Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days; and let them give us pulse to eat, and water to drink.
Ver. 12. Prove thy servants, I beseech thee, ten days.] All good means must be used for the keeping of a good conscience, and then God must be trusted for the issue. But did not Daniel herein tempt God? No; for besides that he had a word, (1.) Of precept; Deu 14:3 and (2.) Of promise, Exo 23:25 ex arcana revelatione certior factus est, it might be revealed unto him that no inconvenience should follow upon this course.
And let them give pulse to eat, and water to drink.] Poor fare for noblemen's sons, but such as they were well paid for. Nature is contented with a little, grace with less. The sobriety of Democritus and Demosthenes is much celebrated among the heathen. But what saith Augustine? a Omnis vita infidelium peccatum est, et nihil bonum sine summo bone. Whatsoever is not of faith is sin, &c. Daniel's sobriety was of another nature, of a better alloy. Papists crack much of their abstinence from certain meats and drinks at certain times; but Daniel's and Papists' fasts agree as harp and harrow. See my "Common Place of Abstinence."
a De Ver. lnnoc., cap. 56.