Daniel 6:1

Daniel 6:1 says, It pleased Darius to set over the kingdom an hundred and twenty princes, which should be over the whole kingdom;  Darius set up the government the way he wanted it.  When governments are overthrown today, those coming to power establish their own system of government.  Verse two adds, And over these three presidents; of whom Daniel was first: that the princes might give accounts unto them, and the king should have no damage.  Over the hundred and twenty princes, Darius placed three presidents, and Daniel was first.  This had nothing to do with Belshazzar's promotion of Daniel, because he was no longer in charge.  Verse three continues, Then this Daniel was preferred above the presidents and princes, because an excellent spirit was in him; and the king thought to set him over the whole realm.  Daniel was preferred over the others and was placed over the whole realm.  I believe this was because Daniel was not attempting to gain power for himself but was honestly doing what was best for Darius under the leadership of God.  If we, as followers of Christ, are placed in a position of power, or authority, we must always do what is best for the ones we serve under the leadership of the Holy Spirit, and never for personal glory.  Verse four states, Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault; forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. The other presidents and princes did not like Daniel, this Jew who was a Babylonian captive that now ruled over them.  Yet, the could find nothing to accuse him of to cause him to be removed from power.  We need the same testimony today.  We need to be honest in all our dealings with others.  Verse five adds, Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.  Those who plotted against Daniel knew the only way to cause Daniel to fail was by utilizing his relationship to God and His law.   We know that Christians today are charged with all sorts of negative things because of their stand for God and His law.  Verse six continues, Then these presidents and princes assembled together to the king, and said thus unto him, King Darius, live for ever. The presidents and princes began to put their plan into action by appealing to Darius' vanity, appearing to have his best interest at heart.  Verse seven says, All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counsellers, and the captains, have consulted together to establish a royal statute, and to make a firm decree, that whosoever shall ask a petition of any God or man for thirty days, save of thee, O king, he shall be cast into the den of lions.  They really did make it seem that what they proposed was for the king's glory.  He would be the only one worshipped for thirty days.  They knew this was long enough for their purpose.  They knew Daniel would not go thirty days without worshipping God and he would never worship Darius.  Are people as certain about our faithfulness as followers of Christ today?  Verse eight adds, Now, O king, establish the decree, and sign the writing, that it be not changed, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.  For their plan to succeed, they had to convince the king to issue a decree in writing so that it could not be changed.  They wanted no loophole for Daniel.  Verse nine continues, Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.  The king, likely due to his vanity, signed the decree.