For he is the living God and he endures for ever;
His kingdom will not be destroyed, His dominion will never end.
He rescues and he saves;
He performs signs and wonders in the heavens and on the earth.
Daniel 6: 26b-27a (NIVUK)
Use the song below to assist you in praising and thanking God for all he has done for you. If you aren’t familiar with the hymn, a good version to sing along to on Youtube is: We declare Your majesty – Divine hymns
We declare your majesty we proclaim that your name is exalted
for you reign magnificently, rule victoriously
and your power is shown throughout the earth
and we exclaim our God is mighty, lift up your name, for you are holy
sing it again, all honour and glory in adoration we bow before your throne
(Malcolm du Plessis © 1984 Thankyou Music)
As we continue reading through the Old Testament book of Daniel, once again the narrative jumps over a gap of about 20 years, this time between the end of chapter 4 and the start of chapter 5. King Nebuchadnezzar has died and we read about King Belshazzar. Historians are able to put the date of 539bc on the events we read about at the end of chapter 5 which is around 65 years after Daniel’s arrived in Babylon as a teenager, so he is now a very old man. Read Daniel chapter 5
Belshazzar would know about the ‘madness of king Nebuchadnezzar’ and the different person he was after this episode, yet this king appears to show contempt for the God who had made such an impression on his predecessor. King Belshazzar felt all-powerful, and this huge party was taking place while the massed armies of the Medes and Persians were laying siege to the city. The king felt secure, the city walls were at least 75 feet high and wide enough for a 4-horse chariot to turn around on top of it! There was also a moat on the outside of the wall.
King Belshazzar had faith in their own ability to outwit the Medes and Persians, in fact he had so much faith in his own power and might that he didn’t see why he shouldn’t drink out of goblets fit for a God! So, he sends for the gold and silver goblets which were taken from the temple in Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar and set himself up as all-mighty and all-powerful - and that’s when the writing is on the wall for Belshazzar.
A disembodied hand appears and writes these words on the wall:
mene, mene, tekel, parsin
numbered, numbered, weighed, divided.
In those days the person referred to as queen was often not the wife of the king, but his mother, and she is able to tell the King about Daniel’s ability to make known mysteries. When Daniel arrives, his message is the same to Belshazzar as the message he always spoken out to King Nebuchadnezzar – that there is a living God who endures for ever; his kingdom will not be destroyed, his dominion will never end…
Daniel then explains that God has looked at the king’s life, judged it and found that it needs to come to an end. That very evening the army of the Medes and Persians gain access through the city walls by damming and diverting the river Euphrates so that they can walk in along the river-bed.
Think about what words God would use if he were to summarise your life in 4 words. Do there need to be changes in how you live your life so that God would use these words about you?
‘Well done, good and faithful servant’ (Matthew 25: 21):
Use the words of this song as a prayer:
Jesus, You are changing me, by Your Spirit You're making me like You;
Jesus, You're transforming me,
that Your loveliness may be seen in all I do.
You are the potter and I am the clay;
help me to be willing to let You have Your way;
Jesus, -You are changing me as I let You reign supreme within my heart
Marilyn Baker © 1980 Word Music (UK)
I received this important news from Judy Cook:
Dear friends,
It is with great sadness that I pass on the news that my mother, Gillian Cook, died last night after an emergency admission to hospital last week. She was attended to on a main ward all week and died very peacefully, with my father and my older sister beside her for some of the time.
Please hold our family in your prayers and thoughts as we grieve the loss of a wonderful lady. Her life impacted many people. I am currently still in Thailand and looking at a time to return to the UK to be with family, prior to returning to Thailand. The whole uncertainty of COVID and its restrictions on travel make it an uncertain time to travel.
Thank you for your prayers and thoughts - Judy