Good morning, church.
We are looking at Daniel chapter 6 this morning.
Go ahead and turn there with me.
That's page 743 in the Pew Bible.
Daniel chapter 6, we're going to look at this whole chapter this morning.
Page 743.
If you're new to the Bible, the big numbers are the chapters and the small numbers are the verses.
Daniel chapter 6.
Let me read this text for us.
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 an account so that the king might suffer no loss.
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.
Then the high officials and the satraps 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,
Then these high officials and satraps came by agreement to the king and said to him,
O king 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, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions.
Now, O 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 injunction.
When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem.
He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God as he had done previously.
Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.
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 30 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,
O Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, O king,
or the injunction you have signed,
but makes his petition three times a day.
Then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver Daniel.
And he labored till the sun went down to rescue him.
Then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king,
Know, O king, that it is a law of the Medes and 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.
And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den,
and the king sealed it with his own signet and with a signet of his lord's,
that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting.
No diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
Then at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions.
As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish.
The king declared to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God,
has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?
Then Daniel said to the king, O king, live forever.
My God sent his angel and shut the lions' mouths, and they have not harmed me,
because I was found blameless before him.
And also before you, O king, I have done no harm.
Then the king was exceedingly glad and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den.
So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him,
because he had trusted in his God.
And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel
were brought and cast into the den of lions, they, their children, and their wives.
And before they reached the bottom of the den, the lions overpowered them
and broke all their bones in pieces.
Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages
that dwell in all the earth, peace be multiplied to you.
I make a decree that in all my royal dominion,
people are to tremble in fear before the God of Daniel,
for he is the living God, enduring forever.
His kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end.
He delivers and rescues.
He works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth.
He who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.
So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
Let's pray together.
Lord, we ask that you would grant us in these few moments as we've come before you,
and as we are now attending to your word.
God, we ask that by your Holy Spirit, you would allow our hearts to be open
to what this text has to say to us.
Lord, you tell us that your word is living and active and sharp like a sword,
that it burrows down into the deep recesses of our souls,
and Lord, shows us what lies there.
So God, we pray that that would be the case this morning,
that you would uncover our hearts before you,
help us to see you, Lord Jesus, in your glory and in your grace,
and in worshiping you, Lord, may we be changed more and more into your image.
We ask this in Christ's name.
Amen.
Well, friends, I wonder if you've ever been in the place where you've had to stand alone.
In the fourth century, the church leader Athanasius was in a place a bit like that.
In his day, something called Arianism, a teaching that Jesus wasn't fully God,
that is of one substance with the Father, but a lesser created being.
This false teaching in Athanasius' day seemed to have swallowed up the entire church.
The emperor, the leading bishops of the day, the whole world, it seemed, was on the side of Arius.
And so Athanasius, standing up for biblical faith, seemed at times to be standing alone.
Five times he was exiled from his home city and his church where he was a bishop for holding fast to the truth of the full Godhead of Jesus.
A saying was even coined,
Athanasius contramundum,
Athanasius against the world.
Now there were others holding fast to orthodox biblical faith in Jesus.
Of course, Athanasius wasn't the only Christian literally standing up,
but at times it must have felt like he was standing alone.
In our passage this morning, this famous passage of Daniel and the lion's den,
we see Daniel doing just that, courageously standing alone.
Remaining faithful even when it seems like his whole world has turned against him.
You know, many of us in our workplace or at school or even among our own families,
we're in a setting where many or most of our coworkers or friends or family members don't share our faith in Christ.
What does it look like to be faithful there?
Especially when it feels like we're standing alone.
Well, let's consider three points that we see here in Daniel chapter 6.
The first point is this.
I think we see quite clearly here that this text is teaching us that God's people will often face unjust opposition.
You see this in verses 1 through 9 as the plot begins to unfold.
Now, it's good to keep in mind that at this point in the story of Daniel,
remember that the Persian Empire has just taken over Babylon.
So this is an entirely new regime, a new kingdom, and they're setting up a new administration.
And notice that Daniel is given a position of great responsibility and authority in the new government.
He's one of three high officials who oversee the 120 regional officials, the satraps.
And Darius is even intending to put Daniel at the head of those three.
In other words, Daniel is slated to become the sole prime minister.
So notice then how Daniel is approaching his life in exile here.
In this very secular pagan city, in this very, in some ways, hostile environment to biblical faith under a pagan regime,
Daniel is doing what God, through the prophet Jeremiah, in Jeremiah 29, told his people to do.
Seek the welfare of the city to which I have sent you into exile, God said.
And pray to the Lord on its behalf, for in its welfare, you will find your welfare.
That's Jeremiah 29, 7.
Daniel's using the gifts and talents God has given him to seek the welfare, the peace, the shalom of the city.
And this is in many ways the call upon God's people wherever we are.
To seek the good, the flourishing of those around us.
To have a posture toward our city, toward our schools, toward our families that seeks their good.
Even when many elements in those places are adverse to faith in God.
And for Daniel, at first, this faithful service of his results in what?
In the favor of Darius the king.
We see in the rest of the chapter, too, how highly Darius regards Daniel.
But then, just as Daniel is about to get his promotion, his co-workers begin to plot against him.
Jealous that Daniel is being given such a high-ranking position.
They devise a plot to bring him down.
But they find that it's not so easy to do that at first.
So they crack into the files on his hard drive.
And they tap his phones.
And they corner his old interns and assistants.
But they can't seem to find any dirt on this Daniel.
Imagine, here is a man, probably about 70 years old at this point.
He's been in civil service and politics for nearly his entire life.
And he has a clean record.
But there's one area where they know they can trap him.
In his relationship with his God.
So they trick Darius into signing this law.
For 30 days, no one can pray to anyone but you, Darius.
And, oh, by the way, make it binding according to the law of the Medes and Persians that cannot be revoked.
And notice how they come with flattery in these verses.
Oh, king, live forever.
We should just be praying to you for about a month, right?
Wouldn't that be a great way to start off your kingdom?
Notice how they come with much deception.
We're all agreed.
Of course, I'm pretty sure Daniel wasn't all agreed.
And so the trap is set.
Now, I should mention here, kind of as a sidebar in passing,
that this chapter presents some interesting historical questions.
The first, as we sort of get into the weeds here,
is the identity of this man named Darius.
You know, outside the book of Daniel,
we don't have any other historical records yet
that speak of a ruler named Darius
who lived before or during the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
There was a king named Darius a couple of generations after Cyrus,
but none that we know of before or during Cyrus' reign.
And this has led some scholars to view the book of Daniel as untrustworthy
when it comes to getting its history straight.
But, you know, I think it's worth remembering what we saw last week in chapter 5.
For many years, scholars thought that Belshazzar didn't exist either
and made some fairly confident pronouncements to that regard.
But then in the 19th century, archaeologists discovered a number of cuneiform tablets
that give just undeniable and ample evidence
that Belshazzar was indeed a real person in the Babylonian dynasty,
just as Daniel describes.
So I think we should be cautious to pronounce on these things too quickly
with respect to Darius.
In fact, just a week or so ago,
I was over at the Babylonian collection
at Sterling Memorial Library at Yale,
and the very gracious host there was telling us
how they just keep unearthing these cuneiform tablets from the Middle East,
and there's just stacks and stacks of them to be read and interpreted.
So who knows what we're going to turn up?
Interestingly, it seems like the Bible's always confirmed by these discoveries.
So I think we should be a little humble as we come to the text.
But with the evidence available to us,
it seems that there are two reasonable options for understanding who Darius is.
On the one hand, he could be a general
who served as sort of a sub-king under Cyrus,
along with him,
over this particular province of Babylon.
Some scholars have proposed that.
On the other hand,
some think that the name Darius
might have actually been a throne name,
another name for Cyrus himself.
In that case,
the last verse of our chapter here
should be translated this way.
So this Daniel,
prospered during the reign of Darius,
that is
the reign of Cyrus,
the Persian.
In other words,
clarifying who this Darius is.
Darius,
that is
Cyrus,
the Persian,
which is a totally legitimate translation.
The Hebrew word for and
can often function like that.
So either are reasonable options,
but, you know,
whereas the identity of Darius
might not be completely clear to us,
it's much too hasty to say that he never existed
or that the book of Daniel
simply gets its history all wrong.
The second interesting question
is this issue of the law
of the Medes and Persians
that cannot be revoked.
A number of times
it comes up in this chapter.
It's a key part of the plot.
Was there ever really such a thing?
It sounds a bit odd
that a king couldn't revoke
a law that he had made.
But if you think about it,
such a custom
ensured
that everyone was treated equally
under the law.
It made it so that the king
couldn't willy-nilly
just revoke laws
or bypass them
depending on whether he liked
the person or not
or whether it was convenient
for his situation.
It was a way to ensure justice, actually.
And again,
there are historical precedents
in the ancient Near East
for this sort of thing,
so there are good reasons
to think that Daniel's giving us
good historical information here.
Which then leads us back
to our main point.
The reality is
that what we find
happened to Daniel
can often happen to us.
There can be envy
and malice
and hatred
aimed against us.
Not that we go seeking it.
Not that we go looking for it.
But it comes.
And perhaps no one
will plot to have you murdered
because you're about
to be made prime minister.
I get that.
But you know,
there are plenty of Christians
worldwide who suffer
under unjust laws
and discriminatory policies
just because they are Christians.
For most of its history,
the church has been
a suffering church.
And I think the initial lesson
to learn here
in Daniel chapter 6
is a lesson of the heart.
It's a warning
against putting our trust
in human approval
or in human institutions.
You see,
Daniel started out
under the new
Persian administration
gaining lots of favor,
lots of approval,
being handed a position
of immense influence.
Things were going great.
But then things turned on a dime.
And not even Darius
was able to help him.
He was tricked
into signing a bad law
and was powerless.
And you know,
as we go about
seeking the good
of our city,
of our neighborhoods,
it's not a bad thing
to be appreciated,
to be acknowledged,
to be recognized,
to find favor.
It's not a bad thing
to work through
good institutions.
But realize
that such approval
is a terrible place
to put your hope.
It's a shaky foundation
to build upon.
It's one that will be
washed away
sooner or later.
But not your trust
in princes,
the psalmists
often say.
But if the first thing
we see here
in Daniel chapter 6
is that we can
often expect
unjust opposition,
the next point
shows us how to respond
to it.
So here's point number two.
The right way
to respond
is often
quiet
faithfulness.
We see this
in verse 10.
The law has been signed.
If anyone prays
to anyone
other than Darius,
they'll be thrown
to the lions
and Daniel
knowing that
the document
had been signed.
Isn't that a great line?
In full knowledge,
he goes home,
he goes upstairs
and same as always,
he prays.
On the one hand,
he doesn't make a scene.
He doesn't
march to the king's throne room
and put up a protest.
But on the other hand,
he doesn't hide.
He doesn't cower in fear.
He just does
what he always does.
Now,
we've seen various responses
in the book of Daniel
to navigating
life in exile,
life in a pluralistic world,
haven't we?
Remember,
in chapter 1,
Daniel and his friends
try to find
a creative third way.
They respectfully
negotiate an agreement
about what foods
they will and will
not eat from
the king's table.
In chapter 3,
however,
remember,
Daniel's three friends
are forced to make
a bold confession,
a public demonstration
to resist the king
right to his face.
But here in chapter 6,
Daniel isn't negotiating
a third way
and he isn't
sort of doing
bold,
public defiance.
No,
he's choosing
the path of quiet,
deliberate faithfulness.
Friends,
it's helpful to see
those various paths,
isn't it?
It's helpful to see
that there isn't always
a one-size-fits-all response.
And part of our community life
together is prayerfully
discerning
how we should respond.
Sometimes the right path
is the path of quiet,
deliberate faithfulness,
which sometimes
is the most courageous
path of all.
Now,
if you think about it,
there are lots of responses
Daniel might have taken here.
I mean,
put yourself in his shoes.
How might you have responded?
On the one hand,
just think,
you know,
it struck me
as I was thinking
about this chapter
compared to chapter 3,
a few weeks ago,
I preached on
Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego
in the fiery furnace,
and here I am
three weeks later
preaching on Daniel
in the lion's den,
and as I was scratching
my head this week
thinking,
what am I going to say
that's different
from what I said
three weeks ago?
These are kind of
the same story,
aren't they?
Both guys get in trouble
with the law,
they both get thrown
into things
that try to kill them,
and they both come out.
All right.
But you know,
it struck me
that one of the differences
between that story
and this story
is that for Shadrach,
Meshach,
and Abednego
in chapter 3,
they were young men.
They were just sort of
breaking their way
into the public sphere,
coming into their own.
And yet Daniel here
is an old man.
He's in his 70s probably
at this point in his life.
He's run his race
for many years.
He's been faithfully
following God in exile
for nearly his whole life.
And now,
as he's reaching
his final years,
God puts him
in a position
where he has to make
a choice between
having his quiet time
or getting thrown
to the lions.
He has to endure
his entire department
at work.
the most powerful
men in the empire
turning against him
and literally
plotting his death.
You know,
just think of how
Daniel could have
responded to that.
Really, God?
After all these years
of faithfulness,
you're going to throw me
into a lion's den?
That's my reward
for 50 years of service?
You know,
some people get
a gold watch.
I get to be lunch
for a beast
at the bottom of a pit.
Friend, let me ask you,
what do you think
you deserve
for following God?
A comfortable ride
through life?
Health?
Comfort?
Ease?
Deep down,
don't we all feel
like God owes us
something?
Well, friend,
he doesn't owe you.
That is the truth
of the matter.
God owes us
nothing.
And Daniel realized
that.
His years of faithfulness
didn't make him proud
or make him think
that he deserved
anything
from the holy
creator God
of the universe.
But those years
of faithfulness,
those years
of praying
three times a day,
those years
of having his character
shaped
through decision
after decision
in the hard work
of the mission
that God
had given him.
His years
of faithfulness
made him
all the more
trusting
in God.
Not thinking
that God
owed him anything,
but trusting
and knowing
that God
was good.
And it made him
more trusting
in God's
sovereign ability
to save.
Daniel had seen
empires
come and go,
enemies rise
and fall,
and here he was
watching
God's kingdom
continue
to endure.
Well,
even if we
wouldn't have been
shaking our fist
at God,
I think it might
have been tempting
to sort of
change things up
a bit
for my normal
prayer routine.
Wouldn't you?
I mean,
it's only 30 days,
right?
Maybe I'll just
pray somewhere
where no one
notices.
Maybe I'll just
sit quietly
on my couch,
pretend like I'm
reading this
Pottery Barn
catalog that I
got in the mail,
and just sort of
pray quietly
in my mind.
And whoever
ends up peeking
through the window
will just see me
shopping for a new
table or something.
No need to get
unnecessarily in
trouble, right?
I mean,
let's just let
this whole thing
blow over.
No need to be
legalistic about
prayer times and
places and postures,
wouldn't you say?
After all,
doesn't God know
what we need even
before we ask?
And so on.
But you know,
here's the problem
with that strategy.
If Daniel had
happened to fly
under the radar
for those 30 days,
the following month,
his enemies would
have just devised
some other strategy
to get rid of him.
The word came
by agreement
in verses 6
and 11 and 15,
it's the same word
that we find
in Psalm 2
that means
noisily assembled
or even raged.
Why do the nations
rage,
the psalmist says,
and the people's
plot in vain
against the Lord
and against
his anointed one?
Daniel knew
that they had it
in for him.
And it wasn't
going to stop.
So he wasn't
going to play
their game.
He wasn't going
to keep ducking
and dodging.
For his entire
life in exile,
it seems,
Daniel had prayed
facing Jerusalem.
Just as Solomon
in 1 Kings chapter 8
had said
the people would.
Daniel, you see,
knows where he's at
in God's
redemptive history.
And he knows
how to act in line
with the word of God.
And this threat
isn't going to stop him.
We must obey God
rather than men,
the apostle said
in Acts chapter 5.
And for Daniel,
he's ready to face
the opposition
when it comes.
And that brings us
to our third point,
isn't it?
Where do we get the courage
to stand like this?
It's great to talk about
daring to be a Daniel,
that how many of us
cower?
You know,
the contrast between
Daniel and Darius
is striking in verses
16 through 18,
isn't it?
I think there's something
of our hearts there.
Daniel is confident
and courageous,
and there is Darius,
anxious,
fearful,
sleepless.
Two men,
both old,
both at the top
of their professions,
and yet one is weak
while the other is strong.
There's that thick irony here,
is there not?
Darius was happy
to receive prayer
as if he were a god
in the opening
of the chapter,
and now he sits powerless
before his own law.
Darius sits in the middle
of his royal palace
and has no peace.
And yet Daniel,
stripped of his office,
thrown into the pit,
a stone rolled
over the mouth of the den
and sealed
with the king's own seal
so no one can tamper
with it,
and no one can come
secretly in the night
and rescue him.
Daniel descends
into death,
and he does so
with confidence.
How do we get
such confidence?
This brings us
to our third point.
The courage to stand alone
ultimately comes
from seeing what God
has done,
not just through Daniel,
but through the true
and better Daniel,
the Lord Jesus Christ.
So we know how
this story ends, right?
God rescues Daniel
from the lion's den.
An angel comes
and shuts the lion's mouths,
and Daniel emerges
from the pit
without any kind of harm,
without a single scratch.
And that's meant
to encourage us
as if to say,
God promises
to preserve
and vindicate
those who cling
to him in trust.
Daniel clinged
to God
as he went down,
and God rescued him.
And indeed,
as the history
of Israel rolls on,
we see that this is
what God will do
for the people of Israel
as a whole
in Daniel's own day.
Cyrus,
the Persian king,
will issue a decree
in 538,
probably about a year
after the events
of this chapter,
and he will send
the Jews back to Judea
to rebuild Jerusalem
and to build the temple.
The whole people of God
will emerge
from the lion's den
of exile,
and they will be brought
up from the pit,
and they will be
miraculously brought home.
But you know,
as the book of Daniel
unfolds,
we realize that
this promise
of God's protection
and vindication
isn't necessarily
a guarantee
of physical safety
in this life.
Starting next week,
we embark
on the second half
of this book.
And chapter 7
opens with a vision
of four horrifying
beasts,
a lion's den
of nightmarish
proportions.
And Daniel
is told that
after the return
from exile,
persecution will come,
and suffering,
and even death
for many of God's people.
people.
But the hope
of emerging
from the lion's den
in chapter 6
becomes an even
greater hope
in the face
of all these things
in chapter 12.
As the persecution
fires intensify
for God's people,
as Daniel sees it
coming,
the hope
becomes even greater.
And as this book
comes to an end,
it's not just hope
of rescue from death,
but rescue through
and after death.
God shows Daniel
the hope
of the resurrection,
that God will undo
death and evil,
that he will defang
the greatest of lions,
that he will release
his people
from the greatest exile,
the exile of their sin.
But how will God
accomplish such a thing?
Think again of Darius
in our chapter.
He's caught
in quite a dilemma,
isn't he?
How will he,
Darius,
the king,
save his subject Daniel,
whom he loves,
and yet who has
broken his law?
How will he save
the one who has
broken his law?
The story of the Bible
tells us
that God also
faces such a task.
How will God
save the people
who have broken
his law?
Wasn't that the whole
question of exile?
The people had rebelled
and God sent them away.
But of course,
Darius was a weak king
who signed
a stupid law.
God, however,
is the perfect king.
Utterly good
in every way.
And his laws
are pure
and perfectly just.
God's laws
are so just
and so right
that if you
and I were to live
our whole lives
by them,
you know,
it wouldn't feel
like obedience.
It would feel
like freedom.
Like the joy
of riding a bike
downhill,
lifting your feet
from the pedals,
feeling the wind
rush in your face.
that's what it would
have been like
for us creatures
to live by our
creator's perfect law.
The law of liberty
as the New Testament
often describes it.
But instead of loving God
and living in the rightness
and the freedom
of his good laws,
have we not broken them
again and again?
Have we not chosen
our own laws
and our own ways
and our own paths?
And now instead
of enjoying freedom
and life,
we stand under
the just sentence
of death.
And so how will God
save the people
who have broken
his law?
How will he remain
true to his holiness
and justice
and utter goodness?
a goodness
that can't
countenance evil
and still extend
his mercy
and his grace?
You know,
Darius was caught
off guard
by his dilemma,
wasn't he?
Surprised,
the conspirators say.
We caught Daniel
praying,
time for the lion's den.
And how does Darius
respond?
He's panicked.
He labors all day.
He fasts all night.
And still,
he can't find a solution.
He has no plan.
But friends,
God was not surprised
in any way.
from all eternity,
God had a perfect plan.
And when the fullness
of time had come,
God sent his son,
born of woman,
born under the law,
to redeem those
who were under the law
so that we might receive
adoption
as sons
and daughters.
Jesus Christ
united himself
to our humanity
in the incarnation.
God took on flesh
and he lived
a totally blameless life
as our representative,
fulfilling God's law
for us
to give us
a perfect record
with the Father.
But then one night
while Jesus
was praying,
much like Daniel,
an envious mob
arrested him
and came before him
with malicious accusations.
And they dragged him
before a weak
political ruler
who cowered in fear.
And Jesus was crucified,
thrown to the lions.
But unlike Daniel,
Jesus didn't come out unscathed.
The claws
and the fangs
of sin and death
ripped down
and he died.
And his body
was buried
in a tomb.
And that tomb,
too,
was sealed
with a stone.
But that wasn't the end.
On the third day,
Christ rose from the dead
to prove
that his death
was the perfect sacrifice
to pay for our sins.
You see,
when Daniel came up
out of the lion's den,
everyone standing around
got to see
that this man
was innocent.
How else would he come out?
But friends,
when Christ emerged
from the tomb,
it was a demonstration
not just
of his innocence,
but of the fact
that he now
had paid for the sins
of all
who would repent
and believe.
That his righteousness
could now be given
as a gift
to those
who would come
to him.
How does God
save those
who have broken
his law?
Through Jesus Christ,
who went down
into the lion's den
in our place
and emerged
victorious
in the resurrection
to reconcile
us to God.
Friends,
that's our confidence.
That this God
has rescued us.
this is the message
that Daniel
wants ringing
in our ears
in this carefully
constructed book
before we launch
out into chapters
that might scare us.
He wants us
to know
that God
rescues.
And that gives us
great courage
to stand.
This chapter
begins and ends
with a royal decree,
does it not?
Darius begins
by demanding
prayer
to himself
alone
as God.
What a foolish thing.
And yet Darius
ends
by commending
praise
to God
alone
as God.
And this is
the reason why.
For he is
the living God
enduring forever.
His kingdom
shall never
be destroyed
and his dominion
shall be to the end.
He delivers
and rescues.
He works signs
and wonders
in heaven
and on earth.
He who saved
Daniel
from the power
of the lions
and who through
Christ
will rescue us
as well.
Friends,
let's pray.
our Lord,
we confess
that often
we are
so afraid.
Lord,
we ask
that you would
meet us
this morning
in our fears
and in our doubts
with the great
confidence
that comes
from knowing
Christ
our Savior.
Savior.
And Lord,
would you grant
us
persevering faith?
Would you help us
to fix our eyes
on Jesus,
the author
and perfecter
of our faith,
who for the joy
set before him
endured the cross
despising the shame
and is seated
at the right hand
of you,
God our Father,
and who promises
to blaze that trail
and to bring us
with him
in his train.
We ask all this
in the name of Jesus,
our Lord.
Amen.