10 For this reason King Darius put his name on the writing and the order.
But Peter and the Apostles, answering, said, We have to do the orders of God, not of man.
O come, let us give worship, falling down on our knees before the Lord our Maker.
Have no cares; but in everything with prayer and praise put your requests before God.
<Of David. When he made a change in his behaviour before Abimelech, who sent him away, and he went.> I will be blessing the Lord at all times; his praise will be ever in my mouth.
If your people go out to war against their attackers, by whatever way you may send them, if they make their prayer to the Lord, turning their faces to this town of yours and to this house which I have made for your name:
For you have put me down into the deep, into the heart of the sea; and the river was round about me; all your waves and your rolling waters went over me.
And with all their heart and soul are turned again to you, in the land of those who took them prisoners, and make their prayer to you, turning their eyes to this land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I made for your name: Then give ear to their prayer and to their cry in heaven your living-place, and see right done to them; Answering with forgiveness the people who have done wrong against you, and overlooking the evil which they have done against you; let those who made them prisoners be moved with pity for them, and have pity on them;
And he seemed to them to be right: and they sent for the Apostles, and, after having them whipped and giving them orders to give no teaching in the name of Jesus, they let them go. So they went away from the Sanhedrin, happy to undergo shame for the Name. And every day, in the Temple and privately, they went on teaching and preaching Jesus as the Christ.
Keep on with your prayers. In everything give praise: for this is the purpose of God in Christ Jesus for you.
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.
I have knowledge that your living-place is where Satan has his seat: and you are true to my name, and were not turned away from your faith in me, even in the days of Antipas, my true witness, who was put to death among you, where Satan has his place.
Have no fear of the things which you will have to undergo: see, the Evil One will send some of you into prison, so that you may be put to the test; and you will have great trouble for ten days. Be true till death, and I will give you the crown of life.
Then let us come near to the seat of grace without fear, so that mercy may be given to us, and we may get grace for our help in time of need.
And whatever you do, in word or in act, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving praise to God the Father through him.
And most of the brothers in the Lord, taking heart because of my chains, are all the stronger to give the word of God without fear.
For this cause I go down on my knees before the Father,
And having said these words, he went down on his knees in prayer with them all.
And turning round, he said to them, If any man comes to me, and has not hate for his father and mother and wife and children and brothers and sisters, and even for his life, he may not be my disciple.
(For Solomon had made a brass stage, five cubits long, five cubits wide and three cubits high, and had put it in the middle of the open space; on this he took his place and went down on his knees before all the meeting of Israel, stretching out his hands to heaven.)
If with all their heart and soul they are turned again to you, in the land where they are prisoners, the land where they have been taken, and make their prayers, turning their eyes to their land which you gave to their fathers, and to the town which you took for yourself, and the house which I have made for your name:
And I said, Am I the sort of man to go in flight? what man, in my position, would go into the Temple to keep himself safe? I will not go in.
<For the chief music-maker. Of David.> In the Lord put I my faith; how will you say to my soul, Go in flight like a bird to the mountain? See, the bows of the evil-doers are bent, they make ready their arrows on the cord, so that they may send them secretly against the upright in heart.
Then they came near before the king and said, O King, have you not put your name to an order that any man who makes a request to any god or man but you, O King, for thirty days, is to be put into the lions' hole? The king made answer and said, The thing is fixed by the law of the Medes and Persians which may not come to an end.
And have no fear of those who put to death the body, but are not able to put to death the soul. But have fear of him who has power to give soul and body to destruction in hell. Are not sparrows two a farthing? and not one of them comes to an end without your Father: But the hairs of your head are all numbered. Then have no fear; you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. To everyone, then, who gives witness to me before men, I will give witness before my Father in heaven. But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before my Father in heaven.
And I say to you, my friends, Have no fear of those who may put the body to death, and are able to do no more than that. But I will make clear to you of whom you are to be in fear: of him who after death has power to send you to hell; yes, truly I say, Have fear of him. Are not five sparrows given in exchange for two farthings? and God has every one of them in mind. But even the hairs of your head are numbered. Have no fear: you are of more value than a flock of sparrows. And I say to you that to everyone who gives witness to me before men, the Son of man will give witness before the angels of God. But if anyone says before men that he has no knowledge of me, I will say that I have no knowledge of him before the angels of God.
Whatever prayer or request for your grace is made by any man, or by all your people Israel, whatever his trouble may be, whose hands are stretched out to this house:
And he went a little distance away from them and, falling on his knees in prayer, he said,
For these men are not overcome with wine, as it seems to you, for it is only the third hour of the day;
Now Peter and John were going up to the Temple at the ninth hour, the hour of prayer;
But so that it may not go farther among the people, let us put them in fear of punishment if they say anything in future in this name. And they sent for them, and gave them orders not to make statements or give teaching in the name of Jesus. But Peter and John in answer said to them, It is for you to say if it is right in the eyes of God to give attention to you more than to God:
And now, Lord, take note of their cruel words, and give your servants power to be preachers of your word without fear,
Go, take your place in the Temple and give the people all the teaching about this Life.
But Peter made them all go outside, and went down on his knees in prayer; and turning to the body, he said, Tabitha, get up. And, opening her eyes, she saw Peter and got up.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Daniel 6
Commentary on Daniel 6 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 6
Daniel does not give a continued history of the reigns in which he lived, nor of the state-affairs of the kingdoms of Chaldea and Persia, though he was himself a great man in those affairs; for what are those to us? But he selects such particular passages of story as serve for the confirming of our faith in God and the encouraging of our obedience to him, for the things written aforetime were written for our learning. It is a very observable improvable story that we have in this chapter, how Daniel by faith "stopped the mouths of lions,' and so "obtained a good report,' Heb. 11:33. The three children were cast into the fiery furnace for not committing a known sin, Daniel was cast into the lions' den for not omitting a known duty, and God's miraculously delivering both them and him is left upon record for the encouragement of his servants in all ages to be resolute and constant both in their abhorrence of that which is evil and in their adherence to that which is good, whatever it cost them. In this chapter we have,
And this God is our God for ever and ever.
Dan 6:1-5
We are told concerning Daniel,
Dan 6:6-10
Daniel's adversaries could have no advantage against him from any law now in being; they therefore contrive a new law, by which they hope to ensnare him, and in a matter in which they knew they should be sure of him; and such was his fidelity to his God that they gained their point. Here is,
Dan 6:11-17
Here is,
Dan 6:18-24
Here is,
Dan 6:25-28
Darius here studies to make some amends for the dishonour he had done both to God and Daniel, in casting Daniel into the lions' den, by doing honour to both.