Daniel 6:28 So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.
The book of Daniel is a book that repeats over and again the sovereignty of God, that God is in control. That is why the diatribes against pride and the numerous stories about prayer and how it works. In Daniel 6 we have the famous story of Daniel and the lion’s den, how Daniel was thrown into a lion’s den by evil princes who had schemed a law that said no one should pray except to the king. The king had signed this law and it became the law of the Medes and Persians, which is a law that could not be changed.
So, if I were to ask you what the theme of the book is, the answer would be that God is sovereign and in control. You find this in Daniel 6:28, “So this Daniel prospered in the reign of Darius, and in the reign of Cyrus the Persian.” It didn’t matter who was reigning, Daniel prospered. Why did Daniel prosper despite the fact that he was in the court of a pagan king and in a different country? Daniel prospered because God was in control. God is sovereign.
Now, specifically this story emphasizes prayer. In other words, God is sovereign, so prayer works. Prayer changes things. What you find over and again in Daniel 6 is that this law that was used to get Daniel thrown into the lion’s den was a law that couldn’t be changed. For instance, verse 8 says, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” This is being emphasized because again in verse 12 it says, “According to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.” Verse 17 hammers this home, “And the stone was brought, and laid upon the mouth of the den; and the king sealed it with his own signet, and with this signet of his lords; that the purpose might not be changed concerning Daniel.”
As you know, the king was fond of Daniel. The king had been bamboozled, but the king couldn’t change the law because at the end of the day he wasn’t sovereign. There was a law, the law of the Medes and Persians. He was only sovereign to the extent that he could sign the law, but once it was signed there was nothing he could do. That is why Daniel didn’t bother talking to the king when he was thrown into the lion’s den. He didn’t ask the king, “O King, live forever, please spare me.” He didn’t ask the king because the king was not completely in control at that point.
Why was Daniel thrown into the lion’s den in the first place? It is an irony. He was thrown to the lions for praying. What do you think Daniel did once he was in the lion’s den? He prayed! He had nothing else to lose. He was in the den because he had prayed, and the only way he was going to get out of the den was by praying. Now, I think it is interesting to note the contrast between habit and emergency. Meaning, Daniel was thrown into the prison because it was the only thing for which he could be found guilty. He was a man of such virtue that the only way to get him into trouble was to make a crime out of a virtue. By the way, that is where we are living today.
In verse 5 it says, “We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.” In verse 10 it says that he “prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.” It was his habit. Yet, God sent His angels to shut the lion’s mouths, and the lions did not hurt Daniel. Why? Verse 22 says “Forasmuch as before him [God] innocency was found in me.” So, Daniel was a man of prayer.
What did he pray about three times a day? I don’t know. I know what he prayed about in the lion’s den. That was different. That was an emergency. I think a prayer list is good, but I don’t think Daniel needed a prayer list to remind him of what he was so passionate about when he was in the lion’s den.
There is so much that can be said about this story, but the bottom line is to contrast Darius the king and his power to God the Sovereign and His power. Daniel didn’t ask the king; Daniel asked God. I’m not saying it is never right to ask a favor of other people. I am simply saying that this Daniel prospered because despite who was king and despite who thinks they reign, God is sovereign. So ask Him.