Trusting God's Past

"As He Did Aforetime"

Dan. 6:10

Daniel was not praying to his God in defiance of the edict of the king. Rather, he was doing what he had done with consistent regularity. Opening his window toward Jerusalem and bowing on his knees was proof that his faith was in the God of Israel.

He was not frantically praying in a crisis. He did not ask God to do to his enemies what they had plotted to do to him. He did not even ask God to deliver him from the den of lions. He was simply keeping up his daily devotions. If men have practiced prayer daily, it is a natural pattern of life. Grace for the trial is ministered of God to those who call in the moment of stress. The constant relation to the Heavenly Father guarantees all-sufficient grace in time of need.

Because Daniel was prayed up to date, he faced the ordeal of the lions' den calmly. He knew God was faithful. No matter what the ravenous beasts might do to him, it was well with his soul. Because this true and faithful servant of the Most High God had so consistently practiced the presence of God, He was with him in the lions' den. Daniel did not gleefully rejoice when those who planned his ruin were the ones who provided a feast for the hungry lions. His reward came when King Darius said, "I make a decree, That in every dominion of my kingdom men tremble and fear before the God of Daniel" (v. 26).