Then the king commanded, and Daniel was brought and cast into the den of lions. The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!” And a stone was brought and laid on the mouth of the den, and the king sealed it with his own signet and with the signet of his lords, that nothing might be changed concerning Daniel. Then the king went to his palace and spent the night fasting; no diversions were brought to him, and sleep fled from him.
Then, at break of day, the king arose and went in haste to the den of lions. As he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish. The king declared to Daniel, “O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?” Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not harmed me, because I was found blameless before him; and also before you, O king, I have done no harm.” Then the king was exceedingly glad, and commanded that Daniel be taken up out of the den. So Daniel was taken up out of the den, and no kind of harm was found on him, because he had trusted in his God. | Daniel 6:16–23
Every great king has servant. The servants do whatever their king tells them to do. They go wherever the king tells them to go.
God is the great King over all. He is King over the whole earth, and over the heavens, too. And He has a great host of servants. God’s servants are the wonderful holy angels.
God made the angels, long ago, before He made Adam and Eve. They are His servants, and they are happy. They praise Him, and they do whatever He tells them to do.
We never see angels. We cannot see them, because they are spirits. But we know that God sends them down to earth to watch over us and to help us. They come into our homes, into our churches, into our schools. They go wherever God sends them, to do what He wants them to do.
The Bible tells us about a brave man named Daniel. Daniel dared to pray to God even hwen the king of Babylon said he must not pray.
The king made a law that said, “For thirty days no man may pray to his God. He may only ask me, the king of Babylon, for what he needs. If any man prays to his God, he will be thrown to the lions.”
Daniel always knelt to pray to God, three times every day. When Daniel heard about the new law, he went to his house and knelt down to pray just as he always did.
The windows of Daniel’s house were open. Some men saw him kneel down to pray. They hated Daniel. They ran to tell the king that Daniel disobeyed the new law.
They said, “O king, you know the new law. Nobody may pray to his God for thirty days. If anybody does pray to his God, he must be thrown into the den of lions. Well, we saw Daniel kneel down to pray!”
Then the king was sad. He liked Daniel. But he could not let anybody disobey his law. So he sent for Daniel. And he told his servants to throw Daniel to the lions.
Poor Daniel! When the men threw him in, he fell down, down, to the floor of the lions den. The lions came running to tear him to pieces.
But…..they didn’t tear Daniel to pieces! They couldn’t. They were hungry. They wanted to eat Daniel. But God sent and angel to keep them away from Daniel. They could not even open their mouths to eat him.
In the morning the king looked down into the den. He called out, “Daniel, was your God able to save you?”
Daniel answered, “My God sent his angel to shut the lions’ mouths.”
God sends angels to take care of you and me, too. We cannot see them, but we know they are near because the Bible says so.
Something to Talk About
- Do you remember a story about angels praising God?
- Do you think they are happy, serving God?
- Why can’t we see them?
Memory Verse
For he will command his angels concerning you
to guard you in all your ways.| Psalm 91:11