then the king, when he heard these words, was much distressed and set his mind to deliver daniel. and he labored till the sun went down to rescue him. then these men came by agreement to the king and said to the king, “know, o king, that it is a law of the medes and persians that no injunction or ordinance that the king establishes can be changed.” [daniel 6:14-15]
a just king does cannot go against his decrees
not even the king of the medo-persian empire could overturn his own decrees—how much more will our King of kings, our Lord of lords, stay true to his decrees?
while daniel was sentenced to death by an unjust law, while we were sinners we bore the sentence of death according to just laws, written by our holy God. and while darius is was left wondering how he could do anything to save daniel, our God knew just what he needed to give to set us free—his very self. that’s what king darius didn’t think to give, in his sense of self-protection. darius protected himself while allowing an unjust death sentence to be carried out but our good God saved us from a just death sentence by sending his one perfect son to die in our place. what a God we serve!
Lord, thank you for dying in my place. i am sobered by the reality that your perfect son died under the wrath i deserve. forgive me for the times i live in sinful deservedness—and teach me to live thankful for every breath.
~ stephen hall