John Calvin Commentary Daniel 6:21-22

"Then said Daniel unto the king, O king, live for ever. My God hath sent his angel, and hath shut the lions` mouths, and they have not hurt me; forasmuch as before him innocency was found in me; and also before thee, O king, have I done no hurt." — Daniel 6:21-22 (ASV)

Here Daniel answers the king moderately and softly, although he had been cast into the cave by his command. He might have deservedly been angry and remonstrated with him, because he had been so wickedly deserted by him, for King Darius had found him a faithful servant and had used his services for his own advantage.

When he saw himself oppressed by false accusations, the king did not defend him as wholeheartedly as he should have; and eventually, being overcome by the threats of his nobles, he ordered Daniel to be cast into the pit. Daniel might, as I have said, have complained of the king’s cruelty and treachery. He does not do this, but is silent concerning this injury, because his deliverance would sufficiently magnify the glory of God.

The holy Prophet desired nothing else except the king’s welfare, for which he prays. Although he uses the ordinary phrase, he speaks from his heart when he says, O king, live for ever!—that is, may God protect your life and bless you perpetually. Many salute their kings and even their friends in this way through mere form, but there is no doubt that Daniel heartily wished the king the enjoyment of long life and happiness. He afterwards adds,

My God, he says, sent his angel, and shut the lions’ mouths! Thus we see that Daniel openly assigns to angels the duty of rendering assistance, while the whole power remains in the hands of God himself. He says, therefore, that he was freed by the hand and assistance of an angel, but shows how the angel was the agent and not the author of his safety.

God, therefore, he says, sent his angel. We have often seen how indistinctly the Chaldeans spoke when mentioning the Deity; they called their deities holy, but Daniel here ascribes the entire glory to God alone. He does not bring forward a multitude of deities according to the prevalent opinion among the profane.

He puts prominently forward the unity of God; and then he adds the presence of angels as assisting God’s servants, showing how they perform whatever is commanded of them. Thus the whole praise of their salvation remains with the one God, since angels do not assist whomever they please, and are not moved by their own will, but solely in obedience to God’s commands.

We must now notice what follows: God had shut the lions’ mouths. For by these words the Prophet shows how lions and the most cruel beasts are in the hands of God, and are restrained by his secret curb, so that they can neither rage nor commit any injury unless by God’s permission.

We may thus learn that savage beasts are injurious to us only to the extent that God may permit them to humble our pride. Meanwhile, we may perceive that no beast is so cruel as to injure us by either its claws or its teeth, unless God gives it free rein.

And this instruction is worthy of special notice, since we tremble at the least danger, even at the noise of a falling leaf. As we are necessarily exposed to many dangers on all sides and surrounded by various forms of death, we would therefore be harassed by wretched anxiety if this principle did not support us: not only is our life under God’s protection, but nothing can injure us while he directs everything by his will and pleasure.

And this principle should be extended to the devils themselves, and to impious and wicked men. For we know the devil is always anxious to destroy us, like a roaring lion, for he prowls about seeking whom he may devour, as Peter says in his First Epistle (1 Peter 5:8). For we see how all the impious continually plot for our destruction, and how madly they are inflamed against us.

But God, who can close the lion’s mouth, will also restrain both the devil and all the wicked from hurting anyone without his permission. Experience also shows us how the devil and all the impious are controlled by him, for we would perish every moment if he did not ward off by his opposing influence the countless evils that constantly hang over us.

We should perceive how the singular protection of God preserves us in daily safety amidst the ferocity and madness of our foes. Daniel says he suffered no loss of any kind, because before God his righteousness was found in him. These words signify that his preservation arose from God wishing to vindicate his own glory and worship which he had commanded in his law.

The Prophet does not here boast in his own righteousness, but rather shows how his deliverance arose from God’s wishing to testify by a sure and clear proof his approval of that worship for which Daniel had contended even to death. We see, then, how Daniel refers all things to the approval of the worship of God.

The conclusion is, he was the advocate of a pious and holy cause, and prepared to undergo death, not for any foolish imagination, nor by any rash impulse, nor any blind zeal, but because he was assured of his being a worshipper of the one God. His being the defender of the cause of piety and holiness was, as he asserts, the reason of his preservation. This is the correct conclusion.

Hence we readily gather the folly of the Papists who, from this and similar passages, endeavor to establish the merit and righteousness of good works. Oh! Daniel was preserved because righteousness was found in him before God; therefore God repays every man according to the merits of his works!

But we must first consider Daniel’s intention in the narrative before us. For, as I have said, he does not boast in his own merits, but wishes his preservation to be ascribed to the Deity as a testimony to his true and pure worship, so as to shame King Darius, to show all his superstitions to be impious, and especially, to admonish him concerning that sacrilegious edict by which he arrogated to himself the supreme command and, as far as he could, abolished the very existence of God.

So then, with the aim of admonishing Darius, the Prophet says his cause was just. And to make the solution of the difficulty easier, we must note the difference between eternal salvation and special deliverances. God frees us from eternal death and adopts us into the hope of eternal life, not because he finds any righteousness in us but through his own gratuitous choice, and he perfects in us his own work without any regard to our works.

With reference to our eternal salvation, our righteousness is by no means regarded, because whenever God examines us, he only finds material for condemnation. But when we consider particular deliverances, he may then notice our righteousness. This is not as if it were naturally ours; rather, he extends his hand to those whom he governs by his Spirit and urges to obey his call. And if they incur any danger in their efforts to obey his will, he delivers them.

The meaning then is exactly the same as if anyone should assert that God favors righteous causes, but it has nothing to do with merits. Hence the Papists trifle like children when they use this passage to elicit from it human merits. For Daniel wished to assert nothing but the pure worship of God, as if he had said that not only did his righteous standing proceed from God, but there was another cause for his deliverance: namely, the Almighty’s wish to show the world by experience the justice of his cause.

He adds, And even before you, O king, I have committed nothing wrong. It is clear that the Prophet had violated the king’s edict. Why, then, does he not candidly confess this? No, why does he contend that he has not transgressed against the king? Because he conducted himself with fidelity in all his duties, he could free himself from every slander by which he knew himself oppressed, as if he had despised the king’s sovereignty.

But Daniel was not so bound to the king of the Persians when the king claimed for himself, as a god, what should not be offered to him. We know how earthly empires are established by God, only on the condition that he deprives himself of nothing, but shines forth alone, and all magistrates must be set in proper order, and every authority in existence must be subject to his glory.

Since, therefore, Daniel could not obey the king’s edict without denying God, as we have previously seen, he did not transgress against the king by constantly persevering in that exercise of piety to which he had been accustomed, and by calling on his God three times a day. To make this more evident, we must remember that passage of Peter,

Fear God, honor the king (1 Peter 2:17).

The two commands are connected together and cannot be separated from one another. The fear of God should precede, so that kings may obtain their authority. For if anyone begins his reverence of an earthly prince by rejecting that of God, he will act preposterously, since this is a complete perversion of the order of nature.

Then let God be feared in the first place, and earthly princes will obtain their authority, provided that God shines forth, as I have already said. Daniel, therefore, here defends himself with justice, since he had not committed any crime against the king; for he was compelled to obey the command of God, and he neglected what the king had ordered in opposition to it.

For earthly princes lay aside all their power when they rise up against God and are unworthy of being counted among humankind. We should rather utterly defy them than obey them whenever they are so restive and wish to deprive God of his rights and, as it were, to seize upon his throne and draw him down from heaven. Now, therefore, we understand the meaning of this passage.