Hidden of Jehovah
“For in the time of trouble He shall hide me in His pavilion: in the secret of His tabernacle shall He hide me; He shall set me up upon a rock.”
Psalm 27:5
There is a hiding place in God; a place of refuge and peace for those who have made Him their sanctuary in the common course of everyday life. The three Hebrew men, thrown into the furnace for refusing to pay homage to a man, knew this long before their fiery trial.
“But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank. Therefore, he asked the chief of the eunuchs to allow him not to defile himself.”
Daniel 1:8 (ESV)
Daniel and these three had purposed in their heart not to partake of the king’s portion. Even in captivity, they resolved to serve their God. They comprised a fellowship of humble and consecrated ones. They were not proud or haughty; they handled themselves wisely before God and man.
The man who was in charge of these four was concerned for them. He was afraid that if they did not appear as healthy as others, the king would be angry.
“Then Daniel said to the steward whom the chief of the eunuchs had assigned over Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael, and Azariah, “Test your servants for ten days; let us be given vegetables to eat and water to drink. Then let our appearance and the appearance of the youths who eat the king’s food be observed by you, and deal with your servants according to what you see.”
Daniel 1:11-13
“At the end of ten days, it was seen that they were better in appearance and fatter in flesh than all the youths who ate the king’s food.”
Daniel 1:15
Any life lived in the faith of God will carry the witness of God.
We, like these four, live in a strange land, surrounded by the corruption and offerings of the kings of this world. The battle is fierce, and the stakes are far higher than we can comprehend.
Of these four, Daniel faced the lions and the other three were thrown into the fiery furnace. Their dedication to live godly was cemented before the trials that were to come. They did not know what lay before them. Their commitment to set themselves apart for God was borne out of a desire to serve the Lord and honor Him.
Their fellowship was deep and no doubt filled with exhortations to walk rightly. Their interactions were much more than a congenial “get together” or a casual meeting to discuss biblical doctrine. They were in a pitched battle to “contend for the faith”, that their walk in this world would be genuine and authentic before God. (Related Post: Faith, Fire and Fellowship)
“He that walketh with wise men
shall be wise…”
Proverbs 13:20
Hidden of Jehovah
In the Person of Jesus Christ
The Fellowship of Pure Desire
“Brothers, I do not consider that I have made it my own. But one thing I do: forgetting what lies behind and straining forward to what lies ahead, I press on toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus.”
Philippians 3:13-14 (ESV)
Related Post: Fellowship and Fire
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“There are believers who by God’s grace, have climbed the mountains of full assurance and near communion, their place is with the eagle in his eyrie, high aloft; they are like the strong mountaineer, who has trodden the virgin snow, who has breathed the fresh, free air of the Alpine regions, and therefore his sinews are braced, and his limbs are vigorous; these are they who do great exploits, being mighty men, men of renown.”
— C. H. Spurgeon
Brian Troxel
