Deeper ReflectionSomething happened to Nebuchadnezzar when he “raised my eyes
toward heaven”: “my sanity returned to me” (v.34, NIV). This
“sanity” is more than just mental sanity. It is
seeing true reality
– of oneself and who God is. Reformer John Calvin said, “Nearly all the
wisdom we possess, that is to say, true and sound wisdom, consists of
two parts: the knowledge of God and of ourselves.”
53Our discipleship journey is to be a theological journey – a journey of
knowing God personally. In his God-humbling journey, Nebuchadnezzar
came to see through experience the
glory of God. Here we see
theology, and not theology in a vacuum, but with a context. The
context is the arrogant human claim of its greatness and power. Note
that Nebuchadnezzar’s theology is marked by its exaltedness.
God is
incomparably great – “All peoples of the earth are nothing compared
to Him” (v.35, NLT).
Nothing can obstruct God – “He does according
to His will…and no one can ward off His hand” (v.35).
God is never
questionable – “no one can…say to Him, ‘What have You done?’” (v.35).
God is never wrong – “all His works are true and His ways just” (v.37).
How does this exalted theology build your relationship with God?Nebuchadnezzar came to taste the
grace of God: “my majesty
and splendour were
restored to me…I was
re-established in my
sovereignty” (v.36). God did not owe Nebuchadnezzar anything when he
humbled himself after God had humbled him. When God exalts us when
we humble ourselves, that divine exaltation is God’s “greater grace” that
He gives us (Jas 4:6, 10).
53Calvin: Institutes of the Christian Religion 1, John T. McNeill, editor, Library of Christian Classics, Volume XX (Westminster John Knox Press, 1960), 35
