“When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” – Psalm 56:3-4
As we continue to look at the story of Daniel, let’s set the scene. Where the book of Daniel starts is probably the worst time to be alive in the history of Israel. This was the day Israelites had dreaded for a long time. It was a day that had been prophesied by the prophets, a day they had been warned about since they had previously sinned against God and refused to repent.
So now, all the bad things that God said would happen are happening. They had been defeated by a pagan ruler. They had departed a pagan nation under a pagan ruler and were taken away in captivity. The holy vessels that were so important to them had been desecrated.
We don’t know too much about Daniel’s early life. We know that he was born into an unidentified family and most scholars believe this family was of Judean nobility of some sort, simply because he was among the first selection of Jewish captives taken to Babylon by King Nebuchadnezzar.
At the time of the exile, Daniel was only 15 years old. And while most teenagers would have just fallen into line and given into the temptation of turning away from God and worshipping the fans god of the Babylonians, Daniel did not. He was committed to God.
Even at a young age, Daniel was courageous. How was he able to be so courageous so young? Was it something he was born with? It was not. Daniel was able to be courageous because he knew the God he trusted was bigger than the obstacles he faced.
Psalm 56:3-4 says, “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you. In God whose word I praise— in God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” Daniel understood that nothing that he came up against was bigger, stronger, or greater than the God he served.
As we said yesterday, if you are going to be faithful to God, there will come a point when you must act with courage. And when that moment comes, remember, that the God you serve is bigger than the obstacles you face.