Daniel - A Man of God

A poem by Bob Brenneman

Many Christians’ knowledge of the man Daniel in the Old Testament is limited to his being thrown into the lion’s den. It is often used as a children’s story with pictures of pillowy lions and how God protected him. This is wonderful, but we saw during this past Labor Day’s conference held in Willoughby, that from another angle, Daniel is a superb model of a man of God who stood against the culture of the day with its evil demands and instead, boldly stood for God’s desire and eternal purpose all his life. He served his generation in a way that is debatably more perfect than any other man besides the Lord Jesus Himself. I was burdened to write a song, but when I reached verse eight, I realized it was too long, so I turned it into a poem. I hope you could see Daniel in this poem from the angle of his character, with a strong stand for God, not according to what would benefit himself, but what would be profitable for God’s goal for all eternity.

The situation was dire,
Vitality was low,
The sin of flesh their desire,
Their gods were trees and stone.
Committing then, two great sins:
Forsaking God, their source,
Hewed cisterns, waterless things;
Swerving, they left their course.

Sadly, God gave up on them;
“Jeremiah, don’t pray.”
Chaldea’s men will descend,
Take God’s people away.
Jerusalem was destroyed,
The temple was torn down.
To captivity they’d go,
Leaving their land, their towns.

The royal and noble youth—
Daniel was one of them—
Brilliant, wise, knowing God’s truth,
These were capable men.
To captivity they went,
Carried to Babylon.
To Harvard of Chaldea,
Trained, their culture to learn.

Daniel, along with his friends
Stood for their living God. 
They’d not eat of choice food trends,
But rather face the rod.
They were found to be stronger,
Wiser than all wise men.
They were now more than able,
To stand before the king.

The king had a dream one night,
It bothered him greatly.
Demanded of wise men, sight.
Tell the dream succinctly!
Then Daniel prayed with his friends.
The dream God gave to him.
No wise man could tell the things.
Through Daniel, God told him.

Daniel, given the vision,
Blessed God for evermore.
A great image was shown him,
Great kingdoms numbering four.
As he looked, a stone struck it,
Crushing and scattering, gone.
The stone became a mountain,
Filling the earth alone.

Babylon, the golden head,
With laws, math, and the wheel.
Persia, breast and arms instead
Were of silver metal.
Greece, bronze abdomen and thighs--
Drama, science, and sport.
Rome, iron and clay legs, feet,
Power, senate, and roads.

These four kingdoms for all time
Influenced the whole world.
Culture, commerce, and defense, 
These structures were unfurled. 
A stone will emerge to crush
And scatter all like chaff. 
Jesus Christ will change the world, 
Will grow and fill the earth.

Many worldly things in us
Must by the stone be crushed.
Jesus, as the stone must grow,
Completely filling us!
Jesus is so very vast,
So extensive is He!
He must be expressed on earth,
Through us eternally.

After revealing the dream,
Daniel received great gifts:
Honored, second to the king,
Chief of all the wisemen.
From the king he requested
Positions for his friends.
To them, the king bequested
To rule the whole kingdom.

Daniel a vessel became,
Filled up with Godly things.
Was trained by the world the same,
But not to what it brings.
He was filled with healthy things.
We should be filled the same.
Revelation, Spirit, Light,
Service, and Pursuing.

Nat’ral talent will not help,
Only revelation.
Christ the stone must smash all things
In our constitution. 
Growing, filling the whole earth,
With depths of God, Spirit, 
Accessing the heavenly realm,
We walk, are ruled, by it.

Filled with understanding, we
Become a vessel bright.
Luminaries to the world,
Corporate and filled with light.
With single eye, pure in heart,
God having shined in us,
We proclaim His wondrous parts,
The full riches of Christ.

We serve God persistently,
Not because of crisis.
We serve Him consistently,
Because of His graces!  
Persecution won’t stop us.
Nor will great hardships dare.
We love Him, will keep looking,
He will more with us share.

Some stages in Daniel’s life
Could be conveyed as three.
The first was Reactionary, 
To interpret kings’ dreams.
The second, Visionary,
From seeing God’s great scenes.
The third, Constitutional,
Gained from God’s work in him.

Reading in Jeremiah,
Daniel was quite amazed.
God’s people, captive would be,
Seventy years in slav’ry.
Now, ninety years old was he!
It was about that time.
The whole nation of Israel
Should return, time was prime.

Daniel asked what this word meant,
God’s response, “What’s in you?”
Then he prayed the words God sent,
Knowing His words were true.
The time was ripe to go back,
To live in God’s city
But he saw the people’s lack:
They cared not, what a pity.

Then he prayed that “we have sinned,”
Including him with them.
We must return, our lamps be trimmed,
Our spirits stirred for Him.
His sanctuary to build,
With city walls around,
With gates and ramparts secure
Upon the mount of God! 

Daniel was constituted
With God’s purpose and plan.
He somewhat comprehended,
God’s complete goal for man.
Serving God for all his life,
He was highly esteemed.
Precious was he in God’s sight,
His life fulfilled God’s dream.

God desires for His people
To be His lovely bride.
He has never given up
On a wife by His side.
He wants His sanctuary,
Habitation, His church.
For this lampstand, shining bright,
He will not stop His search.

His city, called by His name,
With walls, gates, foundations—
A people changed, not the same,
Mature and committed.
On a holy mountain high,
Not hidden, but shining—
A people esteemed, brought nigh,
On the whole earth, spreading! 

Our life should be for people,
To make them sons of God,
Members one of another
In the household of God.
Under the city’s ruling
Of the Holy Spirit,
An elevated mountain,
Nations streaming to it!

Daniel was a man of God
Serving his glorious King,
Living for God’s purposes
Faithfully to the end.
He served his generation,
Finished his lifelong course,
Kept looking, his vocation,
Seeking more from his source.

But God told him, “Go your way,
Enter into your rest.
From your course you did not sway,
In life you did your best.”
Like Daniel, we must pursue,
Taking Him as our source.
With God’s heart in front of us,
Live in Him, run our course.  

In Summary:
Daniel was a man of God,
Prepared to serve the king.
Daniel was raised up by God,
For God, in everything.