Deeper Reflection
Like Nebuchadnezzar, when we are “at ease”, we can easily forget God in our “flourishing” (Dan 4:4). When Nebuchadnezzar mentioned “Daniel”, he added “whose name is Belteshazzar according to the name of my god” (Dan 4:8). At the point when Daniel interpreted his dream, Nebuchadnezzar looked at Daniel in terms of “the name of my god”. When Daniel interpreted his dream the second time, Nebuchadnezzar did not see “the God of heaven who reveals mysteries” as he did and acknowledged before (Dan 2:28, 47), but only his god. Do we see God in our “flourishing”, or “my god” – I, me and myself – who has accomplished the “flourishing”?There is nothing wrong with “flourishing in my palace” like Nebuchadnezzar. But there is a place where we are to flourish and when we flourish in that place, we will not forget God in our “flourishing in my palace”. The Psalmist in Psalm 92 tells us: “The righteous man will flourish like a palm tree…will flourish in the courts of our God” (vv.12-13). Flourishing in the presence of God! We “flourish” in God’s presence because we are “planted in the house of the LORD” (v.13). Being “planted” in God’s presence is being rooted deeply and firmly in our relationship with God, walking with Him continually. Then, we “will grow like a cedar in Lebanon” (v.12). Cedar provides the finest wood for building the temple of God (1 Kin 5:2-6). In the long arduous discipleship journey, we keep growing and growing, and “will still yield fruit in old age”, and be “full of sap and very green” (v.14).