Daniel and the lions, a bedtime story

Daniel lived in a land far from his home, in the kingdom of King Darius. Daniel was wise and good, and the king trusted him so much that he planned to put Daniel in charge of the whole kingdom.

Some of the other leaders did not like that one bit. They watched Daniel very carefully, looking for something he had done wrong. But they could not find anything. Daniel was faithful and honest in everything he did.

So they made a plan. They went to the king and asked him to make a new law. For thirty days, nobody could pray to any god, or ask for anything from anyone, except the king. Anyone who did would be thrown into the den of lions. And the king signed the law.

Daniel heard about the new law. And he went home to his upstairs room, where the windows were open toward Jerusalem. Three times a day, just as he always had, he knelt down and prayed to God and thanked him.

The leaders found Daniel praying, and they hurried to tell the king. The king was very upset with himself. He liked Daniel. All day long, until the sun went down, he tried to find a way to save him. But a law the king had signed could not be changed.

So Daniel was brought to the den of lions. Before he went in, the king said to him that his God, whom he served all the time, would rescue him.

A stone was placed over the opening of the den, and the king sealed it with his own ring.

Then the king went back to his palace. He would not eat. He would not have any music played. And he could not sleep at all. All night long he lay awake, thinking about Daniel.

We are not told what Daniel did that long night in the den. Maybe he prayed, the way he always did. God had not forgotten him.

Very early in the morning, as soon as it began to grow light, the king got up and hurried to the den. He called out in a sad and worried voice. He called Daniel the servant of the living God, and he asked whether his God had been able to save him from the lions.

And from inside the den came Daniel’s voice: O king, live forever! My God has sent his angel, and has shut the lions’ mouths, and they have not hurt me.

Shut the lions’ mouths. All night long those big lions had stayed quiet. Not one of them had hurt Daniel.

The king was so glad. He had Daniel lifted up out of the den, and there was not a scratch on him anywhere, because he had trusted in his God.

Then King Darius wrote to all the people in his kingdom. He told them about Daniel’s God, the living God, who rescues and saves.

The king lay awake all night, worrying. But Daniel was in God’s hands the whole time. You do not have to lie awake worrying tonight either. The God who shut the lions’ mouths is watching over you. So you can close your eyes, and rest.