
24 “‘This is what the dream means, Your Majesty, and what the Most High has declared will happen to my lord the king. 25 You will be driven from human society, and you will live in the fields with the wild animals. You will eat grass like a cow, and you will be drenched with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses. 26 But the stump and roots of the tree were left in the ground. This means that you will receive your kingdom back again when you have learned that heaven rules.
27 “‘King Nebuchadnezzar, please accept my advice. Stop sinning and do what is right. Break from your wicked past and be merciful to the poor. Perhaps then you will continue to prosper.’
28 “But all these things did happen to King Nebuchadnezzar. 29 Twelve months later he was taking a walk on the flat roof of the royal palace in Babylon. 30 As he looked out across the city, he said, ‘Look at this great city of Babylon! By my own mighty power, I have built this beautiful city as my royal residence to display my majestic splendor.’
31 “While these words were still in his mouth, a voice called down from heaven, ‘O King Nebuchadnezzar, this message is for you! You are no longer ruler of this kingdom. 32 You will be driven from human society. You will live in the fields with the wild animals, and you will eat grass like a cow. Seven periods of time will pass while you live this way, until you learn that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of the world and gives them to anyone he chooses.’
Daniel 4:24-32
Dear God, this story convicts me this morning. I found myself jokingly talking like Nebuchadnezzar this morning. I have a tricky issue I’m trying to think through, and I knew I wanted to spend some time with you in earnest prayer about it this morning, but I also had some ideas of my own. So as I talked to my wife about it, I jokingly said that I had come up with some ideas, but I would check in with the Holy Spirit to see if He had any thoughts on the matter, as if it would be an automatic ratification of what I had come up with. As if I could do any of this on my own.
Daniel’s words are for me this morning: “Stop sinning and do what is right.” In this case, it’s just hubris. But the truth is, the ideas I came up with overnight, while they were good, I do think they came from you and you speaking to me and not from me. No, I’m a fool. I’m vain. I want to be respected. I want to be liked. But you are the author of everything good, not only in my life but in me as well. If I have any good thoughts, they are from you. If I have any good decisions or counsel to provide someone else, it is from you. You are my only hope. You are the only thing that keeps me from making a complete disaster of my life. You and you alone.
As I look at this image created by Matthew Clark it can be a little hard to see what all he is putting in there. I see what I think is a snake coming around Nebuchadnezzar’s neck and under his beard. It’s almost like he’s wearing a helmet with oxen horns and ears. It looks like his mouth is hanging open. This is what it looks like when we descend into ourselves.
I want to reprint here what Bustard shares about this piece:
Verse 33 continues with, “Immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven till his hair grew as long as eagles’ feathers, and his nails were like birds’ claws.” [Matthew Clark] writes, “the ‘horns of divinity’ appear in many ancient Sumerian and Babylonian idols. Also, the ancient peoples often thought of crazy people as touched by divinity. So, ironically, Nebuchadnezzar achieved what he desired to accomplish in chapter three when he commissioned the golden statue of himself–but not exactly the way he wanted!” Ultimately the king recovered his sanity and could “praise and extol and honor the King of heaven, for all his works are right and his ways are just; and those who walk in pride he is able to humble.”
Father, I am humble before you right now. I am an arrogant fool, and I am sorry. I experience success and I count is as credit to me. It is not. It is you. It is all about you. I pray that my life today might be about worshipping you and carrying you into the world. I pray that those who encounter me might experience a piece of you and your Holy Spirit today. My utmost for your highest. All that I am for all that you are. Take my life, Lord, and let it be consecrated unto you.
I pray all of this in the name of the Lord of Lords, the King of King, and my God, the Father, Son and Holy Spirit,
Amen