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Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, 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. Daniel 4:37
D.L. MOODY
When you find that a man has got to praising God it is a good sign. Nebuchadnezzar’s earlier edict said much about other people’s duty toward the God of the Hebrews, but nothing about what the king himself should do. Oh, let us get to personal love, personal praise! That is what is wanted in the church in the present day.
We may surely hope that his was a “repentance to salvation not to be repented of.” If so, we may well believe that today Nebuchadnezzar the king and Daniel the captive are walking the crystal pavement of heaven arm-in-arm together.
ERWIN LUTZER
I expect to see Nebuchadnezzar in heaven! The king who opposed Daniel went insane, eating grass like an animal. After God intervened, the king extolled the Most High. I agree with Moody, the king’s speech appears to show a “repentance to salvation.”
Contrast the humility of Nebuchadnezzar with the pride of Belshazzar. “King Belshazzar made a great feast…[and] commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought” (Daniel 5:1–2). They used the vessels to drink to their pagan gods. Belshazzar blasphemed God, shaking his fist at the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Nebuchadnezzar died humbly bowing to God; Belshazzar died at a drunken orgy. One died in humility in the presence of God; the other died pridefully, thinking he was in charge of his own fate. Humility made the difference. “Whosoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted” (Matthew 23:12).
PRAYER
Father, teach me to humble myself so that I might serve you with humility. May you shape me for your use.REFLECTION QUESTIONS
Why do you think God needs to humble us to use us?What would it look like to humble yourself before God?