mh_parser/vol_split/27 - Daniel/Chapter 6.xml

<div2 id="Dan.vii" n="vii" next="Dan.viii" prev="Dan.vi" progress="70.37%" title="Chapter VI">
<h2 id="Dan.vii-p0.1">D A N I E L.</h2>
<h3 id="Dan.vii-p0.2">CHAP. VI.</h3>
<p class="intro" id="Dan.vii-p1" shownumber="no">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,"
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.1" osisRef="Bible:Heb.11.33" parsed="|Heb|11|33|0|0" passage="Heb 11:33">Heb. xi. 33</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.1-Dan.6.3" parsed="|Dan|6|1|6|3" passage="Da 6:1-3">ver. 1-3</scripRef>.
II. The envy and malice of his enemies against him, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.4-Dan.6.5" parsed="|Dan|6|4|6|5" passage="Da 6:4,5">ver. 4, 5</scripRef>. III. The decree they
obtained against prayer for thirty days, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.6-Dan.6.9" parsed="|Dan|6|6|6|9" passage="Da 6:6-9">ver. 6-9</scripRef>. IV. Daniel's continuance and
constancy in prayer, notwithstanding that decree, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.10" parsed="|Dan|6|10|0|0" passage="Da 6:10">ver. 10</scripRef>. V. Information given against
him for it, and the casting of him into the den of lions, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.11-Dan.6.17" parsed="|Dan|6|11|6|17" passage="Da 6:11-17">ver. 11-17</scripRef>. VI. His miraculous
preservation in the lions' den, and deliverance out of it,
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.18-Dan.6.23" parsed="|Dan|6|18|6|23" passage="Da 6:18-23">ver. 18-23</scripRef>. VII. The
casting of his accusers into the den, and their destruction there,
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.24" parsed="|Dan|6|24|0|0" passage="Da 6:24">ver. 24</scripRef>. VIII. The decree
which Darius made upon this occasion, in honour of the God of
Daniel, and the prosperity of Daniel afterwards, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p1.9" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.25-Dan.6.28" parsed="|Dan|6|25|6|28" passage="Da 6:25-28">ver. 25-28</scripRef>. And this God is our God for
ever and ever.</p>
<scripCom id="Dan.vii-p1.10" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6" parsed="|Dan|6|0|0|0" passage="Da 6" type="Commentary"/>
<scripCom id="Dan.vii-p1.11" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.1-Dan.6.5" parsed="|Dan|6|1|6|5" passage="Da 6:1-5" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vii-p1.12">
<h4 id="Dan.vii-p1.13">Daniel Preferred by Darius. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vii-p1.14">b. c.</span> 537.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vii-p2" shownumber="no">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 <i>was</i>
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
<i>was</i> 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 <i>was</i> 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 <i>it</i> against him concerning the law of his
God.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p3" shownumber="no">We are told concerning Daniel,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p4" shownumber="no">I. What a <i>great man</i> 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 <i>set over the kingdom 120 princes</i>
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p4.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.1" parsed="|Dan|6|1|0|0" passage="Da 6:1"><i>v.</i> 1</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p4.2" osisRef="Bible:1Pet.2.13-1Pet.2.14" parsed="|1Pet|2|13|2|14" passage="1Pe 2:13,14">1 Pet. ii. 13,
14</scripRef>. Over these princes there was a <i>triumvirate,</i>
or <i>three presidents,</i> who were to take and state the public
accounts, to receive appeals from the princes, or complaints
against them in case of mal-administration, <i>that the king should
have no damage</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p4.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.2" parsed="|Dan|6|2|0|0" passage="Da 6:2"><i>v.</i>
2</scripRef>), 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 <i>preferred above the presidents
and princes</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p4.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.3" parsed="|Dan|6|3|0|0" passage="Da 6:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>), and so wonderfully well pleased the king was with
his management that <i>he thought to set him over the whole
realm,</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p5" shownumber="no">II. What a good man he was: <i>An excellent
spirit was in him,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p5.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.3" parsed="|Dan|6|3|0|0" passage="Da 6:3"><i>v.</i>
3</scripRef>. 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 <i>no error,</i> or <i>fault,
to be found in him,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p5.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.4" parsed="|Dan|6|4|0|0" passage="Da 6:4"><i>v.</i>
4</scripRef>. 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p6" shownumber="no">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 <i>for every right work a man is
envied of his neighbour</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p6.1" osisRef="Bible:Eccl.4.4" parsed="|Eccl|4|4|0|0" passage="Ec 4:4">Eccl. iv.
4</scripRef>), 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. <i>Wrath is cruel, and anger is outrageous, but
who can stand before envy?</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p6.2" osisRef="Bible:Prov.27.4" parsed="|Prov|27|4|0|0" passage="Pr 27:4">Prov.
xxvii. 4</scripRef>. Daniel's enemies set spies upon him, to
observe him in the management of his place; they <i>sought to find
occasion against him,</i> something on which to ground an
accusation <i>concerning the kingdom,</i> 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 <i>they could find no occasion against</i> him;
they owned that they could not. Daniel always acted honestly, and
now the more warily, and stood the more upon his guard, <i>because
of his observers,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p6.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.27.11" parsed="|Ps|27|11|0|0" passage="Ps 27:11">Ps. xxvii.
11</scripRef>. 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 <i>concerning the law of his
God</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p6.4" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.5" parsed="|Dan|6|5|0|0" passage="Da 6:5"><i>v.</i> 5</scripRef>. 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 <i>usque ad aras—as far as the
altars;</i> but there he left him. In this matter therefore his
enemies hoped to ensnare him. <i>Quærendum est crimen læsæ
religionis ubi majestatis deficit—When treason could not be
charged upon him he was accused of impiety.</i> 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vii-p6.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.6-Dan.6.10" parsed="|Dan|6|6|6|10" passage="Da 6:6-10" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vii-p6.6">
<h4 id="Dan.vii-p6.7">A Plot against Daniel. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vii-p6.8">b. c.</span> 537.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vii-p7" shownumber="no">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p8" shownumber="no">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,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p9" shownumber="no">I. Darius's impious law. I call it
<i>Darius's,</i> 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 <i>all
the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, princes, counsellors,
and captains, had consulted together</i> about it, and that they
not only agreed to it, but <i>advised it,</i> for <i>divers good
causes and considerations,</i> that they had done what they could
to <i>establish it for a firm decree;</i> nay, they intimate to the
king that it was carried <i>nemine contradicente—unanimously: "All
the presidents</i> 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
<i>whosoever shall ask a petition of any god or man for thirty
days, save of the king, shall be</i> put to death after the most
barbarous manner, shall be <i>cast into the den of lions,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p9.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.7" parsed="|Dan|6|7|0|0" passage="Da 6:7"><i>v.</i> 7</scripRef>. 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 <i>of any god.</i> 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 <i>feather in his cap</i> (for so it was, and not a
<i>flower in his crown</i>) and <i>signed the writing and the
decree</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p9.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.9" parsed="|Dan|6|9|0|0" passage="Da 6:9"><i>v.</i> 9</scripRef>),
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p10" shownumber="no">II. Daniel's pious disobedience to this
law, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p10.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.10" parsed="|Dan|6|10|0|0" passage="Da 6:10"><i>v.</i> 10</scripRef>. 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.
<i>When Daniel knew that the writing was signed</i> 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 <i>all the presidents</i> had consented to it, whereas he that
was chief of them had never been consulted about it; but <i>he went
to his house,</i> and applied himself to his duty, cheerfully
trusting God with the event. Now observe,</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p11" shownumber="no">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
<i>prayed in his house,</i> sometimes alone and sometimes with his
family about him, and made a solemn business of it. Cornelius was a
man that <i>prayed in his house,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.1" osisRef="Bible:Acts.10.30" parsed="|Acts|10|30|0|0" passage="Ac 10:30">Acts x. 30</scripRef>. 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 <i>before his God,</i>
and with a regard to him. (4.) When he prayed and gave thanks he
<i>kneeled upon his knees,</i> 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 <i>opened the windows of his chamber,</i> 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
<i>opened them towards Jerusalem,</i> the holy city, though now in
ruins, to signify the affection he had for its very stones and dust
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.2" osisRef="Bible:Ps.102.14" parsed="|Ps|102|14|0|0" passage="Ps 102:14">Ps. cii. 14</scripRef>) 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 <i>chief
joy,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.137.5-Ps.137.6" parsed="|Ps|137|5|137|6" passage="Ps 137:5,6">Ps. cxxxvii. 5,
6</scripRef>. 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 <i>in the land of their
enemies</i> 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 <i>hear</i> and <i>maintain their
cause</i> (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.4" osisRef="Bible:1Kgs.8.48-1Kgs.8.49" parsed="|1Kgs|8|48|8|49" passage="1Ki 8:48,49">1 Kings viii. 48,
49</scripRef>), to which prayer Daniel had reference in this
circumstance of his devotions. (6.) He did this <i>three times a
day,</i> three times every day according to the example of David
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.5" osisRef="Bible:Ps.55.17" parsed="|Ps|55|17|0|0" passage="Ps 55:17">Ps. lv. 17</scripRef>), <i>Morning,
evening, and at noon, I will pray.</i> 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 <i>praying always.</i> (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
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p11.6" osisRef="Bible:Ezek.14.14" parsed="|Ezek|14|14|0|0" passage="Eze 14:14">Ezek. xiv. 14</scripRef>), 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p12" shownumber="no">2. Daniel's constant adherence to this
practice, even when it was made by the law a capital crime. When he
knew that <i>the writing was signed</i> he continued to do <i>as he
did aforetime,</i> 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, no,
nor so much as <i>seems to come short</i> of it. In trying times
great stress is laid upon our <i>confessing Christ before men</i>
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p12.1" osisRef="Bible:Matt.10.32" parsed="|Matt|10|32|0|0" passage="Mt 10:32">Matt. x. 32</scripRef>), 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, <i>wiser than
Daniel,</i> at their end they will be fools.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vii-p12.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.11-Dan.6.17" parsed="|Dan|6|11|6|17" passage="Da 6:11-17" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vii-p12.3">
<h4 id="Dan.vii-p12.4">Daniel in the Den of Lions. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vii-p12.5">b. c.</span> 537.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vii-p13" shownumber="no">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 <i>a
petition</i> 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 <i>is</i> 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 <i>is</i> 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 <i>these</i> words, was
sore displeased with himself, and set <i>his</i> 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 <i>is,</i> That no decree nor statute which the king
establisheth may be changed.   16 Then the king commanded, and
they brought Daniel, and cast <i>him</i> into the den of lions.
<i>Now</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p14" shownumber="no">Here is 1. Proof made of Daniel's praying
to his God, notwithstanding the late edict to the contrary
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.11" parsed="|Dan|6|11|0|0" passage="Da 6:11"><i>v.</i> 11</scripRef>): <i>These men
assembled,</i> then <i>came tumultuously together,</i> so the word
is, the same that was used <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.6" parsed="|Dan|6|6|0|0" passage="Da 6:6"><i>v.</i>
6</scripRef>, borrowed from <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.2.1" parsed="|Ps|2|1|0|0" passage="Ps 2:1">Ps. ii.
1</scripRef>, <i>Why do the heathen rage?</i> 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 <i>found him on his knees praying</i> and
<i>making supplication before his God. For his love they are his
adversaries;</i> but, like his father David, he <i>gives himself
unto prayer,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.4" osisRef="Bible:Ps.109.4" parsed="|Ps|109|4|0|0" passage="Ps 109:4">Ps. cix.
4</scripRef>. 2. Complaint made of it to the king. When they had
found occasion against Daniel concerning <i>the law of his God</i>
they lost no time, but applied to the king (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.5" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.12" parsed="|Dan|6|12|0|0" passage="Da 6:12"><i>v.</i> 12</scripRef>), 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, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.13" parsed="|Dan|6|13|0|0" passage="Da 6:13"><i>v.</i> 13</scripRef>. They so describe him, in the
information they give, as to exasperate the king and incense him
the more against him: "He is <i>of the children of the captivity of
Judah;</i> 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 <i>he regards not thee, O
king! nor the decree that thou hast signed.</i>" 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, <i>He makes his
petition,</i> 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 <i>sorely displeased
with himself</i> for gratifying them in it, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.7" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.14" parsed="|Dan|6|14|0|0" passage="Da 6:14"><i>v.</i> 14</scripRef>. 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
<i>spreading a net for their feet.</i> Now, the king <i>sets his
heart to deliver Daniel;</i> both by argument and by authority he
labours <i>till the going down of the sun</i> to <i>deliver
him,</i> 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 <i>ponder the path of our
feet,</i> for then <i>all our ways will be established.</i> 4. The
violence with which the prosecutors demanded judgment, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.8" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.15" parsed="|Dan|6|15|0|0" passage="Da 6:15"><i>v.</i> 15</scripRef>. 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 <i>no decree or statute which the king
establishes may be changed.</i> The same we find <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.9" osisRef="Bible:Esth.1.19 Bible:Esth.8.8" parsed="|Esth|1|19|0|0;|Esth|8|8|0|0" passage="Es 1:19,8:8">Esth. i. 19; viii. 8</scripRef>. 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 <i>thrown into the den of lions,</i> to be
devoured by them, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.10" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.16" parsed="|Dan|6|16|0|0" passage="Da 6:16"><i>v.</i>
16</scripRef>. 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 <i>laid upon
the mouth of the den</i> is <i>sealed,</i> and the king (an
over-easy man) is persuaded to seal it <i>with his own signet</i>
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.11" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.17" parsed="|Dan|6|17|0|0" passage="Da 6:17"><i>v.</i> 17</scripRef>), 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 <i>sealed the
stone</i> that was rolled to the door of his sepulchre. 6. The
encouragement which Darius gave to Daniel to trust in God: <i>Thy
God whom thou servest continually, he will deliver thee,</i>
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p14.12" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.16" parsed="|Dan|6|16|0|0" passage="Da 6:16"><i>v.</i> 16</scripRef>. 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: <i>He will deliver thee.</i> 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vii-p14.13" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.18-Dan.6.24" parsed="|Dan|6|18|6|24" passage="Da 6:18-24" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vii-p14.14">
<h4 id="Dan.vii-p14.15">Daniel's Preservation and
Deliverance. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vii-p14.16">b. c.</span> 537.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vii-p15" shownumber="no">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: <i>and</i> 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
<i>them</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p16" shownumber="no">Here is, I. The melancholy night which the
king had, upon Daniel's account, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p16.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.18" parsed="|Dan|6|18|0|0" passage="Da 6:18"><i>v.</i> 18</scripRef>. 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 <i>went to his palace,</i> 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 <i>non obstante—a
negative</i> to the law of the Medes and Persians. He ate no
supper, but <i>passed the night fasting;</i> his heart was already
full of grief and fear. He forbade the music; nothing is more
unpleasing than songs sung to a heavy heart. He went to bed, but
got no sleep, was full of <i>tossings to and fro</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p17" shownumber="no">II. The solicitous enquiry he made
concerning Daniel the next morning, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p17.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.19-Dan.6.20" parsed="|Dan|6|19|6|20" passage="Da 6:19,20"><i>v.</i> 19, 20</scripRef>. He was up early, <i>very
early;</i> 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 <i>went in haste to the den of
lions,</i> 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, <i>with a lamentable
voice,</i> as one full of concern and trouble, <i>O Daniel!</i> 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: <i>O Daniel! servant of the living God,</i> has <i>thy God
whom thou servest</i> made it to appear that he is <i>able to
deliver thee from the lions?</i> If he rightly understood himself
when he called him <i>the living God,</i> 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 <i>servants
of the living God</i> have a Master who is well able to protect
them and bear them out in his service.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p18" shownumber="no">III. The joyful news he meets with-that
Daniel is alive, is safe, and well, and unhurt in the lions' den,
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p18.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.21-Dan.6.22" parsed="|Dan|6|21|6|22" passage="Da 6:21,22"><i>v.</i> 21, 22</scripRef>. 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: <i>O king! live for ever.</i> 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 (<i>thy God whom thou servest</i>), to
which Daniel does as it were echo back, Yea, he is <i>my God,</i>
whom I own, and who owns me, for <i>he has sent his angel.</i> The
same bright and glorious being that was seen in <i>the form of the
Son of God</i> 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 <i>shut the lions' mouths, that they</i> had not in the least
<i>hurt him.</i> 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
<i>goes about continually seeking to devour</i> 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 <i>stop the
lions' mouths,</i> 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 <i>fellow servants.</i> 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: <i>Before him</i> whom I prayed to <i>innocency
was found in me.</i> He pretends not to a meritorious excellence,
but the testimony of his conscience concerning his sincerity is his
comfort—<i>As also that before thee, O king! I have done no
hurt,</i> nor designed thee any affront.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p19" shownumber="no">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
(<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p19.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.23" parsed="|Dan|6|23|0|0" passage="Da 6:23"><i>v.</i> 23</scripRef>): <i>The king
was exceedingly glad</i> to find him alive, and gave orders
immediately that they should <i>take him out of the den,</i> as
Jeremiah out of the dungeon; and, when they searched, <i>no manner
of hurt was found upon him;</i> he was nowhere crushed nor scarred,
but was kept perfectly well, <i>because he believed in his God.</i>
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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p20" shownumber="no">V. The committing of his prosecutors to the
same prison, or place of execution rather, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p20.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.24" parsed="|Dan|6|24|0|0" passage="Da 6:24"><i>v.</i> 24</scripRef>. 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, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p20.2" osisRef="Bible:Deut.19.18-Deut.19.19" parsed="|Deut|19|18|19|19" passage="De 19:18,19">Deut. xix. 18, 19</scripRef>. 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 <i>cast into the
den of lions,</i> which perhaps was a punishment newly invented by
themselves; however, it was what they maliciously designed for
Daniel. <i>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,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p20.3" osisRef="Bible:Ps.7.15-Ps.7.16 Bible:Ps.9.15-Ps.9.16" parsed="|Ps|7|15|7|16;|Ps|9|15|9|16" passage="Ps 7:15,16,9:15,16">Ps. vii. 15, 16; ix. 15, 16</scripRef>. And
now Solomon's observation is verified (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p20.4" osisRef="Bible:Prov.11.8" parsed="|Prov|11|8|0|0" passage="Pr 11:8">Prov. xi. 8</scripRef>), <i>The righteous is delivered
out of trouble,</i> and <i>the wicked cometh in his stead.</i> 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,
<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p20.5" osisRef="Bible:Deut.24.16" parsed="|Deut|24|16|0|0" passage="De 24:16">Deut. xxiv. 16</scripRef>. 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 <i>mastery
of them</i> immediately, and tore them to pieces <i>before they
came to the bottom of the den.</i> 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.</p>
</div><scripCom id="Dan.vii-p20.6" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.25-Dan.6.28" parsed="|Dan|6|25|6|28" passage="Da 6:25-28" type="Commentary"/><div class="Commentary" id="Dan.vii-p20.7">
<h4 id="Dan.vii-p20.8">The Decree of Darius. (<span class="smallcaps" id="Dan.vii-p20.9">b. c.</span> 537.)</h4>
<p class="passage" id="Dan.vii-p21" shownumber="no">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 <i>is</i> the living God, and stedfast for ever, and
his kingdom <i>that</i> which shall not be destroyed, and his
dominion <i>shall be even</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p22" shownumber="no">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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p23" shownumber="no">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 <i>everlasting gospel,</i> preached to those that
<i>dwell on the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p23.1" osisRef="Bible:Rev.14.7" parsed="|Rev|14|7|0|0" passage="Re 14:7">Rev. xiv.
7</scripRef>. <i>Fear God, and give glory to him.</i> Observe, 1.
To whom he sends this decree—<i>to all people, nations and
languages, that dwell in all the earth,</i> <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p23.2" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.25" parsed="|Dan|6|25|0|0" passage="Da 6:25"><i>v.</i> 25</scripRef>. 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 <i>every
dominion of his kingdom,</i> 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 <i>men tremble and fear before the God of
Daniel.</i> This goes further than Nebuchadnezzar's decree upon a
similar occasion, for that only restrained people from <i>speaking
amiss</i> of this God, but this requires them to <i>fear before
him,</i> to keep up and express awful reverent thoughts of him. And
well might this decree he prefaced, as it is, with <i>Peace be
multiplied unto you,</i> 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 <i>living God,</i>
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 <i>kingdom,</i> and a <i>dominion;</i> he
not only lives, but reigns as an absolute sovereign. (3.) Both his
being and his government are unchangeable. He is himself
<i>stedfast for ever,</i> and with him is no shadow of turning. And
his <i>kingdom</i> too is <i>that which shall not be destroyed</i>
by any external force, nor has his <i>dominion</i> any thing in
itself that threatens a decay or tends towards it, and therefore it
shall be <i>even to the end.</i> (4.) He has an ability sufficient
to support such an authority, <scripRef id="Dan.vii-p23.3" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.27" parsed="|Dan|6|27|0|0" passage="Da 6:27"><i>v.</i>
27</scripRef>. He delivers his faithful servants from trouble and
rescues them out of trouble; he <i>works signs and wonders,</i>
quite above the utmost power of nature to effect, both <i>in heaven
and on earth,</i> by which it appears that he is sovereign Lord of
both. (5.) He has given a fresh proof of all this in
<i>delivering</i> his servant <i>Daniel from the power of the
lions.</i> 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.</p>
<p class="indent" id="Dan.vii-p24" shownumber="no">II. He puts honour upon Daniel (<scripRef id="Dan.vii-p24.1" osisRef="Bible:Dan.6.28" parsed="|Dan|6|28|0|0" passage="Da 6:28"><i>v.</i> 28</scripRef>): <i>So this Daniel
prospered.</i> 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 <i>prospered more than
ever,</i> 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 <i>out of the eater</i> (and that was a lion too)
<i>comes forth meat, and out of the strong sweetness.</i></p>
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