Thursday, September 3, 2026

Opening Scripture

When pride comes, then comes disgrace, but with humility comes wisdom. The integrity of the upright guides them, but the unfaithful are destroyed by their deception. The righteousness of the blameless makes their paths straight, but the wicked are brought down by their own wickedness. The righteousness of the upright delivers them, but the unfaithful are trapped by evil desires. Proverbs 11:2-3,5-6

Opening Prayer

Gracious Father, thank you for this day, another chance to love and serve You. Help me make the most of it and do everything I can to please You. May Your priorities be mine. Remind me that, apart from You, I can do nothing. Help me follow the Spirit today as He guides me in grace, truth, and knowledge of the Lord Jesus. Help me not to be foolish, but to understand your good, pleasing, and perfect will. Open my heart and mind to all You want me to know and learn. As I draw near to You, please draw near to me and help me sense Your presence. Help me to stand strong against the evil one, and to think and act as Your child. In Jesus’ name I pray. Amen.

Daily Bible Reading

Daniel 6:1-14

It pleased Darius to appoint 120 satraps to rule throughout the kingdom, with three administrators over them, one of whom was Daniel. The satraps were made accountable to them so that the king might not suffer loss. Now Daniel so distinguished himself among the administrators and the satraps by his exceptional qualities that the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.

At this, the administrators and the satraps tried to find grounds for charges against Daniel in his conduct of government affairs, but they were unable to do so. They could find no corruption in him, because he was trustworthy and neither corrupt nor negligent. Finally these men said, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.”

So these administrators and satraps went as a group to the king and said: “May King Darius live forever! The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den. Now, Your Majesty, issue the decree and put it in writing so that it cannot be altered – in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” So King Darius put the decree in writing.

Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help. So they went to the king and spoke to him about his royal decree: “Did you not publish a decree that during the next thirty days anyone who prays to any god or human being except to you, Your Majesty, would be thrown into the lions’ den?”

The king answered, “The decree stands – in accordance with the law of the Medes and Persians, which cannot be repealed.” Then they said to the king, “Daniel, who is one of the exiles from Judah, pays no attention to you, Your Majesty, or to the decree you put in writing. He still prays three times a day.” When the king heard this, he was greatly distressed; he was determined to rescue Daniel and made every effort until sundown to save him.

Reflection  

The Book of Daniel is a remarkable addition to Scripture. It consists mostly of historical narrative and apocalyptic material, including symbolic, visionary, and prophetic sections. It was probably written around 530 B.C., after Cyrus the Great, king of Persia, captured the city of Babylon.

Daniel served in the palace for seventy years under multiple kings, including Nebuchadnezzar, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus. Those seventy years coincide with the Babylonian captivity of the exiled Jews. This is what the prophet Jeremiah proclaimed as God’s righteous judgment first on His people, then on the Babylonians.

“The word came to Jeremiah concerning all the people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah king of Judah, which was the first year of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon. So Jeremiah the prophet said to all the people of Judah and to all those living in Jerusalem: ‘For twenty-three years – from the thirteenth year of Josiah son of Amon king of Judah until this very day – the word of the LORD has come to me and I have spoken to you again and again, but you have not listened.

“Therefore the LORD Almighty says this: ‘Because you have not listened to my words, I will summon all the peoples of the north and my servant Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,’ declares the Lord, ‘and I will bring them against this land and its inhabitants and against all the surrounding nations. I will completely destroy them and make them an object of horror and scorn, and an everlasting ruin. But when the seventy years are fulfilled, I will punish the king of Babylon and his nation, the land of the Babylonians, for their guilt,’ declares the Lord, ‘and will make it desolate forever.’”

Jeremiah’s prophecy came to pass, just as he said. Nebuchadnezzar led the Babylonian army against the forces of Judah. They conquered Jerusalem and took all the sacred furnishings from Yahweh’s temple back to Babylon. They also took the best and brightest of the people into captivity: “young men without any physical defect, handsome, showing aptitude for every kind of learning, well informed, quick to understand, and qualified to serve in the king’s palace.”

Among that group were Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah. They were to spend three years learning the language and literature of the Babylonians. They were given the best of everything, including the same meals that were served to the king. “But Daniel resolved not to defile himself with the royal food and wine, and he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way” (Daniel 1:8). The royal food they were given violated the Mosaic dietary laws and had likely been offered to pagan idols before being served to these young Jewish men.

God caused the chief official in charge of the trainees to show favor to Daniel and grant his request for special provisions. The overseer was afraid that a diet of vegetables and water would cause these four men to “waste away” compared to the other captives. Daniel negotiated a ten-day trial and, sure enough, “At the end of the ten days they looked healthier and better nourished than any of the young men who ate the royal food” (Daniel 1:15).

God blessed them. “To these four young men God gave knowledge and understanding of all kinds of literature and learning. And Daniel could understand visions and dreams of all kinds.” After the three-year training period, the Jewish captives were presented to King Nebuchadnezzar.

“The king talked with them, and he found none equal to Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah; so they entered the king’s service. In every matter of wisdom and understanding about which the king questioned them, he found them ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom. And Daniel remained there until the first year of King Cyrus.”

After Kings Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar, Daniel served in the court of King Darius, which brings us to today’s reading. During all this time, Daniel continued to worship Almighty God faithfully, even as he served the existing Babylonian monarch.

When Darius reorganized his administration, he appointed three senior administrators, one of whom was Daniel. The other officials were jealous of this Judean foreigner’s success and sought to discredit him; however, because of Daniel’s character and integrity, the only angle they could exploit was his faithfulness to God.

These envious and devious officials hatched a plan to play on King Darius’ pride and arrogance. They convinced Darius to issue a decree that, for one month, only he could be worshipped or prayed to. Undeterred by the new law, Daniel continued to follow his lifelong regimen of spending time alone with God three times a day. The jealous officials’ plan worked as expected, and they eagerly reported Daniel’s violation to the king. By the time the king realized the error of his ways, it was too late because he could do nothing to change “the law of the Medes and Persians.”

The story continues tomorrow.

Flourishing Habit

Flourishing Christians

The Book of Daniel offers many lessons for God’s people. Daniel was brought as a young captive from Judah to Babylon and, like Joseph in Egypt, he serves as an example of how to live well in a pagan society. His story emphasizes God’s sovereignty over all nations. In Jeremiah 25:9, God refers to the pagan King Nebuchadnezzar as “my servant” in bringing judgment on His people. The story of Daniel also shows God’s faithfulness in protecting and preserving His chosen ones, even when they were being disciplined for their disobedience.

Daniel’s devotion to God was tested multiple times. He was forcefully uprooted from his home and taken to a foreign land. He was indoctrinated in the language, literature, and customs of that alien culture. His name was changed to Belteshazzar. He was praised and promoted several times. Yet through it all, he remained humble and committed to God.

In Chapter 5, King Belshazzar (a descendant of Nebuchadnezzar) hosted a huge banquet for a thousand of his nobles. During the celebration, he commanded that the golden goblets taken from the temple in Jerusalem be brought out so the king and his guests could drink from them. As the merriment continued, the crowd toasted their pagan gods with Yahweh’s sacred vessels.

Suddenly, everything stopped! A human hand appeared and began writing on the wall of the banquet hall. “Mene, Mene, Tekel, Parsin.” The king’s face turned pale, and his legs gave way. Belshazzar called for his enchanters, astrologers, and diviners. He promised a purple robe, a gold chain, and the third-highest government position to anyone who could explain and interpret the words, but no one could.

Then the queen remembered Daniel’s ability to interpret dreams, so he was summoned. When Daniel arrived, he was offered the same reward for solving the riddle, but he said, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

Despite the negative message, Belshazzar ordered that Daniel be given the purple robe, the gold chain, and the third-highest government position. Later that night, Belshazzar was killed, and Darius the Mede took over the kingdom of Babylon.

Proverbs 27:21 says, “The crucible for silver and the furnace for gold, but people are tested by their praise.” Daniel was neither crushed by confinement nor captivated by success. He was not broken by loss or spoiled by gain. Daniel was faithful to God in every situation. Are we?

This week’s collective prayer: God, please empower and equip our Gospel partners to fulfill Your calling in their work. Amen.

You can do more than pray after you’ve prayed, but you can’t do more than pray until you’ve prayed!