delivered

At The Mercy Of Lions

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Then the king commanded, and they brought Daniel, and cast him into the den of lions. Now the king spake and said unto Daniel, “Thy God whom thou servest continually, He will deliver thee.”  And a stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with the signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.
Then the king went to his palace, and passed the night fasting: neither were instruments of musick brought before him: and his sleep went from him. Then the king arose very early in the morning, and went in haste unto the den of lions.  And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel: and the king spake and said to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, is thy God, whom thou servest continually, able to deliver thee from the lions?”  Then said Daniel unto the king, “O king, live for ever. My God hath sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths, that they have not hurt me: forasmuch as before Him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt.”  Then was the king exceeding glad for him, and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no manner of hurt was found upon him, because he believed in his God.
Daniel 6:16-23

Daniel had found himself in a pit of trouble. It was big furry, with big teeth and a big roar. How did he get here? It was not because he wanted to be in this pit full of hungry growling beasts of the field. It was because he had prayed, and he had continued to pray to God, even after a King Darius had written and sealed an edict that forbade any one under his rule to pray to anyone except him for thirty days.

King Darius loved Daniel. He had been deceived by some advisers who actually were jealous and envious of Daniel, even hating him so much they wanted him dead. They must have kept an eye on him, because they caught him in his daily time of prayer, praying despite the king’s edict.

The king had Daniel put in the pit with these hungry lions, and even says to him, “Your God, whom you serve continually, He will deliver you.” The king could not go back and remove the edict, so he spent the night fasting, and no sleep. He yearned for Daniel to be alive as he hurried to to the den of lions. I would not be surprised to know; if it could be known; that Daniel slept all night in peace.

What did the king find when he arrived at the den? He found Daniel alive and well, without a single scratch or injury of any kind.

Lions show no mercy. There are many times in Scripture that “lions”is used referring to mighty, and wicked rulers of nations, but not here. These lions were the big, furry beast that roar loudly, and have big claws in their feet. The only reason these hungry beast did not kill and eat Daniel is that God had mercy, closed the mouths  of these lions, and thusly was merciful to him.

What can we learn from Daniel’s time with the lions? First of all, we can learn to be faithful; even though he knew of the edict, he continued praying to the One God whom he faithfully served. Secondly, we can learn that God is the Sovereign of the universe, He is creator, and in control of all things, even the mouths of hungry lions.

Just as his three friends – Hanniah, Mishsael, and Azariah had been delivered from Nebuchadnezzar’s fiery furnace, so also is Daniel delivered. Only God can do such.

I pray that when I am faced with making such decisions in tough situations I will have the strength, and the faith to stand for the Lord, as did his three friends, and Daniel.

The thing that must be known is that these stories are more than just stories, they are not just historical record, they are God’s truth, and He shows us how we ought to live. The first thing we need to do is to believe God, and His word. If we believe His word, we will believe the words of His Son Jesus Christ. The following are the words of Jesus, believe Him,

“For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have everlasting life. For God sent not His Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through Him might be saved.  He that believeth on Him is not condemned: but he that believeth not is condemned already, because he hath not believed in the name of the only begotten Son of God.  And this is the condemnation, that light is come into the world, and men loved darkness rather than light, because their deeds were evil.  For every one that doeth evil hateth the light, neither cometh to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved.” John 3:16-20

Believe Him, and all your sins are forgiven, and you receive eternal life.

 

The LORD Delivers

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And the LORD gave unto Israel all the land which He sware to give unto their fathers; and they possessed it, and dwelt therein.  And the LORD gave them rest round about, according to all that He sware unto their fathers: and there stood not a man of all their enemies before them; the LORD delivered all their enemies into their hand.  There failed not ought of any good thing which the LORD had spoken unto the house of Israel; all came to pass.
Joshua 21:43-45

Expectations Of The Wicked

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“When a wicked man dieth, his expectation shall perish: and the hope of unjust men perisheth.
The righteous is delivered out of trouble, and the wicked cometh in his stead.”  Proverbs 11:7-8  (KJB)

Troubled and Delivered

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“Sing aloud unto God our strength: make a joyful noise unto the God of Jacob.
Take a psalm, and bring hither the timbrel, the pleasant harp with the psaltery.
Blow up the trumpet in the new moon, in the time appointed, on our solemn feast day. For this was a statute for Israel, and a law of the God of Jacob.
This He ordained in Joseph for a testimony, when he went out through the land of Egypt: where I heard a language that I understood not. I removed his shoulder from the burden: his hands were delivered from the pots.
Thou calledst in trouble, and I delivered thee; I answered thee in the secret place of thunder: I proved thee at the waters of Meribah. Selah.”  Psalm 81:1-7  (KJB)

The Gift of the LORD

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“And David came to the two hundred men, which were so faint that they could not follow David, whom they had made also to abide at the brook Besor: and they went forth to meet David, and to meet the people that were with him: and when David came near to the people, he saluted them. Then answered all the wicked men and men of Belial, of those that went with David, and said, Because they went not with us, we will not give them ought of the spoil that we have recovered, save to every man his wife and his children, that they may lead them away, and depart. Then said David, Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us, who hath preserved us, and delivered the company that came against us into our hand. For who will hearken unto you in this matter? But as his part is that goeth down to the battle, so shall his part be that tarrieth by the stuff: they shall part alike. And it was so from that day forward, that he made it a statute and an ordinance for Israel unto this day.” 1 Samuel 30:21-25 (KJV)

In our reading today we read of David being directed to leave the Philistines due to their attacking king Saul and Israel. It was really a God thing.

When David and his men return to Ziklig, they find the city burned, their property, wives, and children missing. David’s men are set to stone him; he encourages himself in the LORD, and prays for God’s direction.

There is a lesson here for us all. Some of the men are weak from war, and being without much to eat, and cannot go on to bring back their stuff. They stay behind and guard the stuff they have; and David and six hundred of his men continue on to retrieve their stuff.

God rewards them with victory over the Amalekites who had destroyed Ziklag, taken their stuff, and their families with more stuff. Some of the evil hearted, underhanded ones of David’s men wanted to keep it all to themselves and not share with those who kept the other stuff they left behind. David would not hear of it.

David says, “Ye shall not do so, my brethren, with that which the LORD hath given us” acknowledging that the LORD had given them the victory. He was awarding victory to all of his men; not just those who had gone to the fight.

In the battle Jesus Christ fought alone on the cross, and won, showing the victory in His bodily resurrection He shares the spoils of that battle with all who will believe in Him. Now that is a great reward.

Today we celebrate the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. As Christians we do every Sunday. Let us never forget He lives; even each day that we live, and move and have our being.