The King Who Went Crazy

How do you speak the truth when it will clearly hurt? God’s prophets have no option, but that doesn’t mean they are unfeeling. Only those who love dare to speak words of judgment, for judgment is the shadow side of love. Daniel explains the dream, holding nothing back. Fearful of the dream becoming reality, he urges Nebuchadnezzar to pursue a different path. He encourages good and generous leadership, but his words fall on deaf ears. Once the dream is explained, Nebuchadnezzar is no longer afraid, and life returns to normal. “I hear you” is the response.

What a parody of the Lord’s Prayer comes from the king’s lips (v 30). In effect, he says, “Mine is the kingdom, the power and the glory,” whereupon God pointedly says, “No, it is not!” As high as has been his glory, so low will be his fall. He loses his wits, and all the dignity of humanity is taken from him. His days pass isolated, deranged and abandoned. Could this possibly be the greatest king there ever was? What a mockery of power and its pretensions.

The turning point comes when he looks up to heaven, not down on others or on the earth. He regains his perspective, recovers his memory, and finds his identity. He bears no grudges, attributes no blame and takes no revenge. Instead, he is moved to worship and, in so doing, finds he is restored to his throne.

Incidentally, the kingdom seems to have got on quite well in his absence! He was not quite as indispensable as he thought. His final years are blessed, but the greatest change is in him. He has at last seen through his own self-publicity and put himself in a right relationship with the God who made him and who wants him to walk in righteousness.

Respond in Prayer

Lord Jesus, you warned us that if we think highly of ourselves, we will be humbled (Luke 14:11). Help me as I follow you to have your humility and to prefer your presence to the applause of other people. For your sake, Amen.

Colin Sinclair