at the end of twelve months he was walking on the roof of the royal palace of babylon, and the king answered and said, “is not this great babylon, which i have built by my mighty power as a royal residence and for the glory of my majesty?” [daniel 4:29-30]
who gets the glory?
it is easy for us to sit in judgment of nebuchadnezzar, quoting the well known verse (and in KJV, no less!)–
pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall. [proverbs 16:18 kjv[
but in my own heart i know how prideful i am:
“look at these kids i have raised…”
“look at how good i am at my job…”
“look at my knowledge of theology…”
“look at how i have overcome the obstacle of..”
“don’t tell me what to do…”
“the reason for my falling short is…”
“i don’t need help or accountability…”
“i deserve some ‘me’ time…”
“i deserve to be treated well because…”
and so on. what i and others perceive as successes in my life, i claim to have built them by my mighty power and the glory of my majesty–i revel in my own false glory. as for the failures, i have a quick defense for my actions and excuses as to the circumstances that were beyond my control.
what if everything in my life was turned and pointed to one single purpose, for the glory of Jesus Christ? when anything happens, good or bad in my life, i should turn with thankfulness to the one who does all things for his glory–
for my own sake, for my own sake, i do it,
for how should my name be profaned?
my glory i will not give to another. [isaiah 48:11]
God opposes the proud!–he will give his glory to no one else!
but he gives more grace. therefore it says, “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” submit yourselves therefore to God. resist the devil, and he will flee from you. [james 4:6-7]
to be proud is rebellion, a conscious effort to not resist the devil.
peter uses the same saying when he states:
clothe yourselves, all of you, with humility toward one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.” [i peter 5b]
resting in his presence today, let us get off of the roofs of our ‘royal palaces’, the altars to idols where we strut and pose in vanity and pride, and let us go into our secret closet, putting on the clothes of humility. there, let us give God the glory he is due!
praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the earth hear His voice;
praise the Lord, praise the Lord,
let the people rejoice;
oh, come to the Father, through Jesus the Son,
and give Him the glory; great things he hath done.
~ ce