Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven. “Blessed be the name of God forever and ever, to whom belong wisdom and might. He changes times and seasons; He removes kings and sets up kings; He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding; he reveals deep and hidden things; He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him.” Daniel 2:19-22
There are a lot of conversations in Chapter 2 that God does not reveal to us. We can only speculate on what might have been said. That is not true of Daniel’s prayer thanking God for answering the prayer of the four boys and revealing to them the mystery of the king’s
dream. There is wisdom in his prayer God wants us to see.
Then Daniel blessed the God of heaven Daniel is under a time deadline. The king has granted him a little time, and no more.
The normal reaction would be to rush to the king with the answer he desires and thereby save their lives. Not Daniel. Before he leaves for the king’s palace Daniel takes time to thank the God of heaven for his great mercy in answering their request. We see Daniel practice God’s will (even before it is written). “In every thing give thanks: for this is
the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.” We begin to see what drove Daniel’s obedience to God – he was “a man after God’s own heart”, like King David, and a man of fervent prayer, like Elijah. As Daniel starts his prayer of thanksgiving to God he spends
significant time praising God’s character. He provides us an example of what the Lord taught when He said we are to pray,” Hallowed be thy name”. As he does this Daniellinks his praise of God’s name to the vision God has just revealed to him. Watch the way Daniel begins his prayer of thanksgiving with majestic praise of who God is.
Blessed be the name of God forever and ever Daniel praises the name of God which stands for His full character The many names of God in Scripture give us a picture of His character and his actions on our behalf. Daniel praises God’s character – a God who would hear his prayer and answer him, a humble slave boy in a foreign land under a death penalty.
To whom belong wisdom and might. God is all wisdom and all power. He does as He pleases. Daniel knows wisdom without power is pointless and power without wisdom is dangerous. In God both work in perfect harmony. These two themes are revealed in God’s vision and throughout the book of Daniel. How does God us that power and wisdom?
He changes times and seasons, He removes kings and sets up kings Daniel now knows the dream and the interpretation of the dream the king had. Daniel marvels at what God is going to do – He will change the times and seasons as He raises up and puts down kings and kingdoms as He sees fit. Our God is in control.
He gives wisdom to the wise and knowledge to those who have understanding Daniel praises God as the source of all wisdom, especially the wisdom He has shared through His Word and through the vision He gave Daniel.
He reveals deep and hidden things Daniel praises God for revealing what no man could know – mysteries known only by the God of the universe which He now chooses to reveal to man. The wisdom of God given to a faithful slave.
He knows what is in the darkness, and the light dwells with him Daniel praises God that He knows all things. Nothing is unknown to God. He is to be trusted fully for He is fully light “and in Him is no shadow of darkness at all”. Daniel has received God’s truth and he is filled with thankfulness.