After much prayer and reflection, I gave this spoken word poem at Vineyard Community Church on 4/6/14 over the life of Daniel the Prophet.
On The Shores of Babylon
Daniel's Answer to The King by Briton Riviere (1890)
God is my Judge
That’s what my name means
You may know me as Daniel
But they even tried to take that from me
I know you live in an age of plenty
You think yourselves quite mighty
And scoff at the idea of tyranny
But take a minute, remove this cultural context which is so blinding
And step into my shoes, you’ll see what I mean
2500 years ago, Israel, God’s people
Chosen to be a priestly nation, an example
Rescued from Egypt, walked through the red sea
Given His Presence, given everything
We were the People of the Promise, from Abraham to Moses
The great kingdom of David and Solomon
Now divided, northern and southern
worshipping idols and money, makin deals with Egypt and Assyria
Trusting in treaties instead of Yahweh
Corruption, murder, betrayal, child sacrifice
God’s promise never fails but it’s not without justice.
So God in His sovereignty stirred up the gentiles, Babylon against us
And we were defeated
God’s people brought low, the temple destroyed
God’s presence far from us.
Exiled to a foreign land, 1000 miles away a refugee
O Israel how your sins have piled up against you!
Would God hold back justice forever?
When we broke the covenant would He not follow through?
So here I am. And til I die I’ll sing these songs on the shores of Babylon.
But conquering is about so much more than just killing us all.
No they wanted to assimilate us, to bow down not from threat but with gladness
And that’s the wisest tyranny; not the boot to the throat but sweetness to the lips
So they took me and friends, the nobility, leaders, and young men
And put them in royal courts, to learn their language and books
To make us fat on royal feasts, meats, and wine
For three years we trained and at the end of that time
We would serve in the royal courts, and forget all about Israel and Yahweh
That was the plan, at least, that they had made
They even changed my name to Belteshazzar, even the sound is grotesque and bizarre
It means “Lady of the god Bel, protect the King!” Who is Bel? Who is this King?
God is my judge, I will serve Him alone. Whatever the consequences, I will not bow.
To hedonism, to selfishness, to a king and culture
drowning me in stuff and pleasure.
I hope you’re taking notes cus this applies to you as well,
Is God Your judge?
Or are you more worried about your friends? Your classmates? Others?
Sometimes it’s hard to tell.
So I resolved in my heart I will not defile myself
Food and wine and bread and fruit
Nothing Compares, O God, to you
I will not fatten myself while my brothers are dying!
I will not give in to the temptations arising
I will not drink and be merry and be drowned in pleasure
And thus forget my home, my people, my God, my Israel.
“Give me vegetables and water” I said “Test me for 10 days and see”
I will depend on Elohim not your King for my life and to keep me healthy
Then lo and behold, we looked better than anyone
God is my judge, and he showed up to justify us.
God what am I doing here?
Have you forsaken us?
How long, O Lord, will you turn your face from us.
O Israel. O Jerusalem. How your sins have piled up against you.
O God I miss your temple. I miss Your presence
How I Long to look on Your face
How I long to be at home with the people of God
You say to settle down and build houses
But I don’t want to
You say to build families and prosper Babylon
But I don’t want to
Babylon?? Is Israel Not Your Bride?
Yet I know your actions are just
That we have gotten what we deserve
Yes I know that God is My judge
He will not forsake us
I Long for your presence
and I trust in the promise
One day the decree went out
The King had a thing he wanted to know about
A dream, couldn’t sleep and couldn’t explain
Come wise men and tell me what it means.
But I am no fool and don’t trust all of you
Tell me the dream first, if not I will kill all of you
The wise men tried but had no clue
“None but the god’s” they made their excuse.
But when word came to me I was and knew
“None but the Gods” was all too true.
So I asked if the King might speak to this mere Jew
And asked if I might try too
Knowing if God didn’t answer I would die too
So I gathered my friends and prayed all night
We prayed and wept till the morning light
We had no choice death was in sight
God had to come through to keep our life
And Yes God spoke! He reveals what is right!
He knows all things and showed me his dream that night!
So I told the King of his vision
I told him all of the future to come
And that night he knew that God is one
That night I knew that God was in Babylon
Only God, no spiritist or medium
Could reveal so great a mystery among men
So I and my friends gained favor and power in that kingdom
Cus even in exile, away from where I’m from
God is my judge. His promise will come.
But life there was never perfect I confess
There was always a mess, something always amiss
My friends got thrown in a furnace
But didn’t get burnt up cus God sustained us
The King told them to worship a statue of him?
What did he expect of us? Just silliness
For every favor that was bestowed,
we faced a challenge and beared a load
You want a quick lesson in tyranny?
There’s nothing wrong with monarchy
There’s nothing wrong with monarchy
As long as you have a good king.
But absolute power is a scary thing
Satisfaction not guaranteed
So after nebuchadnezzar came Belteshazzar
And Darius, I wish the Apple fell far
though the writing on the wall was clear
Divine revelation didn’t bring fear
Most knew God but it was quite bizarre
They didn’t fear him, their hearts were hard
Idols and pride is what did them in
Led to jealousy, led to sin
Again Daniel faced certain death
He was to thrown in the lions den
And the grace of God, once again
showed mercy on this faithful man
we think of him as brave and bold
we think of him as brave and bold
but this man was worn, frail and old
weather by a life of toughness and trial
this lion man
like oak rings were his years of being faithful
So Angels shut the mouths of those hungry cats
And this evil that was around couldn’t bring down this cool cat
O his life did astound and shut the mouths of those jealous cats
And the King was pleased
O God How long will I sing these songs
On the shores of Babylon
70 years we must wait and pray
Have mercy on us for the sake of your name
Hear our cries and see our tears
Restore us to the glory of yesteryears
We have sinned against you and our fellow man
The orphan the widow, died in Your land
Justice and Love was far from us
It was right, O God, for you to punish
But to you we look, in God we trust
Yes I know that God is my judge
You will not, will never forsake us
In you we trust, people of the promise
Return to us your glory, your presence
Now you who live with the presence inside
How I longed to look through your eyes
How you’ve grown lazy with pleasure and plenty
Your stomachs are full yet your souls are empty
Our temple was destroyed, God’s dwelling gone
But you claim he dwells in you, you say with a yawn
Where’s the authority? Wheres the glory?
Wheres the power? Tell me the stories.
It may inside you but its dormant and waiting
For you to go, move, and do something
You never survive the lions
if you never leave the couch!
You never survive the fire
if sunday mornings are what its all about!
Sometimes for God to turn his power on
We’ve got to go to the shores of Babylon
We’ve got to go where the darkness is greatest
Where the battle is toughest
It’s there that Jesus will show up
What good is it to be of good courage
If you never face any challenge
The life of God is one of boldness
Not being fearless, but going anyway, cus He’s got us
My name is Daniel, and God is my judge
I long for the presence, and trust in the promise
I die on the shores of Babylon, weary and old.
Never again seeing Israel my land and home
But in this hardship, God moved wonders
And in the trials I remember
He moves best when all is lost
And never gives up on those He calls
I stand apart and serve till he calls me home
Even if I stand and serve alone
I won’t do what the world says, I won't budge
Because my name is Daniel and God is my judge.
Seth
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