The Lion Sleeps Tonight

Introduction

Theme: Honor God by giving him credit.

You’ve been learning about King David but I want to tell you about a different person. Just about everyone has heard of this story. It’s the story of Daniel in the lions’ den.

After King David came many kings. Some listened to God but others didn’t. King Jehoiakim was one of the last kings who didn’t listen to God. Because he didn’t listen to God, all of his people were taken away from their land and put in another one.

King Jehoiakim was one of the last kings who didn’t listen to God.

They went to Babylon, but Babylon was taken over by the Persians. Daniel was taken from his land in Israel and lived in Babylon. But the Persians were in charge. Let’s find out how Daniel ended up in a lions’ den in .

God Blesses Faithfulness

Daniel was very wise because he sought God first. God gave him wisdom to help the king even though he was in a foreign land.

The first game he served was the Babylonian king Nebuchadnezzar. He was very high up in the government because of his wisdom.

But the Babylonians were conquered by the Persians. That meant that Daniel would now serve King Darius. But because he was very wise he continued to be a very important person in the kingdom.

In fact, he was so wise that he became one of three bosses over 120 other people. King Darius was so pleased with his work that he decided to make him the only boss over everyone else.

God Punishes Jealousy

But the other two guys didn’t like that so much. They decided they would find a way to get rid of Daniel. They were jealous of him and wanted to be in his spot.

Illustration: Have your been jealous of someone? It happens so easily, doesn’t it? Maybe your teacher pays attention to somebody else in school. Or maybe when you play sports the coach likes someone else instead of you. We want to be the one everyone is looking at. And when that doesn’t happen, we can get jealous.

That’s exactly what happened to the other two guys. They wanted to be number one instead of Daniel.

So they decided to trick the king into making a rule that couldn’t be changed. They told King Darius that only he should be worshiped as a god. He liked the sound of that.

So he signed a rule that everyone in the land must worship only him for the next month. Anybody who didn’t would be thrown into a lion’s den.

They were tricky because they knew that Daniel prayed to God three times a day no matter what. All they had to do is follow him home and wait for him to pray.

But Daniel didn’t change his mind. Even though there was a law against praying to God, he did it anyway. He remained faithful to God even though it wasn’t popular or even allowed where he lived.

Application: Sometimes when rules go against God’s rules we must trust him and do what he says to do instead of what everyone else tells us to do. We have to trust God that he’ll take care of us when we don’t listen to others because they go against him.

Well, Daniel got caught disobeying the laws in the land. The other two guys turned him into the king. But King Darius was upset because he liked Daniel.

Even though King Darius liked Daniel, he still had to follow the written rules that he made. So Daniel had to go into the lions gun for the night. But the king hoped against hope that Daniel would be safe.

Daniel 6:16 NIrV

So the king gave the order. Daniel was brought out and thrown into the lions’ den. The king said to him, “You always serve your God faithfully. So may he save you!”

King Darius couldn’t sleep or eat that night. He was so worried about Daniel. Sometimes even when other people like us they have to follow rules so they don’t show everyone else they like us more than everyone else.

King Darius couldn’t sleep or eat that night. He was so worried about Daniel. Sometimes even when other people like us they have to follow rules so they don’t show everyone else they like us more than everyone else.

King Darius was worried the entire night and couldn’t wait for morning.

Meanwhile, Daniel was in the lions den and prayed to God to protect him. God sent an angel to shut the mouths of the lions so they wouldn’t eat Daniel. He was safe the entire night.

In the morning, first thing King Darius did was run out to the lions den and to check on Daniel. He yelled down for Daniel and amazingly Daniel was still alive.

King Darius was so angry at the other two guys for tricking him that he took Daniel out of the lions den and through the other two guys in.

Application: God always takes care of us. He protects us from anything that will harm us. He knows what’s going to happen to us before it happens. We need to trust him that he will keep us safe to matter what.

Application: Even though we think it takes God too long to punish others for what they do to us, he has perfect timing. And what he decides will happen to them for what they did to us is always the best punishment. Don’t worry about defending yourself. God will defend you!

God Blesses Humility

Daniel 6:21–22 NIrV

Daniel answered, “My king, may you live forever! My God sent his angel. And his angel shut the mouths of the lions. They haven’t hurt me at all. That’s because I haven’t done anything wrong in God’s sight. I’ve never done anything wrong to you either, my king.”

Daniel gave God the credit for saving his life that night. He told King Darius all about how he prayed and God was the one to shut the mouths of the lions.

Daniel gave God the credit for saving his life that night. He told King Darius all about how he prayed and God was the one to shut the mouths of the lions.

Daniel gave God the credit for saving his life that night. He told King Darius all about how he prayed and God was the one to shut the mouths of the lions.

Daniel gave God the credit for saving his life that night. He told King Darius all about how he prayed and God was the one to shut the mouths of the lions.

He didn’t do anything lies in his own ability. He only asked God to take care of him.

Because Daniel gave God the credit, God honored him. King Darius actually made another law that everyone has to worship Daniel’s God.

Daniel 6:26–27 NIrV

“I order people in every part of my kingdom to respect and honor Daniel’s God. “He is the living God. He will live forever. His kingdom will not be destroyed. His rule will never end. He sets people free and saves them. He does miraculous signs and wonders. He does them in the heavens and on the earth. He has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.”

No matter what happened to Daniel, he was faithful to do what he knew was right. And he always gave the credit for everything that happened to him.

No matter what happened to Daniel, he was faithful to do what he knew was right. And he always gave the credit for everything that happened to him.

He was humble and didn’t take credit for the amazing things God did. Everything that happens in our lives is because of God. Let’s never forget to give him credit for every good gift he gives to us.

Conclusion

Honor God by giving him credit.