Daniel 4:28-30
“All of this happened to Nebuchadnezzar the king. Twelve months later he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon. The king began speaking and was saying, ‘Is this not Babylon the great, which I myself have built as a royal residence by the might of my power and for the honor of my majesty?’”
This is the sin of pride. It’s also self deception. We can fall into this when we are out of His Word. Psalm 119:11 says, “I have hidden Your word in my heart that I might not sin against You.”
Pride elevates us. Self flattery, the whispering of the crowd. It inflates our ego. Many feed on this. It’s sad as the crowd can change its tune easily. Popular opinion is as stable as sand.
We go back to the Word, as it is stable. Jesus says to build our lives upon it. Matthew 7:24 says, “Therefore everyone who hears these words of Mine and acts on them is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Nebuchadnezzar has two miraculous experiences with God. Unfortunately those aren’t stable and long lasting. Jesus shared a parable in Luke 16:31 in which He said something miraculous wasn’t convincing.
Jesus praises an attitude in Matthew 5:3, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” This mystified me for many years. How could being poor be good. I didn’t understand it. To be poor in spirit means to know we are weak and capable of falling at any time. How is this good? The one who is poor in spirit clings to God. It’s like the child who knows they need to stay near their parents. They stay close. We are blessed when we stay close to God.
Nebuchadnezzar wasn’t aware of this. So he drifted away from the fear of God and was deceived. May we be blessed and stay in His Word, thus staying close to Him.
God wants us to be close to Him. He compares us to sheep. Jesus is our Shepherd. John 10:27 says, “My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me.” We know His voice and we follow Him. We initially do this because we are poor in spirit. Then we learn that He loves us and we begin to love Him. We love His presence. Psalm 16:11 says, “You will show me the path of life; In Your presence is fullness of joy; At Your right hand are pleasures forevermore.”