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for greater knowledge, for higher attainments. Other young men had
the same advantages; but they did not, like him, bend all their energies
to seek wisdom—the knowledge of God as revealed in His word and in
His works. Although Daniel was one of the world’s great men, he was
not proud nor self-sufficient. He felt the need of refreshing his soul
with prayer, and each day found him in earnest supplication before
God. He would not be deprived of this privilege even when a den of
lions was opened to receive him if he continued to pray.
Daniel loved, feared, and obeyed God. Yet he did not flee away
from the world to avoid its corrupting influence. In the providence
of God he was to be in the world yet not of the world. With all the
temptations and fascinations of court life surrounding him, he stood in
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the integrity of his soul, firm as a rock in his adherence to principle.
He made God his strength and was not forsaken of Him in his time of
greatest need.
Daniel was true, noble, and generous. While he was anxious to be
at peace with all men, he would not permit any power to turn him aside
from the path of duty. He was willing to obey those who had rule over
him, as far as he could do so consistently with truth and righteousness;
but kings and decrees could not make him swerve from his allegiance
to the King of kings. Daniel was but eighteen years old when brought
into a heathen court in service to the king of Babylon, and because of
his youth his noble resistance of wrong and his steadfast adherence
to the right are the more admirable. His noble example should bring
strength to the tried and tempted, even at the present day.
A strict compliance with the Bible requirements will be a blessing,
not only to the soul, but to the body. The fruit of the Spirit is not
only love, joy, and peace, but temperance also. We are enjoined
not to defile our bodies, for they are the temples of the Holy Ghost.
The case of Daniel shows us, that, through religious principle, young
men may triumph over the lust of the flesh and remain true to God’s
requirements, even though it cost them a great sacrifice. What if he had
made a compromise with those heathen officers, and had yielded to
the pressure of the occasion by eating and drinking as was customary
with the Babylonians? That one wrong step would probably have led
to others, until, his connection with heaven being severed, he would
have been borne away by temptation. But while he clung to God with
unwavering trust, the spirit of prophetic power came upon him. While