At the same time my reason returned unto me; and for the glory of my kingdom, mine honour and brightness returned unto me; and my counsellors and my lords sought unto me; and I was established in my kingdom, and excellent majesty was added unto me. Now I Nebuchadnezzar praise and extol and honour the King of heaven, all whose works are truth, and His ways judgment: and those that walk in pride He is able to abase (Dan 4:36-37).
The Crazy King of the First World Empire (in today's Iraq) returns to sanity and to his throne. "At the end of the days" that is, at the end of the seven years God had appointed him to eat with the cows, and when he "looked up." Lehman Strauss comments: "…when he was ready to surrender his proud will to the Most High. The upward look always marks the return to reason. All beasts look down but God made man to look up. When sin entered the heart of man his gaze was diverted from Heaven to earth."
Look unto Me and be ye saved, all the ends of the earth: for I am God and there is none else (Isa 45:22).
The blueprint for today's American culture might well be the following pair of manifestoes which formally state their affinity for looking down instead of up. Europe is further down the road but we're moving along at a fast clip.
The Humanist Manifesto of 1933 declares a great disappointment with the idea of God. It is signed by John Dewey of Columbia University, hailed by his admirers as the "father of public education" in the United States. The Humanist Manifesto II of 1973 declares: "No deity will save us. We must save ourselves." If you are interested, I suggest that you follow the links and read the documents for yourself.
Education, journalism, art, the natural museums, and most of the other keepers of the artifacts of our modern culture tend to embrace the above documents. Nebuchadnezzar must be disappointed if he can see the parading in our respective palaces, proud of ourselves. It's expensive to jettison God so you can be God yourself.
But we don't have to be one of the aristocrats to put on a god-suit. Most people are doing that because it's our nature. Adam and Eve did that when they substituted their own ideas for what God had told them.
What an advantage it is to look up. "I'm what God says I am: totally inadequate without Him "But without faith it is impossible to please Him, for he that cometh to God must believe that He is and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently seek Him. (Heb 11:6).
Memory Verse: The master verse on prayer. Write on a 3x5 card or napkin and put in your pocket.
1Jn 5:14-15 And this is the confidence that we have in him, that, if we ask any thing according to his will, he heareth us: And if we know that he hear us, whatsoever we ask, we know that we have the petitions that we desired of him (1Jn 5:14-15).
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