Sermon - Daniel 2:17-30 - Pray, Praise, and Trust - February 16, 2020
Last week we saw an unhappy king who with all of his
knowledge and wisdom could not understand a dream he had been given. He called
his ‘wise’ men, who it appears he no longer trusted and asked them for something
that was impossible for them to do. He asked them to not only interpret the
dream, but before he would listen to their thoughts on what it meant he wanted
them to tell him the dream.
They objected and tried to convince the king that no one
could do what he asked. My impression is that he was tired of their lies and
figured if someone could tell him what the dream was then he could trust their
interpretation.
The king’s wise guys probably knew that they never really
heard anything from their fake little gods. They were likely realizing that
they really needed true divine intervention and they were at a complete loss.
Psalms 121:1-2
“1 I lift my eyes toward the
mountains. Where will my help come from? 2 My help comes
from the Lord, the Maker of heaven and earth.”
Thankfully Daniel understood that it was not by his
knowledge, understanding, or wisdom that he could help the king. He understood
that it was 100% dependent on His God. Daniel could not come up with the
answers on his own. There was absolutely no way he could study enough and even be
lucky enough to guess what the dream was, let alone correctly interpret it. Daniel
knew that the only way to even have a shot and doing what the king was asking
was by depending on the All-knowing God. God was at work in Daniel, when He
gave him the wisdom and tact to approach the king to ask for some time.
Which brings us to where we stopped last week.
Daniel 1:17-18
“17 Then Daniel went to his house and
told his friends Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah about the matter, 18 urging
them to ask the God of the heavens for mercy concerning this mystery, so Daniel
and his friends would not be destroyed with the rest of Babylon’s wise men.”
By the time Daniel made it to his house and talked to his
friends, they may have already heard that some of the wise men had already
suffered under the king’s wrath. There was probably some concern about what was
going on and they were likely worried that they were going to meet the same
fate. I can imagine Daniel easing their fears and then filling them in on his
conversation with the king. Then he asked his friends to pray to their God, asking
Him to provide the knowledge and wisdom needed, asking that He will grant them
the answers the king was looking for. They understood that their help came from
one place and one place only.
We all have those days that we wonder how we are going to
get through it. Something may be overwhelming us, and we are just not sure how
we can move forward. When we tackle it on our own, it is very easy to get
pulled in many different directions trying to figure out the best course of
action. When a storm hits and we try to fix it on our own, it will be
overwhelming and if we are honest with ourselves, our chances of success are
slim to none.
Psalms 46:10a
“Be still, and know that I am God” NKJV
We must remember that we cannot accomplish everything on our
own. There are things that are going to happen to us in this life that the only
course of action we have is to pray. When we hit that wall, we need to be still
and know that Jesus is Our King. We need to remember to stop and pray to the
Creator of all things. Then we can let the Holy Spirit work in us and through
us, instead of us trying to muscle our way through.
Daniel understood that he could not fix this situation. He
understood that he could not accomplish any of this on his own. He knew that even the 4 of them with all their
knowledge and wisdom did not have a shot in the dark to do what the king was
asking. He knew the only way to walk through this would be by leaning on the
Lord. Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah went to the Lord in prayer.
Daniel 2:19
“19 The mystery was then revealed to
Daniel in a vision at night, and Daniel praised the God of the heavens”
The guys prayed and God answered. Got to love it! These guys
cried out to God, asked for His guidance, put all of their faith in Him, and
God answered their prayers! He gave them exactly what they needed. Through
this we continue to see God strengthening their faith because He knew what they
will be facing in the coming years.
Daniel 2:19b-20
“and Daniel praised the God of the heavens 20 and
declared: May the name of God be praised forever and ever, for wisdom and power
belong to him.”
Once again, we see Daniel being faithful in his actions. He
knew where the answers came from and boldly praised the God of heavens. Praised
Him for the wisdom He has shared and the Power that God has at His fingertips.
1 Thessalonians 5:17
“pray constantly”
A verse that many of us are familiar with. No matter what is
going on in our lives, good, bad, or indifferent we need to pray. How about
verse 18?
1 Thessalonians 5:18
“give thanks in everything.”
We need to pray and then we need to praise God for all that
He does and Thank Him for working in our lives.
The Lord’s Prayer starts out with ‘Our Father who is in
heaven, Hallowed by your name.’ NASB
When Jesus was teaching His disciples how to pray, He was
telling them the first thing you need to do is give our God Praise. He works in
our lives every moment of every day. We may not always see it, but He is
actively working in our lives. We need to remember to praise God for who He is
and Thank Him for all that He has done, is doing, and will do in our lives.
Daniel 2:21
“He changes the times and seasons; he removes kings and
establishes kings. He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have
understanding.”
Daniel is recognizing that God is Almighty, and has the
power to do what every He wishes. If He created the heaven and the earth, He
can change the times, the seasons, and as the vision will show us, He can
remove kings from power and establish a new ones. There is no limit to what God
can do and no limit to the wisdom and knowledge He can grant to those who
follow Him.
Daniel 2:22
“22 He reveals the deep and hidden
things; he knows what is in the darkness, and light dwells with him.”
God’s wisdom can help us to see what we need to see. His
wisdom sees through the darkness in this world. It is His wisdom that helps us
to see the light. It is His wisdom that lights the path before us.
Psalms 119:105
“Your word is a lamp for my feet and a light on my path.”
The Word we have at our fingertips is a lamp for our feet
and a light for our path. The Word of God is the wisdom we need as we walk
through this life. It guides us when we are lost. It can lift our spirits when
we are stressed or depressed. It gives us strength when we are weak. We need to
embrace the Word of God.
Daniel 2:23
“23 I offer thanks and praise to you,
God of my fathers, because you have given me wisdom and power. And now you have
let me know what we asked of you, for you have let us know the king’s mystery.”
Daniel wraps up his prayer by acknowledging who God is and thanking
Him for what He has done. This is a good model for us to follow.
If we were to follow this model, we might say something
like, ‘Jesus thank you for all that you do in our lives. You are the King of
Kings, You are the Lord of our Lives, You are our Savior. We thank you for blessing
us so we can give to support Littleby Baptist and Agape House this month. Thank
You Lord, Amen.’
Whether things are going great or we are down in the dumps this
is a good model of prayer for us to use.
Daniel 2:24-26
“24 Therefore Daniel went to Arioch,
whom the king had assigned to destroy the wise men of Babylon. He came and said
to him, “Don’t destroy the wise men of Babylon! Bring me before the king, and I
will give him the interpretation.” 25 Then Arioch
quickly brought Daniel before the king and said to him, “I have found a man
among the Judean exiles who can let the king know the interpretation.” 26 The
king said in reply to Daniel, whose name was Belteshazzar, “Are you able to
tell me the dream I had and its interpretation?”
God has answered the prayers of Daniel and his friends and now
it is time for Daniel to step out in faith.
Daniel 2:27
“27 Daniel answered the king: “No
wise man, medium, magician, or diviner is able to make known to the king the
mystery he asked about.”
I wonder if the king started glaring at Arioch the moment
Daniel said no.
Daniel 2:28-29
“28 But there is a God in heaven who
reveals mysteries, and he has let King Nebuchadnezzar know what will happen in
the last days. Your dream and the visions that came into your mind as you lay
in bed were these: 29 Your Majesty, while you were in
your bed, thoughts came to your mind about what will happen in the future. The
revealer of mysteries has let you know what will happen.”
Daniel is telling the king that no man can do what you are
asking, but God Can! I would guess that Daniel has the king’s full attention
now.
Daniel 2:30
“30 As for me, this mystery has been
revealed to me, not because I have more wisdom than anyone living, but in order
that the interpretation might be made known to the king, and that you may understand
the thoughts of your mind.”
Daniel is saying, I do not have the wisdom to figure any of
this out, I cannot do this on my own. God has chosen to give the king the dream
and the interpretation, so that he may understand what is to come.
In this life, we will struggle with things we do not
understand. We will battle against darkness, we will become overwhelmed, and we
will feel lost. We need to turn to our Lord in Prayer, trust that He will guide
us, praise Him for who He is, and remember to thank Him for all that He does.
We are not alone. Jesus, the Light of the World is with us
always. When we are wrong, He will right us. When we are lost, He will guide us.
When we are weak, He will strengthen us. We need to turn to the King of Kings
and put our trust in Him.
God Bless,
Robert
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