‘Then Daniel said to the king, “O king live for ever. My God has sent his messenger and has shut the lions' mouths, and they have not hurt me, because before him I was found innocent, and also before you, O king, I have done nothing that could hurt you.” '
So well trained was Daniel in court procedure that the greeting to the king fell from his lips automatically. But then came the reproof. Daniel had been grieved and hurt. His God had sent a messenger, an angel (compare Psalms 34:7; Psalms 91:11-13), who had closed the mouths of the lions, for He had found Daniel innocent, as the king should have as well. He felt that his loyalty had been betrayed by the earthly king as it had been upheld by the heavenly One, and he made it known. He had been deeply hurt.