By O.S. Hawkins
These evildoers now devised a plot to entrap him. They said, "We shall not find any charge against this Daniel unless we find it against him concerning the law of his God." (Dan. 6:5) Thus, they came to King Darius with a proposal. They were so filled with jealousy toward Daniel and wanted his position that they sought an evil plot. They brought to the king the plan that ". . . whoever petitions any god or man for thirty days, except you, O king, shall be cast into the den of lions." (Dan. 6:7) In fact, they reported to the king that ". . . all the governors of the kingdom . . . had consulted together to establish this royal statute . . ." (Dan. 6:7) That was a lie. All had not agreed. In fact, the main one, Daniel, knew nothing about it. In essence, the plan was to make King Darius god for a month. They appealed to the king's own ego and got him to make a law ". . . according to the law of the Medes and the Persians." (Dan. 6:8) This simply meant that this law could never be broken. Thus they sought to put man in God's place. This is the sin of our own day. This was Babylon's sin. This was Rome's sin as the Caesar became known as lord.
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It is not much different in modern America. Secular humanism which deifies man is deeply ingrained in our culture today. When those evildoers left the palace of King Darius they were convinced of three things. One, King Darius could not and would not break the decree since it was according to the law of the Medes and the Persians. Two, Daniel would never defy his faith in the living God. Three, their plan was foolproof. Now all that was left was to put it into effect.
The decree was made. What will Daniel do now? "Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed he went home. And in his upper room, with his windows opened toward Jerusalem, he knelt down on his knees three times that day and prayed and gave thanks before his God, as was his custom since early days." (Dan. 6:10) His integrity which was rooted in the private world is now reflected in the personal world. Daniel simply kept his personal schedule. Consistency was his theme. He went about his prayer time as was his custom since early days. Daniel did not change one thing about his lifestyle. All he had to do to save his skin was stop praying openly and publicly for one month. He could have even been subtle about it and at least closed the windows. Or, he could have prayed in bed when his lights were off at night. He could have reasoned that God knew his heart. But Daniel was consistent. That is the mark of a man of integrity. What he was in his personal life is what he was in his private life. Those who are inconsistent with convictions will never be known as people of integrity.
