Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him. – Daniel 6:16-18

I am really intrigued by the attitude of King Darius. While this ploy was ultimately pulled off by the satraps because of Darius’ arrogance and desire to have people praying to him, it is easy to see his heart as he grapples with the punishment he is forced to lay upon Daniel. Darius did not want to do this to Daniel and was observably upset over the sentence.

While some may wonder why the king couldn’t have repealed his own sentence, the story makes it clear that there were rules even kings had to follow. Darius had backed himself into a corner and Daniel was the one caught with the bill. Instead of death, however, life reigned as God would step in and use this story to change the mind and heart of the king.

We see, first with Nebuchadnezzar and second with Darius, that God will gently and faithfully work with those who are willing to be open to Him. Belshazzar certainly wasn’t and he didn’t get another chance. These other two, though, are and God graciously works with both men, drawing them to himself. It’s almost comical how Daniel gets put through the ringer in both cases! The journeys of both of these kings, though, leads to grace (or so it looks) and repentance because of Daniel’s willingness to suffer righteously for the Lord.

“We are God’s workmanship, created in advance to do good works so that others might turn and praise God” (Ephesians 2:10). We go through trials like Daniel so that other people can come to Jesus. And those people with open hearts will without questions be impacted by your service to the King of Kings. Stay faithful and remember that plenty of people are watching – and that is a good thing!