“I thank you and praise you, O you who are the God of my fathers, who has given me wisdom and might, and has now made known to me what we desired of you. For you have made known to us the king's matter.”
Having been lost in wonder and awe at the greatness of God, he now acknowledged His goodness, and was filled with gratitude and praise. While he knew the urgency of the matter before him he knew that he must first express his gratitude for what God had done. God had revealed to him what he and his companions had requested. He could only praise Him. But note his sense of dependence on his companions. He knew that he had not done it alone. We do well to remember that whatever we achieve we owe equally to the prayers and actions of others.
‘O God of my fathers.' True, He was the God of heaven. But He was also the God of Israel. He was the God Whom Daniel had constantly looked to and worshipped, the God of his fathers. He recognised gratefully that God had looked down on one who was one of His own covenant people, and that what He had revealed had particular reference to His promises to the fathers, and to their fulfilment. Here was the God of Israel in action fulfilling His covenant, even in this foreign country.