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[0:00] This last stanza says this, I will boast ever only in the Lord my God, is to glory by God and to be satisfied with Him forever.

[0:36] And so for those of us who are believers, those of us who call ourselves followers of Christ, this really is the objective. The objective that our life is lived to the glory of God.

[0:48] And so what happens is, if God's glory is our objective, regardless of what happens to us, then we consider it to be good.

[1:02] As we've been working our way through the book of Daniel, we find ourselves this morning in Daniel chapter 6. And I would encourage you to open up your Bibles, if you would please, to Daniel 6. If you're using the pew Bibles, that's on page 743.

[1:16] We continue to follow this story in the life of Daniel, and we're kind of coming to the end of this narrative section in Daniel, and we're going to be wrapping up this study, this series, next week as we finish Daniel chapter 6.

[1:32] But this morning what we're going to find is that Daniel wears this truth, that he boasts ever only in the Lord.

[1:44] And because of that, whatever happens to Daniel, Daniel sees as good. Whether he's in positions of authority, positions of title, positions of prominence, positions of influence, or whether he's in the background.

[2:00] Daniel is convinced in his heart that whatever God decides for him is good for him because he's living for the sake of God's glory.

[2:11] We come to this last chapter in the narrative sections of Daniel, and we find another transition, a major shift has taken place where up until this point, Babylon, the empire of Babylon, has really been in the front, has been in the forefront of our attention.

[2:30] And now all of a sudden, this massive shift has taken place, and another kingdom will come, and another king will take the throne. Cyrus is now on the scene.

[2:42] This media Persian empire will come into view. And we'll continue to see that while kingdoms come and go, somehow God's servant as a representative of the eternal kingdom of God will remain.

[3:03] We're going to see this lasting quality of the kingdom of God that is present. Daniel, we saw it promoted under the reign of King Nebuchadnezzar.

[3:16] In Daniel chapter 2, 48, it says, he was given to be ruler over the whole province of Babylon and chief prefect over all the wise men of Babylon. Then Daniel kind of fades into the background, and for 23 years, he's kind of anonymous, and then Belshazzar finally needs some help in his desperate time of interpreting a writing on the wall.

[3:39] Daniel is called up, and for the next couple of hours, he's promoted to be number three in the Media Persian Empire, third ruler in the kingdom.

[3:52] Now, here we are in Daniel chapter 6. He's promoted again. We're going to find that he will be the chief civil official over the entire kingdom, the entire empire of Media Persia.

[4:04] What was Daniel's secret to success? What in the world did Daniel do? What was his strategy to keep finding himself at the very top of the list of officials who are just under the king, providing this authority and oversight over the entire region, over the entire empire?

[4:26] How does he keep finding himself in these places? Well, if you were to follow the strategy of culture, we would find ourselves, and Daniel would find himself looking out for number one, that he would do whatever it would take to get himself into positions of authority, whatever it takes to get ahead.

[4:49] You have to care about yourself. The ends justify the means. You've heard the phrases, it's a dog-eat-dog world, or nice guys finish last, or if you want something, then you've got to go for it.

[5:03] That's what our culture would say. But this isn't the practice that we find so infused into Daniel's normal way of living.

[5:14] Rather, it's the spirit of this age, the spirit of this world that is captured in a poem that you may be familiar with called Invictus that was written by William Ernest Henley who lived in the late 1800s.

[5:29] And he's writing this poem as one who's experienced great adversity in his life, and he speaks in this final stanza about standing before the judgment seat in heaven, this straight and narrow gate, the book of life is read, and listen to what he says in this final stanza of this poem Invictus.

[5:50] It matters not how straight the gate, how charged with punishments the scroll. I am the master of my fate.

[6:01] I am the captain of my soul. The future is yours for the taking. Just grab it by the horns and you can have it. It's a truth that our, or it's one of those things that our culture would like us to believe, and perhaps a strategy that many of us have even employed in our own practices throughout life and seeking to get and gain attention and promotion in the various places we find ourselves.

[6:33] Daniel seems to be unconcerned about power, position, or title, or prominence. Daniel seems to be completely engaged and secure in God's plan for his life.

[6:49] He's trusting in God and we see this flourishing of excellence, of character in Daniel. Daniel is so committed to God and he rests in the fact that God will instrumentally put Daniel at the right place in the right time.

[7:06] This is the theme that consistently we see throughout the scripture. This is the way for success of the leaders who follow after God. Humility and faithfulness is the key to usefulness.

[7:20] Humility and faithfulness is the key to usefulness. Remember Abraham. It's said of Abraham in Deuteronomy chapter 7, I didn't choose him because he was the greatest of all the peoples.

[7:34] I chose him because he was the fewest. I chose him to allow my glory to shine through his weakness. And Joseph, who was sold into slavery and then rose within the ranks of Potiphar's house and then he's thrown into prison and he rises within the ranks of that prison cell and then he's elevated to be the second in charge of all of Egypt.

[8:04] Moses, who, when he takes the reins and he pushes through and he seeks to have his own way, well, what happens to Moses? Well, he gets kicked out of Egypt. He gets sent into Midian.

[8:16] He's in the backside of a desert in isolation until finally, after 40 years, the lesson has been cemented in his heart. this lesson of humility, this lesson of needing to be faithful to God and then finally, God can put him to work in usefulness to lead his people out of Egypt.

[8:35] How about David, the shepherd boy, who is the last among even his brothers of being chosen, forgotten, but growing in humility and faith.

[8:46] Then we turn to the New Testament and we see John the Baptist, the man who was clothed in camel's hair, ate locusts and wild honey and was out in the wilderness, isolated, alone.

[8:59] How about Mary? How can we forget God's servant, Mary? Humble servant who is faithful to the Lord. Do to me as what seems good in your sight, she says to the angel Gabriel.

[9:15] Or the apostles who are uneducated men, part of the riffraff of society, chosen by Christ to be useful for him. We see this theme in 2 Timothy 2, verses 20 and 21, where Paul writes to Timothy and says, Now in a great house there are not only vessels of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay, some for honorable use, some for dishonorable.

[9:42] Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself from what is dishonorable, he will be a vessel for honorable use, set apart as holy, useful to the master of the house, ready for every good work.

[9:58] You see that? In order to be useful, in order for God to put you into work, in order for God to call you up and to place you into his service, there needs to be this quality of obedience and righteousness and purity of heart, at least pursuing that as a pattern of your life, a desire to put off what is dishonorable, to put on what is honorable before God and then, when you are ready for every good work, you can guarantee that God will put you to work.

[10:32] Do we trust in God to put us in the right place at the right time? or are we the master of our fate, the captain of our soul?

[10:44] What will it be? As we've looked at the story of Daniel, we've seen a man who is so committed to dwelling in submission to God and faithfulness to him and trusting in God's providence to put him in the right place at the right time.

[11:02] This morning, we turn to Daniel chapter 6 and we have this transitional statement at the end of Daniel chapter 5 where we find that very night, Belshazzar, the Chaldean king, was killed and Darius the Mede received the kingdom being about 62 years old.

[11:20] Records from history would indicate that Cyrus the Great would invade the empire of Babylon and achieve a major victory on October 10, 539 B.C.

[11:32] A victory in the city of Sippar. Two days later, his commander would ride into Babylon on October 12 and would take the city without a fight.

[11:44] This would happen because the armies of Persia would divert the Euphrates River and would be able to walk under the walls of the city and take the city without a fight while all the generals were partying with the king and blowing their minds in drunkenness.

[12:02] The armies of Persia would walk under the walls and without even a fight would take the city. The Nabonidus Chronicle would help us understand that on October 29, Cyrus the Great himself would march into the city and he would be met by a group of individual citizens of Babylon who would actually celebrate his arrival and receive him as their king.

[12:29] The clear message throughout the book of Daniel is that God raises up rulers and puts rulers down. Nebuchadnezzar himself will say in Daniel chapter 4, verse 35, he says, all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

[12:45] He does according to his will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth and none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done? God is the one as we see throughout this book.

[12:59] God is the one who raises up leaders and who puts them down. You can't chalk it up to Cyrus' military genius. You can't chalk it up to the foolishness of Belshazzar.

[13:11] You can chalk it up to the sovereignty of God and speaking his plan into place and then working it through. After all, it was God who 60 years earlier had given a dream to Nebuchadnezzar.

[13:26] This dream of this image, this head of gold, these shoulders of silver that represented the media Persian empire. God himself had declared 60 years before exactly what would happen on this night, October 12th, 539 B.C.

[13:42] And then 150 years before this occasion, God would actually name Cyrus as his servant in Isaiah chapter 44 verse 28.

[13:54] it says, who says of Cyrus, he is my shepherd. He shall fulfill all my purposes, saying of Jerusalem, she shall be built and of the temple your foundation shall be laid.

[14:09] 150 years before Cyrus would even emerge onto the scene, before Cyrus' great, great, great, great grandpa would be in his prime, God himself would name Cyrus through his prophet Isaiah and said, he will be the one.

[14:29] And he will be the one not only to emerge as king, but he will be the one to send the exiles home and be instrumental in allowing them to build the temple. Again, God did that.

[14:42] We find in the next chapter, Isaiah 45 verse 1, thus says the Lord to his anointed, to Cyrus, whose right hand I have grasped to subdue nations before him and to loose the belts of kings to open doors before him that gates may not be closed.

[14:59] And then in verse 4 it goes on, for the sake of my servant Jacob and Israel my chosen, I call you by name. I name you though you do not know me.

[15:12] I am the Lord and there is no other. Besides me there is no God. I equip you though you do not know me that people may know from the rising of the sun and from the west that there is none beside me.

[15:26] I am the Lord and there is no other. There is no other explanation for the fact that Isaiah was able to name this distant king who by the way the media Persian empire wasn't even in the works at that point.

[15:43] Here God names Cyrus and says exactly what he will do through his reign in allowing the people of Israel to come and return back to Israel and be instrumental in establishing their tabernacle, their temple.

[16:00] God is the one who raises up kings and puts them down. God is the one who raises up his servants and uses them and puts them in place. He uses them instrumentally to accomplish his purposes.

[16:14] Do we trust in the sovereignty of God? God is the one who is the one who is in the driver's seat of history.

[16:30] He is the one who is the captain of this history ship as it were. He is the one who will use his servant Daniel instrumentally time and time again to point to his glory to point to his power.

[16:46] So if you're there with me in Daniel chapter 6 let me read for you the first three verses. We're going to begin to see throughout our lesson this morning throughout this passage that it is God who exalts Daniel.

[16:57] It is God who is the working force behind Daniel's promotion. Daniel chapter 1 verse 1 says this. 6 verse 1 says this.

[17:07] It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom 120 satraps to be throughout the whole kingdom and over them three high officials of whom Daniel was one to whom these satraps should give account so the king might suffer no loss.

[17:24] Then this Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps because an excellent spirit was in him and the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

[17:36] God is the one who exalts Daniel. And this first point this morning is it's not dependent on Daniel's connections. connections. Daniel isn't networking.

[17:48] Daniel doesn't have a linked in account. Daniel isn't trying to pull his connections or pull the strings in some way. Daniel is so committed to the timing of God and God putting him into place that Daniel is completely secure in God's plan for his life.

[18:09] Daniel is trusting in God to put him in the right place. And Daniel's role in the Babylonian empire could have actually been a liability in the sense that because he had connections and had loyalty to the empire of Babylon he could have been a threat.

[18:26] But even in the face of that it is Daniel that we'll see through our passage that gets promoted into this place. Darius seeks to establish his rule over this new kingdom.

[18:39] and he establishes it through these 120 satraps. A satrap is kind of like a governor who is able to wield considerable amount of power.

[18:50] During the Babylonian rule satraps we've seen them before in the book of Daniel but satraps under Nebuchadnezzar's rule had kind of a dual responsibility of overseeing not only the civilian life but also military affairs.

[19:05] But under Persian rule and especially under King Cyrus' power the authority of satraps was kind of narrowed to focus on civilian affairs.

[19:18] And these satraps were set over the kingdom to be throughout the entire kingdom we see in verse 1. About 50 years later during the media Persian empire we read in the book of Esther chapter 1 verse 1 now in the days of Ahasuerus the Ahasuerus who reigned from India to Ethiopia over 127 provinces.

[19:42] This is the same kingdom that we're speaking about only now that 50 years have transpired there's more land in control. But at the height of the media Persian empire 2.1 million square miles were within their domain.

[20:01] 2.1 million square miles. This graphic will show you it stretched from the Balkans in Egypt west to the Indus valley. It included West Asia and parts of Africa.

[20:14] At its peak the media Persian empire oversaw 44% of the world's population. Almost 50% of the world's population were under the control of the media Persian empire.

[20:30] These provinces which were 127 during Ahasuerus' reign and likely around 120 during Cyrus' reign would exercise authority over these either small like countries or regions or large states.

[20:48] These high officials which were also designated kind of governors or presidents three of them would oversee these satraps. And the purpose of this administrative structure is found for us in verse 2.

[21:02] Notice so that the king might suffer no loss. This will be important for us next week. So that the king might suffer no loss. Essentially might suffer no loss in relationship to revenue but also civilian affairs and civil obedience and showing concern for the welfare of the people.

[21:24] Whatever leadership needed to be exercised in this vast empire in a civilian kind of way these presidents or governors or officials or satraps were in charge of ensuring the peace and stability of this empire.

[21:43] The Persian kingdom was known for its humanitarian face. History would even suggest that the people of Babylon actually celebrated the coming of Cyrus the Great and proclaimed himself king of Babylon.

[21:58] Cyrus Cylinder portrays the victorious Cyrus as pleasing the Babylonian god Marduk and it deliberately shows Cyrus that he improved the lives of the citizens.

[22:12] He repatriated displaced people meaning those who had been transported from other countries he sent them back and he restored the temples in cult sanctuaries.

[22:26] King Cyrus was a notable ruler a well-celebrated ruler. We see Daniel rising to power not because of his connections but we find in verse 3 it was because of Daniel's distinctive character his distinctive!

[22:42] character is what we see here in verse 3 notice So how does Daniel keep finding his way to the top?

[23:03] Not because of positioning himself for success not because of compromising his convictions not because of convincing resume or pulling the right strings in his network or selling out his opponents Daniel was one who was aligned to his God we see this distinctive character an excellent spirit was in him it was clear that Daniel was different from the others because Daniel's humility and faithfulness positioned him for usefulness his humility his faithfulness positioned him for usefulness Daniel had a posture of service you've heard the phrase nice guys finish last well they haven't met Daniel Daniel was distinguished this is a word in the Aramaic that describes the intensive reflexive aspect of this condition this character meaning this was something that

[24:06] Daniel strove hard at this was something that he worked very hard to refine his character he was introspective in growing in relationship to God his character to being refined this word distinguished is having a reputation of excellence it's to be preferred it's to show oneself prominent Daniel distinguished himself among the others because of his exceptional qualities his spirit or his good attitude his abilities he was obviously in touch with the gods and of course in touch with the God of heaven God put him right where he wanted and Darius would recognize this everything that Daniel does in managing this business or managing this empire these responsibilities that he has demonstrates one of skill Daniel's work ethic is unmatched the efficiency of his team the way he conducts his business the decisions that he makes his effectiveness the unified spirit of those that he's working with his attention to detail his genuine concern for people his understanding his recall of conversations his ability to know policies and how to get things done all the things that you would expect in a manager of a major business

[25:29] Daniel brought to the table in excess Daniel was skilled in every way even at age 80 85 Daniel was mentally sharp he seemed to have endless energy an ability to manage large amounts of data to gain the respect of brilliant and sophisticated leaders he made decisions definitively he was able to stir the confidence of his team to be seen as a people's man Daniel has gone the distance because of his character in pursuing the things of the Lord and Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials because an excellent spirit was in him understand this it was Daniel's character that positioned him for this role of leadership God put him into place because he saw in Daniel one who loved him who obeyed him who was faithful so God in the one who can raise up leaders and put them down instrumentally puts Daniel in his place in this place of a leadership and position of influence so the king planned to set him over all the kingdom we see in verse three now when God puts his man in place we often find there are enemies that come to seek to destroy

[26:58] God's plans and we turn to verse four that's exactly where we find God's enemies plot to destroy Daniel God's enemies plot to destroy Daniel notice in verse four then the high officials and sat traps sought to find a ground for complaint against Daniel with regard to the kingdom but they could find no ground for complaint or any fault because he was faithful and no error or fault was found in him then these men said we shall not find any ground for complaint against Daniel against this Daniel unless we find it in connection with the law of his God this word sought to find is again intensive in action and it conveys this ongoing strategy of seeking to uncover whatever they can to expose Daniel as one who is unfit for this position for us who are now living in this in an election year we can understand a little bit about this tactic for the candidates who are running everything is scrutinized in order to find a way to discredit to undermine to expose to call into question so that every word every decision every conversation every interaction with others every judgment every result of leadership every suspicion of integrity is called into question did he take a bribe did he change his position has his life included any indiscretion has he broken or twisted any of the rules no doubt no stone was uncovered to explore and investigate

[28:46] Daniel's life records that were checked interactions were evaluated and for 120 governors who had unrestricted access to all of the paperwork you can bet they checked it all and yet the result is no ground for complaint was found in Daniel no fault because he was faithful and again this word faithful is a word that's in this continuous action of Daniel who is demonstrating a character of life that is so committed and faithful no error or fault was found in him here he is at age 90 we begun to see Daniel at the beginning of this book as a young teenager and through the course of his life the integrity has demonstrated a commitment to God at every stage of life and here he is towards the end here he is towards the finish line as it were and the legacy of his life has demonstrated a commitment to God in every course so that in

[29:57] Daniel chapter 6 5 they say we shall not find any ground for complaint unless we find it in connection with the law of his God Daniel's humility and faithfulness established him or set him up for usefulness and now here it begins to preserve him the defamation the shame that they sought to bring on Daniel was preserved because of integrity because of a commitment to follow after the Lord so faithful he was as an official so dependable so precise so skilled so thorough and yet so committed and devoted to worship and trust and obedience to God the only way they're going to ruin Daniel is to bring him down in relation to his consistent faithful example in following after the God of heaven so we find in verses 69 their manipulative decree we find their plan is now coming to fruition notice then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him oh king

[31:08] Darius live forever all the high officials of the kingdom the prefects and the satraps the counselors and the governors are agreed that the king should establish an ordinance and enforce an injunction that whoever makes petition to any god or man for 30 days except to you oh king shall be cast into the den of lions now oh king establish the injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed according to the law of the Medes and the Persians which cannot be revoked therefore king Darius signed the document and the injunction right there at the beginning they came by agreement this Aramaic word agreement is actually a word that means to tumult or to be tumultuous or to be thronging and essentially it provides this idea that they're coming as a mob they're amped up they're agitated you can tell they are really revved up about this injunction and they're coming by agreement to try to take

[32:10] Daniel down they make this they offer this decree or this suggestion that for the next 30 days anyone who makes a petition to any other god should suffer some consequences this word to make a request really alludes to what a priest would do and kind of being a mediator as it were for worship so across the kingdom the idea would be that anyone whatever god that they are worshiping would come and present to Cyrus or to Darius here would present kind of their petitions before him and he would act as a mediator to their gods one commentator says thus Darius was not proclaiming himself to be god during this 30 day period but was acting as a mediator for the gods of all the nations subject to him as a means of proving loyalty in this transition of power it was a logical step to take much like what

[33:15] Nebuchadnezzar did at the very beginning of his reign in setting up the golden image and kind of asking all of the officials of the land to come and to pledge their allegiance their loyalty in this show of worship there before the image so these men come before the king they act as this representative body it kind of brings some force this collective opinion as it were they're appealing to his sense of leadership of course it made sense nationally for him to do this they also appealed to his pride it made sense to him personally kind of buttered him up as it were and they carefully set a brief window which makes it seem as a reasonable request it convinced him that the consequences should be severe that whoever breaks this law this decree would be cast into the lion's den and finally they cement it with this document this recommendation for an unbreakable ordinance or a decree and it seems that they come prepared notice verse 8 now oh king establish this injunction and sign the document so that it cannot be changed it seems as though the document had been written it seems as though they came prepared they're ready for this immediate response this knee-jerk response from the king all the paperwork is ready and the king before he knew it signs this decree now how will Daniel respond how will

[34:48] Daniel's character his submission and faithfulness to God how will it play out well we see that in verses 10 to 13 where we see God's servant in action now in the remaining parts of our of our text actually moving to verse 16 notice verse 10 it says this when Daniel knew that the document had been signed he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open towards Jerusalem he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously Daniel is a man of action Daniel heard and prayed here in verse 10 a man of action who heard and prayed Daniel is one who seems to always know the right thing to do next he is one who is driven by this sense of conviction there seems to be this certainty there seems to be this decisiveness he always seems to be clear headed and exactly know what's next the document is signed and it seems without hesitation

[36:00] Daniel is on his way this impulse of his life in going home to pray this was not an act of defiance this was not a statement of civil disobedience this was not a show of protest notice this is something that he had done previously this is something that had been built in to the rhythm of his life this expression of constant worship before the Lord this custom of turning to God in prayer turning his face towards Jerusalem as Solomon during the dedication of the temple had encouraged those who were experiencing discipline repeatedly he says Solomon throughout his prayer in 2nd Chronicles chapter 6 he says when they come and pray towards this place then hear from your dwelling and maintain their cause Daniel faithfully praying towards Jerusalem doing this three times a day likely doing it during the third and sixth hours and the ninth hour praying during the morning and evening sacrifices and then praying during the midday as David does in

[37:14] Psalm 55 verse 17 it says evening and morning and noon I utter my complaint and moan and he hears my voice but notice how Daniel begins this prayer notice what it says towards the end of verse 10 he got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God Daniel's prayer was punctuated by thanks giving unlike many of our prayers unlike many of my prayers in this moment of crisis in when things are getting hot when desperation is beginning to press in and the pressures of life are coming our normal response is Lord help take away this problem help me in my time of distress but what does Daniel do he turns to God in prayer he knows exactly what is going down and instead of praying this away

[38:17] Daniel gives thanks God I thank you I thank you for this situation I don't know what he says I'm just speculating I imagine that given what we see in Daniel chapter 9 Daniel again through the 60 years of public ministry and seeing God's faithfulness here he is again God thank you for another opportunity to show this new kingdom that you are dependable thank you God for the chance that I have again to refine my character and to trust you through hard things this expression in heart of thanksgiving not what you'd expect from an ordinary person but what we find consistently in the life of Daniel who had given himself to a spirit that was growing in grace growing in God in verses 11 to 13 we find that Daniel is discovered and accused discovered and accused notice then these men came by agreement and found

[39:19] Daniel making petition and plea before his God now just pause for a moment okay now imagine for a moment now these really dignified officials who are overseeing this entire empire here they are hiding in the corners and following Daniel I'm just guessing and they're following after him and then they catch him in the act the glee that must have been on their hearts and then in verse 12 then they came near and said before the king concerning the injunction O king did you not sign an injunction that anyone who makes petition to any God or man within thirty days except to you O king shall be cast into the den of lions the king answered and said the thing stands fast according to the law of the Medes and Persians which cannot be revoked then they answered and said before the king Daniel who is one of the exiles from Judah he pays no attention to you O king or to the injunction that you have signed but makes his petition three times a day

[40:24] Daniel's discovered and accused and the accusation that these satraps will bring against Daniel is to seek to discredit him as much as they can notice there in verse 13 Daniel is one of the exiles he's not one of us he's not loyal to us he doesn't care about this kingdom so that's why you should call his character into question he pays no attention to you king he doesn't care about this edict that you have put together or the injunction that you have signed he gives no regard to you and as a matter of fact we come to know although we've just caught him once during this day we come to understand that he makes petitions three times a day in defiance of you these officials go to spy on Daniel and then do whatever they can to discredit God's servant

[41:25] Daniel was like clockwork and no doubt they were tracking him down and his devotion to God was personal not flamboyant but obvious if you knew where to look undoubtedly this was better than these officials could imagine the injunction or decree gets signed in the morning likely Daniel goes home at noon once he hears that the decree has been signed he goes home at noon he prays as he's always done he gets caught in the act the presentation the accusation gets presented before the king and before the afternoon even expires Daniel has played into their hands everything was unfolding exactly as they had dreamed but of course God was sovereign over all of this and God was using Daniel's faithfulness and his submission to him to position him for usefulness we would not have the second half of Daniel chapter 6 if it were not for the character of Daniel in following after his

[42:32] God his faithfulness to do what God had instructed now we see the response of the king Darius we find in verses 14 to 16 is distressed and unsuccessful distressed and unsuccessful notice then the king when he heard these words was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel he labored till the sun went down to rescue him then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king no oh king that is the law the Medes and the Persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed then the king commanded and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions the king declared to Daniel may your God whom you serve continually deliver you the king who's distressed and unsuccessful it's telling in the parts of this narrative here in verse 14 as you look at this word to be distressed it's a word that means to be bad to be displeased to be frustrated and then he labored which is this word he set his heart to help

[43:42] Daniel the king is emotionally involved in this in this liberation at least venture however long months perhaps not even a year has gone by as Darius is this king over Babylon and the connection that Daniel has with the king is so close is so intimate that the king this king over the media Persian empire is emotionally involved and distraught over the affairs that have just happened and then this word to deliver he sought to deliver Daniel will be important to us as we move to the next part of our section of chapter six because what Darius could not achieve God will because God is the one who can save the king in all his power the king as the one who is over the known world is unable to step in and to deliver but God will deliver as we'll see in the next section so when you look at the life of

[44:53] Daniel we come to appreciate the significance of a life of one who is committed to following after God one who has chosen to humble himself before the Lord one who has chosen to faithfully grow in obedience to him his convictions have driven him to faithfulness and as a result God has employed him in usefulness I'm reminded of the apostle Paul he says to work heartily as to the Lord and not to men in our working is there a striving or in our working is there a pleasing a desire to please the Lord and to trust him to place us in the positions in the places of influence that God desires for us to serve even for the students you students in jockeying for position on your teams or trying to have your way in the play or the music the band whatever it is is our desire as people to trust the Lord in the places that he would instrumentally put us in may God help us like Daniel to trust him and to do what Paul says in 1 Corinthians 15 where he says be steadfast immovable always abounding in the work of the Lord knowing that your labor is not in vain in the Lord may the Lord help us to labor for him not to be not to be the master of our fate or the captain of our soul but to trust in the true captain over all the earth over the universe trusting him to put us in the places where he desires us to be

[46:40]  Lord we pray that you'd help us to be faithful I pray that you'd help us like Daniel to be willing to be in the forefront or to be willing to be in the background wherever you desire us to serve God may our heart be to serve faithfully to serve with all our heart to be steadfast in it knowing that our labor is not in vain in the Lord so God go before us this week help us to faithfully follow your steps and to consistently work out our salvation with fear and trembling for this God who works in us both to will and to do according to his purposes may we follow after you in Jesus name amen