God Humbles the Proud

His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. His dominion endures from generation to generation.

Whenever prose breaks into poetry, we want to stop and just recognize there's something significant about what he is declaring, singing, praising in this high language about God. Again, a foreign king telling all peoples there's one God, God most high. He has an everlasting kingdom. He has power. I want to tell you what he's done for me. Let me just think about what's happening and just the bigger picture here. How important sharing what God has done for us is? This is why we have testimonies shared on Wednesday night. This is why it's helpful for us to be able to sit around our tables and invite people to share what God has done, not only how he saved us, but how he has encouraged us, how he's helped us. This is how cultures are built. Those who are going to come and share the most important, powerful stories. Those who can come and say, this is who our God is, and this is what he's done, and this is what he's doing, and these are true helpful things. The importance of these conversations we have after the service, over the meal afterwards, that I hope you join. That's how we develop, train up the children. It's the stories we tell of what God has done. Chapter four, now verse four, the vision, all the living know the most high rules. We see the vision and the key point here is that all the living will know, all the living may know the most high rules. Begins with a narrative. It's different than the King is speaking in first person. I Nebuchadnezzar, he is not being told he himself is speaking and he has a dream and he's in his bed and there's, there's a vision and he's alarmed. It doesn't seem to be as significant as chapter two, where he, he's, he's greatly troubled. Uh, and that one, he calls everybody in and says, I'm not even gonna tell you what the dream is. I want to, you need to tell me what the dream is so that then I'll trust your interpretation. He tells him the dream. What's interesting is that no one can make out the interpretation according to verse seven. Here he calls Daniel, verse eight. Daniel comes before him and Daniel, he's already recognized. We saw in chapter one, Daniel was 10 times better than all the magicians and all the other astrologers. There's something different he has learned at this point that the God of Daniel is greater. He's confessed that, he's acknowledged it. I'm not sure he's bent the knee to that God. But he's confessed that God, and he knows there's something about Daniel that he's been able to interpret things no one else can interpret. He knows things no one else can know other than God himself has shown it. So 9 to 12, that's him retelling what the dream is. A great tree existed, and all the beasts were underneath that tree. The birds were in the branches. It was a great tree that provided shelter, provided protection, provided food. It was a picture of unusual, amazing, widely extended blessing and prosperity. And then 13 to 17 brings in the character of a watcher. I think a unique way of naming an angel. A holy one from heaven who declares, chop this tree of blessing and prosperity down. The birds and the beasts will flee. There's no longer safety, but leave the stump and put a band of iron around it. Then 15, halfway through, verse 15b, it transitions in an interesting way. It says, let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Well, we were just talking about a tree with beasts, and now it's let him be wet with the dew of heaven. Let him be driven out like a beast. for seven periods of time, which seasons or years, one of those two. It's longer than months, but might be seven seasons, might be seven years. Verse 17, the watchers have decree. We're going to zero in.

The sentence is by the decree of the watchers.

These holy ones from heaven, the decision by the word of the holy ones, they have declared this. The tree is great, and they've declared it must be cut down. Notice the purpose in verse 17. To the end, that's the purpose, that the living, raise your hand if you're living. Ah, there you are in the text.

That the living may know that the Most High rules the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he will and sets over it the lowliest of men.

The dream contains the purpose itself. It kind of makes you wonder, as King says, Daniel, the magicians, they couldn't tell me what it is. They weren't able. I kind of wonder if they were able, and they just didn't want to. Like, it tells you what it's actually kind of about here, right? I mean, there's a purpose in it. Maybe it's because I've seen the latter part of the text, I know what it's about, but it doesn't seem that hard. That purpose is significant. It's a very important lesson here that we're going to pause and we're going to, we're going to think about a theology of rule from this text. The purpose is that all the living, all those who are alive, all humanity would know something about God most high. All humanity, the nations, the peoples, the languages. will know that God Most High, He rules. There's a sovereignty, there's a power, there's a might, there's a strength. There are three things that we can understand from God's rule. First, God Most High rules the kingdoms of men. And that's referring to every political state that's ever existed. Babylon, Judah, America, Germany, Russia. Every political state, God rules over. He is above, stronger than, wiser than, ruling over, even ordering and directing the affairs of such states. That's important in that God does not condone the evil of these states. He is not responsible for the evil of these states, but it's understood everyone who rules is under God. I'm gonna make sure God is not responsible for the slave trade or abortion in this country, but he's sovereignly teaching humanity. He's sovereignly guiding all of humanity. That there's a way in which his rule stands alone so that no ruler stands alone. No ruler has absolute authority. Every ruler has limited authority. What's kind of amazing when you think about it, God has protected us from rulers being more sinful than they otherwise would have been. God has protected us from rulers being more sinful than they otherwise would have been. Every ruler is under God and will have to give an answer before God. That's a great comfort for anyone who is under an abusive rule. Second, know that the Most High rules over the kingdoms of men and gives it to whom he will. We see this very specifically in John 19, when Pilate asks Jesus, do you not know who I am? Jesus says,

you would have no power unless it was given to you.

Jesus there on a phony trial, He's fully aware who Pilate is and that he has this earthly position, but Jesus, knowing as the king of kings, he knows he has that power only because it's been given to him from above. No one rules that God does not establish. He raises up leaders, he takes down leaders. Okay, we vote and we should vote, but God's not gonna be surprised by who wins that election. He is already determined and he will determine who truly is going to be our next president. Third, he goes further. Know that God Most High rules over the kingdom of men. Know that God Most High, he sets on every throne and every position whom he wills. And finally, he sets over it the lowliest of men. Now, lowliest could mean most humble. That seems to be what he's driving at. Some people have interpreted this to be the most base, the most difficult, the most problematic, and the most sinful. That one might have more of a historical picture if we were to look at history. Because there is a historical problem. We think if God's always put up the most lowly, humble people in the position of authority, that seems to not correspond with a basic reading of history. We've got to wrestle with this. There's a sense in which God calls the lowly to those high positions. God desires those who would be lowly and humble, who recognize him and acknowledge him to be in those high positions. But oftentimes, it's the most prideful who take these positions, that are put in those positions even by God. Most kings have not proven to be the lowest. King Nebuchadnezzar's not the lowest, yet. Many of the Israelite kings, David, Solomon, they appeared to be low when they began, but ended up being very proud at the end. Most of their kingdoms ended poorly. There may be a way in which this passage is pointing forward to what he's doing and going to do to Nebuchadnezzar, but I think it's more helpful for us to see, you know, the true king is the lowest. The true king who has all authority, the king of kings, he is the lowest. We're talking about Jesus Christ. God himself, the second person of the Trinity, the son of God, he comes down to exercise full, absolute authority and does so by becoming the lowest. He who is worthy of all praise and glory set aside his trappings of glory to come and lower himself to become like us. adding to himself a nature lower than is his nature. He came lowering himself to the point of death, even death on the cross. Jesus is a true fulfillment of God setting over his kingdom the lowest. And this is why Jesus is the greatest. He is worthy of all praise and glory and honor. He is almighty God who has all authority and strength, but he lowered himself to save us. You see, this is the true way of greatness in God's kingdom. Jesus leads us to the true way of greatness. He who is truly great lowered himself to exalt us. The true way of greatness in God's kingdom is to have the same mind as Christ. To consider others more important than ourselves, to consider others above ourselves. The true way to greatness is to humble ourselves first and foremost before God and realize any blessing he has given to us is meant to then be poured out as a blessing for others. We are all under rule and have some rule to exercise and it must be done in view of God's Most High. This declares that this is for all of us to see how God rules to give us confidence in those different kingdoms. Our second point, we've seen the testimony, what God has done. Second, what God has, all living must know the Most High. The third, know God Most High rules by repenting. No God most high rules by repenting. And this is the interpretation. So now Daniel is going to tell the King what the vision is. It's interesting. Daniel seems alarmed in verse 19 to the point that the King says, don't be alarmed by the dream of the interpretation. I think Daniel immediately understands this. This is, this is bad news. Kings tend to kill messengers. So Daniel, did his eyes get big? Did his jaw drop? We're not sure what is so evidently clear that he's alarmed, but the King tells him, do not be alarmed. And well, Daniel, Belshazzar, renamed by the Babylonians, answers, verse 19,

my Lord, may the dream be for those who hate you and its interpretation for your enemies.

Daniel wants to make sure the King understands, my allegiance is to you, King. Verse 20 and 22, this is where Daniel says, especially verse 22, look, that tree that's so fruitful and abundant, that tree that's providing so much. Verse 22,

O king, you have grown and become strong.

It's you, king. This is you. This tree is you. Well, that also means the tree that's gonna be cut down, that's you, king. With now the clarity, the king will be driven away the way of men. The king will be driven away to dwell with bees. The king will be driven away to eat grass like an ox. The king will have the wet of the dew on his back for, again, seven seasons or seven years. Now let's make sure we understand this. The king who has all the power, he is the most powerful king in the world, The king who has all authority over other men, he will lose even power over himself as to how he has self-control in what he does. The king who has all authority loses even a self-will, according to this dream. The king who has the best living arrangement, he lives in the palace where others serve him. He'll be driven out to live without a shelter. He'll have the dew on his back. He's out in the wild. And the king who has the best food, all the trappings of the glory of humanity, he will eat grass. It's quite a punishment predicted for this king. But I want us to see what's happening is really the category of discipline. God disciplines his people. God is teaching him. Something about himself and something for the king to know about who the king should be and who God is. Now look at verse 25. This is the key verse for this section. I'll be getting to verse 25

that you may be driven from among men. Your dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. You should be made to eat grass like an ox and you shall be wet with the dew of heaven. Seven periods of time shall pass over it. till you know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he will.

Does that sound familiar? Very similar to verse 17, right? Verse 17, the vision itself contained the living. All living need to know that God Most High rules over men. Well, now it's very specific for the king. You will be driven out to live like a beast. Don't even live like a human till you know something that everybody needs to know that the Most High rules the kingdom of men. King Nebuchadnezzar needs to learn a significant lesson. What's going on here? I don't believe this is God giving King Nebuchadnezzar the psychological problem where somebody thinks they're a beast. I believe God's deconstructing him, decreating. He's taking away some essential elements of what it means to be human. He's driving him away from humanity to live like a beast. There is an order of creation. Humans are above beasts in dignity, honor, worth, value, and purpose. The king is being driven out to be like a beast. The human who had the most dominion is now being driven to have no dominion whatsoever. He was created with power. to exercise God's will over creation. There's an inherent dignity and value we add, but that being driven like a beast is moving him outside of that realm of being made in the image of God. So there's another element. We saw this last week. Whenever a human made in the image of God bows down to another image they've made of God, you're dehumanizing yourself because that's a special role we have as image bearers. Now the dominion he's supposed to have for and with and over other humans, he's denied it, he's neglected it. So God is going to teach him about God. He will suffer so that he will see who God is. So that his rule over other image bearers will actually reflect God. It's impossible to have a right earthly relationship without a right view of God. It's impossible to understand who we are in relation to God without God telling us, but this is what God is showing. This is what God wants to make known. We are under God. He is God most high, but the right relationships we have in this earth all first begin with a right understanding of God. It's impossible to understand how we're to rule others, how we're to exercise a power and authority, a care, unless we first see ourselves under God. There's a parallel here. It's quite difficult to happily, rejoicingly submit to governing authorities, good or bad, unless we first realize God rules over those governing authorities and calls us to submit to them. We saw this back in 2 Peter. Elected exiles, remember that? I'm sorry, 1 Peter. There was a number of calls to submission. A number of ways we're supposed to submit, and one of them is to governing authorities. And this is a theological basis as to how, why we submit to governing authorities. They're only there because God put them there. And they're under God. As much as we revere God, we're willing to submit to those governing authorities. Another just basic way we relate to others.

Love your neighbor as yourself.

Well, why would you do that? Because you actually believe God made both of you with the same dignity, worth, and value as image bearers. Our understanding and relationship to God then flows out in the way we treat others and relate to others. A lack of submission and respect is really revealing a lack of reverence for God. So church, Let's consider what is being taught here for all the living, but here the King, the King needs to teach others. And he is teaching us all that God most high rules over every authority in every institution. Peter told us elect exiles. There's four realms. There's government, work, vocation, family, and church. I would encourage you that submission is necessary for the Christian life. A Christian who doesn't submit is like a fish that doesn't swim. You're not doing it right. Go through those different calls to submission and pray for God to give you wisdom to see how He is calling you to that submission. Pray for him to help you see what it means to submit, what it means to acknowledge him in that submission. And if that sounds crazy to you, I pray that you would do something else. Pray for God to help you revere him enough to make that prayer. We can be encouraged by this. God rules all. He has all power, all dominion. He is able to bring up kings, he's able to take them down. He will bring judgment on Kings. He will protect his people in the midst of evil, evil Kings. Well, I wish for certain political leaders to, to, to have a, a, an authority, a power and ability. It's God we look to in the midst of all our government affairs. Verse 26. He gives an assurance to the King, the, the, the banner on the tree. That's because your kingdom will be returned. I want to zero in here, verse 27. It appears Daniel has stopped interpreting the dream, and now Daniel is going to make a pastoral application for the king. That isn't part of the dream, I don't think. Notice verse 27. Therefore, because of this prediction, king, because God has told you you're going to be driven out to live like a beast, so that you will know God. Therefore, I have a commendation for you. I have counsel. Notice,

King, let my counsel seem acceptable to you. Break off your sins and your iniquities.

Daniel, with this application, with this exhortation from the dream, seems to be presuming upon a character of the character of God. Because throughout scripture, we see a principle. When God warns someone of sin and that sin will be punished, there's always a principle. If you repent, God will relent. You see in Jeremiah 18a, very specifically, but there's a principle Daniel seems to be taking and applying as a pastoral loving friend And as someone who wishes the King, well, it seems as if this could be avoided. He says that your kingdom, uh, uh, the lengthening of it would prosper. This could be avoided. If you repent, break off your sin, break off your iniquity. That that that's where there's one way to know God most high. And it's by repenting. repenting of our insisting upon sin, our own understanding, our insisting upon our way, and look up to God. Hear the warning, king. Break off sin. He's calling the king to another way of knowing God most high rules rather than being turned into a beast. Let's look at the language here of what repentance is.

Break off your sins by practicing righteousness, and your iniquities by showing mercy to the oppressed, that you're perhaps be lengthening of your days of prosperity.

Well, what does it mean to break off sin and break off iniquity? This is very much of the New Testament language of put off sin from Ephesians chapter four, or put the death sin, Colossians two and Romans eight. There's a way in which the sin that would lead God to need to remove you and humble you, there's a way in which there's an invitation you can put it away before God has to put you away. And this is the key principle we have to understand. It's our sin that comes from our hearts. That means it feels natural. It's our sin that seems reasonable or we justify. Break it off because it's seeking to break you. You need to kill sin because it's seeking to kill you. This king who has authority over all these other image bearers of God, break off sin by practicing righteousness for yourself, but for the kingdom, be that prosperous tree that's practicing righteousness and spreading righteousness to all these image bearers. Break off your iniquities. Stop oppressing people. Show mercy to the oppressed. Stop ruling by practicing sin. Rule by practicing righteousness. Be the tree that God has called you to be that provides, promotes, and protects. Now, King Nebuchadnezzar is being told what will happen and why. The primary problem seems, he doesn't have a, he's confessed God of gods, but he's not truly submitted that he is the ruler over himself. God's shown him he's the revealer of mysteries. God's shown him he's the only one who delivers a certain way. God's shown him this image was a false image, but he's not fully grasped it yet. Let's wrestle with this. What amazing mercy God has shown King Nebuchadnezzar. This is the third episode where God has shown him he's the only God who can do certain things. He's the one and only true God. Now he wants the king, know that I am the God most high who rules even over your kingdom. You will have to answer to me. That's merciful. It's merciful to the king. It's merciful to the people. God cares how his, how the kings of this earth rule. God cares for his people. He's been invited to repent, but God has to teach him the hard way. Our third, fourth point, fourth point. Know God most high by looking up. This is the fulfillment. Notice verse 28.

All this came upon King Nebuchadnezzar.

Now, is this referring to everything you said would happen or is this referring to everything that will happen? The answer is yes. At the end of 12 months or a year after hearing this warning a year after being told to repent. The King goes out on his roof and something I forgot to highlight. Sorry, we'll go back to four, four. Remember the King Nebuchadnezzar, he's at ease in his house. He's prospering in his palace. He's going out into this very prosperous palace, he's gonna look around and notice verse 30. The king answered and said, the king seeing all of Babylon, you can imagine he's on his palace and maybe he sees one of the great wonders of the ancient world, the hanging gardens of Babylon.

Is not this great Babylon, which I have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty.

" He doesn't seem to have any acknowledgment of a God who rules over him. He looks out and sees the wonder and the glory and he just says, look what I've done for my glory and my palace. is not this great Babylon. Is this not my great works? Is this not my great ability? This is boasting. This is pride in a way that he's looking at what's truly great, but he's pridefully boasting. The danger in what's happening is he's not looking out and then looking up. He's looking out and looking in. He only looks at himself for what has happened. you say like there's something really great about king nebuchadnezzar it really is one of the ancient mysteries of the world there was greatness but but that greatness is limited and that that greatness is always to be less than what god would give you if we were to repent first around 12 months after this warning he makes this grand boast that that that seems to be just the the high point of his pride, or the great clear demonstration of his pride. Notice verse 31, King Nebuchadnezzar is telling us, while the words were still in the king's mouth, a voice from heaven also spoke. While I'm saying to myself how great I am, God interrupted. What a great mercy of God.

Oh, King Nebuchadnezzar, to you it is spoken. The kingdom has departed from you.

It was will.

The king kingdom has departed from you and you should be driven out from among men and your dwelling should be with the beast of the field. And you should be made to eat grass like an ox and seven periods of time shall pass over you

until it's a temporal declaration until you know. that the Most High rules the kingdom of men and gives it to whom he wills. Sounds familiar. So we all need to know, but it's what the king is being told. You were warned. Daniel invited you to repent. Now it's done. God has spoken as the one who rules from heaven. God has spoken as the one who has the power to take him down and lift him up. God has said it's done. You now are being driven out into the wilderness. Verse 33,

immediately the word was fulfilled against Nebuchadnezzar. He was driven from among men and ate grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, till his hair grew as long as eagles' feathers, and his nails were like the birds' claws.

Thus says the Lord, the king who has departed from you, the tree's cut down. You're driven out. You're living like a beast. You're being dehumanized because you would not acknowledge what makes you human. God giving you everything you are. You pretended you stood independent apart from God and you've done all this. You've denied God who truly makes you great. You've denied God most high who rules over you. Now there's a timestamp that's been repeated seven periods at seven, seven seasons, seven years. I guess it all depends on how long is his fingernails got as to how long this might be. But God has a purpose that you may know God most high rules that you may know that you are under God most high. He has taught Nebuchadnezzar so much and here immediately the word of God is fulfilled. Notice verse 34, at the end of the days, at the end of those seven periods, I, Nebuchadnezzar, there's four things that happened. And I think we just need to see these four things together. They seem to be in pairs, but they're all together.

I lifted my eyes to heaven and my reason returned to me. I blessed the most high and praised and honored him who lives forever.

He lifted up his eyes to heaven in his reason return. Well, he just gave us insight that we haven't seen before that the driving out that that was God removing his reason. Now, I don't think we can reduce being an image bearer to having reason, but it's certainly part of it is a central part of the ability to to hear God speak and to think God's thoughts after him. Our ability to reason is a part of being an image bearer. And here God took away His reason. And now together, he lifted up his eyes and his reason returned to him. Now cause effect, I'm not sure we need to think about that. It's the fact that God gave him the blessing that he would look up. And that's a demonstration of being dependent upon God. He looks up instead of looking at himself and saying, look what I've done. He finally looks up and he reasons. And notice the most reasonable thing you can do when you think sanely. He blesses God most high and praises him as a God who rules forever. This is the transformation God has wanted. God has warned him it will happen, and now God has done with great power. He could have broken off his sin, but God broke him. But then lifted his head to look up to him and his reason returned. He blesses God. Now we see another breaking out of poetry from the prose. And again, anytime that happens in a story, you need to just kind of pause and think about what's happening.

For his dominion is an everlasting dominion. His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

If you were to look back to verse three, the testimony, that's kind of the same exact declaration, just invert, right? His kingdom is everlasting and his dominion is from generation to generation. He's coming back and showing how God taught him all that. By making me drive out and live like a beast for seven periods. He's praising God as God deserves. In verse 35,

all the inhabitants of the earth are accounted as nothing.

And I don't believe that saying No human being has a greatness. God has made us all in his image. The whole idea is, in light of God's power, what can a human even do? In light of God's ability and his sovereign will, what can a man do?

And he, God, does according to his will among the hosts of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth.

He's God's sovereign in heaven and on earth. There's no realm where God is not perfectly in power and sovereign in heaven and on earth.

And none can stay his hand or say to him, what have you done?

Now that's pretty amazing. I'm pretty sure if I just realized I live like a beast for seven years and God did it, I would want to say, what have you done in my sin and my pride? There's no questioning what God has done because it's good. It's righteous. 34 to 35 is really Nebuchadnezzar giving us a personal testimony of his personal restoration. God has shown him he's God most high. God now has shown him and he has now received it in the most difficult way that he is under the hand of God and God is worthy of all praise. There's a meditation for all the living here. God rules with all power. And there is a way in which God is restoring him to now be a good ruler. Look at verse 36. This is testimony of how his kingdom is restored as the band was put around the stump.

At the same time, a reason returned to me and for the glory of my kingdom, my majesty and splendor. It returned to me that my counselors and my Lord sought me and I was established in my kingdom and still more greatness was added to me.

God's restored him because God helped his, picked his chin up to make him help him look up. His reason returned. God has cared so much for Babylon that they would have a good ruler. God has cared so much for King Nebuchadnezzar that he would acknowledge him as God most high. Here we see God working. There's a way in which you can fear a government. There's a way in which you can fear an evil king. There's a way in which also you see, no, every king will answer and God is over every single ruler. God said, what happened? And it happened. The last verse 37. These are the last recorded words of King Nebuchadnezzar for us in scripture. They're pretty startling.

Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol and honor the King of heaven.

He's had to have many lessons to get here. God's been incredibly patient for him to get here, but we see now the last words are praising the God who is worthy of praise. Why is he praising him? For all of God's works are right and his ways are just. The works and ways of God that he's saying are right and just include sending him out to live like a beast for seven years. That should be what's startling there. King Nebuchadnezzar is, he's been humbled. Now he is humble. He's able to say, if we go back to chapter four in the testimony, it seems good to me to show you all the signs and wonders. What are the great signs and waters God has shown King Nebuchadnezzar. He's now saying his ways are right. His ways are just in his works, right? The King taking away my dignity. That was right. That was good because it brought me to acknowledge who I truly am under God. The king who had everything above every human, he can acknowledge it was right and good that God would take him so low so that God could bring him back up. He's learned that no matter what kind of greatness he earned for himself, what God gives us as greatness is always better. All right, the fun question you can talk about over lunch, was the king converted? I don't know. The fact that he's praising God for this humility, that will be good evidence for saying he's converted. But it also might just be God has made him the kind of king he's supposed to be bringing him to a common grace relationship and understanding that he is not his own. He is under God. As we consider who God is, he is the king of heaven who rules over all. He's the king of heaven, but he's not distant. He's the king of heaven, but as the New Testament teaches, and we already looked at, he who's most high came to be the most low, and he came to be with us. His power came down to help us. Christ came to us and used all of his power in the way that blessed us, by freeing us from sin and forgiving us from sin. He is a king of heaven who rules all, and he rules with absolute power, but he is not distant. He is the king of heaven, God most high, who rules all. He blesses us. He is who gives us our virtue, dignity, value, worth. He's the one who made us in his image. He's the one who gives us all the blessings that we receive. He alone is worthy of praise and glory and boasting of because he blesses us. The king of heaven, God, most highly rules. He calls us to then be a blessing. He calls us to have a fear and reverence and love for him above all that would recognize whatever we have is from him. And whatever we have is meant to be used for him. This is called stewardship. We all should desire to have a, a rule that would reflect Christ. And that means we all seek to use whatever authority we have to bless others as Christ has blessed us. Everybody has some influence or some rule over somebody. We can think about if you're a teacher, a parent, an elder, a boss, a king. Wherever you are, God placed you there. Whatever authority you have, God has given it to you. If you're a believer, you have been given whatever it is you have in order to bless others. And we speak very specifically to the husband's fathers. You should want to leave this passage seeking to break off any and every sin so that you might be that tree that continues to be a great protection and provider for all in your household. That's what you should desire to do. Here's how you do it. Read Psalm 1, be like that tree that's planted near the waters, that is God's word. And you grow deep roots into God's word. You let God's word be the primary influence to know who you are and who he is and how to live. And that is how you become the strong tree that protects, promotes, and produces good fruit. Young men, this is who you should want to grow up to be. If you're not a Christian, take a moment and look in that sin is out of your control. That twistedness, you know you have no power over it. The sin that rages and wars within you, you know you don't have any hope of taming it or controlling it. So I encourage you, look up to Christ, who died to give you freedom from that sin and forgive you of that sin. Look up to Christ alone who can bless you to be free and forgiven of the sin so that you may actually break it off. You cannot break it off in your own strength. You must look to Christ who will give you that grace. If you are a Christian, pray for God to show you the sin to be broken away. And do not delay like King Nebuchadnezzar. Do not delay whatever sin God would show you that needs to be broken off. Do not delay presuming upon patience and grace from God. He is gracious to make sure we have a full, full vision of who He is and who we are supposed to be. So that we can praise Him and bless others. Will you pray with me? Father, thank you for your. Your mercy to show all people you're the God most high rules, and we should be able to look out of this world and see your power. But we suppress the truth of their sin. We thank you for this testimony of a foreign king who's defied you. In the past that you, you, you, you, you used him to proclaim to the nations and to us. Your ways are just. Your works are powerful and righteous. Lord, may we all submit to you, seeking to break off the sins that keep us from you, seeking to know you as you are, seeking to make you known by the way we bless others. Thank you for the way you've designed us as your image bearers. Thank you for Christ who renews us to be true image bearers. Help us, Lord, to know you, to make you known. In Jesus' name we pray, amen.