Long Live the King: Daniel, Lions, and Vows

Psalm 61

What if Daniel was praying through Psalm 61 just before the guards threw him into the lion’s den?

Hang with me.

I was practicing the spiritual discipline of praying the psalms this morning, and August 1 led me to Psalm 61. I am also reading through the book of Daniel chapter by chapter which brought me to chapter 6 on this Saturday morning. Connections like these make prayer soul provoking. Let me explain.

Psalm 61 is a short prayer “of” David. This can mean anything from “by David” or “to David” or “concerning David” or even “for David,” but it seems to be connected to the life of David on some level. The prayer is a cry for help (1) from a heart that is faint (2). No specific problem or enemy or struggle is named, just a simple cry for help. David wants find refuge (3) in a rock that is higher (2), a rock who is a strong tower against the enemy (3). He wants to take refuge under the shadow of God’s wings (4).

I can hear the chorus of an old summer camp song: “Lead me to the rock that is higher than I, higher and higher…” But I digress.

The song finishes with David’s promise to sing praise to the name of the Lord forever and ever (8).

However, two elements in this song are curious to me.

First, two verses make four requests for the king: prolong the life of the king (6), may his years endure to all generations (6), may he be enthroned forever before God (7), and may God appoint steadfast love and faithfulness to watch over the king (7). If David is the author of the song, then he is obviously praying for himself. If this song is “about David,” then the singer might be praying for another Davidic king. Either way only Christ, the Eternal King, can  ultimately fulfilled this prayer.

Regardless, we might shorten the prayer into a simple, “long live the king.”

Secondly, David mentions his “vows” before the Lord twice in this short song. A vow is a solemn promise, or a service one is bound to perform. David rejoices that God has “heard his vows” (5) and promises to sing praises to His name “as he performs his vows day after day” (8).

So, David performed his vows daily, and they included prayer and singing.

What does this have to do with Daniel? Glad you asked.

Daniel was the victim of the jealously of the high officials and satraps under the reign of Darius, king of Persia. Daniel had an excellent spirit, so the king planned on setting him over the whole kingdom. The other officials could find nothing wrong with Daniel, but they knew he prayed daily to the Lord. They convinced the king to pass a law forbidding anyone to pray to anyone other than the king for 30 days. Daniel knew of this law, but still went to his upper chamber, got down on his knees, and prayed and gave thanks to God, something he did three times a day (see Daniel 6.10).

Three times a day, Daniel got down on his knees and prayed. Performing his vows before the Lord. Daily.

Breaking this law carried one penalty: a den of lions. And into that den Daniel went. The next morning, the king rose early and went to the den, hoping that somehow Daniel had survived the night. God had sent an angel to shut the lion’s mouths (Daniel 6.22), and he was not harmed at all. But notice the first thing Daniel said,

Then Daniel said to the king, “O king, live forever! 22My 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.” Daniel 6:21–22 (ESV)

“O king, live forever” sounds an awful lot like “prolong the life of the king.”  Praying three times a day seems like performing vows.

Reading these two passages back to back ignited my holy imagination.

What if Daniel, a faithful Jew who surely knew the pray book of God’s people, was practicing the spiritual discipline of praying the psalms on that night, and Psalm 61 was the song before him? How might this psalm have led him in prayer?

Daniel knew the law. He knew his prayer might land him in the lion’s den. Surely his heart was faint. He would have cried out to the Lord, seeking refuge in the strong tower. He knew the Lord heard his prayers, his daily vows.

But how did he pray verses 6 and 7? Could he honestly ask for the king to have a long life, for his years to endure, for him to be enthroned forever, the very king that was going to toss him into the lion’s den? Would Daniel want the steadfast love of the Lord and faithfulness to watch over Darius?

The psalms almost always drag us into the intersection of faith and trials, mortal and spiritual enemies, human kings and the King of Kings. Daniel served Darius and perhaps even had a good relationship with him. He might have wished the king well, even as he performed his daily vows. But now?

Have you ever wondered what Daniel was thinking while surrounded by closed mouth lions? Did he peacefully fall asleep? Did he run his fingers through their manes? Did he cower in fear?

Or, did he pray through his daily psalm once again?

The Lord heard my cry, my daily vows. He is my refuge, my strong tower, a Rock higher than I. He is the Eternal King, but he also leads earthly kings.

Maybe he even prayed for Darius, that he might come to know the One True King of Kings.

And as he was pondering all these things, Darius cried out,

O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions? Daniel 6:20 (ESV)

To which Daniel surely thought, “God, you have heard my vows and given me the heritage of those who fear Your name. Yes, long live the king”

I realize this is a stretch, but this is the way we read Scripture today and the way the Lord speaks today. We read one Scripture in our morning devotion time, but it reminds us of the verse we are working on memorizing this week. Both of those bounce off the sermon from last Sunday. And our daily psalm interacts with it all, leading us to pray in interesting and intriguing ways.

Our heart cry will be different. The refuge we long for will be different. The kings we endure will be different. But our songs of praise will probably sound the same as we perform our vows.

I will ever sing praises to Your name as I perform my vows day after day.