In this sermon, the preacher focuses on Daniel chapter 4, which tells the story of a heathen king who learns about the sovereignty of God. The king has a dream in which a watcher and holy one from heaven tells him that a tree will be cut down, but the stump will remain. The king's heart will be changed and he will live like a beast for seven years. The preacher emphasizes that God is in control of all things, including both men and angels, and that no one can stay His hand. The sermon highlights the importance of recognizing God's sovereignty and praising and honoring Him.

Would you open the book of God tonight to Daniel chapter 4. Daniel chapter 4. Last week we spoke on the sovereignty of God from Psalm 93 and I pointed out that a right grasp of the sovereignty of God is the most comforting, consoling, encouraging doctrine in the Bible. It's a soft pillow for troubled minds, for torn emotions, for weeping eyes and broken hearts. There's no doctrine in the Bible that's more comforting for those things than the sovereignty of God. And I gave you a definition of the sovereignty of God so that you would know that when I use that expression, we'll both be talking about the same thing. Sovereignty of God means that God can do anything he wants to do, anytime he wants to do it, any way in which he wants to do it, and for any purpose he wishes to accomplish. That's the sovereignty of God. And I also pointed out that that does not lock us into the cogs of fatalism. Fatalism is a God off there somewhere who doesn't give a hoot about us. That's not the God of the Bible. The God of the Bible cares, loving care for us. The sovereignty of God does not teach that wicked thing you hear sometimes from people, what's going to happen will happen, it doesn't matter what you do. That's not biblical truth, that's a lie. What's going to happen will happen, and it does matter what you do. That's what the Bible teaches, and that's not fatalism. Last week we considered the meaning of God's sovereignty and the message of God's sovereignty from Psalm 93. I pointed out that the purpose the purpose of scripture in revealing a God who is absolutely sovereign is to inspire hope in God's people, to comfort and joy and give joy to the people of God. And secondly, the other purpose in revealing a God that's absolutely sovereign is to encourage sinners, people who are lost, to seek him, the God of mercy and of grace. And only a sovereign God can accomplish either of those things. There's no attribute of God so comforting to his children as the doctrine of divine sovereignty. Under the most adverse circumstances and most severe troubles, Christians believe that God is sovereign and has ordained their afflictions, and his sovereignty overrules them, and his sovereignty will sanctify their afflictions to them. And there's nothing that we as children of God ought to more earnestly contend for than the dominion of the master over all creation, the kingship of God, the kingship of God over all the works of his hands, the throne of God and his right to sit upon that throne. God on the throne is the basis, that truth, God on the throne is the basis for our confidence in the holy scriptures. It's the basis for a call to holy living. It's a basis for confidence in the great work of evangelism. Before we, I promise this week, to consider the mystery of the sovereignty of God, but before we do that, and we won't get to that tonight, I'm sorry, before we do that, I want you to hear the testimony of a proud heathen king as to how he learned the truth that God Almighty was a sovereign God, and how, what effect that had upon him. And that's why I ask you to turn to Daniel 4. And so if you'll keep your finger there tonight, we do want to later maybe go to John 6 to see how our Lord preached this doctrine. I expect we'll get there. But if not, keep your finger in Daniel 4, because I'm going to stay pretty close to the text tonight. And I think the first thing I should do would be give a little running commentary on this wonderful chapter. It's really a testimony of a heathen king as to how he learned the sovereignty of God, and what effect that had on his life. So if you put your eye down there now to Daniel 4, you'll see that he, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, unto all people, nations, languages that dwell on all the earth, peace be multiplied to you. I thought it good to show the signs and wonders that the high God hath wrought towards me. He's going to give his testimony. I'm going to tell you how he wrought it toward me. How great are his signs, how mighty are his wonders. His kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and his dominion is from generation to generation. I, Nebuchadnezzar, as I rest in my house and flourished in my palace, well, he had a dream. But the first three verses acknowledges God's dominion over him, and then he begins his story and his testimony from verse 4 on. And I'm not going to read it all, I'm just going to point it out to you. First he had a dream that puzzled him very much. And he called, verse 7, he called all the magicians, the astrologers, and the Chaldeans, and the soothsayer, and he said, I told them the dream before them, but they did not make known to me the interpretation of it. They couldn't tell me. I called all the wise men, the soothsayers, the astrologers, but they couldn't tell me what the dream was. And then in verse 8, he calls Daniel, and from verses 8 to 17, he not only calls Daniel, but he gives the dream. He gives Daniel the dream, and this is where he tells us what the dream was. And I think I better read that. He called Daniel, but in verse 10 he starts to say what exactly this dream was. Thus were the visions of my head in my bed. I saw, and behold, a tree in the midst of the earth. The height thereof was great. The tree grew and was strong, and the height thereof reached heaven, and the sight thereof to the end of all the earth. The leaves thereof were fair, and the fruit thereof much, and it was neat at all. The beast of the field had shadows under it, and the fowls of heaven dwelt in the boughs thereof, and all flesh was fed of it. And I saw in the vision of my head upon my bed, and behold, a Watcher and Holy One came down from heaven. And he cried aloud, and he said, Thus, you down the tree, cut off the branches, shake off the leaves, and scatter the fruit. Let the beast get away from under it, and the fowls of the air from its branches. Nevertheless, leave the stump of the roots on the earth, even with a band of iron and brass, and tender grass of the field, and let it be wet with the dew of heaven, and let his portion be with the beast in the grass of the earth. Let his heart be changed from a man's, and let it be a beast's heart be given unto him, and let seven years pass over him. This matter is by the decree of the Watchers, and the demand by the word of the Holy One, to the intent that the living may know that the Most High ruleth in the kingdoms of men, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will, and he setteth up over it the beast of men. That was the purpose. Then from verse 18 on, we find that Daniel tells him what the dream is. He asks Daniel to declare the interpretation, and that goes on over to verse 27, and then he applies. Daniel told him what's going to happen, and that interpretation, what Daniel told him, goes over to verse 27. And here we find Daniel giving him some counsel. He applies the interpretation. He told him that he was the person of the tree. He was going to eat grass like animals, and that he was going to turn into, for seven years he'd be insane, out of his mind. And then Daniel, in verse 27, applies the interpretation. Wherefore, O King, let my counsel be acceptable unto thee. Break off your sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by showing mercy to the poor, if it may be lengthened of thy tranquility. And then beginning at verse 28, we see that the dream, the accomplishment, what Daniel said actually happened. And all this came to King Nebuchadnezzar, verse 29, and at the end of 12 months, it didn't happen right the next day as soon as Daniel told him, at the end of 12 months, he walked into the palace of the kingdom of Babylon, and the king spake and said, is not this Babylon the great? Now he's going to brag. Here's the key to his problem, and we'll look at it later. He looked over his great kingdom that he had, then the king spake, that's King Nebuchadnezzar, and he said, is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power, and for the honor of my majesty? Now I hope you notice those I's and my's. That's very important. That's a very key verse to this whole study tonight. While the word was in his mouth, there fell a voice from heaven saying, O King Nebuchadnezzar, to thee it is spoken, the kingdom is departed from thee, and they shall drive thee from men, and thy dwelling shall be with the beasts of the field, and they shall make thee eat grass and oxen, and seven times shall pass over thee, until thou," now here's the purpose, "...until thou knowest that the most high ruler in the kingdoms of men, and he giveth it to whomsoever he will. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar, and he was driven from men, and he did eat grass as oxen, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, and his hair grew like eagle's feathers, and his nails were as bird's claws." Then in verses 34 to 36, we see his great recovery after seven years of being stark mad in saying, without reason, we see his recovery in verses 34 and 36. And at the end of the day, seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven, and my understanding returned unto me, and I blessed the most high, and I praised and honored him that liveth forever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion, and whose kingdom is from generation to generation, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. Now this is what he learned. All the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing, and he doeth according to his will in the army of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand, or say unto him, What doest thou? And at the same time my reason returned unto me, and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honor, and the brightness returned unto me, and my counselors and my lords sought unto me, and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. And then we see that the conclusion of the story is in verse 37. Now I, Nebuchadnezzar, now I, Nebuchadnezzar, praise and extol the honor and honor of the king of heaven, all whose works are truth, and his ways judgment are those that walk in his judgment, and those that walk in pride he is able to abase. Now it's verses 30 and 37. I want to just give you a little panoramic view of the story, so that when we start talking about the verses where I want to draw your attention tonight, particularly, it'll make a little bit of sense. And it's in the 30th verse, and also verses 34 to 37, that I would like to draw your attention to tonight. In verse 30 we see the sovereignty of God denied and rejected. The king spake and said, This is not this great Babylon that I have built for the house of the kingdom, by the might of my power and the honor of my majesty. That's the root of his problem. It's all summed up in that verse. You see, worldlings do not like the sovereignty of God, and the whole truth of the sovereignty of God as we have it in the scriptures. Therefore they don't like the God of the Bible, because the God of the Bible is sovereign. Spurgeon says, worldlings do not like the sovereignty of God. In fact, it is very offensive. Men will allow God to be everywhere except on his throne. They will allow him to be in his workshop, fashioning the worlds and making stars. They will allow him to be in his armory, dispensing the alms and bestowing bounties. They will allow him to sustain the earth and bear up the pillars thereof, and light the lights of heaven, and rule the waves of the ever-moving ocean. But when God ascends to his throne, his creatures gnash their teeth. And when he proclaims an enthroned God, and his right to do with his own as he will, to dispose of his creatures as he thinks well without consulting them in the matter, then it is that they hissed and sometimes scorned. And then it is that men turn a deaf ear to us, for God on his throne is not the God they love. They love him anywhere better than sitting on his throne with his scepter in his hand and his crown on his head. This doctrine is very offensive to worldlings. And sometimes when you talk about God being sovereign in redemption, it's offensive to some Christians. It was offensive. It's always been, had that offensive aspect. And I'd like you to keep your finger there now and turn to John 6, because I want to show you it was offensive when our Lord Jesus Christ preached this truth, it was offensive then. And I'm going to ask you to turn in your Bibles to John 6, because this is a fine example of the offensiveness of this great doctrine. John 6, as you know, is our Lord's next to his longest recorded sermon. Assuming that the Sermon on the Mount was given at one time, this is the second longest sermon that Jesus ever preached. And in John 6, he presents himself as the bread of life. But apart from that, he also presents a God who is sovereign. For instance, let me give you an example. Look in verse 37. He said, and this is the words of our Lord now, he said, All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. Now, my dear friends, that is divine sovereignty. That's divine sovereignty. All that the Father giveth me shall come to me. And him that cometh to me I will in no wise cast out. For I am come down from heaven, not to do my own will, but to do the will of him that sent me. That's divine sovereignty. There is a God, there's God, there's Christ, came down here to be appointed, delegate, to set up and accomplish the sovereign will of God. That's what he said. I am come down here and I've been appointed and I've been designated to set up a kingdom, to set up a truth of the great sovereignty of my Father. We must do what he must do what's good in his sight. That's what Jesus taught. And when our Lord was here as God's prophet to us, there was one thing certain, one thing certain, he put almighty God on the throne. He put almighty God on the throne. In his preaching, it made those people angry and so today it makes people angry. The time on earth when the preachers, whenever there comes a time on earth when the preachers preach the enthroned God, then people get angry. If they see the implications of it, many times they're angry. Now true Christians rejoice. Well, what happened after our Lord preached this, this tremendous sermon? I'm not going to read the whole sermon. I just want to show you a little bit of the results of it. If you look toward the end of the chapter in verses, well, chapter six, verse 37, 38 and verse 34 or verse 44, we also see him preaching divine sovereignty. No man can come to me except the Father which has sent me draw him and I will raise him up at the last day. Now what happened when he preached that? Well, you have to jump over to the end of the sermon and look at verses 59 to 61 and see what happened. 59 to 61. These things said he in the synagogue as he taught in Capernaum. Many therefore of his disciples when they heard this, what did they say? This is a hard saying who can bear it. There's some hard things in this Bible to be believed. And this is one of them. This is a hard saying who can bear it. And when Jesus knew in himself that his disciples murmured at it, he said unto them, does this offend you? Does this offend you? Does this offend you? I say it was offensive in our Lord's day. It's offensive now. Well, back to our heathen king. It was offensive. My point is that it was offensive to this heathen king because he said, I did it. I made Babylon great. I did it by my power and by my might, by my majesty. That's the height of his sin. And the very opposite of that is true. The sovereignty of God teaches the opposite of that, the total opposite. Well, back to our heathen king. I say in verse 30, we see this truth that God is sovereign. We see it denied and rejected. But in verses 4 to chapter 4, verse 31 to 33, we see God's sovereignty experienced and applied in judgment. Notice how it was applied in judgment in verse 31 to 33, particularly verse 33. The same hour was the thing fulfilled upon Nebuchadnezzar what Daniel told him would be fulfilled. And he was driven from man. Now here we see the denial of the sovereignty of God, God visiting them in judgment for the very thing. And he did eat. He was driven from man. He ate grass as an oxen. His body was wet with the dew of heaven till the hairs grew like eagle's feathers and his nails like bird's claws. God's sovereignty is always applied either in judgment or in mercy. Paul in that great chapter of Romans nine, which is a most difficult chapter, but it, but it is a chapter that sets forth, sets forth the sovereignty of God and in, in, in redemption, probably like no other single chapter in the Bible. And in the midst of that chapter where Paul was setting forth the sovereignty of God and redemption, he said this, he's talking about Pharaoh. He said for, for the scripture saith unto Pharaoh, even for this purpose, I raised thee up that I might show my power in thee and my name might be declared throughout all the earth. Therefore, get these words, this is St. Paul in Romans nine, therefore hath he mercy on whom he will have mercy and whom he will he hardeneth. Do you know where he's quoting from? He's quoting from the old Testament in Exodus chapter 33, verse 18 and 19. He's given a direct quote where Moses prayed to see the glory of God. Moses prayed to see the glory of God. God answers and said, I'll let my glory pass before thee and I will have mercy upon whom I will have mercy and whom I will I'll harden. That's what Paul preached. Now, some may think that God wouldn't do what he did to Nebuchadnezzar for seven years, make him out of his insane and out of his mind that he ate grass like oxen and his hair grew like birds feathers and his nails like birds claws. Some people might say, well, I don't believe the God I worship would do that. Well, I want to tell you, the Bible says he did it. He will do it. He does it and he will do it yet. And you say, why, why? Well, the answer, the reason is found in verse 25 of Daniel four. This is why he did it. That men, let me read it. This is the answer is found right here. That they shall drive thee from men and thy dwelling shall be with the beast of the field. And they shall make thee to eat grass as oxen and they, and they shall wet thee with the dew of heaven and seven times shall pass over thee. Listen, till thou knowest the most high rules in the kingdom of men. And he give it to whomsoever he will. He said, I'm going to do this until you know who really rules. And of course, when I read that passage, I think of that verse in the Proverbs where it says the King's heart is in the Lord's hand. That ought to be a comfort to you when you have, when, when men make decisions on you and you, your future depends on some decision, decision that your boss will make or something will happen. You ought to know that not only the King's hand is in the, not only the King's heart is in the hand of the Lord, but that man who's making that decision about you, his, his, his heart is in the hand of the Lord as well. And so God does do it. The answer is to teach sinners what he taught Nebuchadnezzar. That is that he is sovereign King and his kingdom is an everlasting kingdom. Well, looking now at verses 34 to 37, we have God's sovereignty acknowledged and described in these from verses 34 to 37, we have God's sovereignty acknowledged and described. First of all, verse 33, first of all, we want to touch on his sin. What was the basic sin that you see when he says, I, me and my, well, his basic sin was pride. His basic sin was pride and brought, God brought the judgment on him for his pride. God made him beside himself before he could bring him to himself. And the punishment of pride was not a sin to be a great King or a ruler. There was nothing sinful about him being a great King and a great ruler. There was nothing provided he, his advancement was accomplished by honest means. There was nothing wrong with you succeeding in your company, but his sin was pride. His great success called forth, it should have called forth for the praise and gratitude of God. But his prosperity, instead of bringing forth praise and gratitude to God, his prosperity hardened his heart, as is often the case. That's why prosperity is so dangerous. He was first humbled by, as God humbled his enemies in judgment, but then he was humbled as God humbled his children. In verse 34, his punishment was severe loss of property, loss of friends, loss of health, loss of reputation. But it was followed, thank God, by divine mercy, as we shall see in the following verses. This awful sin of pride is often forgotten, easy overlooked, and yet it's a universal sin. Where is it not found? Where is it not found? In beggars as well as in princes' robes, a harlot may be as proud as a model of chastity. Pride is a strange creature. It never objects to its lodging. Pride is a strange creature. It never objects to its lodging. Pride takes many forms, more forms than I could have mentioned tonight. In Nebuchadnezzar's case, it was open. He spoke it. He spoke it. He said, I have built my kingdom, my power, my majesty. It was open. You could see that this was a proud man. Like Pharaoh's pride. His pride was open. It's recorded as an open thing. But there's an inward pride, and it is much worse and much more dangerous, especially when it's covered with piety. Inward pride is the first, is the worst kind of pride. And it's often very censorious of others who can't do things as well. Censorious. Inward pride is hard to detect, even in the person who is taken by it, and especially when it's covered with false piety. I say it's hard for the person himself to detect. This pride often manifests itself in inordinate desire of approval for others. Back of that, many times, is nothing but pride. Undue concern about what people think. Back of that, a lot of times, is nothing but pride. Inward pride is often manifest, as I mentioned, in inordinate desire for the approval of others. Let me give you a catechism for pride tonight. The best catechism I know for pride tonight is found in 1 Corinthians chapter 4, verse 7. If there's any verse in the Bible, you ought to memorize it. We all need to memorize it. If there's any verse in the Bible that's an antidote for every and any kind of pride, and you ought to say it often, especially when your censorious spirit raises up against somebody else, you ought to memorize this verse. Who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou gotten that thou did not receive? Why dost thou glory if thou hast not received it? You can't glory it. Who made you to differ from another? This is the catechism for pride. Who maketh thee to differ from another? What hast thou gotten with what thou hast received? You got a good mind? You received it. Have a good intellect? You received it. Who maketh thee to differ from another? Well, that's a good catechism for pride. And it was pride, simple, simple, simple, pride that brought Nebuchadnezzar to this horrible judgment described in verse 33. But as I say, thank God the story, the narrative does not end with his sin and the judgment. The narrative ends but rather with repentance and mercy. After seven years, what did he do in verse 34? This is a good, this is another antidote for pride. In verse 34, it says, I lifted up my eyes to heaven. I lifted up my eyes to heaven. There are three things in verse 34 that I want to call your attention to tonight and underscore. Let me read the verse. And at the end of the days or seven years, I, Nebuchadnezzar, lifted up my eyes to heaven and my understanding returned to me. I blessed the Most High. I praised and honored him that liveth forever and ever, whose dominion is an everlasting dominion and whose kingdom is from generation to generation. Three things, very simple. A right view of himself. I bowed down and I lifted up my eyes to heaven. You probably saw what Stephen saw in Acts chapter seven, where there's stoning and the Bible said he kneeled down and he looked up to heaven. And what did he see? He saw the glory of God. That'll kill pride. He saw the glory of God. So the one thing that's in this verse is very clear is a right view of God and himself. And then the second thing is, it's found in this verse, a right understanding. The verse says, his understanding returned. A right understanding as opposed to ignorance or opposed to religious superstition or opposed to religious sentimentalism or opposed to fantasy. He said, my understanding returned. And the third thing, not only a right view of God and his right understanding, but the third thing in the verse, the right attitude to worship. He said, I blessed, praised, and honored. Note these things in this last thing about a right attitude towards worship. There's three things there that also always go together. Blessing, praise, and honor the God of heaven. And when you read verse, when you read these things in verse 34, when I see what happens with the right view of God, and we saw God in a right way, my mind runs to Romans eight immediately, where the very opposite of true. It says, their eyes were turned away from God. And what happened then? Their foolish heart was darkened. Your foolish heart won't be darkened if you, if you bow your knees and look up like Nebuchadnezzar did. Well, that verse certainly shows the superiority of his kingdom. It says in that verse, the great verse, this is what he learned in seven years. This is what he learned out of his mind. This is what he learned in that, in that time. His dominion is an everlasting kingdom. He looked up as a devout man. He looked up as a penitent. He looked up as a humble, humble petitioner for mercy and pardon. Perhaps never before was he aware of his misery. Perhaps when things were well, he was not aware of his miserable state before God. Certainly it is true that where misery is not felt, mercy will not be regarded. Where misery is not felt, mercy will not be regarded. Not only that, in that same verse, we see his sovereign rule. Or could we say his sovereignty is seen in the certainty of his purposes. Divine sovereignty at work, divine sovereignty working, divine sovereignty in action. He recognized that. And then this tremendous verse in verse 35, and you know that's worth looking in the chapter tonight in itself. This great verse, the sovereignty of his rule. These are things that this pagan king is testifying about. It's not only the superiority of God's kingdom, the sovereignty of, but we see the sovereignty of his rule. Notice, oh, this is a great verse. He prays to God of heaven in verse 34, and all the inhabitants of the earth are reputed as nothing. And he does according to his will in the army of heaven and among the inhabitants of the earth, and none can stay his hand or say unto him, what doest thou? The NIV puts it like this. All the people of the earth are regarded as nothing. He does as he pleases with the power of heaven and the people of earth. No one can hold back his hand or say to him, what have you done? What have you done? You see the disposition of heart that that verse represents is, he's the potter, we're the clay. The disposition of heart must be, is it not lawful for him to do with his own what he will? Nebuchadnezzar learned that God's sovereignty, that God was an unconquerable king, none can stay his hand. Now there's some doctrinal instructions here for us, and I don't want us to miss this as we pass roughly, roughly, very, very roughly over this chapter, but there's some doctrinal instructions that I hope you would get tonight. First of all, the self-existence of God. He alone can say, I am God, and there's none beside me, there's none else. No one else can say that, that I am God, and beside thee, me, there is none other. The self-sufficient, the all-sufficiency of God, he's both great and he's glorious. We should learn about the self-existence of God. And secondly, that the Most High, unlike other kings, is a king forever. His kingdom is like he himself, everlasting, and he reigns forever. And then another doctrinal point is, nations before him are as nothing. Now that ought to give you some comfort when we hear this news coming all the time, and there's always this debate with Russia, and debate with atomic power, and atomic warfare that's continually coming to us by television, by newspaper, by conversation. I think it's had a profound effect on our children sometimes, to leave a very pessimistic view about the future. But let me tell you, this truth would teach you that the nations are in his hand as well. And why am I doing all this business about the sovereignty of God anyhow? Just to drum up another subject? No, I said it's a comforting, consoling doctrine. And so it is. Nations are nothing before him. His kingdom is universal. The verse makes it very clear in verse 35, his kingdom is universal. The armies of heaven and the inhabitants of the earth are his subjects. You're his subject tonight, whether you believe it or not. Both men and angels. He employs both men and angels. He not only employs them, but they're accountable to him. Well, that ought to make us blessed, that ought to make us do what he did in verse 34. Bless the most high, praise the most high, honor the most high. The declaration, that last declaration in verse 35, none can stay his hand. He can afford to let wickedness run his course. He can afford to exert, to let wickedness go for any length of time that he wants it to go, even to proceed for ages in his bold, impetuous career. And then with one word, with one word, he can change a nation. He can wipe Russia off the map tonight with one word, one storm. He can wipe our enemies off. He can do it to us too. None can stay his hand. That ought to be comforting. The very opposition of men and wickedness and devils shall serve more abundantly, abundantly, ultimately to illustrate his omnipotence and his wisdom. Verse 36, Nebuchadnezzar is restored, his kingdom is restored, and he is restored. And then bless God, verse 37, what did it all lead to? What should the sovereignty of God lead to in our lives? Well, what did it lead to in his life? Verse 37, it led him to a devotional life. It says he worshipped, he worshipped the God of heaven. He worshipped the King of heaven, worshipped as the highest development and the highest delight of reason. He was restored to his right reason, so now he worships. Just as insanity or depression or fear was directly, directly related to his pride and exaltation of his opinion of himself, as soon as insanity returned, he didn't have that same opinion of himself. It's entirely different now he worships the God of heaven. Well, it should be, one, a very solemn warning against pride and vainglory. This chapter ought to be a great warning against pride and vainglory. Even though you have a small job, you're not a king, you have a little dominion, you have a little domain that you roll over, it might just be your home, and whatever it may be, but it ought to be a solemn warning against pride in any kind of leadership, especially in leadership. It also is a great, this whole story is a great illustration of that verse in the Proverbs, it says, pride goeth before a fall. Pride goeth before a fall. And it's a beautiful, beautiful illustration of the fidelity in the proclamation of God's truth. And what I mean by that is Daniel was faithful, when Daniel interpreted the dream to him, Daniel was faithful to the truth in his interpretation of the dream, given with earnestness, and that interpretation was given with courtesy, it was given with integrity. He advised the king to repent, cut off the sins. Now that's a hard thing for a preacher to do, but that's what Daniel did in verse 27, break off your sins. I say this is a beautiful illustration of the fidelity in the proclamation of God's truth. And then certainly it's a loud call for us to give thanks to God for a sound mind. Do you have anybody in your family or you have friends that you've ever seen them go out of their mind? Have you ever seen that? Where people were sound mentally, good thinkers, and then one day it's gone. Have you ever witnessed that? Well that's a terrible thing to go through. I know people, young men with a family, losing his mind at 28 years old, spent the next 32 years, spent the next 32 years in a mental institution. A sharp mind, a keen mind, a tremendous mind. I tell you it ought to be a loud call for us to give God thanks for a sound mind. It's a terrible thing when you can't think right, when your thinking gets warped and you start to reason right, when your reasoning goes wrong. Well we're here also reminded that the most high rules in the kingdom of men, he's the king of kings, the sovereign king. Well this heathen king certainly ought to give us, if you study this chapter carefully, and I just did a cursory glance at it, I'm not very well organized at that, but the study of the chapter ought to give you a high view of the sovereignty of God. And let me suggest that you memorize verse 35. It'll be a great comfort to you sometimes. Personally I don't believe that there can be a healthy Christian life, nor do I believe that there can be a healthy church that does not have a good understanding and a firm grasp on this great comforting, consoling doctrine of the absolute sovereignty of God. And let me tell you for you who are un-Christians, it is a very hopeful doctrine for the un-Christian. Because some of you aren't saved, you've tried this and it hasn't worked, you've made little religious spurts, and you went religious for a little while, and the next thing you're back where you were, and you make another little religious spurt and you're back where you were before. Well it could be you've never been converted. And let me tell you the doctrine of the sovereignty of God ought to be of great hope and comfort to you. Because the very fact that he's sovereign means that he can do for you what you can't do for yourself. And all your little religious spurts mean nothing if it hasn't changed your heart. If he has not changed your heart. I like that instruction in those verses that you hear me quote them often. And I quote them to myself often. The servant of the Lord must not strive, but be gentle, apt to teach, patient in meekness instructing those that oppose themselves, if God, if God perhaps will give them repentance. You see that's hope. That's hope. That's the sinner's hope. That's my hope when I preach. If God will give them repentance. So for us Christians there's many lessons and things to appreciate in this chapter. And this truth that's so pregnant in this chapter, but there's also hope for the sinner. For the sinner, hope in a God who's powerful enough to do for him what he can't do for himself. That ought to drive you to call on him and ask him to do for you what you can't do for yourself. Father we thank you that you're not only sovereign, but that you are the fountain of sovereign mercy. We thank you that this is not a hard doctrine. But when we think of your sovereign grace and your sovereign mercy and your sovereign love, we bless thee tonight that you have opened our eyes to this great biblical truth. And for those who go through difficult trials even now this very moment, we pray that you would cause them to rest their heads on this sweet pillow that you are sovereign and you do rule in armies of heaven and you do rule in nations and kingdoms and in individuals. Hear our prayers we pray thee. May this truth by this power of your spirit not only grip us, grasp our hearts and minds, but may we benefit and profit from it in our daily experience. To that end, hear our prayers. Forgive us our sins for Jesus' sake. Amen.