August 6, 2026
We’re in a sermon series from the book of Daniel in the Old Testament, talking about Daniel and his friends! They make some extremely brave choices! Last week we talked about how Daniel, who was Jewish, was forced to go to a foreign country, forced to get a Babylonian education and take a Babylonian name. But the one thing he refused to do was to eat the King’s food and wine, because he felt it went against his beliefs and his faith in God. Every choice you make is a vote for your future. And Daniel voted for a future where he was a follower of God!
Last week we talked about how, at some point, just about every parent says to their kid, “Just because everyone else is doing something, doesn’t mean you need to do it.” That’s a message adults need to hear too! It’s important to listen to your conscience and not let pressure or fear influence you.
Another things parents tell their kids is, “Do the right thing.” I told mine that. One thing I know as a parent is my kids are watching me. They’re grown, but they’ll tell me today: Mom, you’re driving over the speed limit. They notice when I tell them to do something, and I don’t do it myself. They remind me that I’m not done. I need to continue to work on living a life of integrity! Integrity is a big word that just means doing the right thing, even when no one is watching.
Today we’re looking at Daniel chapter 6 where another faith conflict comes up for him. Daniel is still in Babylon, far from home, but now it happens that the Babylonian empire is defeated. A new King named Darius comes to power and likes Daniel, so he makes him an administrator. Then he decides Daniel is so trustworthy that he will make him second only to himself, over all the kingdom. The other administrators are upset and jealous. They try to find something Daniel is doing wrong, so they can bring charges against him. But Daniel is hardworking, he doesn’t cheat, and they can’t find anything! In Daniel 6:5 these men say, “We will never find any basis for charges against this man Daniel unless it has something to do with the law of his God.” That’s when they make a plan to get Daniel in trouble. In vss. 6 & 7 they go to the king and say, “May King Darius live forever! 7 The royal administrators, prefects, satraps, advisers and governors have all agreed that the king should issue an edict and enforce the decree that anyone who prays to any god or human being during the next thirty days, except to you, Your Majesty, shall be thrown into the lions’ den.” They urge the king to make a decree and put it into writing, so that no one, not even the king himself, can change it. This sounds great to King Darius! He is happy for a month of people worshipping him and only him! So, he signed it.
The king doesn’t know that Daniel prays to God every day! When Daniel finds out about this decree, that you can pray only to King Darius, or you’ll be thrown to the lions, what does he do? Vs. 11 says Daniel “went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before.” Daniel! You could have hidden in a corner of your house, where no one could see you from the window, and pray there! But he doesn’t change anything about the way he prays. Daniel is a follower of God, and he refuses to hide it.
This test is similar to when Daniel was told he must eat the king’s food. He decided, no, he wouldn’t. And he found a way out of that. The guard let him just eat vegetables. And maybe they counted garbanzo beans as vegetables, so he got his protein. That’s what I’m guessing. But this time it’s not about food, it’s about prayer. Daniel has to hide his praying or not pray at all. He is forbidden to pray to God for a month. But instead, he decides, let them come get me, I’m gonna keep praying. And what couldn’t be taken away from him is how he responds. They can take his life, but not how he responds.
What do you do when you know doing what’s right, and being faithful to God is going to cost you? Well, it depends on what guides you. If integrity and following God guides you, you’ll do what’s right.
But if your faith doesn’t guide you, if your faith is something you lean on when it’s useful, but you disregard it when things get hard, you’ll make another choice.
The administrators look in Daniel’s window and see him praying. They tell the king; we saw Daniel praying to his God and not to you! The King is upset! Daniel is his right-hand man! He trusts him with the kingdom! But there is nothing the king can do; he can’t repeal his decree. Daniel has to be put in a pit with lions!
Vs. 16 says, “So the king gives the order, and they bring Daniel and throw him into the lions’ den. The king says to Daniel, ‘May your God, whom you serve continually, rescue you!’” He’s saying, Daniel, may the God whom you are more dedicated to then to your own life, rescue you. The king can’t sleep that night. He is so worried about Daniel.
In the morning the king comes and calls out, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to rescue you from the lions?” What the king and the people believed back then is if they put someone in a lion’s den and the lions don’t eat them, they are innocent of what they were charged with. But if the lions eat them, that is a sign they are guilty.
Now before we talk about how this story ends, and it’s an exciting story with lions, before we get there, you got to know, that’s not the point of the story. The point of the story isn’t what happened in the lion’s den.
This is important, you need to understand, Daniel felt he already won, when he knelt to pray to God at his window. The win for Daniel, was being faithful to God. Sure, he didn’t want to die a horrible death. But his goal above all else was to follow God, no matter the consequences. He is going to be faithful and leave the consequences to God. There was no guaranteed outcome that Daniel is gonna live. Daniel lived a life of integrity. The question for us is, what’s your win? If you live with integrity, if you do the right thing, even when no one is looking, even when you could suffer for following God: you win! If you don’t live with integrity, you lose. Your life is just sifting sand. The things you gain from doing whatever you want are things that don’t matter and don’t last.
How does the story end? Daniel comes out of that lion’s den without a scratch! I love to tell the story, that God is faithful, don’t you? Here’s my challenge for you this week! I invite you to take from Daniel’s story, the lesson that you want to be able to tell the stories about your integrity and faithfulness, even when it’s hard to choose the right thing.
Daniel comes out of that lion’s den and says in verse 22: “My God sent his angel, and he shut the mouths of the lions. They have not hurt me, because I was found innocent in his sight. Nor have I ever done any wrong before you, Your Majesty.” God rescued Daniel! Does that mean that if I am faithful, God is going to work a miracle like that for me? Well, does it matter? If a happily ever after outcome matters more to us than our faithfulness, are we even Jesus followers? On the other hand, if integrity and faithfulness is what you live for, you win, no matter how the story ends. Those stories about people of integrity, who are faithful no matter what, those are the stories we love to tell. What can’t be taken away from you is your ability to respond. So, choose to follow God and live a story with telling. That is the win! Amen.
