One of the most tragic, unforgettable nights in the Bible is described in Daniel 5:30, "That very night Belshazzar, king of the Chaldeans, was slain."

It took courage for Daniel to confront the king that night. The prophet had good reason to hedge a bit about the interpretation of the words supernaturally scrawled on the wall of the banquet room. A lesser man might have been bought off by the huge reward or intimidated by the threat of the king's vengeance. It would have been easier to go along with the national council of prophets of Babylon and plead ignorance about the inscription. Or, since the king was bewildered by the writing, Daniel could have read only part of it and left out the pronouncement of death and doom.

But Daniel was a profile of courage. With Belshazzar and a thousand drunken lords and dignitaries for his congregation, the brave old prophet declared God's whole counsel. What was the source of such courage? Daniel knew that he wasn't just standing before the king of Babylon; he was standing before the King of kings.

With God as our audience and Christ as our companion, we can say and do anything we ought.  — Haddon W. Robinson