‘But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the king's meat, nor with the wine that he drank, therefore he requested of the prince of the chief officers that he might not defile himself.'
What was happening to him clearly came as a shock to Daniel. There was no knowing how the meat was slaughtered nor what much of the food consisted of. With the strict Israelite dietary laws much of it would be ‘unclean', and this would therefore be shocking to a well brought up Israelite. This was no doubt a major part of Daniel's case with the prince. But the matter went further than that, for this objection would not have included the wine. He was perhaps concerned not to live in luxury when his own people were, as far as he knew, going through a hard time (compare 2 Samuel 11:11) But a main concern would have been in the thought that the king's food was openly dedicated to the gods, and thus that to partake of it without question was to be seen as submitting to those gods. However, he could hardly put that case to the prince! But we can imagine the mental struggle that he found himself facing. He wanted to be faithful to his God, and he did not want to seem to be acknowledging idols. To a devout and faithful Yahwist both facts were important.
There is a lesson here for us too. He who is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in that which is much.