I Am Resolved

I love contemporary Christian music. In fact, that’s about all I listen to. As I have mentioned several times, I am a child of the 60’s and 70’s, which is when that genre of music first got its start. However, I grew up with a dad who always sang bass in a Southern Gospel quartet and in a Baptist church that instilled the richness and history of the great hymns. So, I am eclectic when it comes to religious music – I enjoy them all.

 

I had not thought about one of my favorite hymns in a long time until I recently began studying the life of the Old Testament hero, Daniel. “I Am Resolved” popped into my head as soon as I read verse 8 of Daniel 1. The ESV says, “But Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself with the king’s food, or with the wine that he drank….”

Immediate flashback:

I am resolved no longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delight; things that are higher, things that are nobler, these have alluded my sight. I will hasten to him, hasten so glad and free, Jesus, greatest, highest, I will come to Thee.

 

I loved the marching beat and the bass repeats in the chorus – my dad’s part! And I loved the words, the message. But like I said, I hadn’t thought of that hymn in years! Until…..I read that Daniel resolved…..

For background and context, let’s look at Daniel’s backstory. From the first seven verses of Chapter 1, we learn several important facts about him. He was a devout Jew from the nobility or royal class in the southern kingdom of Judah. As the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar won victory over Judah and caused the eventual fall of Jerusalem, Daniel and three close friends were taken captive, along with others, and taken to Babylon. Theologians agree that these young men were 15 to 16 years old when taken. Scripture tells us he was very handsome, highly intelligent, physically fit, and very devout in his faith. Daniel and his friends were just the kind of young adults King Nebby wanted. Once he broke their faith and allegiance to their God, he would put them to work in his very sophisticated society steeped in history, science, mathematics, architecture, and engineering. Babylon was the most dominant, advanced, and powerful kingdom in the world at that time in history. The king always took the best and brightest from the kingdoms he conquered to continue to build his empire – and to keep them from rising up against him.

The King’s formula for all these talented young men captured and brought under his thumb was the same. They were stripped of their Jewish names and renamed with Babylonian names, most of which were in reference to one of the Babylonian gods, they were isolated from other captives not in this same course of training, and they underwent an intense education for three years. Their academic program included learning a new language, mathematics, astronomy, history, science, and magic. In effect, the king’s goal was to strip them of all things Jewish and remake them (or brainwash) in all things Babylonian. The king put Ashpenaz, the chief of his officials, in charge of this academy, and one slip up on his part, and it would be off with his head! Everything about their lives was controlled by Ash, even down to their diet.

Food! Of all things going on, it seems (to us, at least) that food would be the least of their worries. However, that was where Daniel and his three friends drew the line! You see, in their Jewish faith, food played an important part in obedience to the Lord God. He had put forth certain laws pertaining to the kinds of food they could consume and how those foods were to be prepared. Eating forbidden foods or defiled food made one unclean, and thus, unclean to God. For Old Testament believers in Almighty God, that was the ultimate worst thing – to be unacceptable to Him.

So Daniel resolved…But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s choice food or with the wine which he drank; so he sought permission from the commander of the officials that he might not defile himself. Daniel 1:8 NAS

Have you ever come to that point in life where enough is enough! Where you think, “I cannot do this, cannot go there, cannot cross that line!”? Maybe you’ve been pushed, maybe swayed, or maybe just plain out tempted, and you given in bit by bit until you decide it’s now or never; time to draw the line. Take a stand for what you know is right; what you know is honoring to the Lord Jesus.

Time to be RESOLVED. No longer to linger, charmed by the world’s delights….