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Daniel 5:17-24

¹⁷Daniel answered the king, ‘Keep your gifts or give them to someone else, but I will tell you what the writing means. ¹⁸Your Majesty, the Most High God gave sovereignty, majesty, glory, and honor to your predecessor, Nebuchadnezzar. ¹⁹He made him so great that people of all races and nations and languages trembled before him in fear. He killed those he wanted to kill and spared those he wanted to spare. He honored those he wanted to honor and disgraced those he wanted to disgrace. ²⁰But when his heart and mind were puffed up with arrogance, he was brought down from his royal throne and stripped of his glory. ²¹He was driven from human society. He was given the mind of a wild animal, and he lived among the wild donkeys. He ate grass like a cow, and he was drenched with the dew of heaven, until he learned that the Most High God rules over the kingdoms of the world and appoints anyone he desires to rule over them.’

²²‘You are his successor, O Belshazzar, and you knew all this, yet you have not humbled yourself. ²³For you have proudly defied the Lord of heaven and have had these cups from his Temple brought before you. You and your nobles and your wives and concubines have been drinking wine from them while praising gods of silver, gold, bronze, iron, wood, and stone—gods that neither see nor hear nor know anything at all. But you have not honored the God who gives you the breath of life and controls your destiny! ²⁴So God has sent this hand to write this message.’

Reflect

The king offered Daniel beautiful gifts and great power if he would explain the writing, but Daniel turned him down. Daniel was not motivated by material rewards. His entire life had been characterized by doing right. Daniel was not showing disrespect in refusing the gifts, but he was growing older himself and knew the gifts would do him little good. Besides, being third highest ruler in a kingdom Daniel knew was about to be destroyed was not exactly motivating! Daniel wanted to show that he was giving an unbiased interpretation to the king. Secondly, kings would often kill the bearer of bad news. But Daniel was not afraid to tell the truth to the king even though it was not what he wanted to hear.

Doing right should be our first priority, not gaining power or rewards and, we should be just as courageous in telling the truth under pressure.

Respond

1. Do you love God enough to do what is right, even if it means giving up personal rewards?
2. How hard is it for you to tell someone the truth even if it is something they won’t want to hear?
3. What can we do to be more like Daniel in these situations?

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