In Daniel 5, the king was giving a party. 4They drank the wine and drunkenly praised their gods made of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone. 5-7 At that very moment, the fingers of a human hand appeared and began writing on the lamp-illumined, whitewashed wall of the palace. When the king saw the disembodied hand writing away, he went white as a ghost, scared out of his wits. His legs went limp and his knees knocked. He yelled out for the enchanters, the fortunetellers, and the diviners to come. He told these Babylonian magi, “Anyone who can read this writing on the wall and tell me what it means will be famous and rich—purple robe, the great gold chain—and be third-in-command in the kingdom.”
8-9 One after the other they tried, but could make no sense of it. They could neither read what was written nor interpret it to the king. So now the king was really frightened. All the blood drained from his face. The nobles were in a panic.
10-12 The queen heard of the hysteria among the king and his nobles and came to the banquet hall. She said, “Long live the king! Don’t be upset. Don’t sit around looking like ghosts. There is a man in your kingdom who is full of the divine Holy Spirit. During your father’s time he was well known for his intellectual brilliance and spiritual wisdom. He was so good that your father, King Nebuchadnezzar, made him the head of all the magicians, enchanters, fortunetellers, and diviners. There was no one quite like him. He could do anything—interpret dreams, solve mysteries, explain puzzles. His name is Daniel, but he was renamed Belteshazzar by the king. Have Daniel called in. He’ll tell you what is going on here.”[1]
The king tried to solve his problem in the way that he knew. Fame and wealth were important to him so he offered fame and wealth so someone would help him solve the mystery of the writing on the wall. His usual advisors had no clue. I think this caused even more panic to run through the drunken party participants. Finally, the Queen, which could have been the king’s mother, remembered Daniel from years ago. Finally, as a last resort, they considered consulting the true God through His prophet Daniel.
How often to we leave consulting God as a last resort? Sometimes it may be, like in our story, we don’t think He exists, or if He does, we want to do our own thing. In these cases, we don’t want to admit we need help, or we are hiding the fact that we are disobedient. Sin can blind us to the fact that God already knows what we are doing and thinking. If we are willing to turn and repent, God will forgive. He is only a prayer away. Why not consult God first?
To hear more of the story of Daniel, listen here: https://podpoint.com/light-of-christ-church-podcast/series/daniel-a-man-of-character/writing-on-the-wall
[1] The Message (MSG) Copyright © 1993, 2002, 2018 by Eugene H. Peterson