Scripture Focus: Daniel 7.1, 13-14
In the first year of Belshazzar king of Babylon, Daniel had a dream, and visions passed through his mind as he was lying in bed. He wrote down the substance of his dream. 

13 “In my vision at night I looked, and there before me was one like a son of man, o coming with the clouds of heaven. He approached the Ancient of Days and was led into his presence. 14 He was given authority, glory and sovereign power; all nations and peoples of every language worshiped him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion that will not pass away, and his kingdom is one that will never be destroyed. 

Psalm 115.2-8
2 Why do the nations say, 
“Where is their God?” 
3 Our God is in heaven; 
he does whatever pleases him. 
4 But their idols are silver and gold, 
made by human hands. 
5 They have mouths, but cannot speak, 
eyes, but cannot see. 
6 They have ears, but cannot hear, 
noses, but cannot smell. 
7 They have hands, but cannot feel, 
feet, but cannot walk, 
nor can they utter a sound with their throats. 
8 Those who make them will be like them, 
and so will all who trust in them. 

Reflection: Visions of Perspective
By John Tillman

The book of Daniel is not in chronological order. These visions of beasts begin during the first year of Belshazzar’s reign but we don’t read of them until after hearing of Belshazzar’s fall and of Darius who replaced him. 

These shocking visions, revealing the fall of Babylon and many other kingdoms, were so terrifying to Daniel that he was disturbed in spirit and physically exhausted for days. They seem to have changed him.

The Daniel entering Belshazzar’s feast in chapter five is no longer the Daniel from chapter four, who gave an emotional, pleading warning to Nebuchadnezzar. Years have passed. Daniel has seen things. He is older and more experienced. He’s seen his friends persecuted, his warnings ignored, and visions that terrified him. He is perhaps a bit cynical about the current state of the government. (Many of us perhaps can identify with that.)

Daniel showed concern and fear when telling Nebuchadnezzar of his coming fall into madness, but he does not shy away from directly rebuking Belshazzar. The change is dramatic. 

Daniel is no longer the bright young man attempting to prove himself or please the king. He bluntly throws Belshazzar’s offer of gifts back in his face. After all he has seen, he doesn’t need gifts to tell the truth. He doesn’t fear for his life after seeing the history of the world spun out into eternity. 

Daniel knows that this kingdom he has been working to prosper is about to fall. What good is Belshazzar’s offer of being the third highest ruler in the kingdom, when that kingdom will end before the sun comes up? What threat is being thrown to Darius’s lions after beholding the beasts of the future of the world?

More importantly, Daniel knows that, in the scope of the great beasts and the timeline he has witnessed, Belshazzar, Darius, and Cyrus are, at best, tiny horns on the beasts of history. Belshazzar, in particular, is an inferior level of the statue from Nebuchadnezzar’s disturbing dream.

After seeing the Ancient of Days and the Son of Man, how can Daniel be impressed by or cower before a human king? Oh that such a change of perspective could come over us.

Oh, Son of Man, enthroned! 
Oh, Ancient of Days!
May kings of earth be strangely dimmed
In the light of your glorious face.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Greeting
Who is like you, Lord God of hosts? O mighty Lord, your faithfulness is all around you.
Righteousness and justice are the foundations of your throne; love and truth go before your face — Psalm 116.8

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Daniel 7  (Listen – 5:21)
Psalm 114-115 (Listen – 2:18)

Read more about Weighed and Found Wanting
We also hold in our hands wealth and power that we think we gained for ourselves but which came from God.

Read more about Truth Unwanted :: A Guided Prayer
Jesus, you are the king, the gift, and the truth that the world does not want.

Scripture Focus: Daniel 6.10-11
10 Now when Daniel learned that the decree had been published, he went home to his upstairs room where the windows opened toward Jerusalem. Three times a day he got down on his knees and prayed, giving thanks to his God, just as he had done before. 11 Then these men went as a group and found Daniel praying and asking God for help.

Psalm 112.7-8
They will have no fear of bad news;
their hearts are steadfast, trusting in the Lord.
8 Their hearts are secure, they will have no fear;
in the end they will look in triumph on their foes.

Reflection: Public, Prayerful, Persistent Protest
By John Tillman

Daniel’s daily prayer probably concerned his reading of Jeremiah’s prophecies about the return from exile. (Daniel 9.1-3)

Daniel’s prayer was not just any kind of prayer. Daniel prayed for God to forgive the sin of the people and return them to their homeland. This was a subversive prayer for the oppressed to be freed by the government Daniel served. 

Regardless of the topic of Daniel’s prayer, when a law was passed forbidding it, Daniel’s public prayer became a protest against injustice. 

Those who wish to regulate protests often say to protesters, “Not here. Not now. Not like this.” They may have told Daniel to pray at a different time or place. They may have told Daniel to pray in private, keeping his religion to himself. They may have told Daniel to pray silently, so as not to offend anyone. But Daniel did not allow anyone to dictate the timing and method of his prayerful protest for justice.

Daniel prayed in defiance of an unjust law. He was guilty before the law of the land, but blameless before God. He also remained blameless and unassailable in the righteousness of all his other dealings. He broke no other law in the course of his protest. 

Finally, Daniel faced the consequences of his protest without protest. He did not demand or expect to be spared. He trusted in God for justice, not in humans. 

We too, are exiles living in an unjust world. The corrupt followers of the corrupt systems around us are prepared to penalize us for resisting. In a corrupt system, incorruptibility is a crime.

When we protest injustice, no matter what is, we can follow Daniel’s model of publicly, prayerfully, and persistently protesting unjust laws in a just and righteous way. Daniel’s protest softened the heart of a king and changed the leadership of an entire nation. What might ours change today?

Pray this prayer for those living in and protesting injustice in a corrupt world: (Based on Psalm 112 and the proclamation of Darius in Daniel 6.)

Oh, God whose kingdom will not be destroyed
Rescue and save! 
As in heaven, work your will on the earth. 
From ravenous lions, save us, your servants.

Make the darkness light for the upright, 
The gracious, compassionate, and righteous
who conduct their affairs with justice. 
May hearts be steadfast
May the wicked be vexed, 
May justice longed for roll like rivers over them.

Divine Hours Prayer: The Morning Psalm
Your righteousness, O God, reaches to the heavens, you have done great things; who is like you, O God?
You have showed me great troubles and adversities, but you will restore my life and bring me up again from the deep places of the earth,
You strengthen me more and more; you enfold and comfort me.
Therefore I will praise you upon the lyre for your faithfulness, O my God; I will sing to you with the harp, O holy One of Israel.
My lips will sing with joy when I play to you, and so will my soul, which you have redeemed.
My tongue will proclaim your righteousness all day long,for they are ashamed and disgraced who sought to do me harm.  — Psalm 71.19-24

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Daniel 6  (Listen – 5:18)
Psalm 112-113 (Listen – 1:49)

Read more about A Generational Lament
Prayers of lament and complaint are a healthy and fulfilling spiritual practice that can be entered into by individuals and communities.

Read more about Peter’s Unfinished Work
As evidenced by both the murder of George Floyd and some of the broken and tragic responses to it, the church has much work left to do.

Scripture Focus: Daniel 5.17, 25-28
17 Then Daniel answered the king, “You may keep your gifts for yourself and give your rewards to someone else. Nevertheless, I will read the writing for the king and tell him what it means. 

25 “This is the inscription that was written: 

MENE, MENE, TEKEL, PARSIN 

26 “Here is what these words mean: 
Mene: God has numbered the days of your reign and brought it to an end. 
27 Tekel: You have been weighed on the scales and found wanting. 
28 Peres: Your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.” 

Psalm 110.5
The Lord is at your right hand; he will crush kings on the day of his wrath.

Psalm 111.10
The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom; all who follow his precepts have good understanding. To him belongs eternal praise.

Reflection: Weighed and Found Wanting
By John Tillman

The terms written on Belshazzar’s wall come from counting and weighing money made of precious metals and are filled with double meanings. Mene means “mina” and sounds like the word for “measured.” Tekel means shekels, a unit of weight measurement, and was also a play on the word numbered. Parsin means half-shekels, implying a kingdom divided, and sounded like Persian, which is who would take over the kingdom.

“Writing on the wall,” has become a worldwide idiom that shows up in countless cultural references. Many don’t know that it comes from the Bible. But there is more to the meaning of the phrase than an ominous warning. The writing on the wall is all about pride and gold.

The gold items Belshazzar was drinking from had an interesting history.

After humbling Egypt, God caused Egyptians to look favorably on the slaves as they left. God told the Israelites to ask for items of gold and jewelry, “so they plundered the Egyptians.” (Exodus 11.1-3; 12.31-36)

Later, the people gave of this gold to make implements of worship designed by God. (Exodus 35.20-29) A generation prior to the exile, Hezekiah showed off these golden items in the temple to visiting Babylonian officials, which seems to have sparked Babylon’s interest in conquering the land. (2 Kings 20.12-18)

So, Belshazzar held in his hand golden cups designed by God, made from gold taken by God by humbling Egypt at the height of its power. Belshazzar stood atop the empire of his father, called the “king of kings,” who at the height of his power suffered humiliation and exile because of his pride. 

Belshazzar held God’s cup but did not honor the God who held his own life in his hands. (Daniel 5.23) Belshazzar “knew all this” but still chose to defy the God of Israel. Belshazzar did not measure up. He was found wanting. 

Belshazzar should have known better and so should we. We also hold in our hands wealth and power that we think we gained for ourselves but which came from God. 

We, like Belshazzar, “know all this,” but do we learn from the sins of our fathers before us? Do we continue in them or deny them?
We are responsible for what we know and what we do about it.
When we, and the rulers we have set over us, are weighed and measured, will God find humility or hubris? Kindness or callousness? Generosity or greed?

Divine Hours Prayer: The Request for Presence
Show your goodness, O Lord, to those who are good and to those who are true of heart. — Psalm 125.4

– Divine Hours prayers from The Divine Hours: Prayers for Autumn and Wintertime by Phyllis Tickle

Today’s Readings
Daniel 5  (Listen – 5:47)
Psalm 110-111 (Listen – 1:57)

Read more about Humbling Nebuchadnezzar
Humility will save you and your nation. Pride will destroy you and your nation. If only kings had ears to hear.

https://theparkforum.org/843-acres/humbling-nebuchadnezzar/

Read more about Hearing the Groans of the Prisoners
He hears the cries of all those oppressed by their rulers. He judges all rulers and leaders who conduct themselves with pride and irresponsibility.