Matthew Henry Commentary Daniel 5:1-9

"Belshazzar the king made a great feast to a thousand of his lords, and drank wine before the thousand. Belshazzar, while he tasted the wine, commanded to bring the golden and silver vessels which Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple which was in Jerusalem; that the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, might drink therefrom. Then they brought the golden vessels that were taken out of the temple of the house of God which was at Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives and his concubines, drank from them. They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold, and of silver, of brass, of iron, of wood, and of stone. In the same hour came forth the fingers of a man`s hand, and wrote over against the candlestick upon the plaster of the wall of the king`s palace: and the king saw the part of the hand that wrote. Then the king`s countenance was changed in him, and his thoughts troubled him; and the joints of his loins were loosed, and his knees smote one against another. The king cried aloud to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the soothsayers. The king spake and said to the wise men of Babylon, Whosoever shall read this writing, and show me the interpretation thereof, shall be clothed with purple, and have a chain of gold about his neck, and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom. Then came in all the king`s wise men; but they could not read the writing, nor make known to the king the interpretation. Then was king Belshazzar greatly troubled, and his countenance was changed in him, and his lords were perplexed." — Daniel 5:1-9 (ASV)

Belshazzar defied the judgments of God. Most historians consider that Cyrus was then besieging Babylon. Complacency and sensuality are sad signs of approaching ruin. Mirth that profanes sacred things is indeed sinful; and are many of the songs used at contemporary feasts any better than the praises sung by pagans to their gods? See how God struck terror into Belshazzar and his lords.

God's written word is enough to frighten the proudest, boldest sinner. What we see of God—the part of the hand that writes in the book of creation and in the book of the Scriptures—should fill us with awe-filled thoughts about the part we do not see. If this is the finger of God, what is His arm when revealed in its power? And what is He?

The king's guilty conscience told him he had no reason to expect any good news from heaven. God can, in a moment, make the heart of the most hardened sinner tremble. Indeed, God needs only to unleash the sinner's own thoughts upon him; they will cause him enough distress. No physical pain can equal the inward agony that sometimes seizes the sinner in the midst of his mirth, carnal pleasures, and worldly pomp.

Sometimes terrors cause a person to flee to Christ for pardon and peace. However, many cry out from fear of wrath who are not humbled for their sins and who seek relief through lying vanities. The ignorance and uncertainty about the Holy Scriptures, shown by many who call themselves wise, only tend to drive sinners to despair, just as the ignorance of Belshazzar's wise men did.