Focal passages: Daniel 4:28-35
Maybe the Lord is trying to teach me something. I have the privilege of writing this commentary on how pride leads to downfall, and how God honors humility. I also have the wonderful opportunity to preach on the subject of humility at a revival service in the near future.
The truth is I have very little opportunity for pride; my wife may say differently. Seriously, whenever I think I might be close to getting it all together, the Lord has a way of helping me see that apart from Him I can do nothing. The same was true in Nebuchadnezzar’s life. As we see in this week’s lesson, Nebuchadnezzar’s pride forced God’s judgment upon him. Thankfully, after his judgment, Nebuchadnezzar humbled himself and God restored his kingdom (Daniel 4:34-37).
A particular pastor had prepared all week to deliver a message as a guest speaker at a church. He had worked very hard on the sermon and was feeling perhaps a little too confident about his work. As he and his wife were getting into the car to drive over to the church that got into a disagreement which led to an argument. Long story short, they did not speak to each other for the entire drive, which took over an hour.
When they arrived at the church, he did not attempt to reconcile. As he began to preach he knew what needed to take place before he could go any further. There, before the whole congregation, the pastor explained what happened before they arrived and he asked his wife to forgive him. From that point on he had complete freedom to preach his sermon. However, what was so humorous was that after the service no one commented on how good his sermon was. Instead, they all spoke about how much his confession meant to them.
He said he should have forgone all the sermon preparation and just had the argument. Although he was kidding, it’s true that God has a way of making sure we remain humble.