Charles Spurgeon Commentary Daniel 6

Kings are never satisfied. The empire of Darius was always growing, and a chapter or two further on we find that he had a hundred and twenty-seven provinces. There is no end to the greed of man, and what does he gain by it after all? One pair of hands can only do one man's work; he only gains more burdens, and he now has to distribute the cares of his state among others. Then how good it is for any man when he is guided to a right, honest, and wholehearted helper! Such was the lot of Darius.

How advantageous, too, it may be for the people of God when a man like Daniel is put in the high places of the land! Doubtless he was exalted, not only for his own sake, but that he might be as a brazen shield and bulwark for the people of God in that foreign land. No extortions would now be committed against the Jewish people, for they had a friend at court. Blessed be God, we have a friend at court too, one who will take up our cause, and speak for us to the King of Kings.

Then the presidents and princes sought to find occasion against Daniel concerning the kingdom; but they could find none occasion nor fault;

Who can stand before envy? High places provide very uncomfortable seats, for even if God exalts a man, men will try to pull him down; but he is an honorable man indeed who forces his enemies to use every stratagem before they can find anything against him.

Forasmuch as he was faithful, neither was there any error or fault found in him. Then said these men, We shall not find any occasion against this Daniel, except we find it against him concerning the law of his God.

Then these presidents and princes assembled together before the king and said this to him: "King Darius, live forever! All the presidents of the kingdom, the governors, and the princes, the counselors, and the captains have consulted together to establish a royal statute and to make a firm decree that whoever asks a petition of any God or man for thirty days, except from you, O king, will be cast into the den of lions." We do not know with what ingenious arguments they moved the king's mind to approve this, but we think we can imagine them.

He had just conquered Chaldea; they would, therefore, say, "It will be an excellent test of the obedience of your new subjects if you test them on the point of their religion; try whether they will for thirty days abstain from addressing their deities."

Perhaps, too, since Darius had a colleague on the throne—the younger Cyrus, who was much more popular than he—they may have egged him on by hinting that Cyrus was much too vain. They may have further suggested that, therefore, if he would not allow anyone to address a petition, even to Cyrus, for thirty days, it would tend to show who was really loyal to Darius and would also test Cyrus's temper. I cannot tell how they did it, but somehow or other they managed to lead the foolish old man to carry out their designs.

The Babylonians entrusted their king with absolute power; therefore, he could will this or that as he chose. The Persians believed their kings possessed perfect wisdom, and so they never allowed a law to be changed. To do so would imply that the king who made it had made a mistake—something that could never possibly happen.

A modern traveler provides an amusing example. He tells us that a few years ago, one of the later Persian kings declared he would not move from his tent on the plain until the snow had melted from some mountains he indicated.

It happened to be a very late summer, and the snow was slow to melt. Consequently, his gracious majesty had to remain in his tent while his troops were dying from fever in a low, marshy district. This situation continued until men were procured to sweep the snow from the mountaintops so that he could finally move.

It is inconvenient for men to play God; they cannot do so without bringing serious difficulty and danger upon themselves. Darius acted similarly on this occasion.

I never like men who, when they speak a hasty word, declare they cannot alter it. Rash vows are better broken than kept. You had no right to say you would do such a thing; much less do you have any right to do it simply because you said you would.

However, the law of the Medes and Persians could not be altered.

Wherefore king Darius signed the writing and the decree.

Now when Daniel knew that the writing was signed, he went into his house;

That is right; the less we have to do with man, and the more we have to do with God, the better. He did not go to the king to complain, but he went into his house to tell his God about it.