Title Praise God (Daniel 2:20-23)
Contents
Lesson 15 Praising God (Daniel 2:20-23)
2:20-23
Daniel spoke and said, In him is wisdom and power to praise the name of God for ever and ever, who changes times and seasons, who puts down kings and sets up kings, who gives wisdom to the wise, and understanding to the intelligent. He reveals deep and secret things; He knows what is in darkness, and light is with him. O God of my fathers, you have now given me wisdom and strength and made known to me what we asked of you. Praise be to you, for you have shown me your works.”
God answered Daniel and his three friends' prayers. He had mercy on them. God revealed a secret to Daniel in a vision. What is secret is the dream and interpretation of King Nebuchadnezzar's dream. that made you aware of it.
What did Daniel do at this time? Now that I know the dream, I have to run to the king quickly even in the middle of the night, right? Did you do that? Or should I go to the man who put a bridge in the middle, since I can't even wake up King Nebuchadnezzar? Who was that person? This is Ariok. Should I go to the protesters minister Ariok? Or should I go to my friends, who are staying up all night anxiously and anxiously, and tell them that I have seen a vision? How did you do it? Not all.
Who revealed the secret to Daniel? He is God. What did Daniel do now? First, I gave thanks to God. What a beautiful faith. You must not forget God. I know how to imitate Daniel's life of God-centeredness, God-firstism, and putting God first in everything.
How old is Daniel now? Daniel was arrested when he was 14 or 15 years old. This is the second year of Nebuchadnezzar. Only one year of training has passed. Then how old are you? Yes, I am 15 to 16 years old. It's only about 3rd grade in middle school. However, even in the midst of a crisis, he did not lose his peace of mind and relied on God. Also, when God gave us grace, we did not forget God and gave thanks to God. How great is Daniel's faith? I want our Seungdong children to have the same faith as Daniel from an early age.
Today's text is Daniel's song of thanksgiving to God. Let's take a look at how we gave thanks. Let's look at verse 20. "And Daniel spoke and said, Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, for wisdom and power are in him." In time and eternity, the object of praise is the name of God. In the Bible, the words "the name of God", "the glory of God," or "the hem of God's robe" appear. This is an indirect, indirect expression of God. God was so holy that he avoided speaking directly. When we say praising the name of God, after all, who are we praising? It is to praise God.
What is the reason for the hymn, what is the motive of the hymn? "For wisdom and power are in him." Who is the source of wisdom? that you are God. Isn't it God who gave Daniel wisdom and revealed secrets? It is a song of thanksgiving to God who has given us wisdom.
What else did you say after that? "The power is in him." Who is in charge of history? He is God. The kingdom and the power and the glory be with the Father forever. This is the power. Because wisdom and power belong to God, we have no choice but to praise God's name.
Verse 21 and below explain these two things, wisdom and power. In verse 21, the first is singing about power. Let's look at verse 21. “He changes times and seasons,” he said. He is the one who lengthens people's times and makes them short. Whose hands is it all? All human life and death are under the control of God. No matter how strong the king's authority is, there are things he cannot do as he pleases. The king's times were all in the hands of God. It is because God gives grace to our elders and priests to live a long life. Who should I thank? Did you meet your ancestors well? no. It is because God has given you grace. We must thank God.
"He changes times and seasons." What is the meaning of the dream King Nebuchadnezzar had now? I saw a great statue. I saw a statue divided into a head, arms, and legs, and a belly, thighs, calves, and feet. This is a dream in which Babylon will be destroyed and then divided into Medes and Persia, then the Greek kingdom and the Roman Empire. The rise and fall of a nation is also in God's sovereignty.
He also said, “Abolish the kings.” So, after the fall of the king of Babylon, the kings of Medes and Persia stood up, and after abolition of those kings, the king of Greece was established, and after the king of Greece passed away, the king of Rome was established. All of this belongs to the sovereignty of God. He is the God who destroys kings and establishes kings.
Then look at the second half of verse 21. "Give wisdom to the wise." What does it mean to give wisdom to the wise? Are you saying that God adds wisdom to the wise? It's not like that. If we have any wisdom, who is it that gave us it? that you are God. The source of wisdom is God. All of our wisdom comes from God. He also said, “He gives understanding to the intelligent.” The wisdom we have and the wisdom we have are all given by God.
Then look at verse 22. "He reveals deep and secret things; he knows what is in darkness, and light is with him." God is said to be light. Because the light is with God, no matter how deep, no matter how secret, no matter how dark a place, everything must be revealed in the light of God.
Let's look at verse 23. Let's see what Daniel expressed God. "O God of my fathers," he said. God is the one who helped our ancestors whenever they were in trouble and made it possible for them to overcome their crises. Looking at the next word, he said "now". It means that the God of my ancestors helped me overcome the crisis I faced.
"Give me wisdom and power." In verse 20, it is said that wisdom and power belong to God. That God has given me wisdom and power. So, I have no choice but to give thanks.
Look again at verse 23. What do you mean by not saying "I have asked the Lord"? “We saved it,” he said. Daniel and his three friends prayed together. But to whom did we say we made known what we asked of the Lord? Did you say you let us know? “You made it known to me,” he said. This is what God had shown Daniel in a vision. That's why he said, "You made it known to me."
Daniel gave thanks to God, saying, "You have made known to me what we asked of you, and I give thanks to you and praise you. You have shown me your work." Did we sing a hymn a while ago? "I lift up my eyes to the mountains, where shall my help come from, my help from the LORD, who made the heavens and the earth." There are times in our lives when difficult problems arise. The poet saw the great Mount Tai lying before him. But the poet saw not only the mountain, but the one who built it beyond the mountain. Who did you see? He saw Jehovah God.
Now Daniel is in a great crisis greater than Mount Tae. This is a matter of life or death. But Daniel saw not only the crisis situation, a bigger problem than Taesan. He saw the God who was in control of history behind it. So, even in such a situation, I was able to calm down without losing faith and without losing my peace of mind.
That's right. No matter how small a problem, if you keep looking at it, it will look like a mountain. You get discouraged by it. No matter how big a problem is, you should not look at it, but look at the person behind it. God is bigger and more powerful than the great mountain in front of me. Look to God. Then, no matter how big the problem, it feels small. This is Daniel's faith.
No matter what problems you face, don't just think about them and look to God who gives you the power to solve them. He said that God has wisdom and power. He is the God who gives us wisdom and the ability to solve problems. You must look to God. Don't look at the problems ahead. No matter how much trouble lies ahead of me, I hope that you will be the ones who look to God like Daniel, put God first, and live God first, thinking that God is greater and greater than that. Then God will give you wisdom and power to solve your problems.
There is also something we must not forget. What should I do like Daniel? Don't forget to give thanks to God. Isn't there someone who repays favor with the enemy? You must not become like Judas Iscariot. Also, there are people who take it for granted and forget it even though God has given it grace. That is also wrong. He healed ten lepers. Nine is forgotten. But didn't the Samaritan who was a Gentile return to Jesus and give thanks?
Someone fell ill. God healed the sick. So he made the day that God healed him from his birthday. Every year on that day, there are families who don't forget God's grace and donate flowers of thanks to the temple. How valuable are you?
We must not forget the grace of God. In the name of Jesus, I pray that all of you who can always be thankful for God's grace will become like this.