Daniel 4:28-37
28All this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, 30 he said, "Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?"
31 The words were still on his lips when a voice came from heaven, "This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar: Your royal authority has been taken from you. 32 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals; you will eat grass like cattle. Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men and gives them to anyone he wishes."
33 Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like cattle. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.
34 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.
35 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?"
36 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. 37 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.
I shall attempt to highlight some of the more salient points here which spoke deeply to me.
The message was about the passage being one describing the pathway from pride of self to praise of God. Here, I shall not reproduce the entire sermon, but elaborate on the specific paragraphs which affected me greatly this lonely evening...
"So I think we've got here the essence of pride: the enjoyment of self-sufficiency rather than God-sufficiency and the enjoyment of self-exaltation rather than God-exaltation.
Now don't make the mistake of saying to yourself right now, "Well pride is surely not my problem, because I'm a loser. I don't feel self-sufficient at all. And I don't expect anybody to exalt me because I am so ugly or unintelligent or weak. So pride is not my problem."
Be very careful here and now. Don't let Satan trick you. I did not say that pride was the achievement of self-sufficiency or the achievement of self-exaltation. I said that pride is the enjoyment of them, the delight in them, the desire for them. You may see your life as a total failure and feel crushed by this morning and still have pride as the driving force of your life. The very pain you feel at being a failure may be owing to the desperateness of your desire to look successful and to taste the glory of human praise.
One person may go to a party and brag and boast and draw attention to himself and his achievements. Another person may go to the same party and be so fearful and insecure that he hides in corners and tries to avoid people. And both of these persons may be driven by the unbelief pride. The strong person doesn't believe the grace of God is needed; the weak person doesn't believe the grace of God is sufficient. And since God is not their portion, man is—the longed-for esteem and praise of man. One person, fearful that he won't get it, hides. Another person, hopeful that he will get it, brags. Same disease, different symptoms. And all of us have it."
Well, perhaps, the relationship that she and I shared was one in which I sought self-glorification. I wanted to do so much, and expect much in return too. I desired praise from her; I desired the success of achieving bliss with her.
In the past few months, I have swung from one end of the spectrum to the other. It's quite amazing really, as I am typing this I realized I skipped the entire spectrum - as a free-thinker I worshipped myself and did not believe that as a person trying to do good all the time I needed grace from God. Ever since becoming a Christian, the post-breakup me has never truly felt the sufficiency of God's grace - not that it is not sufficient - I did not feel the sufficiency. And this is something I must address.
"And don't miss that word grace! God bends our stiff necks and pushes our face to the ground because that's where the streams of life are flowing.
I call this the VALLEY of humiliation because it is a long way down from being the king of Babylon to being a beast in the field. The reason God made Nebuchadnezzar act like an ox that eats grass, with hair as long as eagles wings and nails like a bird's claws—the reason he did that was to show us the bestiality of pride. When man tries to become like God, he becomes like an animal. Pride puts man in a class with the beasts of the field. That's the point of Nebuchadnezzar's insanity."
I feel like the cattle chewing on the bitter, bitter grass now. God has broken my neck and stuffed my face down onto the bottom of the valley of humiliation trying to help me break my pride and to trust in His and His sufficiency of grace only.
And I am struggling...
It is my most sincere prayer that I should be able to truly, truly do as Nebuchadnezzar did, to trust 100% in the sufficiency of God's grace and that it is truly, truly, in God that I will be satisfied.
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In Christ Alone
In Christ alone my hope is found,
He is my light, my strength, my song;
this Cornerstone, this solid Ground,
firm through the fiercest drought and storm.
What heights of love, what depths of peace,
when fears are stilled, when strivings cease!
My Comforter, my All in All,
here in the love of Christ I stand.
In Christ alone! who took on flesh
Fulness of God in helpless babe!
This gift of love and righteousness
Scorned by the ones he came to save:
Till on that cross as Jesus died,
The wrath of God was satisfied -
For every sin on Him was laid;
Here in the death of Christ I live.
There in the ground His body lay
Light of the world by darkness slain:
Then bursting forth in glorious Day
Up from the grave he rose again!
And as He stands in victory
Sin's curse has lost its grip on me,
For I am His and He is mine -
Bought with the precious blood of Christ.
No guilt in life, no fear in death,
This is the power of Christ in me;
From life's first cry to final breath.
Jesus commands my destiny.
No power of hell, no scheme of man,
Can ever pluck me from His hand;
Till He returns or calls me home,
Here in the power of Christ I'll stand.
