Parade of Prophets: Daniel

Exile is For Keeps

Purpose in your heart,

Though you be under

earth’s royal ring,

Be true alone to

the one true King;

Of the world’s delicacies

take no part,

From His banquet table

do not depart;

And words from the wise

how life should be,

Only God’s Word indeed

will set you free.

Exile is for keeps.

Proverbs 4:20-27

Proverbs 5:8

Daniel 1:8

Humility

When a king

can look at his own

feet and toes

And see they are made

partly of iron

and partly of clay,

Knowing they do not

mix well at all,

this is humility.

Daniel 2

What God Let Mere Men See

He who raises kings up
and removes them too
He who shares wisdom
and reveals secrets true
He who knows the dark
and yet light is within,
Showed mere men
the future held therein.
God let Nebuchadnezzar
and Daniel see
There is a kingdom to come
that will forever be;
A stone from a mountain cut
without human hands,
Is coming sure and certain
to rule all earth's lands.

Daniel 2:21-23; 26-30

For Only He Will I Prostrate Be

i will not worship
gods you have made
i will not serve
gold images you have decreed,
For only He Who will rescue me
or not, from whatever dire
fiery furnace you devised,
will i prostrate be.

Daniel 3

Pride Goes Before a Crawl

It is not enough
that the greatness of your dominion
reaches to the ends of the earth;
Must the majesty of your kingdom,
your power and honor and glory,
also reach the highest Heaven?

Will it be enough
for you to eat the grasses of
and with the beasts of the field,
Your hair and nails as feathers and claws,
wetted with many a morning's dew,
to see it's God who rules over you?

Lift your eyes to Him in Heaven!
Bless Him who reigns forever!
And knowing pride goes before a crawl,
praise and honor the one true King!

Proverbs 16:18
Daniel 4


Numbered, Measured and Divided

The writing is on the wall.
Because we have not humbled ourselves
and walked with God Almighty,
Because we have raised our hands
in fists of fury against His will,
And because we have praised instead
the works of His hands,
Our days have been numbered,
Our actions have not measured up,
And our belongings have been divided.
Our time is coming to an end.
Let us pray our children
and our children's children can
Turn this nation back to God.

Daniel 5


Looking Lions in the Teeth

Serving the one true God requires
we look lions in the the teeth,
Knowing to pieces we could be torn,
or that He would shut their mouths.
Either way, the one true living God
goes with us into the lions' den,
And though a stone covers the opening,
deliverance is His and His alone.
To all peoples and nations on earth
tremble and fear only before God.
For He is the lone forever deliverer who
can rescue from the jaws of death.

Daniel 6


How the Story Ends

No matter what happens
in the chapters of the book
we are reading, good or bad,
we know how the story ends.
No matter how many beasts,
no matter how sharp their teeth,
no matter how big their claws,
no matter how hungry they get,
One like the Son of Man sublime
and His people, His holy saints,
shall sit on the kingdom's throne
forever, even forever and ever.

Daniel 7


Fret You Not

When truth is cast to the ground
And those who do so prosper,
When the Truth himself is thrown down
And those who do so seem to flower,
It is the time of the indignation,
But fret you not!
Though the time of the end is near,
There is nothing God's own need fear.
It will be only evil who will shed the final
tear.

Daniel 8


The Last Sacrifice

Daniel prays for us today.
I set my face toward God and pray
with fasting, sackcloth and ashes:
'O great and awesome God,
We have done wickedly
And rebelled against You.
To us belongs shame of face.
Upon us must come great disaster.
And still we do not turn from our sin.
With Your hand upon us, You
sought to make for Yourself a name,
But because we sought without You
to make a name for ourselves,
We deserve nothing but to be
a reproach across the land.
Dear God, You who are righteous
in all You do and say, please
Hear this prayer today: stay Your hand,
turn away Your anger and fury,
And forgive us yet again, this time
...once and for all."
Come, Lord Jesus!
Daniel knew You well,
That You would make an end of sin,
That You would bring in
everlasting righteousness,
That You would restore
and rebuild Jerusalem,
That You would be
the Last Sacrifice.

Daniel 9


Will Be Heard
When you purpose
to understand,
When you incline
your ears to hear,
When you set
your mind to know,
When you give
your heart to beat for,
When you humble
yourself before God,
Your words
will be heard.

Daniel 10:12

Winds of Heaven
With chariots, horsemen,
and many ships,
Gaining power over treasures
and precious things,
Great kings of the North,
South, East, and West
Conquer and are conquered,
without seeming end.
May it be not lost on us who
watch the ebb and flow,*
If not for the winds of Heaven
there would be no rise
or fall.
There would be none mighty
on this earth at all.

*the people who know their God
shall be strong

Daniel 11


Sheep Seek a Shepherd

Sheep seek a shepherd,
but will first follow the flock,
roaming to and fro, even so
off a cliff if the others should go.
They hear the shepherd's commands,
but not always with understanding.
They see the shepherd's signals,
but not always with perceiving.
They seek knowledge, and they get it,
but fall far short of the ends of things.

Trouble is coming in sheep's clothing,
but the sheep don’t see it yet.
Though the storm gathers overhead
they still wonder why they're wet.
They see not the divide in the flock;
some to more grass, some to debt.
Sheep seek a shepherd,
but oh so many will find Him not;
some will see His ready staff,
the rest will turn away and laugh.

Daniel 12