Trusting God in the Lion’s Den

What do you do when you come face-to-face with a lion? In the story of Daniel and the lion’s Den, Daniel is threatened with being thrown to the lions if he prays to anyone other than king Darius. Famously, Daniel remains steadfast in his faith and so is cast to the lions. Hopefully none of us will literally be thrown into a den of lions, but we all come face-to-face with other kinds of lions.

Maybe one day you get a call from your doctor or from your parent’s doctor, and the news isn’t good. Your heart drops to the floor, and you feel that same kind of panic, as if a lion were charging right at you. I remember feeling that kind of panic when my son, David Jr., had his first allergic reaction. I called 911, and as I waited for the ambulance, my heart pounded in my chest.

Maybe you’ve been envisioning retirement for years, but when you see that balance on your retirement account, a wave of anxiety floods your heart, like Daniel must have felt as he awaited his fate.

Maybe, like Daniel, you feel the pressure to compromise your faith, to conform to our culture rather than remain steadfast. I feel that pressure. Even if not from a particular person, I feel the pressure to not speak up when I should or to be timid when I should be bold.

What do you do when you come face-to-face with these lions? If you’re like me, you’re prone to turn inward and try to solve the problem yourself. Or maybe you’re tempted to look outward, to the wisdom of the world. You feel the pull to go along with what everyone else is doing. Or maybe sometimes you just feel like giving up.

The story of Daniel is a lesson in how to respond to these lions. Instead of looking inward, outward, or giving up, you can look up to the living God, who will deliver and prosper you for his glory. When you feel overwhelmed or afraid, turn to him, and he will deliver and prosper you for his glory.

This life-giving, emboldening promise of God is displayed especially in this story with three great reversals.[1] 

God Reverses Daniel’s Death

The first is that God reverses Daniel’s death.

Daniel “became distinguished above” the rest of King Darius’ officials (Daniel 6:3), and out of jealousy, his colleagues conspire against him and convince the King to establish an ordinance that anyone who petitions to any god or man in the next 30 days, except him, should be cast into the den of lions (Daniel 6:6–7).

And then, the incredible thing happens. Daniel hears about this decree and just calmly and quietly goes about his normal routine.

“When Daniel knew that the document had been signed, he went to his house where he had windows in his upper chamber open toward Jerusalem. He got down on his knees three times a day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as he had done previously” (Daniel 6:10).

Imagine being Daniel’s friend. How would you counsel him? “Daniel, all you have to do to save your life is to stop praying for 30 days. Just 30 days, and then you can get back to it. Or if you must pray, just don’t do it on the roof! Or at least don’t do it by the window. Better yet, just close the windows!”

All that Daniel had to do was alter his routine just a little and he could have saved his life. But he doesn’t look inward, to try to solve the problem himself. He could have at least tried to appeal to the King! He doesn’t look outward, to what everyone else is doing. And he doesn’t give up. He gets down on his knees and looks up to the living God, trusting that he will deliver and prosper him for his glory.

And not only does God deliver Daniel; he reverses Daniel’s death.

“And the king commanded, and those men who had maliciously accused Daniel were brought and cast into the den of lions” (Daniel 6:24).

“Maliciously accused” is an Aramaic idiom that is literally, “who had eaten his pieces.”[2] God reverses the plot of those who had “eaten Daniel’s pieces”, and instead of Daniel being eaten by the lions, they are the ones consumed.

This first reversal proclaims the promise that those who trust in him, God will deliver.

God Reverses the King’s Decree

Second, God reverses the King’s decree. After witnessing the God who “saved Daniel

from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:27), rather than decreeing everyone in his kingdom worship him, Darius decrees that everyone should worship the living God, whose kingdom shall never end.

“I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end” (Daniel 6:26).

Through this reversal, God reveals that in the end, his name will be glorified.

Darius’ kingdom was the largest empire the world had ever known[3]—far greater than the power today of the United States or China or Russia. But today, Darius and his kingdom are long gone. Scholars debate over who this Darius even was because this is the only surviving record we have of his name.[4] Once the most powerful man the world had ever known, now no one even knows who he is. But what has lasted is his confession: the kingdom of the living God shall never be destroyed.

There’s a lesson here about the power of a faithful witness. This reversal happened because of Daniel’s trust in God. Perhaps God desires to use you in a similar way. Who knows how God might use your daily walking with him, even when it’s unpopular? Daniel didn’t do anything dramatic in and of itself. He just continued his simple practice of prayer, and God used it to change the heart of nations. Do you want to change the world? Pray, and seek to live your life with integrity before God.

There’s an even bigger reversal happening here, too. This story takes place in Babylon, the site of the tower of Babel. This is where, early on in the history of humanity, people gathered to build a tower, to make a name for themselves. God had commanded them to fill the earth with his glory, but instead, they choose to gather in one place and seek their own glory. And God responds by confusing their languages and dispersing them throughout the earth.

Now here, in that same city, Daniel, instead of seeking to make a name for himself, like the other officials and like Babel before them, he serves the Lord. And God responds, not by confusing his language or casting him from Babel, but by delivering and prospering him in such a way that God’s glory is spread throughout the earth, like he originally intended. The whole kingdom of Persia—the greatest the world had ever known—is told of the living God, the God who delivered Daniel from the power of the lions.

God Reverses Daniel’s Destiny

God reverses Daniel’s death, he reverses the king’s decree, and third, he reverses Daniel’s destiny. Through this final reversal, God promises to prosper those who trust in him.

The story concludes with this: “So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian” (Daniel 6:28). The officials sought Daniel’s demise, but instead, he prospered.

When it feels like your life is spiraling out of control or you dread getting out of bed, when you come face-to-face with a lion, remember that far from defeat, your sure destiny is to prosper, to share in the victory and glory of God himself, to experience all the blessings of living in his eternal Kingdom.

Rather than looking inward, or outward, or giving up, look up to the living God, and remember his promise to deliver and prosper you for his glory.

The One in Whom We Trust

Daniel is a man of profound trust in God. But he’s not only an example to us. He also points us to the one in whom we trust.[5] 

When, like with Daniel, the rulers of Jesus’ day conspired against him and sought to manipulate the higher authorities into executing him, professing that they had no king but Caesar, Jesus had perfect trust in his Father. He prayed, “Not my will, but yours be done.” Like Daniel, Jesus is arrested as he is praying. And like Daniel, Jesus is abandoned and left alone to die.

But unlike Daniel, Jesus does actually die. There was no angel to comfort or deliver him.[6] He cried out, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?” Daniel’s trust delivered him from death. Jesus’ trust delivered him to death. Because in order to deliver and prosper Daniel and in order to deliver and prosper you and me, the price for our sin had to be paid.

None of us lives a perfectly righteous life. We all neglect what God commands. We fail to pray with the faithfulness of Daniel. And we cave to the pressure to compromise our faith. Jesus was forsaken, that he might deliver you.

And like Daniel, at early sunrise, Jesus was found alive. The angel who was with Jesus had rolled away the stone. But unlike Daniel, on whom we’re told no harm was found (Daniel 6:23), there is harm found on Jesus. Thomas saw the mark of the nails on his hands and placed his hand in his side. The blameless one was harmed, that he might deliver you from harm. So that when you feel overwhelmed by the stresses at work or home, when you feel like a failure or fear what tomorrow may bring, or when you feel the pressure to abandon your faith, he might deliver and prosper you out of every adversity. Jesus was raised, so that even through death, he might deliver you.

When you come face-to-face with a lion, remember the lesson of Daniel. Don’t look inward to yourself, don’t look outward to the wisdom of this world, and don’t give up, look up to the living God, who will deliver and prosper you for his glory.

Note: This article originally appeared in By Faith Magazine

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[1] Cf. John E. Goldingay, Daniel, 124f.

[2] Stephen R. Miller, Daniel, 187.

[3] Miller, 177.

[4] Cf. Miller, 171f.

[5] Many of the following comparisons are from Goldingay, Daniel, 136.

[6] Cf. Iain M. Duguid, Daniel, 103.