Daniel 6:10

Daniel 6:10 says, Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house; and his windows being open in his chamber toward Jerusalem, he kneeled upon his knees three times a day, and prayed, and gave thanks before his God, as he did aforetime.  Daniel was aware of the decree, but he did not allow it to alter his worship of God.  The decree was not that anyone had to worship Darius but was that no other god could be worshipped for thirty days.  Daniel could have just gone along with the decree and not worship God for thirty days, or he could have done so quietly in his own home, but he did not alter his worship at all.   Daniel knelt before his open windows three times a day and prayed.  If confronted with a situation where acknowledging God might be dangerous, we cannot allow ourselves to just go along and not acknowledge Him, even for a short period of time.  We must remain as faithful as Daniel was.  We cannot alter our worship of and obedience to God to conform to the dictates of the world.  Verse eleven adds, Then these men assembled, and found Daniel praying and making supplication before his God.  These presidents and princes did not just happen to notice Daniel praying to God.  They assembled to watch him, knowing he would not obey the decree.  There are people today who want nothing more than to discredit Christians, and the more faithful we are, the more they desire this.  We need to pray that the only way they hope to discredit us is due to our faithfulness to God.  Verse twelve continues, Then they came near, and spake before the king concerning the king’s decree; Hast thou not signed a decree, that every man that shall ask a petition of any God or man within thirty days, save of thee, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions? The king answered and said, The thing is true, according to the law of the Medes and Persians, which altereth not.  They had what they wanted, and that was a way to get rid of Daniel.  I believe this would have been the first day of the decree.  They went to Darius, supposedly out of concern for his decree being violated, but they were never concerned about him anyway.  People still use flattery today to get what they want from those in power.  Verse thirteen states, Then answered they and said before the king, That Daniel, which is of the children of the captivity of Judah, regardeth not thee, O king, nor the decree that thou hast signed, but maketh his petition three times a day.  The other presidents and princes had what they wanted, which was some way to discredit or destroy Daniel.  They could not find a way to discredit Daniel through his work for Darius, so they attempted to get rid of Daniel through his devotion to God.  That is a good place to be.  It is always good that no one can discredit us because of our having done something wrong in the eyes of the world and can only attack us due to our devotion to God. They told the king that three times a day Daniel was praying to his God and not the king.   Verse fourteen adds, Then the king, when he heard these words, was sore displeased with himself, and set his heart on Daniel to deliver him: and he laboured till the going down of the sun to deliver him.  The king was not upset with Daniel but was upset with himself for issuing the decree.  He spent the day trying to figure out a way to deliver Daniel, but the law prevented him from doing so.  Verse fifteen continues, Then these men assembled unto the king, and said unto the king, Know, O king, that the law of the Medes and Persians is, That no decree nor statute which the king establisheth may be changed.  The king had to follow his decree.  There may be some in power today who feel that certain laws are wrong, but unless they are changed, they must be enforced.  If a law comes between God and us, we must remain true to God, no matter what happens.