Daniel’s Faithfulness to God

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We are told in the text that Daniel had proposed in his heart that he wouldn’t defile himself with the king’s food or wine from his table (Daniel 1:8). What does this mean in the context of Daniel being brought to Babylon through the judgment of God? It was because of national disobedience that this thing occurred (Isaiah 39:5-6), so was Daniel faithful while yet in the land, or did he repent, when he was brought to Babylon (cp. 1Kings 8:33-34)? We cannot tell for certain which is correct, but most scholars agree that Daniel’s faith was something he had prior to his being brought to Babylon. Nevertheless, whether Daniel was faithful from his youth, as Joseph was, when he was brought into Egypt as a slave, or whether he remembered the covenant he made with the Lord and confessed his sin and repented (cp. Daniel 9:5-11), he went boldly to the prince of the eunuchs and asked him to permit him not to defile himself with the portion of the king’s food and wine that was given him.