17 If our God, whose servants we are, is able to keep us safe from the burning and flaming fire, and from your hands, O King, he will keep us safe.
<Of David.> The Lord is my light and my salvation; who is then a cause of fear to me? the Lord is the strength of my life; who is a danger to me? When evil-doers, even my haters, came on me to put an end to me, they were broken and put to shame.
So that he is fully able to be the saviour of all who come to God through him, because he is ever living to make prayer to God for them.
But I put no value on my life, if only at the end of it I may see the work complete which was given to me by the Lord Jesus, to be a witness of the good news of the grace of God.
Then Paul said, What are you doing, weeping and wounding my heart? for I am ready, not only to be a prisoner, but to be put to death at Jerusalem for the name of the Lord Jesus.
It is my order that in all the kingdom of which I am ruler, men are to be shaking with fear before the God of Daniel: for he is the living God, unchanging for ever, and his kingdom is one which will never come to destruction, his rule will go on to the end.
Then very early in the morning the king got up and went quickly to the lions' hole. And when he came near the hole where Daniel was, he gave a loud cry of grief; the king made answer and said to Daniel, O Daniel, servant of the living God, is your God, whose servant you are at all times, able to keep you safe from the lions? Then Daniel said to the king, O King, have life for ever.
And all the people of the earth are as nothing: he does his pleasure in the army of heaven and among the people of the earth: and no one is able to keep back his hand, or say to him, What are you doing?
Have no fear because of them: for I am with you, to keep you safe, says the Lord.
But our God is in heaven: he has done whatever was pleasing to him.
He will keep you safe from six troubles, and in seven no evil will come near you.
This day the Lord will give you up into my hands, and I will overcome you, and take your head off you; and I will give the bodies of the Philistine army to the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth today, so that all the earth may see that Israel has a God;
Is there any wonder which the Lord is not able to do? At the time I said, in the spring, I will come back to you, and Sarah will have a child.
And as we had not seen the sun or stars for a long time, and a great storm was on us, all hope of salvation was gone. And when they had been without food for a long time, Paul got up among them and said, Friends, it would have been better if you had given attention to me and not gone sailing out from Crete, to undergo this damage and loss. But now, I say to you, be of good heart, for there will be no loss of life, but only of the ship. For this night there came to my side an angel of the God who is my Master and whose servant I am, Saying, Have no fear, Paul, for you will come before Caesar, and God has given to you all those who are sailing with you. And so, O men, be of good heart, for I have faith in God that it will be as he said to me.
<To the chief music-maker. After Jeduthun. A Psalm. Of David.> My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my salvation. He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved. How long will you go on designing evil against a man? running against him as against a broken wall, which is on the point of falling? Their only thought is to put him down from his place of honour; their delight is in deceit: blessing is in their mouths but cursing in their hearts. (Selah.) My soul, put all your faith in God; for from him comes my hope. He only is my Rock and my salvation; he is my high tower; I will not be greatly moved.
And he went in flight through the air, seated on a storm-cloud: going quickly on the wings of the wind. He made the dark his secret place; his tent round him was the dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
And David said, The Lord, who kept me safe from the grip of the lion and the bear, will be my saviour from the hands of this Philistine. And Saul said to David, Go! and may the Lord be with you.
The Lord is your keeper; the Lord is your shade on your right hand. You will not be touched by the sun in the day, or by the moon at night. The Lord will keep you safe from all evil; he will take care of your soul.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 3
Commentary on Daniel 3 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 3
In the close of the foregoing chapter we left Daniel's companions, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, in honour and power, princes of the provinces, and preferred for their relation to the God of Israel and the interest they had in him. I know not whether I should say. It were well if this honour had all the saints. No, there are many whom it would not be good for; the saints' honour is reserved for another world. But here we have those same three men as much under the king's displeasure as when they were in his favour, and yet more truly, more highly, honoured by their God than there they were honoured by their prince, both by the grace wherewith he enabled them rather to suffer than to sin and by the miraculous and glorious deliverance which he wrought for them out of their sufferings. It is a very memorable story, a glorious instance of the power and goodness of God, and a great encouragement to the constancy of his people in trying times. The apostle refers to it when he mentions, among the believing heroes, those who by faith "quenched the violence of fire,' Heb. 11:34. We have here,
Dan 3:1-7
We have no certainty concerning the date of this story, only that if this image, which Nebuchadnezzar dedicated, had any relation to that which he dreamed of, it is probable that it happened not long after that; some reckon it to be about the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, a year before Jehoiachin's captivity, in which Ezekiel was carried away. Observe,
Dan 3:8-18
It was strange that Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, would be present at this assembly, when, it is likely, they knew for what intent it was called together. Daniel, we may suppose, was absent, either his business calling him away or having leave from the king to withdraw, unless we suppose that he stood so high in the king's favour that none durst complain of him for his noncompliance. But why did not his companions keep out of the way? Surely because they would obey the king's orders as far as they could, and would be ready to bear a public testimony against this gross idolatry. They did not think it enough not to bow down to the image, but, being in office, thought themselves obliged to stand up against it, though it was the image which the king their master set up, and would be a golden image to those that worshipped it. Now,
Dan 3:19-27
In these verses we have,
Dan 3:28-30
The strict observations that were made, super visum corporis-on inspecting their bodies, by the princes and governors, and all the great men who were present upon this public occasion, and who could not be supposed partial in favour of the confessors, contributed much to the clearing of this miracle and the magnifying of the power and grace of God in it. That indeed a notable miracle has been done is manifest, and we cannot deny it, Acts 4:16. Let us now see what effect it had upon Nebuchadnezzar.