Stop and Let Me Tell You –

based on the LGG Study, Living Faithful in a Faithless Land / w3d3

Scripture, Today’s Roadmap for Our Journey: Daniel 4:1-18 (2-3); 1 Peter 3:5-17

 I am delighted to tell you about the signs and wonders that the most high God has done for me.

³ “How great are his signs!

How mighty are his wonders!
His kingdom will last forever,
and his authority continues from one generation to the next.” Daniel 4:2-3 NET

Observations and Applications

The same king who had made a gold statue and commanded that his people bow down and worship it or face death – now makes a declaration to “all peoples, nations, and language groups that live in all the land”- about the signs and wonders that the most high God had done for him. What a change of attitude from ‘all about me’ to the joy of telling his people how great the most high God is, saying: “How great are his signs! How mighty are his wonders! His kingdom will last forever, and his authority continues from one generation to the next.” – Surely, these words speak to the change of heart the king has had concerning “Daniel’s God.”

Keeping it in Perspective

I don’t know about you, but I sometimes find myself “judging a book by its cover” or, in this situation, assessing someone by the words they speak. I believe it’s a common tendency of human nature—however, it is or can be risky. For instance, if we knew nothing else about the king and judged him by his words of praise, sharing what God had done for him, telling of His great signs and wonders, boasting not of his own authority and kingdom but of God’s forever Kingdom and authority – we may assume that Nebuchadnezzar had turned from his gods and placed his faith in the one true living God. This belief may lead us to fall back in our efforts to live out our faith as boldly in his presence. There are two dangers/lessons here that come to mind, one being we should never fall back on living out our faith boldly in anyone’s presence, and two, we may drop our guard and find ourselves erroneously following the king more readily, thinking him to be following God.

While we cannot say for a fact that he had not done this, by words he speaks later, there is reason to believe otherwise. There is certainly evidence of a heart change; as we see in verse nineteen of today’s passage, King Nebuchadnezzar, in reference to Daniel interpreting his dream, proclaims that Daniel “has a spirit of the holy gods in him.” These words reveal that the king does not view God as the one and only Creator God but as one of many “holy gods.”

Bibleref.com notes in verse three how “Nebuchadnezzar reveres the true God, whom he calls “Most High.” The commentary goes on to say, “It’s likely that, in Nebuchadnezzar’s beliefs, the Lord of Israel was the most prominent or powerful of a pantheon of lesser deities. He is probably not speaking of God as the one and only God and Creator. Yet the king recognizes the power and influence of the Lord worshipped by men such as Daniel (Daniel 2:47; 3:28).”

Nonetheless, the king said he was delighted to tell what God, “the most high God,” had done for him. Or as the writer of today’s journal entry wrote: “He couldn’t help but break into praise. This king, whom we had previously seen as being arrogant and proud, was describing God as great, mighty, powerful, and eternal. King Nebuchadnezzar couldn’t help but let everyone know.”

When I was a child, we used to sing a song in our Jr. Church that encouraged us to tell others about God and what He had done for us. The first portion of that song would have been perfect for the king to sing …

Stop! And Let Me Tell You
What The Lord Has Done For Me.
Stop! And Let Me Tell You
What The Lord Has Done For Me.

However, the song doesn’t end there. It goes on to boast of all that God has done for those who have been saved through the blood of His Son. It is a perfect script for us to use to share what God has done in our lives.

He Healed My Body
And He Saved My Soul,
He Forgave My Sin
And He Made Me Whole.
Stop! And Let Me Tell You
What The Lord Has Done For Me.

There is much we can learn from Nebuchadnezzar’s excitement in sharing what God had done for him. We may not have dreams that we need to have interpreted – but wherever we are in our spiritual life – a believer since childhood, a new believer, or still an unbeliever – one thing is for certain – if and when we understand who we are without God, and come to understand and believe in who He truly is and what He has done to make salvation possible for us¹ we should also be moved with joy and excitement to break into praising the “most high God,” telling others what He has done for us.

Prayer ResponsE to our Journey

Father, may I never lose my excitement and the sweet but hard conviction to share what You have done for me. May I be quick to notice how You are working in me, around me, and for me – and even quicker to tell others about what You’ve done/are doing. Help me to make it of the utmost importance like the king did. Help me to always, regardless of the company around me, live my faith faithfully, boldly lifting You up and unashamed to hold fast to Your ways. – In the name of Jesus, I trust and pray – Amen!

The More We Know

For even more insight, check out today’s LGG blog post