Close To Torah

Throughout Tehillim we find David expressing his total commitment and reliance in Hashem. Generations later, David’s descendant, Daniel, would embody this same trait despite his power and challenges. This psalm prophetically refers to his story (Midrash Socher Tov; Rashi). Darius the Mede took over the rule and appointed 120 satraps to govern his country. They were greedy and corrupt. Daniel was appointed as the head of all of them (along with 2 others). The 120 satraps got together and tried to take Daniel down as they were jealous of his prestige (see Daniel Chapter 6).

Daniel’s Life

Knowing that Daniel was a religious man who prayed three times daily, they pressured Darius to decree that it was prohibited for one to pray to anyone other than Darius for the first 30 days of his reign. The satraps succeeded in having the king decree that any prayers recited not directly to the king would be punished by execution by being thrown into the lion pit. Daniel refused to stop praying to Hahsem and was “caught.” (A discussion regarding why he was allowed to risk his life is beyond the scope of this essay but suffice it to say that some explain that the decree was a form of idolatry or individual persecution against Judaism) He was thrown into the lion den. He was saved miraculously by Hashem and all saw that Hashem was with him.

Their Own Plot

The psalm states (verse 9): “They stumbled by their own words.” What does this refer to?  When the satraps saw that Daniel was untouched by the lions, they did not stop there. They argued to the king that Daniel was not touched by the lions because they must not be hungry. The king saw through their scheme and realized how corrupt they were. He thus ordered that they all be thrown into the den to test if indeed the lions were hungry. Thus, they got the exact revenge which they tried to inflict on Daniel and lost their lives to the ferociously hungry lions, forever silencing the opponents of Daniel.

Share It

Verse 10 states: “declare the work of Hashem.” When people witnessed the great miracle of Daniel’s salvation and the downfall of his conspirators they were brought to awe before Hashem, whom Daniel credited with his salvation. King Darius sent out a decree publicizing the miracle and giving credit to the Great God of Daniel who saved him. He acknowledged Hashem as the living God, eternal and all-powerful. When we experience the miracles and kindness of Hashem we strive to share it with others and pass on the honor and inspiration. Daniel followed in the footsteps of his great predecessors King David who used psalms as a powerful tool for singing Hashem’s praises.

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