Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego are delivered. 19 Then was Nebuchadnezzar Son of God. full of fury, and the form of his visage was changed against Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego: therefore he spake, and commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more than it was wont to be heated. 20 And he commanded the most mighty men that were in his army to bind Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, and to cast them into the burning fiery furnace.

21 Then these men were bound in their coats, their hosen, and their hats, and their other garments, and were cast into the midst of the burning fiery furnace. 22 Therefore because the king's commandment was urgent, and the furnace exceeding hot, the flame of the fire slew those men that took up Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego.

23 And these three men, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace.

24 Then Nebuchadnezzar the king was astonied, and rose up in haste, and spake, and said unto his counsellors, Did not we cast three men bound into the midst of the fire? They answered and said unto the king, True, O king.

26 Then Nebuchadnezzar came near to the mouth of the burning fiery furnace, and spake, and said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, ye servants of the most high God, come forth, and come hither. Then Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, came forth of the midst of the fire. 27 And the princes, governors, and captains, and the king's counsellors, being gathered together, saw these men, upon whose bodies the fire had no power, nor was an hair of their head singed, neither were their coats changed, nor the smell of fire had passed on them.

28 Then Nebuchadnezzar spake, and said, Blessed be the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who hath sent his angel, and delivered his servants that trusted in him, and have changed the king's word, and yielded their bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god, except their own God.

29 Therefore I make a decree, That every people, nation, and language, which speak any thing amiss against the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, shall be cut in pieces, and their houses shall be made a dunghill: because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort.

25 He answered and said, Lo, I see four men loose, walking in the midst of the fire, and 30 Then the king promoted they have no hurt; and the Shadrach, Meshach, and Abedform of the fourth is like the nego, in the province of Babylon. LECTURE 1369.

The blessedness of believing when we cannot see.

How fearful is the storm of passion in those who have never practised self restraint! How frightful is the visage, how furious the voice, how hasty and rash the words, proceeding from ungovernable rage! But whom do they terrify? not those who trust in God, not those who are aware that He can baffle the

wrath of the most violent, nay rather, who believe that He will make it work together for their good. The furnace may be heated seven times hotter than ever. The strongest of men may be employed to bind and cast into the fire. The flames may be so fierce as to lick up those who execute the threatened vengeance. And yet can they not daunt those for whose death they are prepared. There is a God, they know, who reigns above; He is Lord of all. And those who serve Him faithfully He never will forsake. To such He will abundantly fulfil his promise thus given to his people: "When thou walkest through the fire, thou shalt not be burned; neither shall the flame kindle upon thee." Is. 43. 2.

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Such doubtless were the thoughts, and such the faith and hope, which animated Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego, as they fell down bound into the midst of the burning fiery furnace." Such is the confidence with which we ought to stand fast and firm, whatever fiery trial we are called on to encounter. They perhaps expected, what we can have no reason to expect, that God would work a miraculous deliverance. But we know that He will do that which for us is better, in case it ever were our duty to resist unto death, He will take us out of this world, to be with Christ where He is. Little then need we account of the worst we can suffer here, if we have a change so full of glory close at hand. Little need we shrink from any trial, whether of life or death, of pain, or shame, or want, of annoyance or affront, of calumny however ingeniously devised, or of unkindness however relentlessly inflicted. God can and will make all these things work together for our good, all redound to our gain and glory.

The king's sentence has now been executed. It has cost the lives of the most mighty of his host. And yet the intended victims of his passion are not hurt. He sees them, with their bands loosed, walking at large in the midst of the fire, and with them a companion whom he describes as like unto a divine being. Now he can call them "servants of the most high God." Now he can invite them to come into his presence, to receive tokens of his favour, instead of to hear the sentence of his wrath. And now he can make a decree to uphold the honour of their God, "because there is no other God that can deliver after this sort." It was well to be convinced, when conviction was thus forced upon his mind; it was better than not to be convinced at all. But "blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." John 20. 29. Blessed are they, whether high or low, rich or poor, who subdue their own passions, honour God's faithful servants, and strive to glorify God himself, out of regard to his unseen majesty. The less He now manifests his presence to the sense, so much the more may we attain unto the blessedness of faith. And the more we are free to choose, unfettered by the decrees of princes, unconstrained by the sight of miracles, so much the greater is our gain, if we heartily believe.

Nebuchadnezzar proclaimeth the account of his dream.

1 Nebuchadnezzar the king, unto all people, nations, and languages, that dwell in all the earth; Peace be multiplied unto

18 This dream I king Nebu- my kingdom are not able to chadnezzar have seen. Now make known unto me the inthou, O Belteshazzar, declare terpretation: but thou art able; the interpretation thereof, for- for the spirit of the holy gods asmuch as all the wise men of is in thee.

LECTURE 1370.

The acknowledgements which Christian rulers owe to God. When God had vouchsafed to deal so graciously with Nebuchadnezzar, as is recorded in this chapter, it was well that the record should be published abroad by the king himself. It was well that one who had thought so highly of his own supreme power, should confess before all his subjects the greatness and loving kindness of the Lord. Would that Christian sovereigns, and Christian states, were always thus ready to tender their acknowledgments to the Giver of all good things! Would that they were always thus free to admit the wonders of his providence and grace, and their own obligations to his bounty!

In this singular proclamation the monarch states before the world how much he had been troubled with a dream, at a time when he was at peace and in prosperity, and how vainly he had attempted to learn from his magicians the interpretation thereof. But at the last he says that Daniel came in before him, to whom he had given another name derived from the name of Bel his god; and he then recounts the particulars of his dream, as he had related it to Daniel, with a view to his declaring what it meant. In many of these particulars this dream has a remarkable resemblance to a description of another mighty monarch, then no more, which begins thus in the Book of the prophet Ezekiel : "Behold the Assyrian was a cedar in Lebanon, with fair branches, and with a shadowing shroud, and of an high stature; and his top was among the thick boughs." Ezek. 31. 3. And it is not impossible that these very words might have been previously heard by Nebuchadnezzar, and might have helped to trouble his thoughts when he awakened from his dream. In the mention of the holy ones and the watchers, it is probable that he described the beings whom he seemed to see in language taken from such notions of divine things as his own religion would suggest. And in his application to Daniel, whilst he owns the superiority of the prophet, he seems to ascribe it rather to the inspiration of his own false deities, than to the help of the one living and true God. He resorted to Daniel's aid on this occasion, not as to a prophet of the Lord, but as to the most wise of his own wise men, and more with a view to satisfy his curiosity, than with any notion of having his mind enlightened, so as to amend his life. Not so let us resort unto God's prophets; not so let us read the pages of God's book; but under this impression, that the things of which He thereby tells us are able to make us wise unto salvation, through faith which is in Christ Jesus.

Daniel interpreteth Nebuchadnezzar's dream.

19 Then Daniel, whose name even with a band of iron and was Belteshazzar, was astonied brass, in the tender grass of the for one hour, and his thoughts field; and let it be wet with the troubled him. The king spake, dew of heaven, and let his portion and said, Belteshazzar, let not be with the beasts of the field, the dream, or the interpretation till seven times pass over him; thereof, trouble thee. Belteshazzar answered and said, My lord, the dream be to them that hate thee, and the interpretation thereof to thine enemies.

20 The tree that thou sawest, which grew, and was strong, whose height reached unto the heaven, and the sight thereof to all the earth;

21 Whose leaves were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and in it was meat for all; under which the beasts of the field dwelt, and upon whose branches the fowls of the heaven had their habitation:

22 It is thou, O king, that art grown and become strong: for thy greatness is grown, and reacheth unto heaven, and thy dominion to the end of the earth. 23 And whereas the king saw a watcher and an holy one coming down from heaven, and saying, Hew the tree down, and destroy it; yet leave the stump of the roots thereof in the earth,

24 This is the interpretation, O king, and this is the decree of the most High, which is come upon my lord the king:

25 That they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven, and seven times shall pass over thee, till thou know that the most High ruleth in the kingdom of men, and giveth it to whomsoever he will.

26 And whereas they commanded to leave the stump of the tree roots; thy kingdom shall be sure unto thee, after that thou shalt have known that the heavens do rule.

27 Wherefore, O king, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee, and break off thy sins by righ teousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity. LECTURE 1371.

The general nature of the decrees of the most High. The interpretation of the king's dream shews that it was a vision graciously sent him from God most high. And the manner in which Daniel communicated its fearful meaning, proves how sensible he was of the kindness he had met with from the king, how well he knew the duty which he owed to his master upon earth, as well as that which he faithfully discharged to his sovereign Lord in heaven. In this respect his language is a pattern for God's ministers, in any situation which requires them to speak unwelcome truth to those who are exalted in authority and rank. Nay, and if it be to the poor and lowly in station that they have to utter words of warning, it no less strictly behoves them to feel, and to express, regret at being obliged to give pain, even bro