The Pulpit Commentary on Daniel 1:8

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

A noble purpose the root of true renown.

All real dignity has its beginning, not in ancestral fortune, but in righteous purpose. The heart is the seed-plot of all noble deeds. "Keep thy heart with all diligence, for out of it are the issues of life."

I. THE COMMONEST MEAL FURNISHES AN OCCASION ON WHICH TO DEFILE OR DIGNIFY THE MAN. Then character is discovered. Then we see, as in a mirror, whether the higher nature or the lower is dominant. Some men live only to eat; some eat only that they may live. Daniel desired to shun this sudden extreme of good fortune. "It is better to go to the house of mourning than into the house of feasting." Moreover, this participation in royal dainties would be a connivance with idolatry. "Whether therefore ye eat or drink … do all to the glory of God."

II. SELF-PURIFICATION IS THE SETTLED PURPOSE OF A RENEWED HEART. What grimy dirt is to the fair countenance, what rust is on virgin gold, what soot is on crystal snow, such is sin on the human soul. Wickedness is defilement, disease, curse, rottenness. If self-preservation be a primary instinct of man as a member of the animal race, the maintenance of purity was originally an instinct of the soul. If we cannot wash out old stains, we can, by Divine help, avoid further contamination. To be pure is to be manly—God-like.

III. HUMAN OPPOSITION MAY USUALLY BE DISARMED BY KINDLY SOLICITATION. Love wields a magic sceptre, and kindness is practical love. If the highest end we seek cannot be gained at a single stride, we may gain a step at a time. The Christian pilgrim does not walk in five-leagued boots. Daniel "requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself." A request so reasonable, so innocent, commended itself to the judgment of the man.—D

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