GOD’S WORD FOR YOU
DANIEL 2:19-20
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19 Then the mystery was revealed to Daniel during the night in a vision. So Daniel blessed the God of heaven. 20 He said: “May the name of God be blessed for ever and ever. Wisdom and power are his.
Should we make a distinction about the way Daniel received his answer? It was during the night, but it was not a dream. Rather, it was a vision given during the night, which is to say, Daniel was already awake when he received the vision. He and his companions had been praying for God to answer the king’s demanding question. Maybe the four of them were still in the room of the house together; maybe they or a couple of them had taken a break. This is something we do even in classes today, where a little break keeps the mind sharp and the attention focused. So it could be that Daniel happened to be alone for a moment, or that the others did not see exactly what he saw, or understand what he heard, as happened when Christ appeared to Saul on the road to Damascus (Acts 22:9).
Daniel’s first response is not to say Eureka! I have found it! That would be taking credit for what had just happened. Instead, he bursts into an outpouring of praise to God. He blesses the God of heaven. Recall that we have called Daniel’s use of this title for God a confession of faith and as a testimony against the polytheism of the pagans in Nebuchadnezzar’s service.
To bless God is one of the great tasks of the Christian. God says, “Do not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” Now, on the one hand, Luther explains to us as a father to his children that this means “We should fear and love God that we do not use his name to curse, swear, lie, or deceive, or use witchcraft.” But that is only the way we should not use the Lord’s name. How should we use it properly? Luther goes on: “Call upon God’s name in every trouble, pray, praise, and give thanks.” One of the ways we praise him is to bless him, which means to give praise and to wish every good thing on someone. When the Christian does this for God, God surely already has all these things. What can we offer to him that he does not already have? But he invites us to bless him by using his name correctly, and by giving him glory and credit for the things he has done, for this is a form of proclaiming his own holy Gospel.
Daniel blesses the name of God, for God alone reveals his name and its meaning. He said, “I appeared to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob as God Almighty, but by my name the LORD I did not make myself known to them” (Exodus 6:3). And his said to Samson’s father, “My name is beyond understanding” (Judges 13:18).
The wise men of Babylon were powerless and impotent to answer the king’s question, but God had revealed everything to Daniel his young servant who was armed with nothing but faith. After perhaps a year of study to prepare for the king’s service, Daniel by now was proficient enough in the Aramaic language to speak to the king without an interpreter. God has directed everything to this event to elevate Daniel quickly in the king’s service and to communicate something important to mankind through the vision and its interpretation.
Daniel had seen the power and wisdom of God in the vision itself, in the way God governs the world, even raising up nations and kingdoms (1 Kings 14:14; Isaiah 45:13; Habakkuk 1:6), and now having shown what he was going to do, given now in a dream to the king, and in a vision to Daniel, and so, through Daniel’s pen, to all mankind.
What was Daniel? What are you? A forgiven sinner, given a task to do from God. I don’t know what kind of courage you will have to have today or tomorrow as you serve Jesus with your life. But may he give you everything you need, which what he promises to everyone who loves him. “The Lord is good, a refuge in times of trouble. He cares for those who trust in him” (Nahum 1:7).
In Christ,
Pastor Timothy Smith
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Pastor Smith serves St. Paul’s Lutheran Church, New Ulm, Minnesota
God’s Word for You – Daniel 2:19-20 The answer