Be Humble or Be Humbled (Daniel 5-6)

We’re continuing this morning in the book of Daniel – about how we can thrive in our faith living sent to a place that is not our home. I’m of course not speaking just to the expats living here in KL but all believers who are awaiting our eternal home in the heavenly city with God.

Today, Dan. 5-6. Bibles. Turn. Screen. Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, has been humbled and restored – but his kingdom has been passed on. He’s not king anymore…

Text: Daniel 5 King Belshazzar (not to be confused with Daniel’s Babylonian name) made a great feast for a thousand of his lords and drank wine in front of the thousand. 2 Belshazzar, when he tasted the wine, commanded that the vessels of gold and of silver that Nebuchadnezzar his father had taken out of the temple in Jerusalem be brought, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them. 3 Then they brought in the golden vessels that had been taken out of the temple, the house of God in Jerusalem, and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them. 4 They drank wine and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze, iron, wood, and stone. (To say this was a party would be an understatement. Lavish/Reckless excess. Drunkenness. But if that weren’t enough – Temple vessels – Irreverent/Sacrilege-mocking of God, and praising the gods of the material things. Heart – I’m on top of the world. I can do whatever I want. Nothing can touch me.)

5 Immediately the fingers of a human hand appeared and wrote on the plaster of the wall of the king’s palace, opposite the lampstand. And the king saw the hand as it wrote. 6 Then the king’s color changed, and his thoughts alarmed him; his limbs gave way, and his knees knocked together. (This is literally like what you see in cartoons. A hand appears out of nowhere and starts writing a message on the wall. Drunk but scared so badly, his knees are knocking, in a moment of clarity.) 

7 The king called loudly to bring in the enchanters, the Chaldeans, and the astrologers. The king declared to the wise men of Babylon, “Whoever reads this writing, and shows me its interpretation, shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around his neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” 8 Then all the king’s wise men came in, but they could not read the writing or make known to the king the interpretation. 9 Then King Belshazzar was greatly alarmed, and his color changed, and his lords were perplexed. (Went pale – Doesn’t know what to do. By this point, you would think that they’d know better. Stop wasting their time and just call Daniel. But no matter how inferior, they’re faithful to their lesser gods. Again, will see contrast between the wisdom of the world and other religions vs. God.)

10 The queen, because of the words of the king and his lords, came into the banqueting hall, and the queen declared, “O king, live forever! Let not your thoughts alarm you or your color change. 11 There is a man in your kingdom in whom is the spirit of the holy gods. In the days of your father, light and understanding and wisdom like the wisdom of the gods were found in him, and King Nebuchadnezzar, your father—your father the king—made him chief of the magicians, enchanters, Chaldeans, and astrologers, 12 because an excellent spirit, knowledge, and understanding to interpret dreams, explain riddles, and solve problems were found in this Daniel, whom the king named Belteshazzar. Now let Daniel be called, and he will show the interpretation.” (Daniel’s reputation was well known. They may not worship the one true God like Daniel did but they couldn’t argue with his character, his wisdom, and spirit of excellence. Which is how people in our city should see us. They may worship other gods and they disagree that Jesus is Lord. But they can’t argue with the love we have for the people here and that we’re honest, hard working, excellent at what we do. And we have a presence about us – Jesus.)

13 Then Daniel was brought in before the king. The king answered and said to Daniel, “You are that Daniel, one of the exiles of Judah, whom the king my father brought from Judah. 14 I have heard of you that the spirit of the gods is in you, and that light and understanding and excellent wisdom are found in you. 15 Now the wise men, the enchanters, have been brought in before me to read this writing and make known to me its interpretation, but they could not show the interpretation of the matter. 16 But I have heard that you can give interpretations and solve problems. Now if you can read the writing and make known to me its interpretation, you shall be clothed with purple and have a chain of gold around your neck and shall be the third ruler in the kingdom.” (Kind of insulting – Maybe not the best way to address someone whose help you’re seeking, but at least he offers a sizable reward.)

17 Then Daniel answered and said before the king, “Let your gifts be for yourself, and give your rewards to another. Nevertheless, I will read the writing to the king and make known to him the interpretation. (Keep it. I’m not in this for personal gain.) 18 O king, the Most High God gave Nebuchadnezzar your father kingship and greatness and glory and majesty. 19 And because of the greatness that he gave him, all peoples, nations, and languages trembled and feared before him. Whom he would, he killed, and whom he would, he kept alive; whom he would, he raised up, and whom he would, he humbled. (The only reason your dad was great and accomplished anything was because the Most High God. Your dad was nothing apart from God.) 20 But when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened so that he dealt proudly, he was brought down from his kingly throne, and his glory was taken from him. 21 He was driven from among the children of mankind, and his mind was made like that of a beast, and his dwelling was with the wild donkeys. He was fed grass like an ox, and his body was wet with the dew of heaven, until he knew that the Most High God rules the kingdom of mankind and sets over it whom he will. (Chp. 4 – Again, repeats – the Most High God is the one in charge. – Not your father, not you…)

22 And you his son, Belshazzar, have not humbled your heart, though you knew all this, 23 but you have lifted up yourself against the Lord of heaven. And the vessels of his house have been brought in before you, and you and your lords, your wives, and your concubines have drunk wine from them. And you have praised the gods of silver and gold, of bronze, iron, wood, and stone, which do not see or hear or know, but the God in whose hand is your breath, and whose are all your ways, you have not honored. (You! – Repeated. You are guilty! And your idolatry doesn’t even make sense.)

24 “Then from his presence the hand was sent, and this writing was inscribed. 25 And this is the writing that was inscribed: Mene, Mene, Tekel, and Parsin. 26 This is the interpretation of the matter: Mene, God has numbered the days of your kingdom and brought it to an end; 27 Tekel, you have been weighed in the balances and found wanting; 28 Peres, your kingdom is divided and given to the Medes and Persians.”

29 Then Belshazzar gave the command, and Daniel was clothed with purple, a chain of gold was put around his neck, and a proclamation was made about him, that he should be the third ruler in the kingdom.

30 That very night Belshazzar the Chaldean king was killed. 31 And Darius the Mede received the kingdom, being about sixty-two years old. (FYI – From this story is where we get the expression “The writing(‘s) on the wall” – Clear sign of things to come.)

Two main points from this story about humility. But first, let’s define…

Humility – Not self-disparaging (Low self-worth/value). “I’m nothing. “I’m worthless.” (Partial. Not full truth) – Thinking rightly (biblically) about yourself, especially as it relates to God and others. Inward heart posture and outward action.

1. God humbles those who honor themselves. We see this very clearly from the text with Nebuchadnezzar and Belshazzar. They became proud and lifted up themselves against God so God humbled them.

What didn’t happen – Power/Money corrupted. No. He wasn’t a victim. Power/Money magnifies and exposes what’s already in the heart. They may give more different opportunities to act on it, but it didn’t create the sin. (Gas on fire.)

Question: How do people “lift up themselves” against God? How do they honor themselves? How do you know when you’re doing it? List…

-You think you’re someone special. Parents – “You’re special. You’re a snowflake.” (Some of you have never seen snow.) Snowflake – One of a kind. You are, kind of. But not really. In so many ways, you are completely insignificant. In 3-4 generations, no one is even going to know you even existed. Not even your own family. I couldn’t tell you anything about my great great great grandparents. You’re going to die and be completely forgotten. (And many, in pursuit of greatness and legacy – not necessarily bad things –  will do so much to leave an impression on men without any thought for their standing with God.) 

-You think you’re better and more important than other people. – Money, Position, Ethnicity. So you look down on others. You think the rules, God’s words, don’t apply to you. You have a special excuse. The problem is everyone else and their sin is so great, but not yours. You judge others with much harsher standards than you have for yourself. You gossip behind people’s backs. You don’t treat others as fellow image bearers of God. 

-You’re not connected in a meaningful way to the church and other believers. You think you’re fine on your own. You don’t need anyone. You’re self-sufficient. You’re the only one you need and care about. Everyone else just slows you down and gets in your way.

-You are entitled. You deserve good things, a good life – comfort, pleasure. How do you know if this is you? You grumble and complain in situations where you don’t have these things. Covet what you don’t have. Unquenchable thirst for more, the next thing.

-You know, yet you don’t change. Belshazzar – Knew what happened to Neb, and he ignored it. The man went crazy and started acting like an animal.  – Doesn’t mean you don’t make mistakes. But there’s no real effort to change. (Wife – Amen.)

-You worship other gods. Idolatry comes in all kinds of flavors – Literal idols but also good things you make into God things – family, education, money. Includes making god into your image and likeness – “My God wouldn’t do that…ok with that.” 

-You think you know better than God. “I know what’s best for my life. I know what God wants.” You ignore what God actually says in his word. You just don’t care or you think you know better than god. God doesn’t know what he’s doing. 

-Legalism. One up God.

-Tim Keller:

-Bitterness – God got it wrong.

-Worry – God’s going to get it wrong.

-You think you’re god. You’re in control. You treat God like he’s your sidekick/servant. Your “faith in God” is self-serving. It serves a purpose for you. Only interested in God serving you, what he can do for you.

-You think you can save yourself. “I’m a good person. I do good things. I’m not that bad. Especially compared to others, I’m good.” 

-You make light of your sin. You make our sin out to be not that bad. – God will overlook it. You don’t realize that if you were confronted with the holiness of God like Belshazzar – you would have the same reaction. You would be terrified. Literally, scared for your life. You forget it was your sin that put Jesus on the cross. That you needed saving.

-You neglect God’s word. “The bible is an ancient book that’s irrelevant today.” Don’t spend much time in it. Too busy. Or you think you can pick and choose what to obey – If you agree. Something I’ve been hearing more and more…Jen Wilkin – “Many ask for a fresh, personal word from God while the ancient, shared ones lie neglected. It’s not new truths we need, but old truths recently forgotten. It’s not personal revelation…but shared revelation.”

-You neglect prayer. You’d rather be watching something on Youtube or Astro. You’d rather mindlessly scroll through your phone. Anything to entertain yourself but pray. – Heart: Pride. Self-sufficiency. You don’t need God. Prayerlessness is the same sin Adam and Eve committed in Ge. 3 when they decided to walk away from God. They rejected him and thought they’d be fine without him. And if you do pray, you only pray when you want something from God. Not about relationship.

-You don’t acknowledge God for who he is. You fail to recognize and put the true God in his rightful place. He’s God. Everything, all things are from him, through him, for him, and to him. His holiness, his power, his sovereignty. He’s in control. The breath in your lungs belongs to him. 

And the list could go on and on…This hasn’t been the most encouraging message so far has it? Yet, there’s good news…

Contrast Neb/Belshazzar with Daniel – Summarize Dan. chp. 6, one of the most well-known stories in the bible. (Encourage you to check out our new website – gardencitykl.com – find all our sermons, including a dedicated sermon on Dan. 6)

Daniel is an old man by this point…and God has continued to honor his faithfulness. So Daniel is high up in leadership in the kingdom. And the other officials are jealous. So they set up a trap by tricking the king to establish an irrevocable law that if anyone prays to another god or man other than the king, will be cast into the lion’s den. (No fault in Daniel other than he is faithful to his God.) 

So what’s Daniel do? He continues to pray to God as he always has. And he’s caught by the officials, brought before the king, and thrown into the lion’s den and sealed in with a stone. But the king, having been tricked, stays up all night praying that God will save Daniel. 

And the next morning, the king goes to the lion’s den and finds Daniel completely unharmed, not a single broken bone, because he had trusted in God. – God had sent his angel to shut the mouths of the lions. So the king throws in all the people who set the trap against Daniel into the lion’s den. They’re killed. – All their bones were broken into pieces.

25 Then King Darius wrote to all the peoples, nations, and languages that dwell in all the earth: “Peace be multiplied to you. 26 I make a decree, that in all my royal dominion people are to tremble and fear before the God of Daniel, for he is the living God, enduring forever; his kingdom shall never be destroyed, and his dominion shall be to the end. 27 He delivers and rescues; he works signs and wonders in heaven and on earth, he who has saved Daniel from the power of the lions.” (This is the response that King Belshazzar should have had. – Worship.)

28 So this Daniel prospered during the reign of Darius and the reign of Cyrus the Persian.

The message is clear – be humble or be humbled. – Proverbs 18:12 Before destruction a man’s heart is haughty, but humility comes before honor. Proverbs 29:23 A person’s pride will humble him, but a humble spirit will gain honor. (CSB) God humbles those who honor themselves and…

2. God honors those who humble themselves. What’s this look like? (Believer:)

-You delight in God’s love for you. You’re secure in his love and your identity in him. Your value is that you’re made in God’s image and he’s lavished his love on you. (Name dropping. Association. Of all the people I could have married, I chose to love my wife, Grace. So imagine how special she feels.) Freedom of self-forgetfulness – God sees you, knows everything about you, and he loves you.

-You submit your life to God. You recognize and respect that your very life is in God’s hands. It’s a gift he’s given you and you were created for him. So my life is not my own. I’m a steward. What does he desire from my life? He fills in the blanks. What have you called me to? What most pleases you? (Missional:) Your mission is his mission – Advance Christ’s kingdom through the gospel. (Glory)

Extension: You’re under godly leadership/authority in the church and to one another. Community – Others oftentimes see you more clearly than you see yourself. (Me – I’m pretty close to perfect. Grace – You’re the chief of sinners.) Others often know you better than you know yourself. God speaks to you through 3 ways – His Word, His Spirit, and His People who have the Word and his Spirit.

-You trust in God and wait on him. You’re patient. You don’t jump to action and get ahead of God. You trust in his timing and that he knows what he’s doing. This includes hard times and suffering.

-You compassionately serve others. You don’t expect others to serve you, you look for opportunities to serve others – meet their needs. Others focused, not me-focused.

-You’re full of gratitude – I’m just a lowly servant. I deserve nothing and all I have, everything good, is a gift from God.

-You’re teachable and seek wisdom. Learn from people who have come before. Should have known from Neb. – How his father was proud, mocked God, and was humbled. But Belshazzar followed in his father’s proud footsteps.

Side Note: Parents – We don’t control the outcome of our kids. On one hand that’s terrifying, and on the other it’s freeing. – The only hope you have for them, they only hope they have, is the love of God. Rest. But there is a role we as parents play – to model for our children what it looks like to humbly follow God, to live for him and not for ourselves or for the things of this world. Because how you actually live your life, not just what you tell them, will make the biggest impact. And it’s not nearly important that they get a good education, have great experiences, and have a good paying job as them loving and humbly following Jesus.

-You own your mistakes and sins in repentance. Belshazzar knew the judgment that was coming and you know what he did? Nothing. No repentance. You would think – Humble himself, fall on his knees, and beg for forgiveness. He goes about his night. And his life ends. 

Humility brings repentance and repentances brings grace. You know you can’t save yourself. Weighed – Light. Rest in grace.

-You delight in God’s Word. Not just knowing it but living it. His Word has ultimate authority in your life. Obeying his commands is life giving to you. – Sabbath. Give. This means you have to know the Word. You’re in it, consuming it, meditating on it, praying it…so it naturally comes out of you. How often should I be in the word? – Every day. Every moment as natural and as often as you desire to breathe/eat.

-You recognize your desperate need for God in prayer. – Prayer develops the muscle of dependence on God and grows humility in you. Because in prayer – you are recognizing that you are unable, you are not in control, and you need help. And that humbles you. And it keeps God in his rightful place of honor and you in yours of humility. Daniel – prayed a prayer of thanksgiving (6:10) – Our problems are not problems for God; They’re opportunities for him to show his power and deliverance.

2 Chron. 7:14 If my people who are called by my name humble themselves, and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sin and heal their land.

If you want to thrive – Not honoring yourself or living for yourself and your dreams. Humbling self – For God and his glory. Know – Honoring God and humility is a life-long pursuit.

Daniel didn’t work up the courage in the moment. He’s been training his entire life – so far in our series. Living a life of humility and honoring God. So the lion’s den, though extraordinary, was nothing out of the ordinary for Daniel. “You don’t rise to the occasion; You fall to the level of your training.”

You don’t just pray for a 6 pack. If you pray that, could God answer your prayers? He could. But he won’t. You have to discipline yourself and put in the work to honor God and live humbly. 

God keeps his word and his promises. 

-Kept his word of judgement against Nebuchadnezar and Belshazzar. And he will keep his word that there will be a final judgement for all…

-But God also keeps his promises…Ps. 34:19 Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but the LORD delivers him out of them all. ²⁰ He keeps all his bones; not one of them is broken. Promise that was fulfilled with Daniel…

But was ultimately fulfilled by Jesus. Scripture – There is no one righteous. Not even one. The writing on the wall was clear for us. Mene, Mene, Tekel. Your sin has brought you to an end. You have been weighed and you have been found wanting – too light. And the penalty is death. 

But God promised long ago that he would save us. Only he could. Jesus humbled himself to the point of death for our sins. The righteous suffered and died for the unrighteous. God the Father would not deliver Jesus from the cross so he could deliver us. And so we were made righteous before God. 

Those who honor themselves will be humbled. But God honors those who humble themselves and honor him with their lives. Jesus humbled himself to honor the Father, so the Father honored him by giving him the name that is above all names. Those who honor Jesus as King, will become sons and daughters and co-heirs with him.

Judgement is coming and one day you’re going to stand before your Creator God to give an account for your life. And there’s nothing you can do to tip the scales in your favor that you did enough to be forgiven and earn his favor. And you don’t know when that day will come. So don’t wait! 

If you will humble yourself, God will save you. Pray – Like Daniel – Deliverance.