In Daniel 5 the king was perplexed by some mysterious writing on a wall. Since Daniel had developed a reputation as a wise man, he was summoned to help. 

In exchange for this help the king would give him rewards and status. In response, Daniel said: “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing…” (Daniel 5:17)

Notice how Daniel does not employ the ancient convention of complimenting the king before speaking. In fact, he says something that comes across as rather rude. In effect he says: “I could care less about your gifts. Keep them.”

When you think about all that Daniel has been through, you can kind of understand his attitude. This king represents a superpower that has taken him captive, destroyed much of what he has known and loved, made him serve for decades of his life in a foreign court, and most likely castrated him, destroying any hope he may have had for children or grandchildren. 

No gift will make him happy. No reward will erase what has happened. Most of his life is gone. His friends are most likely dead. At this point, he is a senior citizen. Most likely stone-faced and matter-of-fact, Daniel simply tells the king what he wants to know.

Here’s what I invite us to consider. Daniel believed in a great big God. Even though he had been through so much difficulty, and even though he didn’t understand everything that was going on around him, he continued to serve God and help others. He simply trusted that God would use his words and actions for his good purposes—even though he may not have been able to identify what those purposes were at the time.

We know, however, that he led a previous king to confess the greatness of God; that he was able to get the king to change a law that would have resulted in the murder of thousands of his fellow patriots (chapter 3); that he warned, counseled and stood up to successive tyrannical kings in acts of powerful bravery; and that he inspired millions upon millions of people. 

This is instructive for us today. 

Keep helping and hoping. There are times when we get discouraged. ‘What difference am I making? Why bother helping others? Nothing is ever going to change.’ But those statements presume that our God isn’t working behind the scenes. 

He is. He is doing more than you could possibly ask or imagine (Ephesians 3:20). Keep helping and hoping, even when you can’t see the results. Our God is never not on the move.

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Notes:

-Bible quotes are from the ESV.