Daniel 2:14-18 – “The People Who Know Their God”

As always, here’s my fairly literal translation of these verses:

¹⁴Then Daniel returned counsel and discernment to Arioch, the chief of the bodyguards of the king who had come to kill the wise men of Babel, ¹⁵anwering and speaking to Arioch the officer of the king, “Upon what a decree being harsh from before the king?” Then Arioch explained the matter to Daniel. ¹⁶And Daniel went in and sought from the king time he would give to him and the meaning to declare to the king. ¹⁷Then Daniel went to his house and explained the matter to Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, ¹⁸and mercies to seek from before the God of the heavens about this mystery that they should not kill Daniel and his companions together with the rest of the wise men of Babel.

What a different story we read compared to the first thirteen verses! There we found a bunch of people utterly at the end of themselves, angry and turning on each other. Now what do we find? We find Daniel and his friends, probably rustled out of bed in the wee hours of the morning and informed they were about to be executed. And what did they do? They answered with “wisdom and tact,” they requested time with the expressed intention of giving the king what he was asking for, and, rather than turning on Arioch or each other, they together turned to God. What a difference.

That is “the people who know their God.”

The distraught wise men in verse 11 had exclaimed, “No one can reveal it to the king except the gods, and they do not live among men.!” They did not know the God of Heaven, so when suddenly their lives were imperiled, they had nowhere to turn. But Daniel and his friends live in a different world. They live in a world where there is a God who does in fact “dwell among men.” They worship a God who says, “Call upon Me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you and you will honor Me” (Ps 50:15). They worship a God with whom they share a love relationship, as when He says of His people, “‘Because he loves Me,’ says the Lord, ‘I will rescue him; I will protect him, for he acknowledges My name. He will call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble, I will deliver him and honor him’” (Ps. 91:14,15).

Daniel and his friends don’t have to turn on each other. They have a God to turn to.

And see what a difference it makes. Ever since we’ve met them, they’ve faced one painful trial after another. Yet in 1:8, Daniel “asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself this way …” and in 1:9, “God had caused the official to show favor and sympathy to Daniel …” Then in 1:12, Daniel asked, “Please test your servants …” In 1:20, the king found them “ten times better than all the magicians and enchanters in his whole kingdom.” Now again, they are faced with difficulty and Daniel speaks to Arioch, “with wisdom and tact.” And finally we see the source of all this apparent calmness -- they gather together “to plead for mercy from the God of Heaven.”

They are people “who know their God.”

They have a source of strength of which others know nothing. They have a refuge to run to when fear would drive them, like the others, to turn to lies and murder.

Now, in the real world, you can bet they are anything but calm inside. They are about to be murdered. You can bet they know the very depths of fear and trembling. They’re just people. “Terrified” is probably a fitting adjective at this point. But as they quake inside, they don’t explode on the outside. They continue to conduct themselves with “wisdom and tact.”

That’s what knowing God does for us. I would like to suggest we go through all the emotions any other human being goes through. We know fear and anger and hate. We know the same temptations to turn on others in our trials. And too often we do. But we don’t have to. We have a Rock, a Refuge, a Strong Defender, a Shield, a Savior, a Friend, a Hope. And so, in our hours of terror and trouble, we can turn to Him and not on each other.

“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear …”

“Turn your eyes upon Jesus.

 Look full in His wonderful face.

And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,

In the light of His glory and grace.”

What a blessing it is to sit here some 2600 years later and be turning myself to this same God who in fact does “dwell among men.” What a blessing to be one of “the people who know their God!”