TRUNEWS with Rick Wiles - Morning Manna - August 8, 2025 - Daniel 6:18-23 - Faith that Stops the Mouths of Lions

Episode Date: August 8, 2025

In Daniel 6:18–23, the king spends a sleepless night while Daniel rests in perfect peace among lions. At dawn, the king rushes to the den and finds Daniel unharmed, testifying that God “sent His angel, and hath shut the lions’ mouths.” This remarkable deliverance came “because he believed in his God,” proving that faith does not keep us from trials but sustains us through them. Today’s Morning Manna reminds us that when our trust is in the living God, He can silence every threat and vindicate His people in His perfect time. Teachers:  Rick Wiles and Doc BurkhartYou can partner with us by visiting FaithandValues.com, calling 1-800-576-2116, or by mail at PO Box 399 Vero Beach, FL 32961.Get high-quality emergency preparedness food today from American Reserves!AmericanReserves.comIt’s the Final Day! The day Jesus Christ bursts into our dimension of time, space, and matter. Now available in eBook and audio formats! Order Final Day from Amazon today!Amazon.com/Final-DayApple users, you can download the audio version on Apple Books!books.apple.com/final-dayPurchase the 4-part DVD set or start streaming Sacrificing Liberty today.Sacrificingliberty.comThe Fauci Elf is a hilarious gift guaranteed to make your friends laugh! Order yours today!Trunews/faucielf

Good morning, everybody. Welcome to Morning Manna. It's Faith Friday. On Fridays we specifically focus on faith. How do we build our faith? How do we strengthen our faith? What are lessons of faith in the Bible? I think often we as Christians think that when we talk about faith, we're talking about healing. You know, a crippled person gets up and walks. or some financial miracle takes place. But faith is throughout the Bible, and many times it talks about standing. It talks about just standing for God and not fleeing, not flinching. It requires great faith. And that's what we're seeing here in the book of Daniel.

We've been in the sixth chapter of Daniel for, I don't know how many weeks, but a number of weeks. And we've got today, and then next Friday, we'll finish our study of Daniel chapter 6 next Friday. So today we're going to be looking at verses 18 through 23. Let's pray, and then Dr. Raymond Burckhardt is going to read the Word of God, and we're going to begin this study.

Almighty God, our Father in heaven. father we love you and we praise you father thank you for being our father and thank you for providing us a way to be reconciled with you through your son jesus christ and thank you for giving us your spirit that we would not be alone in this world but we always have a companion a comforter a guide and advocate. And Father, thank you for your word. So, Father, we ask for the presence of the Holy Spirit in this class to teach us the principles of faith found in the word of God. In the name of Jesus, we pray. Amen. Amen. And good morning. Welcome to morning man. I'm glad to have you here with us no matter where you are in the world. We have students checking in from Malaysia, from Singapore today,

from the Philippines, Japan, of course, our friends in Switzerland and Germany today, and across the U.S. and Canada. We are in Daniel chapter 6 today here on Faith Friday, Daniel chapter 6, verses 18 to 23. And you'll turn there. We'll read that here in just a moment. Just a reminder to you that later today at the end of our class, we'll be celebrating the Lord's Supper, and you'll need bread and either red wine or grape juice to participate. Who may participate? Well, any confessing believer in Jesus Christ has been baptized in water according to scriptures. We welcome you. In fact, we encourage you to participate in the Lord's Table. So that'll be at the end of our lesson today. And even if you're listening to this in the recorded version, you're welcome to participate. It's just as effective recorded as it is live. And so we encourage you to participate with us in partaking of the bread and wine.

in the Lord's table. Daniel chapter 6 verses 18 through 23 we're continuing our study and faith of Daniel and looking for those applications in our own lives. What's going on here? Well, Daniel has found himself under really under political sabotage here and he's been cast into the den of lions under an irrevocable decree by the king. And so these verses here today we're going to be talking about the sleepless night of the king. Daniel seemed to be okay with those nights. And so let's read here, Daniel chapter 6 versus 18 through 23. Then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting.

Neither were instruments of music brought before him. And his sleep went from him, a sleepless night for the king. Then the king arose very early in the morning and went in haste unto the den of wines. and when he came to the den he cried with a lamentable voice unto Daniel and the king spake and said to Daniel oh Daniel servant of the living God is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions and then there's that pause

then Daniel said under the king oh king live forever my God hath sent his angel and has shut the lion's mouths that they have not hurt me for as much as before him innocence was found in me and also before thee o king have i done no hurt then the king then was the king exceeding glad for him and commanded that they should take daniel up out of the den so daniel was taken up out of the den and no manner of hurt was found upon him because here's the reason he believed in his god god bless the reading this word today

Amen. You know, here in the USA, we have witnessed a major political scandal. The biggest political scandal of my lifetime, at least the one that I would, you know, we were told by the media and the establishment was Watergate during the Nixon years. And basically what President Nixon was accused of was covering up a criminal activity by people that work for him. He was never accused of orchestrating the criminal activity. He was accused of covering it up. When he found out about it, he ordered a cover up. And that was a scandal.

It was enough that he resigned. But what we witnessed from 2016 through 2020 and really until the election of 24, we witnessed the biggest, darkest, deepest scandal ever in the history of America. And that is the White House under the direction of President Obama and the FBI director and the director of intelligence and a number of other officials conspired to falsely accuse Donald Trump of being a Russian agent. I'm saying this to you because I wanted to see that this kind of activity is as old as man. yes okay if you're trying to figure out if you're trying in your mind

you know picture what this is like for Daniel just think of the people who came up with this plan to put Daniel in the lion's den think of James Comey Clapper Brennan think of these people

okay they can fired to commit a crime that's what these men did in daniel's age and the lesson for us to learn here is it's a two-part lesson and that is number one uh daniel was daniel was rescued because of of of two things first of all his integrity which is what got him in the trouble to start with

and number two he believed his God those are the two things he had integrity and he believed God and when you put those two together you've got a faith connection and

God protected him and delivered him and his accusers ended up being destroyed so when we're looking for faith in this story this is where this is what we're looking for what got him in this mess what got him through this mess and what got him delivered there's the lesson of faith so we're going to begin with verse 18 Then the king, and this is Darius, then the king went to his palace and passed the night fasting. Neither were instruments of music brought before him

and his sleep went from him. So the first segment is then the king went into his palace and passed the night fasting. So we see King Darius is, he's under profound, immense emotional distress. And he lost his appetite. He couldn't sleep. There is an irony in this phrase, a tragic irony. because he's returned to the place of his supreme power and luxury

from which he ordered Daniel to be put in the lion's den. And he's powerless. That's what I mean, his palace. He's returned to the palace that represents his supremacy. It's a luxurious home. It is a civil. of his power and sovereignty and yet his palace became a prison yes wait a minute because of this power he put daniel in a prison but god flipped it on him and now the king's palace became a prison

Only God knows, they answer. How many kings and presidents and prime ministers and rulers of the world spend sleepless nights because of the decisions they made? The people they ordered killed, the people they ordered to be entrapped, innocent people to be entrapped. How many sleepless nights do these people spend in their, you know, whatever, building they're in the White House, number 10 downing, the Kremlin, whatever, okay, their residents of power. How many times does their residence of power and prestige become a prison because of the decisions they made? so darius passed the night fasting he abstained from food now there are two ways to look at this you could say he went on a fast he said uh i'm going to fast i'm you know i'm deliberately not

eating but another way to look at it is he lost his appetite for food you have no desire for food when your soul is anguished amen you know sometimes you know that somebody is under a great deal of stress when they're losing weight and you know you say to someone and that guy's down to i bet he's lost 50 pounds what's wrong is he sick you know it's it's the anguish that they're in over a long time and so darius couldn't he couldn't eat that night whether he deliberately went on a fast or just had no appetite whatsoever the main thing is he he skipped dinner there was no banquet that night in the palace there was not a state dinner if they had anything planned for diplomats to come to the palace

or important people in the kingdom it was canceled you know the palace the palace had to go out and tell people sorry that the king's not going to have dinner tonight maybe we can reschedule another time he's not feeling well tonight I'm trying to give you a picture of his grief

the man was mourning he was in grieve he was grieving for over the decision he made obviously King Derrick had emotional

ties to Daniel. This was not just a matter of he's an employee. Right. He's a subject in my kingdom. I think the king liked him. Maybe you could say he loved him. For him to have this kind of deep emotional response, there had to have been some,

type of emotional relationship between Darius and Daniel. And now he's grieving over the decision that he made. Like, how did I allow myself to get into this mess? So his fasting, whether you call it fasting or just the lack of desire for food. it has to be viewed as an outward expression of his inner anguish he was mourning the fate of his most trusted advisor and possibly his closest friend yes he may have come to deeply love and cherish and appreciate daniel like this is a good man he's in my government he is more than a government official this man is my friend i can trust him and and now he's in the palace thinking what did i do to him the person that i loved the most in my kingdom the person that i trusted the most i i've put him in a in a hole with lions i got entrapped by people beneath me

who were jealous of him so A guilty conscience and profound regret for our actions, our decisions, can make even the most luxurious palace feel like a prison. And again, you know, I talked about political leaders, whether they're in the White House or the number 10 downing or the Kremlin or whatever place in the world. but this also applies to mansions and estates of business people. They make decisions that destroy somebody else, then they go home to their mansion, and they can't eat, they can't sleep. Why? Because their conscience puts them. This goes on a lot in the world. then it says neither were instruments of music brought before him well the king had his own palace orchestra

I mean a typical night is when he would relax and he'd have friends and business associates and diplomats and visitors come into the palace probably every night. They had dinner. They had music. They had entertainment. You know, you live differently when you're a king. Kings don't watch TV. Kings

can snap their finger and have an orchestra show up. Kings can snap their finger and say, go find 20 of the the most important people and bring them to my house tonight, I want to have a dinner party. Kings can do anything they want to do. It's hard for us to think like that.

What is it? What's it like to be a king? Well, you can get just about anything done you want. And so the king had music. It was typical. It was normal for, the house band all right the palace house band to be playing if i were a billionaire i'm telling you and i mean this if i were a billionaire i'd have my own orchestra i really would if i were a billionaire i mean what would it cost to have your own orchestra orchestra every day if you're a billionaire you know jeff bezos is a billionaire he's been his money on rocket ships. I'd spend mine on

orchestra. I'd spend it on an orchestra. I'd want singers and musicians everywhere. I walk through a door, start singing. I mean, that would be the policy. If you see him coming down the hallway, start singing. I'd be, I'd surround myself with with beautiful music.

Why? It changes the atmosphere. It changes the atmosphere. Is your home gloomy? Start playing some annoyed at music in your home. Let the light push the darkness out. So anyhow, the king like music. That's what I'm saying here. The king like music, except that night.

Yes. He canceled. the palace house band say i don't want to hear it cancel dinner cancel dinner cancel the music yeah and the people the aides the servants in the palace they knew there's something not he's not himself tonight well what's wrong why don't you know what he did to daniel they saw it they saw always countenance change. It was obvious. He went to his personal residence in the palace to sulk, to be alone, to cry, to try to get the guilt out of his mind. He was gripped with guilt. So he rejected all forms of entertainment and pleasure.

no food no banquets no visitors no music he was in a state of sorrow his heart was heavy he couldn't the the music wasn't doing anything for him it's just noise he was hurting so bad that the music was actually noise to him it was it was a distraction and so you can you can get your place you can get yourself in in a state of anguish that's so profound and so deep that no earthly pleasure can alleviate you from the grief so the rejection of music is actually a I mean it's it's a statement of his the sorrow of his heart and then his sleep went from him so he's rejected food he's rejected music and now he can't sleep what do we learn here that worldly pleasure even when it's not sinful there's nothing sinful here at all about this okay music there's

nothing sinful about music there's nothing sinful about banquet a dinner but they're they're earthly they're worldly pleasures what we're learning here is that worldly pleasures and luxuries are power powerless to comfort us when our souls are tormented or we have a guilty conscience. True peace and rest do not come from external factors that are trying to distract us from our internal anguish. But true peace and rest comes from being in right standing with God. So his sleep went from him. Now, this is the ultimate physical, emotional manifestation of his mental, emotional turmoil, torment.

He couldn't sleep. His sleeplessness was the direct result of a tormented mind, and he's replaying in his mind. and over and over how did i get here let's see let's go back they the governors came to me and they presented this decree and i really didn't read it i just signed it it sounded good i didn't ask any questions i didn't ask any questions i didn't ask what well what brought this up well you know he's reliving how did i get duped into this he's tormented how did I get snookered

how did I get pushed into killing the most important man in my government because as far as he's concerned Daniel's gone in his mind Daniel didn't last two minutes so he's grieving

Daniel's death. Like, there's no way. There's no way this guy's alive. And if he is, it would, it would take a God to deliver him. Yes. God's setting this man up. So sleep is a peace and rest and a clear conscience and its absence signifies chaos, torment, the disquiet of the soul. So how was Daniel's night in the lion's den? The king over in the palace, palace of luxury, the palace of power, the palace of wealth. He went to bed hungry. He didn't entertain himself with the house band. He's tossing and turning in his bed.

It's 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 4 a.m. He can't sleep. His mind is tormenting him. What's going on with Daniel? We're going to get to that later. But King Darius was tormenting. Couldn't sleep. But there was a stark contrast over in the lion's.

den dan daniel rested peacefully why he had a clear conscience a clear conscience and a righteous life are the source of true peace and a guilty conscience is the source of inner torment so the king's despair was humanly sealed in deris there's mind it was over that's right daniel's fate was sealed by the king's actions and so all this is doing is it's preparing us for the miracle that's coming and it reminds us that our ultimate hope lies not in the labor of men, the actions of men, but in the quiet, sovereign power of God

to deliver his faithful servants. That's your faith lesson on this Faith Friday. Amen. That men can, in their mind, they think they've sealed your fate. and realistically they have decisions have come down actions have been taken your fate is sealed in the eyes of men but it doesn't mean it's sealed in the eyes of god verse 19 then the king arose very early in the morning

so the king's actions are what we're going to see in this verse is we know he had profound anguish he was sleepless he went to bed hungry and yet his immediate action in the morning it wasn't like he had to wake up he never went to sleep right it doesn't say then then the king woke up early in the morning. No. No, he got out of bed. He never slept. The word then indicates that this action immediately followed a night of anguish and sleeplessness. He tossed him turned all night long, never went to sleep. Then he got out of bed. early in the morning. He just threw the covers back.

I forget this. Sun's coming up. So the haste, the king's haste is a symbol of his tormented mind, which he could not find peace until he knew Daniel's fate. His human thinking said, he's been shred to pieces his body is inside three or four lion's stomachs but something in him said but that daniel believes so much in his god

i've got to find out i've got to find out so he arose early in the morning very early he didn't sleep in why because he couldn't sleep there was nobody that said outside the king's room hey be quiet we don't want to wake up the king he wanted to sleep in today no he was up he was up before anybody else in the palace he didn't wait for the sun to rise right what's the lesson here a troubled mind, a troubled mind that's anguished, will seek answers regardless of the hour of the day,

because it's tormentant, and it can't, the torment won't go away until the answers arrive. This was also an expression of his, of his hope. yes there was an expectation mixed with fear there so and you know the fact that said very early not just early but very early like at the first opportunity the king you know at that for you know in that morning hour where the twilight is there and everything the sun's not up yet but it's light enough outside that you can see to me that's where i get the very early with the king and you're just waiting, you know, maybe the sentence had, you know, expired at dawn. I don't know, you know, I'm just speculating here.

Maybe that. The first rooster crow. Yeah. And so there was, he was watching him waiting with both expectation and fear, I think. Yes. I mean, maybe, maybe his God will deliver him. Maybe, maybe Daniel's God is real. maybe it is he really is and so he went in haste unto the den of lions so there's frantic urgent movement

i mean he he bolted out the door of his bedroom in the palace and his servants jumped to attention where are you going your majesty i'm going to the lion's den You know, and he's, he's putting his garments on as he's walking fast through the, through the palace. And as bodyguards are being summons. The king is, the king is on his way. He's leaving the palace. You know, the bodyguards have got to snap to attention and get, get in their positions and surround him. Think of the action is taking place here.

The king is on the move. Right. He is on the way to the lion's den. so he's driven now he is absolutely driven with a profound need to know to confirm the outcome of his of his decree and he's hoping against all human reason that Daniel survived the night now mind you any other king Rick it wouldn't make any different difference at all. They wouldn't care. They'd have the music. They'd have the feast. They'd have all you can eat, spaghetti, everything. And sleep all night long. How do you know they have

spaghetti? I'd say, if I was kidding, I'd have spaghetti. And so, you know, it's, you know, and they would have slept all night long and they wouldn't have gotten up early in the mornings and see what was going on. They would just like a report, well, did the lines eat the guy or not you know and so that that'd be it that'd be the end of the story right there but the fact that he got up early and made haste uh just tells me that god was working on his heart so what made what made darius different i did you said other things other kings wouldn't bother what made darius different the impact of daniel's life and testimony so daniel's life impacted there is yes see that's a that's a good point the way of living in daniel the way he conducted

himself the way he lived the king noticed it over time and it impacted him and in his mind he was saying about daniel that's a good man he's a really good man i appreciate him I trust him. He's my friend. And this is over time. You can't do that quickly. It takes time. And then he allowed himself to be duped by some nefarious politicians in his government,

who he now knows they are not my friends. They are not loyal to me. I wish I never appointed. them the one he cares about is daniel and so he went in haste to the lion's den waiting he couldn't wait going in haste he's he's almost running he's walking as fast as he can walk did he take a carriage i don't we don't know he went in haste how far away was the lion's den from the the palace what we do know is that he did there came a point where he said i forget trying to sleep i'm not i can't sleep the sun's coming up i've got to find out if daniel survived the night

and he might have still been thinking is there any place in the lion's den that you can hide maybe Daniel found a place to hide you know your human mind is trying to think every possible scenario that would that would justify a good outcome

we try to come up with scenarios for a positive outcome that don't involve God right I mean when there a miracle how many times you see or hear people try to explain the miracle way why can't you just say that's a miracle but that's right explain it well this happened and that happened it is there's a

way to explain what took place they just say what it is it's a miracle so he's holding on to a glimmer of hope Just, he's got to find out if Daniel survived the night. We get to verse 20. And when he came to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice under Daniel. And the king spake and said, Daniel, O Daniel, servant of a living God, is thy God, whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lion. a lamentable voice he just didn't go hey daniel you still got your head no this came from his soul this cry it was lamentable it was a raw expression of his his anguish his sorrow his grief his sense of helplessness this is not a good thought but think about

this is not good thoughts so think about it all right wish we could come up with something better terrible auto accident and you're told that somebody that you love is in that car you run to the car what comes up out of your soul is a deep painful woe woeful cry are you all right i mean it's it comes from the bottom of your soul. Are you alive? Are you all right? Are you safe? You need to hear that loved one's voice say, yes, I'm okay. Get me out of here. So that's the way the king cried. When he got to the den, he cried with a lamentable voice.

You got to give Darius credit. This man, He's got some humanity in him. He obviously, it's not a bad man. He's not a cruel, heartless, cold political tyrant. He's not a Hitler. He's got feelings. He's got emotion. And so he cried out from the depth of his soul.

with like I said it's with pain and it's helplessness he's he's helplessness I think the people who were there probably when the king cried out I think they probably closed their eyes when oh you have to try to imagine the cry that came that came out of his soul i never thought about it before dog i never thought about it before i never thought about it before i always said oh yeah the king went down and hey daniel are you down there that's not how it happened this man was was breaking darius was breaking his he was falling apart He was so anguish, so tormented, that he had put this decent, honest, pure man in a pit with predators. He just couldn't believe he did it.

And his heart, his soul, his mind worked, tormented, anguished. so sin and injustice will do this to you and you will lament those things and it will come up out of your soul and what about the what about the conspirators they slept the night isn't that isn't that they ate they had dinner they went to bed on a full stomach wait a minute they're the guilty ones they'd probably celebrate they had they had music they hired a band they did everything the king

didn't do but doc they're the guilty ones yes why why did they not lose their appetite and toss and turn all night because they had no conscience. Think about that. They had done so many dirty evil deeds over their lifetime that their conscience was seared. There was nothing left to convict. They had gone down the road of sin so long and so deep

over so many years that their conscience was numb that they could kill an innocent man and then have a dinner and celebrate and go to sleep and not have any pangs of

grief or despair at all. And yet the king who got duped into this thing was so anguish. You know, I can imagine him leaning over the wall of the palace vomiting. But the men who duped him, they slept through the night. You would think it's the other way around.

And the king spake and said to Daniel, Oh, Daniels, servant of the living God. Notice he didn't say, oh, Daniel, my prime minister. Right. He didn't say, oh, Daniel, you Hebrew man. Oh, Daniel, you exiled Jew. Now, he said, oh, Daniel. servant of the living God he recognized who he was this he confirms that his first concern is for

the man he loves not the law that was broken here's the king saying the man I love is more important than my laws. What did the, what did the conspirators say to King Darius? No man is above the law. Our motto is in this kingdom. No man is above the law. And if an, if a good man has to die to uphold our motto, so be it. And the king bought that.

propaganda and waved the flag you got the Babylonian flag out waved it all right god bless babylon yes salute salute the flag of Babylon yes we're going to have to kill an innocent man to uphold our nation's motto but that's not him at the lion's den He identifies Daniel as a servant of the living God. Daniel hasn't said a word yet. Darius already proclaimed him, servant of the living God. There's a shift here.

Darius. In verse 16, Daniel was a servant to thy God. But now, in verse 20, he's a servant of the living God. Huh. See? Something's changed in Darius. Yes. So when he said thy God, Darius was thinking like the Babylonians, like the Persians.

He was the king of media, Persia, he's now ruling over Babylon. Hey, they all got gods. God's smods. Who cares? I'm the king. It was okay. You have your gods. All right.

You got your dead gods, you got your idols, you want to have your rituals, okay, we'll have a holiday for your gods. He's the king, he's the emperor. I don't think he believed in any of them. He believed in himself. But he knew the people had their gods. And so in verse 16, he says to Daniel, thy God. Okay, the God is this idol you worship. I know the Babylonians have got their God, the Persons have got a God, you Jews have a God, everybody's got a God, okay, I get it, thy God, your God.

But now he says, the living God. Yes. This God you serve is not an idol, is not a dead statue like these Babylonians and Persians, worship something changed in darius but he still doesn't know if daniel is alive right so you would think he would say those words after he discovers daniel is alive but darius is now confessing god before see there's faith happening here in darius That's a, that's a profession of faith. Darius moved into a realm of faith.

Because he's, he's like, in his mind now, whether Daniel is alive or not, there is a living God. Whatever happened to Darius in the palace bedroom all night long, somehow he came to a revelation. that there is a living God. I don't know how it happened. But to me, Doc, the Holy Spirit, worked in Darius's mind that night. How else would he make that transition

by mourning of saying the living God? So he now right. recognize us that there is one true God of the universe. Darius has gone from a pagan monarch to a believer in Yahweh, the God of Israel. Thy God, whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions, is thy God, is thy God whom thou service continually able to deliver thee from the lions?

That's what he's crying out now, into the dark lion's den. This is, it's a desperate plea, and yet it is a statement of hope. He is hoping for a miracle. Something happened to Darius during the night. Right. I don't know how God visited Darius in his palace at night. But something changed. This man is now hoping for a miracle.

His mind is saying it can't be. It's just impossible, but his spirit is saying, I hope I hope there is a living God I hope I hope so a life of faithfulness is the very thing that can inspire hope and belief

in the hearts of other people right especially when they are in despair how many you i'm sure you everybody raise your hand i know this has happened it's happened to me it's happened to just about every christian i know who lives for the lord there will be people in your life whether relatives or friends or neighbors or whatever and then it's like okay yeah i know you go to church you love you you know jesus the bible i get that i get that i you know but i still like you okay

not making any headway with them and then there's a day that they have a crisis and who's the first person they call yeah why is that doc because they've seen you live it out so they're crying out oh doc burckhart servant of the living god whom you serve continually yes is there any hope for me that's what they're saying when they call you when they're in despair yes i've had people call me in the in the instant of a tragic death in their family i've had people call me when somebody is you know had a heart attack or something or or an auto act i've had people call me and like, you're not calling other people in your family, in your friends, you're calling me. Why?

Because you believe I can pray. So this is what was happening with Darius. Daniel impressed him. And during the night, he had a revelation that there is a living God. and now he's at the lion's den looking for the evidence that there is a living god he's he he he he's hoping that this divine power that daniel believed in would somehow prevent the lions from devouring this man so now the king's hope is placed entirely in God's power, not his own.

He's powerless. The king is powerless. It's like all of his kingly power had dissipated, evaporated. We get to verse 21, then said Daniel, unto the king, O king, live forever. You know what that sounded? like to Darius could have been anything I mean it wasn't what he said oh king lived forever it's just his voice yes Daniel could have read the sports scores I mean anything it's his voice

he's alive so the sound of a human voice that sounds like Daniel coming from a lion's den was the first and most direct revelation of a divine miracle that defied all human expectation and explanation. He had the evidence. Not only was, he had the evidence of two things. Not only was Daniel alive, but there's a living God. Yes.

There are two people alive. and an everlasting god praise god that's good it was a double win for darius a god he said daniel said that you me you live forever it's a blessing he's blessing him daniel's not saying hey you rat and no good skunk you put me down here but my god delivered that's not what look at how Daniel responded. He blessed him. He blessed the man who put him in the lion's den. What would most of us say? He opened up the door to the lion's den. Yeah, so we survived. And you look up there and say, hey, I'm going to tell you what. When I get up there, you're going to get a peace of my mind. I'm a Christian. My God's, my God protected me. But when I get up there, you better hope he protects you.

right isn't that how a lot of people would respond yes but daniel blessed the king who threw him in the lion's den right and i've noticed a couple commentators have said that this was a standard court greeting this was what you said every time that you were addressed by the king that this was something you responded anytime the king spoke to you this is to be be your standard response. Oh, King, live forever. In other words, Daniel is honoring the authority of the king. But just because you honor authority doesn't mean you have to compromise with idolatry.

Yes. Amen? Look at the two voices. Darius cried out in anguish and panes. and guilt and grief and Daniel cried out with joy verse 22 my God hath sent his angel and hath shut the lion's mouth that they may have not hurt me for as much as before him innocency was found in me and also before thee o king have I done no hurt.

Hallelujah. So my God has sent his angel, shut the lion's mouth. The lions have not hurt me because before him, innocence was found in me. And also before you, O King, I have done you no harm. And Daniel's speaking, he's being affirmative now, without being accusatory, without being wrathful, without being revengeful. This is Daniel defending his boundaries, defending his self-worth.

He's speaking with honor to the king, but he's saying, I'll have you know that the God that I serve delivered me because I'm innocent. There's nothing wrong with you declaring who you are in Christ. Amen. Don't be bashful and don't feel shameful. Don't be intimidated.

Now, don't let bullies intimidate you, but speak it with kind firmness. This was firm words that were kind. He declared who he is. He was an innocent man. And he said, not only am I innocent before the eyes of God, but now I'm innocent before your eyes. Hallelujah. Do you think Darius ever questioned Daniel after this incident? no this is he's Daniel's Daniel's in for life now he's you're never going to convince

Darius Daniel is a wrongdoer so the phrase they have not hurt me meaning the lions is complete total protection again I I'm old of you the lions the lions were licking Daniel's face. I think they were purring like kittens during the night. I think Daniel finally got enough courage to touch them and pet them. I think a big old lion put his paw around Daniel's chest. I think Daniel was laying there going, this is wild. This is absolutely wild.

I'm in here with a... five or six 300-pound kittens. At some point, Daniel went to sleep. I think Daniel slept. I don't think he was in the corner of the den shaking all night. I think he went to sleep with the lions.

And realize, my God has closed the mouth of these lions. Not only did the king lose his appetite, the lions lost their appetite. right because God is supreme overall the lions the lions they responded to their maker's instruction well let's see 23 then was the king exceedingly glad for him and commanded that they should take Daniel up out of the then so daniel was taken up out of the den and no matter of hurt was found upon him because he believed

in his god yes there's your faith lesson at the end of the story there's no damage was he put was he falsely accused yes was he set up yes did evil people conspire against him, yes. Was his employer, the king duped? Yes. Was he imprisoned? Yes. But at the end of the story, he suffered no harm. And why did he suffer no harm? Because he believed in his God. God allowed him to go through all these things it built Daniel's faith and it built faith in Darius it spoke to the whole

kingdom because word went everywhere it built the faith of the lions I never thought about that before yeah they trusted their maker everybody this is a faith building episode and so he was lifted up out of the pit and there's not a scratch on him maybe he had some lion hair on him maybe some salava on his face but there's nothing wrong

and you can only imagine the stories he was telling the king you know the king Daniel you must have been terrified only like the first minute what do you mean the first minute well they came up and they began licking my face

I mean you imagine the stories he was telling everyone there was no hurt because he believed his God he trusted in his God he knew just as Shadrag Meshach and Abindigo they trusted they said hey whether he delivers us or not we know he can they were willing to to burn up for God they said we know he can deliver us Daniel knew the same thing. Yes, he can deliver me.

Whether he does, I don't know. But he trusted in his God. He trusted. His faith and his hope, his trust was in God. All right, Doc, we're over the time limit. We've got to go to the Lord's supper before we end our lesson here today. Praise God. I'm glad to have you here with us to honor the Lord's table today, and the Lord's table is an act of faith, too.

It's the Lord's command to us to do this until he comes again, where he'll participate with us once more. And that's the promise. We have that promise that God is a living God. He's very much alive. He's as alive as he was with Daniel in the Den of Lions, and he's alive today as well. If you have the elements of the Lord's table, which includes bread and either red wine or grape juice, we're going to pray for the Lord's blessing on those elements here in just a moment. But before we do that, it's always appropriate for us to have the Lord search our hearts for anything that might be between us and heaven that would prohibit us from freely partaking of the Lord's table.

So I'm going to ask Rick, if you would right now, to pray for us as we seek the Lord and seek a close. clear conscience in being obedient to him first and to follow through with this promise to the Lord's tip. Rick, would you pray for us this morning? Yes, of course. Heavenly Father, we come, Father, in the name of Jesus, and we come with faith, faith that our sins are forgiven. How do we know? You said so. and that's all we need your word when we confess our sins you are certain by the promise of your word to forgive and forget and to restore and so father we confess our sins and we ask you to forgive us we ask that the holy spirit washes in the blood of jesus christ remove all the sins and their stains

so that there's no stains that we would be spotless, that we would be as white as snow, that we may sit down at your son's dinner table and partake of his flesh and blood. In the name of Jesus, amen. Amen. All right, we're going to pray for the Lord's blessing on the elements of the Lord's table right now.

So if you have those in front of you, let's pray together. Almighty God, in your tender mercy you gave your only begotten son Jesus Christ to suffer death upon the cross for our redemption. And he offered himself and made once for all time a perfect and sufficient sacrifice for the sins of the whole world. And he instituted this remembrance of his passion and death, which he commanded us to continue until he comes again. And so, Father, we ask you to bless and sanctify with your word and Holy Spirit these gifts of bread and wine that we may

partake of his most blessed body and blood. Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed once for all upon the cross. Therefore, let us keep the feast. Alleluia. On the night that he was betrayed, our Lord Jesus took bread, and when he'd given thanks, he broke it, and he gave it to his disciples, saying, take eat, this is my body which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me. the body of our lord jesus christ which was given for you preserve your body and soul to everlasting life this is the bread of heaven take and eat and remembrance that christ died for you after supper jesus took the cup and when he had given thanks he gave it to them saying drink this all of you for this is my blood of the new covenant which is shed for you and for many

for the forgiveness of sins. Whenever you drink it, do this in remembrance of me. Praise God. The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ, which was shed for you, preserve your body and soul to everlasting life. Drink the cup of salvation in remembrance that Christ's blood was shed for you and be thankful. Behold the Lamb of God, behold Him who takes away the sins of the world,

and blessed are those who are invited to the marriage, supper of the land. This sacrament is the gift of God for the people of God. Feed on him by faith with Thanksgiving that Christ died for you. Praise God. Amen. Amen. Well, God bless you. It's been another thought-provoking week here on Morning Manna and a faith encouraging day here on Faith Friday as we continue our study on the faith of Daniel and our faith in the book of Daniel. Daniel in particular here. I hope that this teaching today has been an encouragement to you. And if it has been, would you mind sharing this with those that you love and those that

you think would benefit from this teaching? Maybe they need to be uplifted in their faith as well. And you could use this as a way to kind of introduce them to that next step of faith in their own lives. And we have a variety of different ways that you can share this content. We're on numerous social media platforms, including YouTube, X, Rumble, a number of other platforms. And we encourage you. I share this content as much as you can.

And also, we keep archives of previous lessons, and so we encourage you to share that as well. Rick, we're ending the week here on a very high note. My faith is encouraged today. I'm sure everyone else is as well. Any words here as we prepare for this coming weekend? Spiritically, Doc, I have a, I've got a sense of anticipation in me that the second half of this year will be a time of breakthroughs and blessings and miracles for people. I know what the Holy Spirit is.

showing me for myself for this ministry and i am anticipating uh things to be reborn a rebirth of ideas of visions of hopes of desires a rebirth so if if you've been um if you've been holding on by faith uh i i just have this I've got this hopeful expectation that the second half of 2025 is going to be a time of breakthroughs for the people who have held on to God through faith through some very difficult, tough, dark times. And you're going to see breakthroughs happening in the coming weeks and months. So be prepared, be ready, be expecting. be expecting expecting a miracle expecting breakthroughs the other thing is a reminder doc and i will be away next week attending a conference there will be morning manna every day we have

pre-recorded the lessons but we will start on time at 8 a.m and we appreciate your your understanding it's the only way we can travel and go anywhere so it allows us to uh to to continue to do the duties that we have to take care of and and also keep morning manna going so by the way yeah we have a lot of people that tune in a few minutes before morning manna each and every day generally i you know i talk to people and greet them uh wherever they are in the world but next week we're going to have a very special treat. So try to tune in early next week before 8 o'clock because we'll have some very special mini messages each day before morning manna begins that will uplift and encourage your faith.

So we want you, if at all possible, to tune in not just at 8 o'clock, but a little before 8 o'clock for these special messages that we'll have right before morning manna begins. You'll love them. I guarantee it. Yes. So, Doc, when you were in the hospital. hospital we had the Shadrach Meshach Lockridge pastor Lockridge oh yes you did huh yeah so he's never met the man amazing pastor oh yes that's my king yes all right everybody be blessed

enjoy your weekend and we'll see you on on monday god bless you bye bye Thank you.