Daniel 4:34-37
And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me; and I blessed the Most High and praised and honoured Him who lives forever . . . He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth . . . At the same time . . . I was restored to my kingdom . . . Now I . . . praise and extol and honour the King of heaven . . . and those who walk in pride He is able to abase.
What of Today’s Verse…
When Nebuchadnezzar exalted himself, he exemplified God’s opposition to pride. “Is not this great Babylon that I have built for a royal dwelling by my mighty power and for the honour of my majesty? . . . A voice fell from heaven . . . ‘the kingdom has departed from you’ ” (Dan_4:30-31). When he humbled himself, he exemplified God’s grace for humility. “God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble” (1Pe_5:5).
Nebuchadnezzar had been driven into the fields to live as an animal. “That very hour the word was fulfilled . . . he was driven from men and ate grass like oxen . . . till his hair had grown like eagles’ feathers and his nails like birds’ claws” (Dan_4:33). This season of God’s opposition for Nebuchadnezzar’s pride would end when he looked to the Lord above. “And at the end of the time I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned to me.” Now, with his mind enabled to think clearly, he began to give blessing, praise, and honour to the Lord God Most High. “And I blessed the Most High and praised and honoured Him who lives forever.”
This represented a completely transformed perspective for the king. Previously, he was glorifying himself. Now, he glorified the Lord. Previously, he thought he had established himself upon his throne. Now, he saw the will of God behind his ascendancy to power. “He does according to His will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.” The Lord then granted grace to this humbled king, who had formerly walked in rebellious pride. “At the same time . . . I was restored to my kingdom.” Seated again in authority, he gave honour to the King of heaven (instead of to the king of Babylon). “Now I . . . praise and extol and honour the King of heaven.” Then, he added a remark that reveals the new conviction he received during his humbling. “And those who walk in pride He is able to abase.”
Let us Pray:
Lord God Most High, I confess that I have had moments of success which I wrongly assumed were of my doing. Thank You for the grace You have always given when I humbly turned to honour You again. Lord, help me to keep my eyes consistently toward heaven that I might think clearly, give You all glory, and praise day by day, Amen.
Words of Wisdom
The Voice Of The Nature Of God
When we speak of the call of God, we are apt to forget the most important feature, viz., the nature of the One Who calls. There is the call of the sea, the call of the mountains, the call of the great ice barriers, but these calls are only heard by the few. The call is the expression of the nature from which it comes, and we can only record the call if the same nature is in us. The call of God is the expression of God’s nature, not of our nature. There are strands of the call of God providentially at work for us whom we recognize and no one else does. It is the threading of God’s voice to us in some particular matter, and it is no use consulting anyone else about it. We have to keep that profound relationship between our souls and God.
The call of God is not the echo of my nature; my affinities and personal temperament are not considered. As long as I consider my personal temperament and think about what I am fitted for, I shall never hear the call of God. But when I am brought into relationship with God, I am in the condition Isaiah was in. Isaiah’s soul was so attuned to God by the tremendous crisis he had gone through that he recorded the call of God to his amazed soul. The majority of us have no ear for anything but ourselves, we cannot hear a thing God says. To be brought into the zone of the call of God is to be profoundly altered.
“I heard the voice of the Lord saying, Whom shall I send?” Isaiah 6:8
