I Stand With Him
Daniel 11:1 (KJV)
Also I in the first year of Darius the Mede, even I, stood to confirm and to strengthen him.
Various students of the Bible have differing and sometimes even opposing interpretations of this passage. Gill says the first person in the verse is not Daniel, but the angel who revealed himself in chapter ten. He also says that students disagree concerning who is being strengthened and confirmed.
Some believe it is Michael the angel of Daniel 10:21
Some, like Gill, believe it is Darius (and Cyrus as they ruled together)
For the purposes of this devotional thought, I am going to take the position that the one being confirmed and strengthened is the king. I am also going to accept what I believe to be the most obvious understanding, that it is Daniel standing to confirm and strengthen. Certainly, Darius had reason to trust and promote Daniel. Perhaps this is at least one reason.
Imagine. This is at least the third King Daniel had served while being technically a prisoner in this land. Darius has defeated a king that Daniel was loyal to and yet, now that Darius is king, he stood with Darius. I believe he could do that because his ultimate loyalty and service were to God and he accepted that it was of God that Darius is the ruler at this time. In our country, we have a unique opportunity to see leadership change frequently and sometimes extremely. We can be loyal to our leadership, regardless of who they are, so long as we accept that our God is directing in these affairs.
To my point. I choose to stand with our current President and his Vice President. I am convinced that Trump and Pence are the men for their jobs at this hour. I choose to support them. I choose to pray for them. I choose to encourage them.
Mr. Trump and Mr. Pence may be the most spiritually uncompromising men we have had in these offices, perhaps in a century. President Trump has a checkered past, but we are not to judge him for his past. We are rather to look at what he is doing right now. I see in him a man who seems to daily be gaining a better understanding of biblical truth and doing his best to apply those truths. Whether he will ever come completely to understand the Word of God in the way we independent Baptists do, I cannot say. (We do understand the Bible in a pretty strict way.) I do appreciate that he and Vice President Pence see the Bible as a rule of faith and practice and not merely as a religious keepsake.
I stand with President Trump. I confirm him as my President, and I pray that God will strengthen him and use him as long as our Lord is pleased that he is in this office.
To my readers:
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Daniel 11:1 (KJV) I Stand With Him
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