SAVE ME FROM THE LIONS

“Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour” (I Peter 5:8).

As a boy in Sunday school I was always amused by the lessons that were presented on the flannel-graph board. Some of you reading this don’t know what flannel-graph is; it is the low-tech teacher’s aid of the previous century. One of my favorite flannel-graph stories was “Daniel in the Lions’ Den.” Daniel’s friends had their “trial by fire” and Daniel somehow missed out on that adventure. So as not to let Daniel fall into a pit of insecurity and introspection, God let him have his own adventure but with lions instead of fire. In my Sunday school classroom, Daniel, his friends and the lions kept falling off the flannel-graph board and landing on the floor. We were a tough crowd and we were very amused when Daniel and his friends spiraled to the floor like helicopters.

In the 6th chapter of the book of Daniel, Daniel is promoted to be one of the three top leaders in King Darius’ kingdom. Daniel 6:3 explains that Daniel had “an excellent spirit in him” and the king was considering turning all the authority of the realm to him.

Daniel’s promotion and what the king was considering did not sit well with others in the government and they began to plot to discredit him. However, try as they would, they could not find fault with Daniel (6:4). The conspirators decided to try an end run and trick the king into signing a decree that would have Daniel destroyed. The conspiracy was this: The jealous bureaucrats went to the king and said, “All the leaders and counselors of the kingdom feel that no one should be allowed to pray to any god or man except you for thirty days. If anyone violates this law, then they should be thrown into a den of lions.” The flattered king signed the decree, not knowing he had been lied to and that he was sentencing his friend Daniel to death.

Daniel knew that an evil conspiracy had been formed against him and he had a choice to make. He could alter his lifestyle, stop praying forever, stop for a while, pray quietly in secret, or continue to do what he knew was right. The choice Daniel made says a lot about who this man was, the character and integrity of his life, and the importance he placed on his relationship with God.

Daniel changed nothing about his life. Upon hearing of the decree arranged by the conspirators, the Bible says that he went home and prayed and worshipped just as he had always done (6:10). Daniel was dragged before the brokenhearted king who I believe realized that he had been tricked into signing a decree that could not be changed. Daniel was thrown into the den of hungry lions, but not before the king said to Daniel, “Your God, He will deliver you” (6:16).

After a sleepless night, the king rushed to the lion pit. He knew what had happened when the three Hebrew children had been thrown into the fire and he seemed anxious to see if Daniel was okay. Darius shouted down into the pit, “Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God been able to deliver you?” Daniel shouted back, “My God sent his angel and shut the lions’ mouths” (6:22).

What does a story like this have to do with us?

It is doubtful that any of us will ever have to face a pit full of hungry lions.

I think this story has more to do with the symbolic illustration that Peter presented in 1 Peter 5:8: “The devil walks about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour.”

In Psalm 91:13 we read, “You shall tread upon the lion and the cobra, the young lion and the serpent you shall trample underfoot.”

The picture being presented here is that the lion and the snake are the challenges that will come at us as we walk out our journey of faith. In addition, this verse establishes our authority to use our walking shoes to tread on the devil and his emissaries.

The word “tread” has a richer and more vibrant meaning than just walking. It conveys the image of a warrior marching and literally trampling his enemy under his feet. It conveys the image of a potter trampling a lump of clay and mashing it down into a malleable mass that can then be built up into something useful.

King David understood and moved in this authority. Before David was ready to go into the Valley of Elah and face Goliath, he had to face a lion and a bear. As God gave David the victory over the lion and the bear, his faith began to grow. When he walked out to face Goliath, the testimony of God’s faithfulness to give him triumph over the lion was ringing loudly and clearly in his spirit.

We will not face many Goliaths in our life, but over and over we will face the challenges of life, the lions that God has given us the authority to tread upon because He has told them to be quiet. Psalm 22:21: “Rescue me from the mouth of the lions” (NIV). Also see Psalm 35:17.

Time to take a walk!