THE RESPONSE

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In Christ, Mark

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The scriptures. May God bless the reading of His holy word.

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: “What have you done?”

At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.

Daniel 4:34-37

This ends today’s reading from God's holy word. Thanks be to God.

Seven years.

Seven years of being deposed from power. Seven years of living with the wild animals and eating the grass like oxen. Seven years of awaking each day drenched with the dew of heaven and seeing your hair grow as the hair of an eagle and nails like the claws of a bird. Seven years in this kind of environment to think about what you did in direct defiance of God that led to His judgment and the penalty you were suffering through.

Seven years is a long time. If you went back more than 2,000 years and spoke directly with Nebuchadnezzar, he would tell you as much.

Well, as Chapter 4 comes to an end, we find God’s punishment of Babylon’s ex-king ending as well.

How would he respond to what had happened to him?

Look at these closing verses to find out:

At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion; His kingdom endures from generation to generation. All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: “What have you done?”

At the same time that my sanity was restored, my honor and splendor were returned to me for the glory of my kingdom. My advisers and nobles sought me out, and I was restored to my throne and became even greater than before. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.  Daniel 4:34-37

The seven years of hardship and humility were maddening for Nebuchadnezzar. We know that because his very words reveal he had lost his sanity, a sanity that was restored as soon as the former king raised his eyes to heaven.

How would you respond if you had been delivered from seven long years of difficulty?

I hope you would do as Nebuchadnezzar did as he “praised the Most High” God and gave Him glory. His words of profession say as much as He speaks these truths about the Lord:

“His dominion is an eternal dominion.”

“His kingdom endures from generation to generation.”

“All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as He pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. No one can hold back His hand or say to Him: ‘What have you done?’”

Essentially, Nebuchadnezzar elevates God to the place where He deserves to be. For His rule and kingdom are forever and no one rivals Him or can stop Him or question anything He does.

How did God respond to Nebuchadnezzar’s praises?

He blessed him in the following ways:

1. He restored Nebuchadnezzar’s “honor and splendor” for the glory of his kingdom.

2. He allowed Nebuchadnezzar to be restored to his throne after he was sought out by his advisers and nobles.

3. He didn’t just restore Nebuchadnezzar to power but made the way for him to be “even greater than before.”

It was quite a turnaround for Babylon’s king, a kind of riches-to-rags-to-riches story, and so there is little surprise that he would close this chapter with the following words:

“Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven, because everything He does is right and all His ways are just. And those who walk in pride He is able to humble.”

Friends, these were words spoken after God restored a person from judgment to honor but they could and should be words we speak each and every day when we awake, blessed with a new day by the Most High God.

So when you wake up tomorrow, praise and exalt and glorify the King of heaven because everything He does is right and His ways are just.

And when you wake up the next day, repeat, the next day, the same, and so on and so forth.

For there could be no better response we can give the God who provides us life than to give Him our thanks.

Amen

In Christ,

Mark
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