Trascrizione completa di Daniel 4 - A Humbled King

of those moments in this passage, in the book of Daniel. 00:03:36.479 --> 00:03:45.199 King Nebuchadnezzar comes to a moment where he is humbled, where God has to teach him a little lesson about who he really is. 00:03:45.520 --> 00:03:53.520 And when Nebuchadnezzar learns something about who he really is, he does that by learning who God really is. 00:03:54.560 --> 00:04:03.759 The path to true humility involves recognizing not simply who we are, but recognizing who God is. 00:04:05.199 --> 00:04:10.240 And that's what Nebuchadnezzar learns in the text for this morning. 00:04:10.800 --> 00:04:15.840 So as we study this story, it's a story about how God humbles the proud. 00:04:16.000 --> 00:04:24.639 And it's a story about how God also wants to humble each one of us so that he can use us more effectively for his glory. 00:04:26.160 --> 00:04:29.120 I'm not going to read the entirety of chapter 4. 00:04:29.199 --> 00:04:30.959 The text is in the bulletin. 00:04:31.040 --> 00:04:32.000 You may follow along. 00:04:32.079 --> 00:04:34.160 I will read selected portions of it. 00:04:34.480 --> 00:04:42.480 As we come to Daniel chapter 4, we meet again King Nebuchadnezzar, and God has been dealing with him. 00:04:42.800 --> 00:04:45.199 We've been reading about this king. 00:04:45.439 --> 00:04:50.879 In chapter 2, he was given a vision that his kingdom would come to an end. 00:04:51.199 --> 00:04:58.879 He was the undisputed military leader of the day, a supreme ruler with armies at his disposal. 00:04:59.680 --> 00:05:05.839 He had perhaps every reason to brag and to boast, but God needs him to remember that he's not all that. 00:05:06.160 --> 00:05:11.759 In chapter 2, he was given a vision that his kingdom would one day come to an end. 00:05:12.160 --> 00:05:20.959 In chapter 3, he then made a statue and demanded that everybody bow down to this statue or they would be put to death. 00:05:21.199 --> 00:05:27.120 He was trying to control people's worship, setting himself up as God. 00:05:27.519 --> 00:05:31.279 And now in chapter 4, God continues to work with them. 00:05:31.360 --> 00:05:35.600 And Nebuchadnezzar gets another lesson in humility. 00:05:36.319 --> 00:05:39.199 He has a dream in chapter 4. 00:05:39.519 --> 00:05:40.639 He has another dream. 00:05:40.800 --> 00:05:53.120 We already saw in chapter 2 that Nebuchadnezzar had a dream, and he demanded that the astrologers and the magicians of the Babylonian religions interpret it, and they could not do so. 00:05:53.360 --> 00:06:01.600 Only Daniel, who had a connection to the one true God, the triune God we know through Jesus Christ as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, that God. 00:06:03.360 --> 00:06:08.160 Only that God was able to reveal the meaning of the dream. 00:06:09.759 --> 00:06:26.000 And now in chapter 4, when Nebuchadnezzar has another dream, the other priests and the other astrologers are not able to interpret it, but that's okay, because now Nebuchadnezzar goes directly to Daniel for the interpretation. 00:06:26.160 --> 00:06:33.279 He says in verse 8, I know that the spirit of the holy gods is in him. 00:06:34.959 --> 00:06:38.560 Nebuchadnezzar doesn't know the one true God. 00:06:38.720 --> 00:06:41.920 He's still thinking in terms of there being multiple gods. 00:06:42.160 --> 00:06:44.319 There is only one true God. 00:06:44.639 --> 00:06:48.399 Nebuchadnezzar doesn't know this God, but he knows Daniel. 00:06:48.639 --> 00:06:53.279 And Nebuchadnezzar knows that there's something about Daniel that's a little bit different. 00:06:53.839 --> 00:06:58.560 He might not know the one true God, but he knows Daniel, who does know the one true God. 00:06:58.720 --> 00:07:02.480 And because of that, Nebuchadnezzar knows that Daniel is a little different. 00:07:03.360 --> 00:07:04.720 Let me ask you this. 00:07:05.040 --> 00:07:12.319 People around you might not know the one true God, but do they notice something different about you because you know God? 00:07:15.120 --> 00:07:22.959 People that you come into contact with might not have a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, but they have a relationship with you. 00:07:24.160 --> 00:07:28.480 Does their relationship with you point them toward the one true God? 00:07:29.439 --> 00:07:36.399 Do people know that there is something different about you because of your connection with Christ? 00:07:37.759 --> 00:07:54.000 Relationship with God is something that is invisible, but it manifests itself visibly in the way that we treat others, in the way that we act, in wisdom for living, in how we order our priorities, what's important to us. 00:07:54.240 --> 00:08:00.160 Our relationship with God is evidenced by the way that we live our lives. 00:08:00.319 --> 00:08:05.839 Nebuchadnezzar doesn't know the one true God, but he knows Daniel, and he knows that Daniel is different. 00:08:06.079 --> 00:08:08.959 Let that be true of us as well. 00:08:12.240 --> 00:08:15.680 Nebuchadnezzar tells Daniel his dream. 00:08:16.399 --> 00:08:22.959 He says in verses 11 and 12, there before me stood a tree in the middle of the land. 00:08:23.120 --> 00:08:28.639 Its height was enormous, the tree grew large and strong, and its top touched the sky. 00:08:28.800 --> 00:08:32.240 It was visible to the ends of the earth. 00:08:33.279 --> 00:08:37.919 Its leaves were beautiful, its fruit abundant, and on it was food for all. 00:08:38.159 --> 00:08:40.799 Under it the wild animals found shelter. 00:08:40.960 --> 00:08:42.639 The birds lived in its branches. 00:08:42.879 --> 00:08:45.679 From it every creature was fed. 00:08:47.120 --> 00:08:50.960 In a dream, Nebuchadnezzar sees a vision of a large tree. 00:08:51.200 --> 00:08:54.799 Have you ever stood underneath a large tree? 00:08:55.039 --> 00:09:00.240 I think, for example, of willow trees that I stood under when I was in Savannah, Georgia. 00:09:00.480 --> 00:09:04.320 Beautiful, magnificent willow trees. 00:09:05.120 --> 00:09:12.799 I've never

been to them, but I've seen pictures of redwood trees in California that seem to be miles and miles tall. 00:09:13.120 --> 00:09:16.080 Make you look like an ant standing next to them. 00:09:16.240 --> 00:09:17.279 They are so vast. 00:09:18.399 --> 00:09:22.399 Nebuchadnezzar sees a vision of a large tree. 00:09:22.720 --> 00:09:24.720 It seems to fill the whole earth. 00:09:24.960 --> 00:09:27.440 But then something happens to the tree. 00:09:27.679 --> 00:09:29.440 Something that seems impossible. 00:09:29.600 --> 00:09:34.320 Despite its size and its impressive stature, it gets cut down. 00:09:34.799 --> 00:09:37.840 That tree gets chopped away and is no more. 00:09:38.000 --> 00:09:43.279 Something that seemed to be so large and so majestic is suddenly reduced to nothing. 00:09:43.840 --> 00:09:46.879 Verses 13 through 15 describe it. 00:09:47.120 --> 00:09:50.559 The limbs are sawed off, the trunk is cut down. 00:09:50.799 --> 00:09:55.440 Animals that used to take shelter under the tree suddenly scatter in fear. 00:09:55.679 --> 00:10:04.240 Birds used to nest in the branches of the tree, but those birds are forcefully evicted as the branches are cut down and the tree is no more. 00:10:04.720 --> 00:10:08.399 All that remains at the end is a stump in the ground. 00:10:09.360 --> 00:10:15.840 A tree so tall, so high, reduced to merely a stump. 00:10:19.519 --> 00:10:32.080 At the house we moved into last year, we discovered that the trees in the yard unfortunately gave to us oat galls. 00:10:32.240 --> 00:10:33.919 You know what oatgalls are? 00:10:34.080 --> 00:10:38.159 They're these large, annoying little things that you step on. 00:10:38.320 --> 00:10:43.200 They fall from the trees, you step on them, they really hurt to step on, they're very annoying. 00:10:43.600 --> 00:10:52.159 Well, we had this oat gall tree in our backyard, and that tree, I don't know exactly how tall it was, but it was several times the size of the house. 00:10:52.399 --> 00:10:53.759 It was massive. 00:10:54.000 --> 00:11:00.639 And it rained down oat galls and leaves and sticks, made a mess of our backyard. 00:11:00.879 --> 00:11:02.000 Couldn't stand that tree. 00:11:02.080 --> 00:11:04.960 But for a long time I figured, well, we're stuck with this tree. 00:11:05.039 --> 00:11:07.600 I mean, what am I going to do with a tree of this height? 00:11:07.919 --> 00:11:11.039 Well, turns out there was actually an answer to that. 00:11:11.279 --> 00:11:13.120 Hire somebody to cut it down. 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:26.960 Somebody showed up one day, a gentleman with a couple of knives and some ropes, and he started climbing that tree, armed with a saw. 00:11:28.320 --> 00:11:31.679 And I thought, he's not going to make a dent in this tree. 00:11:31.759 --> 00:11:32.960 I mean, this is going to take forever. 00:11:33.039 --> 00:11:34.320 This tree is massive. 00:11:34.639 --> 00:11:43.039 Well, we had to go somewhere that day, and so we left shortly after he arrived, and

we came back several hours later. 00:11:43.279 --> 00:11:48.720 And that guy had climbed this entire tree and cut it down limb by limb. 00:11:48.960 --> 00:11:51.600 And then he cut down the trunk bit by bit. 00:11:51.759 --> 00:11:56.799 And when we arrived, he had a truck full of lumber. 00:11:57.039 --> 00:12:02.399 And the only thing that remained in our backyard was a big old stump and a pile of branches. 00:12:02.720 --> 00:12:04.000 I couldn't believe it. 00:12:04.240 --> 00:12:07.279 It made the yard look twice the size that it used to be. 00:12:07.519 --> 00:12:14.080 Those oat galls that terrorized me and tormented our toes for the past year were no more. 00:12:16.960 --> 00:12:27.759 A massive tree that towered several times the size of our house was suddenly reduced to a mere stump in the ground. 00:12:30.960 --> 00:12:33.519 That's what Nebuchadnezzar dreams about. 00:12:34.559 --> 00:12:43.279 A massive tree that seems taller, more powerful, stronger than anything, suddenly becomes nothing. 00:12:44.879 --> 00:12:58.559 In this dream, not only does the tree become nothing, but there is an individual pictured who's under the tree, and when the tree gets cut down, this individual loses his sanity. 00:12:59.200 --> 00:13:01.120 Verses 15 and 16. 00:13:01.279 --> 00:13:06.879 Let him be drenched with the dew of heaven, and let him live with the animals among the plants of the earth. 00:13:07.039 --> 00:13:16.000 Let his mind be changed from that of a man, and let him be given the mind of an animal, till seven times pass by for him. 00:13:17.600 --> 00:13:24.000 It pictures somebody who loses his mental faculties, can no longer reason or function as a human being. 00:13:24.799 --> 00:13:32.879 Not only does a tree get cut down, but a human being gets cut down in terms of ability and capabilities. 00:13:34.000 --> 00:13:37.919 And Daniel interprets this dream for Nebuchadnezzar. 00:13:38.000 --> 00:13:41.519 He says, Your majesty, you are that tree. 00:13:43.039 --> 00:13:44.960 You are that tree. 00:13:46.559 --> 00:13:51.600 Imagine the nerve that it takes Daniel to say that to Nebuchadnezzar. 00:13:51.919 --> 00:14:01.440 The king who had on multiple occasions now tried to do away with his life and the life of all of the Israelites. 00:14:02.000 --> 00:14:04.159 This powerful king. 00:14:04.320 --> 00:14:14.399 And Daniel has the nerve to go to him and say, look, buddy, I know you think you're all that, but you're nothing more than a tree that's about to be chopped down and turned into firewood. 00:14:19.200 --> 00:14:23.360 Daniel tells it like it is, he doesn't mince words with his king. 00:14:24.320 --> 00:14:29.919 But also mixed with Daniel's truth-telling, there is compassion and there is grace. 00:14:30.080 --> 00:14:37.600 And he delivers a message from God that is a message that he can still turn around and repent, go the other direction. 00:14:38.480 --> 00:14:47.039 And so Daniel says to him in verse 27, Therefore, your majesty, be pleased to accept my advice. 00:14:47.279 --> 00:14:53.759 Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. 00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:58.159 It may be that then your prosperity will continue. 00:14:59.039 --> 00:15:03.759 Daniel says, the direction that you're headed right now, you're on the way to being chopped down. 00:15:05.279 --> 00:15:08.639 But you still have an opportunity to turn this around. 00:15:08.799 --> 00:15:10.960 You can turn it around by repenting. 00:15:11.120 --> 00:15:14.799 And repenting means changing your mind, but it means more than that. 00:15:14.960 --> 00:15:20.000 It means changing the way you think so that it changes the way you live. 00:15:20.720 --> 00:15:25.519 Repentance is not simply thinking about something differently, but acting differently. 00:15:25.679 --> 00:15:29.200 When we repent, we turn away from sin and turn toward God. 00:15:30.879 --> 00:15:34.559 And repentance works itself out in the way that we treat others. 00:15:34.720 --> 00:15:42.799 Daniel says that he can renounce his sins by doing what is right, renounce his wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. 00:15:44.240 --> 00:15:50.480 The strength of our commitment to God is measured by our commitment to the least of these. 00:15:54.559 --> 00:16:00.799 Daniel says to this powerful king, You want to turn around and walk with God? 00:16:01.039 --> 00:16:02.960 Be kind to the oppressed. 00:16:03.600 --> 00:16:08.960 Don't use your power for evil, but use it on behalf of those who don't have power. 00:16:11.519 --> 00:16:20.799 Repentance, a true change of mind, results in changed behavior for those who can't help themselves. 00:16:23.200 --> 00:16:27.919 There's an opportunity given to Nebuchadnezzar to repent, to turn around. 00:16:35.279 --> 00:16:39.200 And sure enough, that's exactly what comes to pass. 00:16:41.279 --> 00:16:48.960 In verse 28, it tells us, it says, all this happened to King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:16:49.120 --> 00:16:54.559 Everything that Daniel predicted through the Spirit of God came to pass. 00:16:56.320 --> 00:17:01.759 It says in verse 29 that the fulfillment came twelve months later. 00:17:02.879 --> 00:17:04.640 Twelve months later. 00:17:06.400 --> 00:17:10.480 The judgment upon Nebuchadnezzar took a year to come about. 00:17:12.240 --> 00:17:18.079 God gave Nebuchadnezzar an entire year to do a 180 and turn around. 00:17:20.319 --> 00:17:21.680 But he didn't do it. 00:17:21.920 --> 00:17:40.240 And so Nebuchadnezzar, verse 29, walked on the roof of his royal palace in Babylon, and he said, Is this not the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty? 00:17:43.039 --> 00:17:51.680 He ascended to the top of his castle, looked over a kingdom, and he said, This is all mine, and I did it, and it all reflects on me. 00:17:52.160 --> 00:17:53.759 All glory to me. 00:17:58.559 --> 00:18:02.880 None of us probably

have ever done that quite so explicitly. 00:18:03.759 --> 00:18:12.400 I suspect none of us have woken up in the morning and said, This is my life that I've built all for my glory. 00:18:13.680 --> 00:18:15.279 But let me ask you this. 00:18:15.599 --> 00:18:29.920 When you look at your life, when you look at your possessions, the things you own, your accomplishments, the things you've done, the things you have, who do you give the glory to? 00:18:31.519 --> 00:18:40.400 When you look at your life and what you've been able to do and the possessions you've been able to acquire, who do you give the glory to? 00:18:41.839 --> 00:18:46.079 Do you look at your life and think, this is all my doing? 00:18:48.319 --> 00:18:51.920 Because each one of us has a tendency easily to do that. 00:18:52.079 --> 00:18:52.720 I do. 00:18:53.039 --> 00:18:54.880 Every one of us does. 00:18:55.519 --> 00:19:01.599 Whereas all of the things that we're able to do, things we're able to accomplish should be opportunities to praise God. 00:19:01.839 --> 00:19:07.119 We as human beings who are fallen turn inwardly and praise ourselves instead of God. 00:19:07.839 --> 00:19:13.759 It may be true that you accomplished a lot in your career, but who gave you the help and the ability to do that? 00:19:14.079 --> 00:19:14.720 God did. 00:19:15.759 --> 00:19:27.680 It may be true that you were able to acquire a lot through earning wages, through smart financial decisions. 00:19:27.920 --> 00:19:30.000 But who gave you the wisdom to do that? 00:19:30.319 --> 00:19:30.640 God. 00:19:32.480 --> 00:19:34.960 All that we have is from God. 00:19:35.440 --> 00:19:37.519 Nebuchadnezzar didn't realize that. 00:19:37.839 --> 00:19:43.599 He had everything that one could ask for, and he attributed it all to himself. 00:19:44.079 --> 00:19:46.720 And God's about to teach him a lesson. 00:19:47.359 --> 00:19:50.240 God had given him a year to repent. 00:19:50.799 --> 00:19:56.799 God had given him a year to turn around, to humble himself, but he didn't do it. 00:19:57.759 --> 00:20:04.400 The Apostle Paul says in Romans chapter 2, verse 4 that God's kindness is intended to lead us to repentance. 00:20:05.440 --> 00:20:08.079 God's kindness is meant to lead us to repentance. 00:20:08.240 --> 00:20:14.400 In other words, when God delays judgment, it's not because he's unjust, it's because he's merciful. 00:20:16.319 --> 00:20:21.359 God's kindness in our life is meant to turn us away from ourselves and towards him. 00:20:22.400 --> 00:20:27.200 This morning, right now, God's kindness is extended to each one of us. 00:20:27.279 --> 00:20:31.839 And it's an opportunity to turn toward him in faith and give him the glory. 00:20:34.480 --> 00:20:42.480 It says in verse 31 that as the words were on Nebuchadnezzar's lips, as he was praising himself, a voice came from heaven. 00:20:42.640 --> 00:20:45.359 This is what is decreed for you, King Nebuchadnezzar. 00:20:45.519 --> 00:20:47.920 Your royal authority has been taken from you. 00:20:48.160 --> 00:20:52.160 You will be driven away from people and will live with the wild animals. 00:20:52.400 --> 00:20:54.880 You will eat grass like the ox. 00:20:58.400 --> 00:21:01.440 God says to Nebuchadnezzar, You think that you're high and mighty? 00:21:01.599 --> 00:21:04.240 I'm going to make you live like one of the farm animals. 00:21:06.640 --> 00:21:13.920 You have a royal palace where you eat dinner every night with a staff to serve you filet mignon and the finest food. 00:21:14.160 --> 00:21:16.400 Try having grass for dinner five nights a week. 00:21:16.480 --> 00:21:17.759 See how you like that. 00:21:20.880 --> 00:21:22.480 God had to teach him a lesson. 00:21:22.559 --> 00:21:25.359 God had to knock him down off the pedestal. 00:21:25.680 --> 00:21:27.680 And it goes on in verse 32. 00:21:27.839 --> 00:21:39.119 It says, Seven times will pass by for you until you acknowledge that the Most High is sovereign over all the kingdoms of the earth and gives them to anyone he wishes. 00:21:41.519 --> 00:21:46.160 Nebuchadnezzar was humbled until he could give God the glory. 00:21:47.839 --> 00:21:56.000 The embarrassment, humility that he suffered endured only as long as he continued to praise himself. 00:22:00.079 --> 00:22:08.000 The purpose of the loss he experienced was to remind him where all of his blessings ultimately come from. 00:22:08.160 --> 00:22:11.119 That they don't come from him, that they come from God. 00:22:12.400 --> 00:22:16.799 And so after boasting about the greatness of his kingdom, he's reduced to nothing. 00:22:17.039 --> 00:22:19.519 He's driven away to live with the wild animals. 00:22:19.680 --> 00:22:21.039 He loses his sanity. 00:22:21.200 --> 00:22:26.480 His mental faculties are erased, and he becomes like an ox eating grass. 00:22:27.519 --> 00:22:32.799 He goes through this experience and he comes out on the other end having a realization about God. 00:22:33.359 --> 00:22:43.039 Verses 34 and 35, he says, At the end of that time I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. 00:22:43.359 --> 00:22:45.519 Then I praised the Most High. 00:22:45.680 --> 00:22:49.599 I honored and glorified him who lives forever. 00:22:50.319 --> 00:22:56.640 Nebuchadnezzar came out on the other end with a new appreciation of God's power and dominion. 00:22:57.039 --> 00:23:03.519 He had stood upon his royal palace, looked out at his kingdom, and thought there was none greater than me. 00:23:04.400 --> 00:23:11.519 Now, at the end of his humbling, he looks up to heaven and realizes that God is far greater than he ever will be. 00:23:13.039 --> 00:23:15.680 In verse 35, I love this. 00:23:15.839 --> 00:23:21.200 This is at the end of his humbling experience, and he gives praise to God in verse 35. 00:23:21.279 --> 00:23:24.720 It says, His dominion is an eternal dominion. 00:23:24.880 --> 00:23:28.000 His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

00:23:28.240 --> 00:23:31.200 All the peoples of the earth are regarded as nothing. 00:23:31.440 --> 00:23:35.440 He does as he pleases with the powers of heaven and the peoples of the earth. 00:23:35.599 --> 00:23:39.839 No one can hold back his hand or say to him, What have you done? 00:23:42.160 --> 00:23:45.599 God is so powerful that he is dependent on no one. 00:23:45.839 --> 00:23:49.440 And he is so perfect that he answers to no one. 00:23:51.039 --> 00:23:54.720 There is nobody with the authority to call God to account. 00:23:55.200 --> 00:23:58.799 There is nobody with the power to overturn God's plans. 00:23:59.920 --> 00:24:03.279 There is no one with the wisdom to outsmart God. 00:24:04.720 --> 00:24:06.559 Nebuchadnezzar had to learn that. 00:24:06.720 --> 00:24:08.480 He had to go through some embarrassment. 00:24:08.640 --> 00:24:10.240 He had to go through a loss of power. 00:24:10.400 --> 00:24:12.960 He had to go through a loss of social status. 00:24:13.359 --> 00:24:21.200 He had to go through a loss of his intellect in order to realize where all of those things really come from. 00:24:21.519 --> 00:24:25.519 God gave them to him, and God could take them away in an instant. 00:24:26.240 --> 00:24:30.160 Everything Nebuchadnezzar had was on loan to him by God's grace. 00:24:30.400 --> 00:24:32.720 None of it truly belonged to him. 00:24:33.599 --> 00:24:39.200 And he gets a glimpse of who God is, and he stops thinking so highly of himself. 00:24:39.440 --> 00:24:49.680 And in verse 37, he says, Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and exalt and glorify the king of heaven, because everything he does is right and all his ways are just. 00:24:49.839 --> 00:24:54.160 And those who walk in pride, he is able to humble. 00:24:55.680 --> 00:25:00.079 He learns the hard way that God does not take well to prideful people. 00:25:00.880 --> 00:25:04.480 God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. 00:25:07.920 --> 00:25:16.000 God had to remind the king of his own limitations, and he did that to get his attention off of himself and back on to God. 00:25:16.720 --> 00:25:22.079 When our heads get a little too big, sometimes we need to be reminded of who God is. 00:25:23.200 --> 00:25:24.319 I like what C.S. 00:25:24.480 --> 00:25:25.119 Lewis says. 00:25:25.200 --> 00:25:28.799 He was a great Christian writer, and he says this about humility. 00:25:29.039 --> 00:25:38.160 He says this in God, you come up against someone who is in every respect immeasurably superior to yourself. 00:25:40.240 --> 00:25:44.000 In every respect, God is immeasurably superior to us. 00:25:44.240 --> 00:25:55.039 Lewis says, unless you know, unless you know that God has that superiority, you do not know God at all. 00:25:57.200 --> 00:26:01.119 Says a proud person is always looking down on things and people. 00:26:01.680 --> 00:26:07.279 And of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see someone who is above you. 00:26:09.440 --> 00:26:13.519 All of

us have a natural tendency to look down on others. 00:26:14.000 --> 00:26:15.680 Thank God that I'm not like that. 00:26:15.839 --> 00:26:18.720 Thank God that I'm not like him or her. 00:26:18.960 --> 00:26:20.400 Thank God that I have all this. 00:26:20.559 --> 00:26:22.880 Thank God that I was able to accomplish all that. 00:26:23.039 --> 00:26:25.039 And it causes us to look down at people. 00:26:25.200 --> 00:26:29.039 And as long as we're looking down at others, we're not able to look up at God. 00:26:31.279 --> 00:26:36.160 And Nebuchadnezzar looked down off a high perch and looked down upon everybody else. 00:26:36.319 --> 00:26:40.799 And so God brought him low, lower than anyone perhaps had ever been. 00:26:41.119 --> 00:26:47.920 And through that, Nebuchadnezzar learned, I better look up instead of look down at others. 00:26:48.640 --> 00:26:53.200 When we see God for who he is, we see ourselves for who we really are. 00:26:53.359 --> 00:26:58.960 Like this king, we have a tendency to think more highly of ourselves than we ought to. 00:27:00.000 --> 00:27:09.920 Many years ago, after I had uh come to a point where I'd graduated from school, I was making plans for what I was gonna do with my life after school. 00:27:10.079 --> 00:27:16.000 And I had some plans that I was pretty sure were gonna work out well for me. 00:27:17.119 --> 00:27:20.160 I was gonna apply to some doctoral programs. 00:27:20.480 --> 00:27:33.119 Uh, there were some other things that I planned to do, but as soon as I made plans to go about with everything I thought I was gonna do, things kind of turned on me. 00:27:33.440 --> 00:27:35.359 I got very, very ill. 00:27:36.720 --> 00:27:42.319 My health came to a point where I felt weaker than I'd ever been. 00:27:42.960 --> 00:27:48.480 Because of that, I wasn't able to apply to a lot of the PhD programs I had planned to apply to. 00:27:48.640 --> 00:27:50.799 I was only able to apply to one program. 00:27:52.559 --> 00:28:01.759 But it was alright because I had met the people who ran the program, I had a good application, I was a shoe-in to get accepted to that program. 00:28:03.440 --> 00:28:13.039 Imagine my shock when lying ill and barely able to move, I found out that I got rejected from the only program that I was able to apply to. 00:28:14.559 --> 00:28:16.640 Well, now what was I gonna do? 00:28:17.599 --> 00:28:21.359 My health had failed me and limited my options. 00:28:22.079 --> 00:28:26.240 I wasn't competitive enough to get accepted to where I thought I was gonna go. 00:28:26.400 --> 00:28:29.119 Wasn't smart enough, wasn't accomplished enough. 00:28:29.920 --> 00:28:33.359 Ouch! Now I was lost in the wilderness, it seemed. 00:28:33.519 --> 00:28:35.200 All of my plans had come to nothing. 00:28:35.359 --> 00:28:37.599 I didn't know what to do with my life. 00:28:40.160 --> 00:28:44.880 As I look back on that, I think God had something to teach me through the process. 00:28:47.680 --> 00:28:54.400 God had to teach me that any accomplishment that I have in life comes from his grace. 00:28:55.759 --> 00:29:04.400 God had to teach me that any health I may enjoy, any ability that I may possess, is on loan to me, a gift from him. 00:29:04.960 --> 00:29:06.640 It is not my own. 00:29:07.119 --> 00:29:14.079 And through that, as I look back on it, he said to me, Eric, don't think more highly of yourself than you ought to. 00:29:14.319 --> 00:29:17.519 Because you really ought not think very highly of yourself at all. 00:29:19.359 --> 00:29:23.519 God might need to take you through some things before he can really use you. 00:29:25.359 --> 00:29:30.559 God may need to humble you a little bit before he can truly use you for his glory. 00:29:30.960 --> 00:29:33.519 It may mean letting you experience failure. 00:29:33.759 --> 00:29:39.599 It may mean letting you experience disappointment in order to empty you of self-dependence. 00:29:40.960 --> 00:29:48.720 But on the other side of that process, there's a freedom that comes with knowing our limits and knowing the limitless power of God. 00:29:50.000 --> 00:29:58.799 Sometimes failure, disappointment, embarrassment, and frustration are not meant to be the final chapter in God's book for our lives. 00:29:59.119 --> 00:30:03.039 But they are an important chapter to lead us to better things. 00:30:03.359 --> 00:30:12.720 God used in Nebuchadnezzar's life humiliation, loss to teach him a lesson. 00:30:13.759 --> 00:30:20.160 And God may need to use something similar in your life to teach you some lessons about walking with him. 00:30:22.000 --> 00:30:23.599 It's not an easy process. 00:30:23.759 --> 00:30:29.440 It can be painful at times to be chopped down, but it's worth it. 00:30:29.680 --> 00:30:39.680 Because on the other end, there is a freedom that comes with recognizing our own limitations and knowing the power of the God that we serve. 00:30:40.559 --> 00:30:54.160 There was a researcher named Arthur Brooks, and he was doing some research on the topic of humility and how it is that thinking less of ourselves, thinking about ourselves less, can actually be good for our mental health, for our sanity. 00:30:55.519 --> 00:31:03.039 And uh he talked to one college student who uh took an astronomy class in school. 00:31:03.200 --> 00:31:11.359 She wasn't uh an astronomy major, wasn't a science major, didn't have to study the stars and the galaxies, but wanted to. 00:31:11.839 --> 00:31:23.119 She took this class and she said that she was somebody who suffered a lot of fear in her life, a lot of anxiety, a lot of insecurity about herself. 00:31:23.359 --> 00:31:32.400 But she said that uh taking this astronomy class, she'd spend 90 minutes studying galaxies and billions of stars and the vastness of the universe. 00:31:32.720 --> 00:31:36.240 She said she would walk out of class feeling relieved. 00:31:37.119 --> 00:31:43.279 She told this researcher, she said, Well, when I leave, I realize that I'm just a speck on a speck. 00:31:44.480 --> 00:31:45.839 That's all I am. 00:31:46.160 --> 00:31:47.680 And it's freeing. 00:31:48.720 --> 00:31:50.000 It's freeing. 00:31:51.039 --> 00:32:03.200 We can think very highly of ourselves, but at the end of the day, we are very small, we are on a very small planet in a vast universe created by a God who is infinitely vast. 00:32:03.920 --> 00:32:16.160 Humility doesn't mean putting ourselves down or having no self-regard or self-respect, but it means recognizing that we, in comparison to God, are powerless. 00:32:16.640 --> 00:32:20.720 And we, in comparison to God, cannot accomplish anything. 00:32:20.880 --> 00:32:22.799 It's all by his grace. 00:32:23.039 --> 00:32:29.039 In the words of this one college student, we are just specks on a speck called earth. 00:32:30.319 --> 00:32:33.599 That can be scary to face, but it's also freeing. 00:32:33.920 --> 00:32:39.920 Because it frees us to trust in God and to stop focusing inward so much. 00:32:40.400 --> 00:32:43.839 Maybe God is taking you through some things where he needs to humble you. 00:32:44.880 --> 00:32:46.799 He needs to bring you to an end of yourself. 00:32:48.480 --> 00:32:49.680 Allow him to do that. 00:32:50.000 --> 00:32:55.200 Trust the process that God works in your life to bring you to a point of greater dependence on him.