Daniel 6

At break of day the king arises and goes in haste to the den of lions. Wesley writes no note here; his next (v. 20): what the king doubted, we are sure of—the servants of the living God have a master able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.

The haste is grief, not a pose. He is not a tyrant-hero and not a devil. God may yet deliver. Daniel did not bait the state; he kept the usual hours. Honor the king; do not treat him as God.

Calvin: grief overcomes all his former fears; he approaches early, during the twilight. He is still in a middle place between the perverse despisers and the hearty worshippers of God.

God will keep his servant in the den while the king runs. On this both agree: the living God endures. Darius is a magistrate, not God. The dawn does not oust the Most High, and haste is not yet faith.

He cries in anguish: O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whom you serve continually, able to deliver you from the lions? Wesley: Able to deliver—what he doubted of, we are sure of, that the servants of the living God have a master who is able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.

Deliverance meets persevering trust and a clear conscience. Continual service is the same hours, not a stunt. The living God is able. We are sure of what the king still asks.

Calvin: he cried with a lamentable voice. Servant of the living God: he is not yet angry with his nobles till he sees the servant of God perfectly safe. He persists in his weakness.

God keeps his own. The question “able” is still a pagan’s doubt; the living God does not wait on it. The king is not God.

Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever! Wesley writes no note here; his nearest (v. 22): also before thee, O king, I have done no hurt.

Honor the king (Rom 13; Titus 3:1). Live forever is the court’s greeting, not a grant of deity. He is not a revolutionary coming up from the den. On this both agree: he had done the king no harm.

Calvin: Daniel answers moderately and softly, although he had been cast into the cave by the king’s command. He might have expostulated; he is silent concerning the injury. He speaks from his heart when he says, O king, live forever—he desired the king’s welfare.

God kept him; he still honors the magistrate. On this both agree: not a rioter. Fear God; honor the king. The den did not make him a revolutionary or a quietist.

My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths; they have not hurt me, because innocence was found in me before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm. Wesley: His angel—the same that was with the three children in the fiery furnace, whose presence made even the lion’s den a strong-hold, his palace, his paradise. See the power of God over the fiercest creatures! See the care God takes of his faithful servants, especially when they are called to suffer for him! See how ready the angels are to minister to the heirs of salvation!

Pastorally: deliverance meets persevering trust and a clear conscience. God shut the mouths; Daniel had done the king no harm. The angel’s presence is care for the faithful, not a license to bait the state. Both traditions agree: the living God endures.

Calvin: My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths. He assigns to angels the duty of rendering assistance, while the whole power remains in the hands of God himself; the angel was the agent and not the author of his safety. God had shut the lions’ mouths; savage beasts injure only as he permits. He does not boast in his own righteousness; particular deliverance is not eternal wages. Also before thee, O king, I have done no hurt: Fear God, honor the king.

God sent his angel; he keeps his own. God shut the mouths; Daniel had done the king no harm. Innocence is concrete; it is not a Pelagian claim on glory. The church does not bait lions to force a miracle.

The king is exceedingly glad; Daniel is taken up; no kind of harm is found on him, because he had trusted in his God. Wesley writes no note here; his nearest (v. 22): see the care God takes of his faithful servants, especially when they are called to suffer for him.

No hurt because he believed. Deliverance meets persevering trust and a clear conscience. Gladness is true; it is not a Christian-nation rite. God shut the mouths. Trust is not a stunt and not a riot.

Calvin: the king was exceeding glad; no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God. He assigns the cause of escaping in safety and recalls us to faith. Daniel committed his life to God, prepared for death; he was not taught the issue beforehand.

God keeps his own. He had trusted in his God. Faith is not baiting the state to see if the mouths will shut. The Most High delivered; Darius only took him up.

Those who had accused Daniel are cast into the den—them, their children, and their wives; the lions overpower them before they reach the bottom. Wesley writes no note here; his nearest (v. 22): see the power of God over the fiercest creatures.

In practice: the mouths that were shut are not tame. The king’s sentence is civil power, not a pattern for the church. Do not gloat over the wives and children as if the congregation should copy it. God shut the mouths for Daniel; Daniel had done the king no harm. Honor the magistrate; do not baptize cruelty.

Calvin: God’s virtue shone forth more clearly, because those who had accused him were immediately destroyed. The mouths of the lions were clearly restrained by the divine power. With regard to their wives and children, we need not dispute with any anxiety whether or not this punishment was just; we had better leave it in doubt, and not hastily condemn it as unjust.

God keeps his own, and the comparison proves the miracle. Both readings: not a license for the church to copy the den. The magistrate is still not God. Do not gloat.

King Darius writes to all peoples, nations, and languages who dwell in all the earth: Peace be multiplied to you. Wesley: In all the earth—in all that great empire. It is usual with the Turk, Tartar, Chinese, to arrogate the same universality.

For the hearer: peace is a civic greeting, not a baptized world. The letter is still a king’s letter (Rom 13; Titus 3). Do not treat 6 as a Christian-nation manifesto, and do not treat it as a blank check for rebellion. The living God endures whether the empire claims the earth or not.

Calvin: Darius bore witness so as to attribute the supreme glory to the God of Israel. This is no proof of the king's piety; he still allowed his subjects to worship idols, attempting to mingle fire and water. It was a special impulse; it did not proceed beyond a particular effect.

Application: the decree cannot create faith. God extorted a confession; he did not crown Darius as a Christian emperor. Honor civil power under the living God.

I make a decree that in all the dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel. For he is the living God, and steadfast forever. His kingdom is that which will not be destroyed. His dominion will be even to the end. Wesley writes no note here; his nearest (v. 20, 25): the living God is able to deliver, and “all the earth” is that great empire.

Honor the king; do not treat him as God. Tremble before the living God, not because Darius has founded a holy nation. The new edict still honors civil power under the living God. Not a blank check for rebellion or for tyranny. Held in common: he is the living God, and steadfast forever.

Calvin: unless they abolish all superstitions, God by no means obtains his right, since he allows of no equals. He calls him the living God, remaining forever, and distinguishes him from all creatures. His kingdom is incorruptible. The profane think they discharge their duty if they assign him some place; God rejects this modified worship.

In practice: the king’s decree cannot create faith but must confess the living God. His kingdom is that which will not be destroyed. Do not baptize the edict as a Christian-nation manifesto, and do not use it to excuse a riot. Daniel is not a revolutionary and not a quietist.

He delivers and rescues. He works signs and wonders in heaven and in earth, who has delivered Daniel from the power of the lions. Wesley (on v. 20): the servants of the living God have a master able to deliver them and bear them out in his service.

Delivery in the den is God’s, not a license to bait the state. Deliverance meets persevering trust and a clear conscience. He has saved Daniel. Signs do not turn Darius into a church, and they do not turn Daniel into a revolutionary.

Calvin: he calls God his deliverer. Daniel’s deliverance was well known; this was a particular proof of God’s favor. Darius knew Israel’s God to be conscious of all things, yet he neither worshiped him nor suffered others to do so as the law requires.

God keeps his own. He delivers and rescues; Darius only reports it. On this both agree: saved from the power of the lions. The edict must confess the living God; it cannot create faith, and it is not a manifesto.

So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian. Wesley writes no note here; his nearest (v. 25): in all that great empire.

Application: he serves two reigns. Faithful administration continues. Honor the king; do not treat him as God. Prosperity is not a plot and not a quietist bargain. The living God endures from Darius to Cyrus. Daniel is not a revolutionary.

Calvin: he prospered; the word marks continual possession of honor. Cyrus, after the death of Darius, succeeded to the whole monarchy. This did not occur without the remarkable counsel of God, since the change in the kingdom did not influence the position of Daniel. New empires we know to be like turning the world upside down; Daniel always retained his rank, and God’s goodness was displayed in him.

God keeps his own across a change of masters. On this both agree: he prospered. Providence, not a Christian-nation chart, and not a call to seize the next throne.