The Most High Rules the Kingdom of Men

Transcription

1 The Most High Rules the Kingdom of Men What comes into your mind when you think about God? In his classic book, The Knowledge of the Holy, A.W. Tozer says, What comes into our minds when we think about God is the most important thing about us. Why is what we think about God so important? The obvious reason is that we were made to worship him and we need to know him in order to worship him. God has been teaching me for quite a few years that it goes beyond that, though. When I was a young Christian, I was around a lot of people I call Nike Christians. Whenever I asked someone how I could love God more or obey him better, the answer was always, Just do it. I struggled with this for a long time, until I started learning that knowing God was the first step to loving him more and serving him better. I heard an illustration in a John Piper sermon once that helps me understand why what I think of God is so important. Picture our solar system. The sun is at the center of the solar system and its gravity holds all of the planets in their orbits. Piper said that we should picture our life as a solar system. The planets are the various parts of our life: relationships, thought life, temper, etc. If we re sinning in any area, that planet is out of orbit. Our problem is that we think we are at the center of our solar system and we can control these aspects of our life. We re not big enough to do that we don t have enough gravity. The answer is to have God at the center of your solar system and for him to be big enough in our minds that his gravity will control the planets of our lives. The more accurately we know God, the bigger he gets. For many years, I felt that by certain disciplines or just sheer will power, I could fix things in my life. Instead, I ve learned that I should make the effort to know God and love him and my obedience will come out of that love for him. Instead of focusing on strategies to deal with certain sins, I should focus on knowing God. I m not saying that discipline and strategies are not valuable, I m just saying that we should start with knowing God. Today, we are going to learn some more about God and hopefully make him bigger in our minds. We are going to study some of God s attributes, focusing on his sovereignty. We re going to do this through the story found in Daniel Chapter 4. Go ahead and turn there. 1

2 Before we begin, though, a few words about studying the attributes of God. We are incapable of fully knowing God. He is infinite and we re finite. There are many things about God that we can t relate to or understand at all, like the fact that he is omnipresent or that he s eternal. There are also things about him that are paradoxical. For example, he is perfectly holy, meaning he can t even tolerate sin and therefore he is just to punish it, yet he is perfectly loving and in his mercy he saves us. This is hard for us to understand. Just because it s impossible for us to understand him completely, doesn t mean we shouldn t try. Today, we we re going to try to scratch a tiny part of the surface of who God is. The other thing about studying the attributes of God is applying it to our lives. It s easy to learn something about God, say, Wow and then go on with our lives. This isn t about learning interesting things about God, it s about learning about him so that we can draw closer to him and he can rule in our lives. As we study God today, focus on how you can do that. On to the book of Daniel The book of Daniel is full of great stories that most of us learned when we were young. Even if you didn t grow up in church, you probably know stories like Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego; Daniel in the Lion s Den; and the handwriting on the wall. This morning, we will be talking about one of my favorite stories in the book and in the Bible. In this chapter, Nebuchadnezzar tells us what he learned about God, the Most High. He learned that the Most High rules the kingdom of men, and he learned several other things about God along the way. Before we start, let s set the stage. The book of Daniel takes place after the nations of Israel and Judah have been carried away into captivity. For centuries, as described in the books of Samuel, Kings and Chronicles, we can see the nation reject God over and over and descend to the point that God does what he promised he would do, if they didn t repent: he takes them into captivity. The timeline looks something like this. About 722 BC, Israel is conquered by the Assyrians. 625 BC: Babylon rebels against Assyria, eventually conquering it 2

3 605 BC: Babylon invades Judah Two additional battles in 597 and 586 BC, when Jerusalem falls completely. The book of Daniel begins around 605 BC, after the initial fall of Judah. A group of people was taken captive at that time, including Daniel and his friends. Chapter 1 tells the story of how God protects them as they are trained to be nobles in the Babylonian court, honoring them for how they honored him in spite of pressure to submit to the Babylonian gods. Chapter 2 introduces us to King Nebuchadnezzar, who has a dream about a statue made of many types of materials. No one can interpret the dream except Daniel, who explains that the different materials represent different kingdoms that are to come. Chapter 3 is the familiar story of Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, who are thrown into the fiery furnace because they won t bow down to the statue of himself that Nebuchadnezzar built, for everyone to worship. This brings us to Chapter 4, which is followed by the writing on the wall story in Chapter 5 and then Daniel and the Lions Den in Chapter 6. Chapters 7-12 are mostly prophecy, looking forward to future kingdoms, all the way to the end times. The over-arching theme of Daniel is that God is in control. The book was written to encourage the people of Israel that his will would be done, regardless of the bleak circumstances they found themselves in under captivity. We have the context for our story, what about the characters? First, we have Nebuchadnezzar. Chapter 4 is a letter from him to his kingdom, and to us, telling us about the Most High. That s part of why I love this story so much it s a part of scripture, explaining the true God, which was written by a pagan king. Who was Nebuchadnezzar, though? He was the king of Babylon, of course. His father led the rebellion against the Assyrians. Nebuchadnezzar proved himself to be a great warrior, leading the campaigns against Egypt, Judah and other places. He took the throne when his father died, about the same time that he invaded Judah and brought the first batch of captives back to Babylon (including Daniel). He was known for two things: building the kingdom through military might and building Babylon. He led an expansion and rebuilding of Babylon, making it one of the great cities of the ancient world. The 3

4 Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, were built during his kingdom. At the time of this story, his kingdom looked something like this. It stretched from Judah and Israel north and east into what is now Iraq. And his city looked something like this. It was known for its walls for protection, lush gardens and fountains in the middle of the desert. Here s an artist s rendition of the hanging gardens. This is the Ishtar Gate, one of the gates to the city (now in a museum). The city and the nation under Nebuchadnezzar were amazing places, with many marvels, all of which Nebuchadnezzar created to point to his greatness. He was a mighty king and a powerful ruler. He also was an amazing designer, overseeing the construction of a city full of engineering and architectural marvels. Many of these are very interesting to me, but I realize they probably wouldn t be to you, so we ll move on. As you would expect, Nebuchadnezzar thought pretty highly of himself. Why wouldn t he, when he looked at the empire that he had created. The passage today talks about dominion. This isn t a word we use much, but it means sovereignty or control, supreme power or authority. As far as anyone could see, Nebuchadnezzar had dominion. He did whatever he wanted to do and everyone around him did what he wanted them to do. The fiery furnace is an example: you can t get away with building a monument to yourself and then throw people in a furnace for not worshipping you, if you don t have some power and authority. The other character in our story is, of course, Daniel, one of my favorite Bible characters. He probably doesn t need too much by way of introduction, but briefly: He was a Jew, of noble birth, who was captured and taken to Babylon as a teenager. He was a prophet 4

5 and the author of the book of Daniel. How do we know this? Jesus said so in Matthew 24:15: [15] So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel Daniel lived a holy, uncompromising life in the middle of a completely pagan culture, with plenty of opportunity to give in. God blessed him and made him a trusted advisor to kings from multiple reigns, even two different empires (Babylon, then Persia). He is one of the few major Bible figures of which no negative thing is recorded. He is an example to us of faith and steadfastness in an unbelieving, combative world. Now to the story. This is a narrative, so I m just going to read the whole chapter. Nebuchadnezzar wrote this letter to all peoples, nations and languages and God included it in his word for a reason: He wants us to learn what Nebuchadnezzar learned. I know we don t read long passages like this aloud much, but follow along and bear with me for a few minutes. <READ> Nebuchadnezzar had a dream of a great tree that was cut down and stripped apart, but the stump was saved. Daniel interpreted the dream very specifically, telling Nebuchadnezzar that his kingdom would be taken from him and he would live like livestock for seven years. Did you notice verse 27? Daniel tells him to stop sinning and practice righteousness, so that God would relent from punishing him. Nebuchadnezzar didn t, of course, and it happened just like Daniel said it would: Nebuchadnezzar lost his mind and lived like a cow for seven years. This is a pretty big fall from being the emperor. I found this somewhat creepy artist s rendition of what Nebuchadnezzar looked like during this time period. The main thing I noticed in this image is that he s in pretty good shape for someone who is just eating grass. Seriously think about your king looking like this. After he returned to his senses, Nebuchadnezzar is restored to his throne and responds by praising God. 5

6 The story isn t difficult to understand: God humbled Nebuchadnezzar to teach him a lesson. He also wanted the rest of us to learn from it, too: verse 17 says that God did this to the end that the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men. The last section (verses 34-37) is an amazing summary of many of God s attributes. I m not exactly sure how, but seven years of eating grass taught Nebuchadnezzar a lot about God, and he wrote it down for us. We ll spend the rest of our time in this section of the chapter. We ll look at each attribute he mentions and try to do some application along the way. Eternality The first thing we see, in verse 34, is that God is eternal. I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever Nebuchadnezzar recognized that God has always existed and always will exist. This fact of God s existence is all over the Bible. Psalm 90:2 says this: [2] Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever you had formed the earth and the world, from everlasting to everlasting you are God. (Psalm 90:2 ESV) Before creation, God was God, from everlasting to everlasting. God has always existed and always will exist. He existed before creation and will exist long after this world passes away. Living forever makes God quite a bit different than us, right? Even though Nebuchadnezzar thought he was pretty special, he knew he wouldn t live forever. Through the glimpse he got of God in this story, he saw that God lives forever, and he responded by praising and honoring Him. What should God s eternality mean to us? Several things come to mind. 6

7 First, He doesn t need us. If He existed in eternity past without us or this universe, He doesn t need anything that He created, including us. Sometimes we act like God needs us to do something for Him, but this just isn t the case. God s eternity also tells us that the God we serve today is the same God that Daniel served and the same God that Nebuchadnezzar praised in this passage. The God who created the world; punished the world with a flood; chose the nation of Israel, brought her out of Egypt to the Promised Land and watched her rise and then slowly reject Him; is the same God who sent Nebuchadnezzar to carry them away into captivity but kept his promise to bring them back after 70 years. He s also the same God that saved us, sending his Son to live and die in our place and sent the Holy Spirit to us. This same God will someday restore his creation to what it should be and will sit on his throne for eternity. And, he s the same God that who loves us and wants us to have a relationship with him. Because he s the same God, we can trust him. Do you trust him? Sovereignty The next attribute we see in the rest of verse 34 is really the main theme of the book of Daniel: God s sovereignty. This is really the main point of this story and, for that matter, the whole book of Daniel. For this reason, we re going to come back to this at the end. Greatness Verse 35 says that all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing, and this is the next attribute of God that Nebuchadnezzar learned about. He is great much greater than anyone or anything else in the universe. So great, that all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing. The amazing 40 th chapter of Isaiah says something similar, in verses 15-17: [15] Behold, the nations are like a drop from a bucket, and are accounted as the dust on the scales; behold, he takes up the coastlands like fine dust. [16] Lebanon would not suffice for fuel, nor are its beasts enough for a burnt offering. [17] All the nations are as nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. (Isaiah 40:15-17 ESV) 7

8 This passage in Isaiah compares the nations with God. They are like a drop from a bucket, dust on the scales. All the nations are nothing before him, they are accounted by him as less than nothing and emptiness. What is this saying, that we are worthless to God? Of course not. What it means is that, compared with Him, we are worth nothing, or our power is nothing compared to his. I ll use the one of Isaiah s illustration: all the nations are accounted as the dust on the scales. Isaiah s original audience would immediately picture a balance scale, like this: I think all of us know how these work, but just in case, if you wanted to weigh something, you would put that item on one side and then put things of a known weight on the other, until both sides balanced. In Isaiah s metaphor, we put God on one side of the scale, and it immediately falls. Let s say we left the scale out for a while and it got a little dusty. What he is saying is that all the nations would have as little effect on balancing the scales as that dust on the other side. In other words, no effect. So, if we want to measure ourselves against God, there is no comparison. The amazing thing is that, compared with God, we are less than nothing, yet he sees us as of infinite value. So valuable, He sent His son to die in our place. This great God reaches out to us, even though He is so far beyond us. Amazing, isn t it? Omnipotent The next thing we learn about God is in the remainder of vs. 35: he does according to his will among the host of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say to him, What have you done?. God is all-powerful or, as theologians say, omnipotent. He does whatever he wants, not just with created things, but with all the inhabitants of the earth. No one can stop Him from doing what He wants. Psalm 115:3 says this: [3] Our God is in the heavens; he does all that he pleases. How do we respond to this? First, there is a way that we shouldn t respond: we shouldn t question Him. The passage says, and none can stay his hand or say to him, What have you done?. Something that is less than nothing can t ask something that is everything, What have you done? We don t have the right. We don t have the power or the 8

9 knowledge that God has, so we shouldn t question him. Nebuchadnezzar recognized that, and so should we. There are a variety of ways that we should respond, I think, but two main ones are found in 1 Peter 5:6-7: [6] Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time he may exalt you, [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV) Our first response should be humility. God is all powerful and does what he wants. It is frankly unwise to tell someone more powerful than you what to do or how to do it. This is true with the bully on the playground in elementary school, with your boss at work and especially with God. Peter says God s hand is mighty. It is better to humble yourself under that hand than to be crushed by it. The second response we see from Peter is that we should cast our anxieties on him. We don t have to worry, because he has things under control. Not only does he have things under control, he cares for you. This all powerful, eternal, great God loves you, knows what s best for you and he has the power to make it happen. Mercy The next attributes of God we see in Nebuchadnezzar s statement are a little more subtle. In verse 36, he says this: [36] At the same time my reason returned to me, and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor returned to me. My counselors and my lords sought me, and I was established in my kingdom Think again about the situation he was in. Staying king in an empire like Babylon was no guarantee. Any enemy, sibling, relative, advisor or general could dethrone a king at any time, if they were willing to resort to treason or assassination. Here you have a king who, for seven years, was completely crazy. Instead of sitting on his throne or leading his armies into battle, he was living in the field like livestock. This would have been a prime opportunity for someone to take over the kingdom, don t you think? Even if the people 9

10 in his court were loyal enough to protect his reign, you d think one of his enemies would find out and attack, don t you? But, they didn t. This is mercy from God. God would be within his rights to just kill Nebuchadnezzar for his pride and many other sins. Same for us. But, he didn t do that to him and he doesn t do that to us. Grace God demonstrated not only his mercy to Nebuchadnezzar; he also showed him grace, which usually is hand in hand with mercy in the Bible. I heard mercy and grace defined like this once: mercy is God not giving us what we deserve and grace is God giving us what we don t deserve. Here s how Nebuchadnezzar s experience demonstrates God s mercy and grace. God didn t just hold Nebuchadnezzar s spot on the throne, he gave him more. Look at the last part of verse 36: and still more greatness was added to me. When Nebuchadnezzar resumed his throne, God gave him more greatness, more blessing. God does this to us, as well. Instead of punishing us immediately for our sin, he shows us his mercy by letting us live, then even more mercy by sacrificing his son in our place, then he shows us grace upon grace by drawing us to himself so that we can be saved and know the pleasure of serving and worshiping him forever. There are countless ways where he shows us his grace every day, too, from spiritual things down to physical things like family, friends, fun and food. And, of course, the thing we deserve the least is the greatest gift: himself. Righteous and Just We re almost to the end of things Nebuchadnezzar learned about God. Verse 37 starts by restating that God is the King of heaven, and we ll still get to that. The second phrase of the verse says that all his works are right and his ways are just. This phrase points out two more attributes of God: his righteousness and justice. Though they are two separate attributes, we ll talk about them both at once, partly to save time, but also because they are linked to one another. Here are two of many examples from elsewhere in scripture where they are used at the same time to describe God: 10

11 [4] The Rock, his work is perfect, for all his ways are justice. A God of faithfulness and without iniquity, just and upright is he. (Deuteronomy 32:4 ESV) [2] Clouds and thick darkness are all around him; righteousness and justice are the foundation of his throne. (Psalm 97:2 ESV) Webster defines righteous as acting in accord with divine or moral law : free from guilt or sin 1 and justice as the quality of being just, impartial, or fair 2. These definitions apply to us as humans, but do you notice what both require? They require an outside standard. Righteousness requires a divine or moral law to act in accord with and justice requires a definition of what it means to be fair. These definitions don t work so well for God, though, because no outside standard applies to him. Really, God isn t righteous or just, he defines righteousness and justice. I found a quote that says this very well: God is not defined by the term righteous, as much as the term righteous is defined by God. God is not measured by the standard of righteousness; God sets the standard of righteousness. 3 To put it another way, God s righteousness and justice mean that he will always act in accordance with his character. Because he is holy (unable to sin or do wrong), everything he does is right and just. As we said earlier, no one can say to him, What have you done? He is not motivated by anything questionable, he doesn t lie, and he is perfectly merciful. Every action he takes is right and good. This doesn t mean all his decisions result in our comfort, though. Because he is right and just, he can t just ignore sins, like Nebuchadnezzar s pride. Imagine a judge who let off everyone who came before him, regardless of what they did. When asked about it, he said, I m just being merciful. That would not be acceptable to us, because justice, even in our worldly perspective of the concept, demands that justice be done. Nebuchadnezzar s time in a field probably wasn t too much fun, but it taught him what God wanted him to learn, and it s teaching us today. God was right and just in doing that. 1 accessed May 28, accessed May 28, Deffinbaugh, Bob, Let Me See Thy Glory, A Study of The Attributes of God, Bible.org, accessed May 28,

12 Is there something in your life that doesn t seem fair? Of course, on a human level, there are injustices all around us. The question is, if something unfair is being done to you, how are you responding? Are you telling God that he s not fair? If you know God s attributes, you won t say that you can t say it. God is right and just he is righteousness and justice therefore, you know that he is not being unfair with you. Sovereignty Finally, we re to the over-arching theme of this passage and the whole book of Daniel: God s sovereignty. In verse 34, Nebuchadnezzar says this: [34] At the end of the days I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted my eyes to heaven, and my reason returned to me, and I blessed the Most High, and praised and honored him who lives forever, for his dominion is an everlasting dominion, and his kingdom endures from generation to generation; Nebuchadnezzar even started this message to us with this statement in verse 3: [3] How great are his signs, how mighty his wonders! His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion endures from generation to generation. The term used here is dominion, which again means sovereignty. I think we have some problems with the idea of sovereignty, because we don t have too many examples of it in our world, especially not in the US. There isn t a single person in our country who has ultimate power. This was not true in ancient times, of course. Nebuchadnezzar had dominion over the Babylonian empire. He was sovereign over every aspect of the kingdom what he said, went. There is a great example of this kind of power, in the book of Esther. Chronologically, Esther takes place after Daniel, when the Israelites were now captives of the Persians. Most of us remember the story of how Esther became queen and then went to the king to ask him to protect Israel. Do you remember how it happened? Esther was a queen, the wife of the king, yet it was a risk for her to go to him without being invited. If she went into the king s throne room uninvited and he didn t raise his scepter to her, she would be killed. This was the kind of power that a king in those times had it was up to 12

13 him if you lived or died. The bottom line is that, in his corner of the world, Nebuchadnezzar was the boss. He had the ultimate authority. In this passage, Nebuchadnezzar learned that there was someone much more powerful than him, though: God. Nebuchadnezzar knew that God is the one with ultimate, everlasting sovereignty. While the sovereignty of a king like Nebuchadnezzar is limited to his kingdom and could end at any time, God s rule knows no bounds and never ends. Of course, the rule of God is different than the rule of a human king. He doesn t just govern people, he controls everything. In his classic book, The Attributes of God, Arthur W. Pink summarizes God s sovereignty like this: Divine sovereignty means that God is God in fact, as well as in name, that He is on the Throne of the universe, directing all things, working all things after the counsel of His own will (Eph. 1:11). In other words, God s sovereignty means that he is on the throne of the entire universe, directing everything and causing everything to work out according to his will. Everything that happens, happens because he wills it to happen or he allowed it to happen. Why does God have this authority? Because of his attributes, some of which we ve talked about this morning. He is the eternal, all-powerful, great, righteous and just God. He created all things and has the right to do with his creation whatever he wills. The one who made everything and has more power than everyone has the right and the ability to rule. In our passage in Daniel 4, the context is in the area of kingdoms and authority. Do you remember the reason that God tells Nebuchadnezzar that he would go through his ordeal? Daniel said to him in verse 25:..till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will. God wanted Nebuchadnezzar (and us) to understand that he is the one who establishes kingdoms on this earth. Romans 13:1 says this: [1] Let every person be subject to the governing authorities. For there is no authority except from God, and those that exist have been instituted by God. 13

14 There is no authority, except from God. He has instituted all governing authorities. This means that Nebuchadnezzar was the king of Babylon, because God wanted him to be. God put him in that place, so that he would invade Judah and bring the Israelites into captivity, and then protect them there, so that someday they could return to Israel, just as God promised they would. This has a more direct application to us, of course. It means that Dave Bieter, Butch Otter, Raul Labrador, and Jim Risch are all in their positions because God wants them to be. And, it means that Barack Obama is the president of the United States because God wants him to be. As hard as it may be to believe sometimes, whatever the outcome of this year s presidential election, whoever wins will be president, because God wants him or her to be. There should be comfort here. It s easy to get disturbed by what s going on in politics in this country. We see the fighting, the maneuvering, the outright chaos and we feel like there is no way anyone is in charge of this. This isn t true, though. God is in charge. He is doing his will. I don t know what you feel about the upcoming election. You might be anxious or you might be angry. God doesn t want us to be either of these things. Remember when we talked about God s omnipotence, and we read this passage in 1 Peter? [7] casting all your anxieties on him, because he cares for you. (1 Peter 5:6-7 ESV) The sovereign God cares for you and he wants you to cast all of your anxieties on him, including your worries about what will happen if Donald Trump or Hillary Clinton or Bernie Sanders gets elected president. Any of these people may preside over the end of this country as we know it; the point is that it doesn t matter. We have a king who is in charge and whatever the ultimate outcome is, we know that it s right. How do we know that? Because of the attributes of God: he is righteous, merciful and gracious. He is good, better than we can even begin to imagine. It has been said that the best form of government is a benevolent dictator, a leader who has all the power, but is also good. This is what we have in God. Trust him. What about if you are angry about the political prospects we are faced with? Don t be, for the same reasons. We may think that we are angry with liberals or conservatives, Fox News or MSNBC, Democrats or Republicans, but the fact is that we are angry with God. 14

15 Our external anger reveals that we don t like the way he s running things, and we want him to change. I think it s plain to see that this is dangerous ground. Let s bring this back to Nebuchadnezzar and apply his experience to our lives directly. Of course, none of us are rulers of vast empires and we clearly don t live in ancient Babylon. It may seem like we have nothing in common with him, but that s not true. In terms of station in life, he was very high compared to us. Compared with God, though, we re the same. He was less than nothing, we are less than nothing. He was a sinner, we re sinners. Which of Nebuchadnezzar s sins was on display in this story? Pride. He had elevated himself in his own mind and God put him back in his place. The last words of the chapter are those who walk in pride he is able to humble. Nebuchadnezzar walked in pride and God humbled him. Do you walk in pride? Yes, you do, and so do I. You may be better at humility than others, but you re probably proud of that, aren t you? You may not stand on the roof of your palace and look out over a city that you built and say, Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty? You might say something like this, though: Is not this my great house, which I worked hard for and bought with my own money? Are not these my awesome children, whom I have diligently trained with my time and effort? Is not this my amazing career that I have built through hard work and by being such an awesome person. Is not this my amazing report card, which shows the world how smart I am and how hard I work? Is not this my great 401k statement, describing all of the riches that I have amassed through my hard work and shrewd investing? Is not this my great yard/house that I have decorated with all of my skill? Or, even: Is this not my faith, which I have built with my discipline and hard work? 15

16 Examine your life. Is God sovereign in it? In your life, is he the ruler of family, relationships, career, finances, sex or entertainment? He is sovereign over your thoughts, what you look at on the internet or what you watch on Netflix? Is he sovereign over your faith? Or, do you think that you re a hard working American and you ve built all of these things by your mighty power for the glory of your majesty? Or that you just want to do what you want to do and God can t tell you otherwise? Maybe you have never submitted to God at all. The God we have been talking about is the sovereign king of the universe. He is the Most High, higher than any other authority. This is a bit uncomfortable for us. We like to focus on the fact that God loves us. He does love you, but he wants you to recognize that he is sovereign and let him rule in your life. What does it look like for God to be sovereign in the different areas of our lives? Go back to the definition of sovereign it means that he has authority or control. Imagine yourself as one of Nebuchadnezzar s subjects. If you refused to do what he said, it would be trouble for you. Just ask Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego they refused to obey his command to worship his statue, and they were thrown into the fiery furnace. Nebuchadnezzar had that kind of authority or sovereignty over them. We should give God that kind of authority over our lives. We do this by learning his will from his word and following it. A person who has God in the right place on the throne of his or her life will have certain characteristics. Some we ve already talked about, such as not being anxious or angry. Another would be contentment. If you believe that God is in absolute control, you won t question what he s given you or the situations he s put you in. Contentment is one thing that I struggle with a lot. (I even preached a sermon on it once.) The main thing that will characterize someone who is submitted to God is humility. Nebuchadnezzar s main sin in this passage was pride, and the reason that we don t want to put God on the throne in our lives is because we are prideful. In our pride, we take credit for things we shouldn t and tell God how he could be doing a better job for us. How do we get humility? This is where this sermon comes full circle. I think a great way to get humility is by learning about God. The more we know about God, the more we realize how awesome he is compared to us. There s a great example of this in Job 42. In this Chapter, Job has just finished hearing from God exactly who God is and his majesty. 16

17 Here is part of Job s response: [5] I had heard of you by the hearing of the ear, but now my eye sees you; [6] therefore I despise myself, and repent in dust and ashes. Job had heard about God, but when he saw him, when he really knew him, he despised himself and repented in dust and ashes. In other words, he humbled himself. We need to see God, and really know him, which will bring us humility. Here s the best part: our sovereign king with unlimited power does not want us to humble ourselves so that he has people groveling before him. He doesn t just have unlimited power, he also has unlimited grace and mercy and love and he promises us that if we humble ourselves before him, he will lift us up. James 4 says this: [6] But he gives more grace. Therefore it says, God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble. [10] Humble yourselves before the Lord, and he will exalt you. As Nebuchadnezzar tells us in Daniel Chapter 4, the Most High rules the kingdom of men. The best place to be is humbly serving our king, and the starting point of humility and serving him is knowing him. So, dedicate yourself to knowing him. 17