August 26, 2022: Day 183 – Daniel 1-5 and Psalm 74

We begin a book of the Bible where the people of Judah find themselves as exiles in the land of Babylon.  We begin with the king of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, who has chosen Daniel to train in culture and language.  We assume that with culture and language comes also the necessity to learn the religious cultures of the people which really comes into play in this book of the Bible.

Daniel ends up interpreting ala Joseph style a dream that the king had, not a great dream, and so is made overseer of much of the territory of Babylon.  At the same time he has some friends whom he brings along as those who are helping him interpret.  But, these friends get into hot water with the king becasue they do not bow down to him and are thrown into a fiery furnace which really doesn’t hurt them at all.  In fact, God uses it as a witness example to bring the king to a knowledge of him.

Psalm 74 the author beseeches God for protection against those who are seeking violence against him.  The psalm is written in a way that reflects upon the history of the Lord which allows the author to state: “But you, O God, are my king from of old.”  There does seem to be a lot of demanding in this Psalm from the author to God, but he does seem a bit desperate.