Daniel 2:18 That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret… It was his yoke in his youth that first taught Daniel to pray. And Babylon taught Daniel and his three friends all to pray, and to pray together in their chamber, as we read. To be arrested in their father's houses by Nebuchadnezzar's soldiers; to have Babylonian chains put on their hands and their feet; to see the towers of Zion for the last time; to be asked to sing some of the songs of Zion to amuse their masters as they toiled over the Assyrian sands — you would have been experts yourselves in a school of prayer like that. You would have held little prayer meetings yourselves with your class-fellows and your companions, if you had come through half that Daniel and his three companions came through. It is because you are not being emptied from vessel to vessel all the week that we never see you on Tuesday night. Jeremiah, a great authority on why some men pray, and why other men never pray, has this about you in his book: "Moab hath been at his ease from his youth up; he hath settled on his lees; he hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel; neither hath he gone into captivity; and, therefore, his taste remaineth in him, and his scent is not changed." The Cumulative Parallel Verses KJV: That they would desire mercies of the God of heaven concerning this secret; that Daniel and his fellows should not perish with the rest of the wise men of Babylon. |
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