“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.” (Da 6:27 AV)
These are the words of Darius, king of the Medes and
Persians regarding Daniel and his endurance through the lion's den. The night before the lion’s den, Darius tried
to encourage Daniel by stating the LORD would deliver him from the mouths of
the lions. Yet, that night Darius spent
the night in prayer and fear. In the
morning, he went as early as he could and called unto Daniel with a lamentable
voice to see if Daniel survived. This
indicated that Darius did have faith. But
not as much as he did when Daniel was taken from the lion’s den. He cried with a lamentable voice, but praise
God with a joyful one. It is truly a
wonder that God will work even when we do not completely believe that He will. Who knows?
It could have been the faith of Daniel that saved him. There is no record of it, but that doesn’t
mean Daniel had none. It could have been
the prayers of the three children of Israel, although there is no mention of
them beyond the fiery furnace. The only
prayer we have is the prayer of Darius.
Again, not that the prayers of others affected the hand of God, but we
do know Darius’ prayer did. God delivered
even though there was doubt. God rescued
because the heart’s desire we greater than the doubt or fear.
Every spring, The Exodus seems to be a common film
broadcast on TV somewhere. Charleston Hesston plays Moses and the big screen tells the story of Israel’s deliverance from
Egypt. My wife and I usually watch it every
year. Not so much for the historical
record. Many times in the film there are
miss-ques on the timeline of the entire event.
However, we watch because the ability of God to work miracles is
something that becomes real when watching the plagues and the parting of the
Red Sea. God’s deliverance is made
dramatic and obvious. What always
astounded me is how quickly this miraculous deliverance is forgotten. It only took three days before the nation of Israel
was complaining to the LORD for the lack of fresh water. They had forgotten all that God had done because
a little adversity entered their lives. The
deliverance of God was relinquished to a distant memory even though it was only
a few days prior. One would think having
seen all they saw, there would never be another worry. This only goes to show the deliverance of God
should be rehearsed often so that we do not forget what God did and what He is
capable of.
To rejoice in God’s deliverance is a profitable
thing. When Darius pulled Daniel from
the lion’s den, he threw his accusers into the pit in his place. There was great rejoicing in the deliverance
of God by setting things right that were wronged. Darius’ faith grew exponentially here. He went to bed wondering if God would indeed
rescue someone very close to him and rose seeing God’s mighty hand at
work. He went to bed wondering if he has
just occasioned the death of his most faithful and trusted counselor and arose
knowing the God whom Daniel served was more than capable of keeping His
servants safe. Perhaps we don’t need to
be challenged in anything today. Maybe
we can take stock of the many ways God has delivered us starting with eternal
damnation. By Christ, we have come out
of the lion’s den. The enemy has no
power over us and by the blood of Christ, we will be admitted into glory. We can continue through memory lane and list
all the times God has delivered us from travesty. Some of our own making. Most not.
God’s deliverance is frequent and without delay. He sees His children in trouble and if there
is no lesson to learn or no glory to be gained, He immediately rescues those in
trouble. It was true forty years ago
when He saved me. It is still true today. Great are the works of God toward the
children of men.
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