The young Hebrews graduated top of the class from Babylon University and worked in Babylon Civil Service. Times were good. Then events took an unexpected turn. Nebuchadnezzar had a dream. His advisors failed him. Trouble brewed for the wise men of Babylon … including the Hebrews.

 

 

Out of nowhere they faced the death penalty! (2:12).

 

This is typical of the Christian life. Calm one moment … storm the next. Christians are not promised a smooth passage through life (John 16:33; Ephesians 6:12). Sin has turned the world from paradise into a thicket, and there is no getting through without being scratched [Thomas Boston, The Crook in the Lot]. It is how we react in difficulties that reveals spiritual maturity.

 

 

Daniel was gripped by the suddenness and severity of Nebuchadnezzar’s decree. When Arioch, the executioner, arrived did Daniel panic? No! He radiated peace, speaking with wisdom and tact. The word translated wisdom (2:14) is related to a verb meaning to taste. Spiritual wisdom is a highly developed sense of taste – a sensitive awareness of behaviour appropriate to the circumstances. Daniel tasted his predicament. He asked Nebuchadnezzar for time to interpret the dream. It was granted even though refused to the advisers. God was working! 

  

Bad news, illness, redundancy, etc. may leave Christians floundering. We should taste our predicament … and trust the Lord (James 1:2-4; Romans 8:28). 

 

 

Although Daniel radiated peace he was not inactive. He went home and called his colleagues to prayer to ask God for the details of Nebuchadnezzar’s dream and their meaning.

 

How do our prayers compare to such bold, confident praying? Where are the pray-ers today never mind the prayers? Do we really expect God to work powerfully? Let us pray boldly! God may not reveal mysteries directly to us but He gives wisdom (James 1:5; 5:16), His Word, and the indwelling Spirit to help us apply His Word in our circumstances.

 

 

During the night God answered prayer. Daniel did not rush immediately to Nebuchadnezzar … but praised God with adoration and thanksgiving, laced with truths from Genesis, Exodus, Psalms, 1 Chronicles, Job, 1 Kings, Isaiah. Daniel knew the Scriptures!

  

Most of our praying is not praise but petition! This reflects a measure of spiritual immaturity. Be guided by the Lord’s Prayer! Prayer should normally begin with praise. A woman once remarked to the nineteenth century preacher Charles Spurgeon, Oh, Mr Spurgeon, if the Lord saves me He shall never hear the end of it! Adopt a similar attitude.

 

 

The young Hebrews would have concurred with 2 Corinthians 1:9-10. Indeed, we felt that we had received the sentence of death. But that was to make us rely not on ourselves but on God who raises the dead. He delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. They possessed childlike trust in God, a trust they would display repeatedly in the courts of Babylon. May we, by God’s grace, follow their example in the courts of daily life. When the bottom falls out of our lives, or when ‘regular’ trials come, let us taste the situation, have confidence in the Lord ... and show it.