SERMON XIII.

THE CONSTANCY AND DELIVERANCE OF SHADRACH, MESHACH, AND ABEDNEGO.

DANIEL iii. 16-18.

"Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, answered and said to the king, O Nebuchadnezzar, we are not careful to answer thee in this matter. If it be so, our God, whom we serve, is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O king. But if not, be it known unto thee, O king, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up."

THERE never has been a period, from the earliest ages, in which the knowledge and fear of God were entirely banished from the earth. However general might be the wickedness of mankind, some there were, in every generation, who worshipped Him in spirit and in truth: and if, at the moment when a distinguished prophet expressed the melancholy persuasion, that he alone was left a sincere and faithful worshipper of Jehovah, there were to be found in Israel seven thousand persons who had not bowed their knees to Baal, it is probable that the true servants of God have usually been more

numerous than even a candid and careful observer might see reason to believe. Had we possessed no particular records concerning the Jews, in the Babylonish captivity, we might have supposed it very probable that under the circumstances in which they were then placed, the worship of the Almighty was entirely disregarded and forgotten: but some there were, even at that time, and in the midst of an idolatrous people, who continued faithful to their God, and whom no dangers could induce to dishonour Him. Of three such persons we have an account in this chapter: the narrative here given is one of the most remarkable in the Old Testament, and like all the other things which were by divine inspiration written aforetime, it was doubtless written and transmitted for our learning.

In considering this account, let us attend

I. TO SOME OF THE

STANCES OF THE CASE.

LEADING CIRCUM

The scene of the events here recorded is laid in the province of Babylon, to which many of the Jews had been carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. This sovereign was then one of the greatest princes of the East: he had been very successful as a warrior; he ruled with absolute authority over many rich and populous coun

tries; and he has added one proof more of the mischievous influence arising generally from great wealth and unlimited power. Having set up an image in the plain of Dura, he, in the pride and arrogance of his heart, commanded the chief persons of his empire to repair to the dedication of the idol; and, on a signal given by various instruments of music, to fall down and worship it, on pain of a terrible death. There is something so absurd as well as tyrannical in this decree, that we might almost conclude the author of it to have been bereft of his reason. In addition to the unwarrantable outrage thus offered to the public at large, he must have been aware that there was one class to whom the decree would be peculiarly offensive, and whom it was not good policy to exasperate: he well knew that amongst his subjects were multitudes of Jews, and of their principles in this particular he could not be ignorant: it appears, moreover, that some individuals of that race had been advanced to high stations in the government, and were much in his confidence. A few years before, on occasion of Daniel's repeating to him and expounding his dream, the king had avowed his conviction, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods,

numerous than even a candid and careful observer might see reason to believe. Had we possessed no particular records concerning the Jews, in the Babylonish captivity, we might have supposed it very probable that under the circumstances in which they were then placed, the worship of the Almighty was entirely disregarded and forgotten: but some there were, even at that time, and in the midst of an idolatrous people, who continued faithful to their God, and whom no dangers could induce to 'dishonour Him. Of three such persons we have an account in this chapter: the narrative here given is one of the most remarkable in the Old Testament, and like all the other things which were by divine inspiration written aforetime, it was doubtless written and transmitted for our learning.

In considering this account, let us attend

I. TO SOME OF THE

LEADING

CIRCUM

STANCES OF THE CASE.

The scene of the events here recorded is laid in the province of Babylon, to which many of the Jews had been carried captive by Nebuchadnezzar. This sovereign was then one of the greatest princes of the East: he had been very successful as a warrior; he ruled with absolute authority over many rich and populous coun

tries; and he has added one proof more of the mischievous influence arising generally from great wealth and unlimited power. Having set up an image in the plain of Dura, he, in the pride and arrogance of his heart, commanded the chief persons of his empire to repair to the dedication of the idol; and, on a signal given by various instruments of music, to fall down and worship it, on pain of a terrible death. There is something so absurd as well as tyrannical in this decree, that we might almost conclude the author of it to have been bereft of his reason. In addition to the unwarrantable outrage thus offered to the public at large, he must have been aware that there was one class to whom the decree would be peculiarly offensive, and whom it was not good policy to exasperate he well knew that amongst his subjects were multitudes of Jews, and of their principles in this particular he could not be ignorant: it appears, moreover, that some individuals of that race had been advanced to high stations in the government, and were much in his confidence. A few years before, on occasion of Daniel's repeating to him and expounding his dream, the king had avowed his conviction, Of a truth it is, that your God is a God of gods,