Series: Give Thanks
Psalm 100:4 ESV
2 Kings 24:12 ESV
2 Kings 24:13 ESV
2 Kings 24:14 ESV
Daniel 6:3 ESV
Daniel 6:16 ESV and Daniel 6:7
Daniel 6:11 ESV
Daniel 6:26-27 and 6:28 ESV
I was reminded today that even when everything seems grim it’s imperative to give thanks and bless the holy name of God.
Psalm 100:4 says, “Enter his gates with thanksgiving, and his courts with praise! Give thanks to him; bless his name!”
I was reminded that when the mighty King of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzer II marched into Jerusalem in 587-586 B.C. and destroyed the Temple that was built by King Solomon the name of Yahweh God was to be praised.
Even then we enter his gates with thanksgiving.
We praise God in His courts.
We give thanks to Yahweh.
We bless His holy name.
Not only did Babylon destroy the Temple, they destroyed the city wall in Jerusalem leaving desolation in their path. Jerusalem was in ashes.
Even then we enter his gates with thanksgiving. We praise God in His courts. We give thanks to Yahweh. We bless His holy name.
The Babylonian soldiers took what loot they wanted. We are told in 2 Kings 24:12, “Jehoiachin the king of Judah gave himself up to the king of Babylon, himself and his mother and his servants and his officials and his palace officials. The King of Babylon took him prisoner in the eighth year of his reign.”
The King of Babylon took Jehoiachin, King of Judah and his entire household as prisoners.
Even then we enter his gates with thanksgiving. We praise God in His courts. We give thanks to Yahweh. We bless His holy name.
King Nebuchadnezzer took “carried off all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the king's house, and cut in pieces all the vessels of gold in the temple of the Lord, which Solomon king of Israel had made, as the Lord had foretold” (2 Kings 24:13).
Even then we enter his gates with thanksgiving. We praise God in His courts. We give thanks to Yahweh. We bless His holy name.
Then we are told in 2 Kings 24:14, the King of Babylon “carried away all Jerusalem and all the officials and all the mighty men of valor, 10,000 captives, and all the craftsmen and the smiths. None remained, except the poorest people of the land.”
EVEN then…we enter his gates with thanksgiving. We praise God in His courts. We give thanks to Yahweh. We bless His holy name.
That’s because even then, Yahweh God had a plan. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego were among the brightest and best of Jerusalem. They were among the captives taken to a foreign land.
It looked really bad for the people of God. Yet God had a plan. God was not through with Israel. While the brightest and the best were in Babylon, God blessed them.
God blessed them so much that many of them were noticed. Daniel was one of the men and we are told in Daniel 6:3, “Daniel became distinguished above all the other high officials and satraps, because an excellent spirit was in him. And the king planned to set him over the whole kingdom.”
But the high officials, the prefects, and the satraps conspired to make Daniel look bad. They convinced the King to require everyone who petitions or makes an ordinance with any god except the King will be thrown into the lion’s den (Daniel 6:7). We are told in Daniel 6:11, “Then these men came by agreement and found Daniel making petition and plea before his God.”
So the high officials, prefects, and satraps made a plan and they went to see Daniel and they reported Daniel’s disobedience to the king.
Even though the king wanted to help Daniel he could not go against his own law. In Daniel 6:16 we are told Daniel was thrown into the Lion’s Den and, “The king declared to Daniel, “May your God, whom you serve continually, deliver you!”
The next morning when the King arose he went to the den and he could hardly believe his own eyes, for Daniel was alive and sitting with the lions!
As a result the King made a decree, “in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions” (Daniel 6:26-27).
AND (this is the really good part) we are told in Daniel 6:28, “So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.”
Spiritual Practice: Be Thankful
Even when life gets tough, keep praying and tell God thanks for always being there.
In God, Deborah
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