefore. how
Daniels thrilling experience In the
lions den grips the child's imag-
ination and areuses its interest.
The lesson o. moral courage
drawn from 1t has played anfmpor-
tant part in the lives of all who
have ever attended Sunday school
or studied the Bible under the in
struction of parent or pastor. Dare
to be a Daniel" has echoeA in mil
lions Of little hearts and has called
innuemrable hosts to courageous
resistance in hours Of trial.
| And its lesson Is for adults as
| well as for yo1th. There is no
| day in life between the cradle and
the grave when one may not be
called to meet trial in which his
faith can be, strengthened by rec
objection of Daniels fidelity to God
and by Gods reward Of that fidelity.
| Tribute to Daniels Worth.
The story as related In the sixth
| chapter Of Daniel exhibits unregen-
crate human nature and kingly
weakness as well as a sublime
faith.
! Darius. conqueror Of Babylon. had
| conferred with authority upon Dam
iel. We read that Immediately after
the Staying Of Belshaxzar on the
| night of his Infamous feast and the
| ascension of Darius to the throne,
| "it pleased Darius to set over the
! kingdom an hundred and twenty
| princes and over these
three presidents, of whom Dante.
was first" To emphasize still more
the respect shown for Daniel, 1t is
stated that he was preferred above
the presidents and princes, because
an excellent spirit was in him."
Such Is the tribute paid to DAN
ieis worth. 1t is not surprising
that such preference. shown to one
of foreign blood. especially to one
who was brought into the country
| as a captive, should arouse the en-
Wy of his associates. The president
and princes sought to find occasion
| against Daniel. Those who deny the
fall of man and contend that hu-
man history proves continuous
progress upward Is the natural
course, will have difficulty in ex-
planning the tendency of man to
sin.
| The Bible gives abundance evil
dence of the fatal malady of sin
from the first page to the last, and
the record since those days has been
in line with Bible history-sin al
ways and sin everywhere. The
spiritual nature Is in constant COM
bat with the downward tendency.
Just as the spark Of life continually
battles against the forces that
would drag the body back to the
dust from which IL came, SO the
spiritual in man is battling every
moment against the gravitation that
In the moral world pulls man sin
ward.
Plotting Daniels Ruin.
These enemies of a godly man
plotted his ruin. The mental ma
chine called the mind, which some
were wont to worship as IL it were
a god, is but tool in the control
of mans will. 1t plots a murder as
willingly as 1t plans a noble serv-
ice. The wicked hearts of DanieI's
wicked associates were in control
of their brains and they succeeded
In devising a scheme for Daniels
hurt
They could not find aught against
his conduct in office. "forasmuch as
he was faithful. neither was there
any error or fault found in him."
They confessed this: then they said:
I'VE shall not find any occasion
against this Daniel except We find
1t against him concerning the law
of his God"
What a wonderful tribute to an
upright man! What greater praise
could evil men give to a servant OF
God?
$50 they set out to snare him
through his very loyalty to Jeho-
yah. And here we see how they
employed the vanity of a king to
aid their conspiracy.
They conceived the idea of fat
tering Darius by proposing a de-
cree according to which no one
would be permitted to ASK a petit
ton of any God or man for thirty
days, save of thee, o King" And
they presented the suggestions as
coming from 'all the presidents of
the Kingdom. the governors and the
princes, the counsellors and the
captains"-thus including Daniel
himself. lie. of course. but it had
the effect that they intended. The
King was weak enough to sign the
decree; thus the trap was set and
then 1t was sprung.
why There Are Few Daniels.
They Hnew that Daniel prayed
three t.Nes a day and they knew
that he prayed with his windows
open toward Jerusalem. where his
devotions could be observed by
passersby. They were not long in
securing the needed proof, for
Daniel did not falter for a moment.
He prayed as usual and he prayed
with full knowledge of the decree
and knowing that it was to be used
against him.
Why, it has often been. asked,
did Daniel expose himself to danger
unnecessarily? Why did he invite
punishment when 1t was SO easy to
pray in some other part of the
room! Why, when he knew that
the decree was signed. did he insist
on .kneel'ng in front of the window
wnere his disobediece would be OBJ
served by any passerby?
Many Christian has asked SINH
iar questions on similar occasions
ana made an answer quite different
from the answer made by Ia MEL