PUTTING PRIDE IN ITS PLACE—Daniel 4
PRIDE. One of the “Seven Deadly Sins,” along with greed, wrath, envy, lust, gluttony, and sloth. But is it always bad?
There is a kind of healthy pride, which values one’s abilities, celebrates achievement, and motivates positive behavior. Paul refers to healthy pride in Galatians 6:4, “Each one should test their own actions. Then they can TAKE PRIDE in themselves alone, without comparing themselves to someone else…”
There is also a kind of unhealthy pride: arrogant, with an attitude of superiority and entitlement.
***One pet lover—a particular kind of pet lover—describes the difference like this: He says that when a master pets his dog, the dog wags his tail and thinks, “He must be a god.” When the master strokes his cat, the cat purrs, and thinks, “I must be a god.” Who knows what the pets are thinking?**
God-focused pride can be described as “…faith in the idea that GOD had when he made you.” That kind of pride drives us to be our best, and causes us to celebrate the goodness of God in our success.
Self-focused pride can be described in the words of the Babylonian king, Nebuchadnezzar, in Daniel 4:30: “Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by MY mighty power and for the glory of MY majesty?” Self-focused pride can be deadly.
SELF-FOCUSED PRIDE LEADS TO ANXIETY.
Nebuchadnezzar begins the story in his own words: Read Daniel 4:4-7.
Do you sometimes remember your dreams? What interpretation do you give to them?
Not all dreams have a meaning, but when they do, they might reflect our deepest thoughts and emotions. Neb’s dream was the dream of an ANXIOUS man, who described himself as, “afraid…terrified…” In an attempt to get to the root of his anxiety, he called in all the psychic experts in his court, but none of those charlatans could interpret his dream. Finally, he called upon Daniel, a Jewish exile who had risen to a high position. Neb recognized that Daniel had a God-given gift for interpreting dreams and visions, and he told Daniel his dream.
Read Daniel 4:10-16.
It doesn’t take a psychological genius to see why the dream made Neb anxious. Like the tree, he dominated the skyline in his palace, and his kingdom was visible to the ends of the earth. He provided food and shelter, beauty and protection, to all in his kingdom. Everyone depended on him for life, and he was proud of what he had built.
But in the dark of night, the dream turns into a nightmare. The tree falls, the fruit is gone, and everyone flees. All that is left is a stump, which in the fluidity of his dream, turns into a man with the mind of an animal.
The dream is a nightmare of a person with self-focused pride.
It is like the nightmare of a man or woman who has built an empire in business, or experienced great success at work. It is like the nightmare of a mother, who congratulates herself on being a super mom, with great kids and influence in her community. It is like the nightmare of a successful investor, who gets on the computer to congratulate himself on the growth of his investments and the security of his “securities.” The nightmare is that it could all fall apart, destroying even the person’s identity.
Self-focused pride takes credit for everything that has been achieved: abilities, opportunities, wise choices, and hard work. Yet lurking below the surface are the things that can’t be controlled: health, politics, the economy, and other people. Anxiety rises, because so much could go wrong, and everything could come crashing down.
The worst fear for proud people is that they might fall apart under the pressure.
SELF-FOCUSED PRIDE LEADS TO A FALL.
Proverbs 16:18 says, “Pride goes before destruction, a haughty spirit before a fall.”
Daniel spared no words in interpreting Neb’s dream: Read Daniel 4:23-25.
For Neb, the cause of the “fall” would be a psychological breakdown: “Twelve months later, as the king was walking on the roof of the royal palace of Babylon, he said, ‘Is not this the great Babylon I have built as the royal residence, by my mighty power and for the glory of my majesty?’… Immediately what had been said about Nebuchadnezzar was fulfilled. He was driven away from people and ate grass like the ox. His body was drenched with the dew of heaven until his hair grew like the feathers of an eagle and his nails like the claws of a bird.” (Daniel 4:29-33)
“Pride goes before…a fall.” Not always like Neb, perhaps, but just as destructive.
The “fall” could be a moral disaster, as we see so often among powerful men and women, who feel entitled to abuse their power and misuse people. The abuse stays hidden, until it is finally exposed, and the kingdom crumbles.
The “fall” could be less newsworthy: a rising star in the workplace alienates people until they rebel, or a husband or wife exploits their mate until love dies or the family is destroyed.
The “fall” could be personal: a man or woman builds the life of their dreams, gains the whole world, and finds that their world is empty.
Self-focused pride leads to a fall. The troubling truth is that I am not immune to self-focused pride, and you are probably also infected with it. But there is hope.
SELF-FOCUSED PRIDE CAN BE REDEEMED THROUGH GOD-FOCUSED HUMILITY.
Daniel offered Neb a choice: He could choose to humble himself, or be forcibly humbled by God: (Daniel 4:27) “Therefore, Your Majesty, be pleased to accept my advice: Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed. It may be that then your prosperity will continue.”
God offers us the same choice: We can humble ourselves, or we can be humbled by human frailty, personal failure, or circumstances beyond our control.
1 Peter 5:5-7 says, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” {Note to preacher: I prefer the literal translation “gives grace” to the NIV “shows favor,” and I made the substitution.)
“God gives grace to the humble.” God is gracious, even to someone he forcibly humbles, like Neb. In Daniel 4:34, we read, “At the end of that time, I, Nebuchadnezzar, raised my eyes toward heaven, and my sanity was restored. Then I praised the Most High; I honored and glorified him who lives forever.”
Even when our humility is forced, God is ready to graciously lift us up. How much better, though, to do what Peter suggests: “Humble yourselves under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time. Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.”
HOW DO WE HUMBLE OURSELVES?
-RECOGNIZE GOD AS SOVEREIGN.
After living like an animal for “seven times”—perhaps seven weeks or months or years—Neb came to his senses:
Read Daniel 4:34-37.
When Nebuchadnezzar raised his eyes toward heaven, his sanity was restored. He got a grip on reality: God is God, and he was not God. Then he worshipped; he praised, honored and glorified God. This man, who had worshipped the idol Bel and other gods before (verse 8), now humbly worshipped the God who reigns over all kingdoms and power—even his own.
As long as we hang on to the illusion that we are sovereign—that we have everything under control—we will be unbalanced, full of anxiety, and set up for failure. When we recognize that God is sovereign and in control, we can depend on him to work things out.
Worship is an exercise in humility. Worship puts God in his place, and us in our place. The kind of worship that puts God in his place is focused on his praise, honor and glory, rather than our performance.
That might cause us to question: Does our worship focus on us, or on God? Does our worship focus on what we are feeling and doing, or on God’s greatness?
When we recognize the power and authority of God, it humbles us. Yet it makes us strong and confident.
-GIVE GOD CREDIT FOR ABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES.
In his letter to the Corinthians, Paul was dealing with issues of pride and superiority. Some believers were proud to be followers of Paul, and others claimed superiority because they followed Apollos. Paul pointed out that no one has a right to self-focused pride, as he and Apollos were merely “servants of Christ entrusted with the mysteries God provided.” Then he went on, to question their self-focused pride: (1 Corinthians 4:7), “Who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that you did not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as though you did not?”
What do you have that you did not receive? Intelligence?—good genes. Good looks?—your parents. If you were born in a country like ours, and raised in a stable home where your learned wisdom and common sense, you did not arrange for that. Your educational and career opportunities were not all of your own doing; they came to you. God gave them to you.
In Deuteronomy 8:17-18, Moses warned the people about becoming proud, as their wealth increased. He reminded them that God brought them out of Egypt, led them through the wilderness, and fed them on the way. Then he said, “You may say to yourself, ‘My power and the strength of my hands have produced this wealth for me.’ But remember the LORD your God, for it is he who gives you the ability to produce wealth, and so confirms his covenant, which he swore to your ancestors, as it is today.”
Give God credit for your abilities.
-DIRECT GOD’S GIFTS TO THE GOOD OF OTHERS.
Before Neb lost his sanity, Daniel gave this advice in verse 27: “Renounce your sins by doing what is right, and your wickedness by being kind to the oppressed.” Why did he say that? Neb was misusing the power and authority God had given him, directing it only toward his own ends. In his pride, he thought all that God gave him was for his own benefit, not for the benefit of others.
Humility recognizes that the gifts God gives are not only for us, but for others. 1 Peter 4:10-11 says, “Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms…so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.”
Peter points out that we are “stewards”—servants who handle the master’s resources, not for their own benefit, but as the master determines.
Serving others is a spiritual exercise, if we place the needs of others before our own. Paul instructs believers in Philippians 2:3-4, “Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
If we humble ourselves before God, he will not bring us down in shame, but lift us up.
In closing, we again hear the message of 1 Peter 5:5-6, “Clothe yourselves with humility toward one another, because, ‘God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.’ Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
God gives grace to the humble—even Neb, whom God forcibly humbled.
How much more will God give grace to those who repent of their self-focused pride, and humble themselves…
…exalting him in worship.
…giving him the credit for our abilities and achievements.
…serving others as stewards of God’s gifts to us.
“Humble yourselves, therefore, under God’s mighty hand, that he may lift you up in due time.”
