7 26 03

8:45a

Daniel 2:1-35

In this chapter of Daniel, Nebuchadnezzar has dreams which trouble his sleep. The king calls his magicians et al to explain his dreams to him, but he adds a twist. Nebuchadnezzar requires the magicians et al to tell him the dream as well as interpret it. I�ve heard some ministers say that the king forgot what his dream was and that he wanted the �wise men� to tell him the dream for that reason, but that�s not what the Bible says.

In verse 5 he says that he has firmly decided that the wise men should tell him the dream and then interpret it. He repeats the order in verses 8 and 9. It seems to me that Nebuchadnezzar was already in doubt of the skills of his magicians, enchanters and astrologers.

Anyway, when the magicians et al say that they can not tell the king what he dreamed, Nebuchadnezzar gets angry and decides to put all of the wise men to death. Among those are David, Hananiah, Mishael and Azariah. David begged off a little time, then the four of these men prayed for wisdom and revelation.

The thing that I want to focus on here is David�s attitude. He was very obviously into God. He knew that God had the power to reveal the dream and then its interpretation. And, after God did so, Daniel immediately praised God. It�s so cool to me to see the open and honest praise of God in verses 20 through 23.

Again, when Daniel goes before the King, he talks only of God�s greatness, not his own. He praises God and gives God the glory for revealing both the dream and its interpretation. And, I think that�s so very cool.

Here is a guy who has, by human standards, every right to be boastful and arrogant, but, he�s not. Before this man who has the ability to have him killed and destroy his friends and family, Daniel stands tall and boldly goes in the name of God.

I want to be like that. I want to be a person who can and does give God the glory with every step of my life. Or, at least, every step of my future life, as I haven�t done such a good job of that with my past. Regardless, I want to have the courage to stand before the mean guys and say that God did the good stuff.

I�m a little more self centered than that though. I tend to be more internal� wanting my own comfort and glory. Hmmm. I need to work on that one.